Everyone has family holiday traditions growing up, but as we grow older, we realize that those traditions continue and change over time.
It’s a special reminder of a memory that you once had with your family that you can always cherish. The Rider Chronicle’s staff members shared their favorite holiday tradition.
Christmas capital of Grapevine
One of my traditions that I always celebrate is my whole family and I bring food and gifts to celebrate Christmas Eve at my grandma’s house. Another tradition that me and my parents do together is going to downtown Grapevine to celebrate the Christmas festivities that occur every year. My favorite memory every time I go to Grapevine is getting a nutcracker each year to add to my collection as a memory. – Madison Gray
Spending Christmas with my parents
One of the traditions that my family has is one my mom and I use to mess with my dad. What’s sup- posed to happen is my mom and I alternate between putting the tree up at the beginning of November and for my dad, after Thanksgiving. We always trick my dad into doing it earlier. Another tradition, we always buy a new piece for our Christmas village every year. There is one memory that is always my favorite. When I was around 13-14, I thought my dad wouldn’t be able to do our usual thing of picking me up to put the angel on the tree. To my surprise, he did. He picked me up and held me up to put the angel on the tree. – Nico Thomas
Early present and no fake trees
I think my favorite tradition is that my father would always let me open one present early on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day. That and also no fake trees! It’s not a real Christmas with fake trees. – Beckham Nobles
Tamale time at grandma’s house
One of my traditions that my family and I do is making tamales two days before Christmas or the night before we open our presents at my grandma’s house. Then on the day of Christmas or the day we open our presents, we eat the tamales while we wait for everyone to get there. Once everyone is there and settled down, we play the Mexican bingo game or white elephant with one big gift. Afterward, we just open all the presents that are for us and eat more food. – Angelita Munoz
New Year’s Eve game nights
While I love Christmas traditions, some of my favorite memories with my family are from our annual New Year’s Eve game nights. Every year we eat din- ner together and play games until the clock strikes midnight. We love all kinds of games from board games to card games to video games. Some of our favorites include Pictionary, Trash and Scattergories. One year my sister blew up a bunch of balloons – one for each hour from 6 p.m. to midnight – with an activity or game to do written on it. Every hour we would pop one and do whatever the paper said. I am grateful for the memories and time we’ve spent together. There is truly no better way to ring in the New Year. – Allie Calvert
Secret Santa with a twist
One of my traditions that my family does every year is pulling names of one of our pets. On the night before Christmas, we gather in the living room at exactly 9 p.m. and show each other a little gift we got for under a different budget that changes year to year for the cats or dog. Then on Christmas morning the whole family drives over to my grandma’s house to play Secret Santa and eat lunch while catching up and playing around. – Kristin Surber
