Throwback Thursday: What is your favorite holiday tradition? #TBT

[#1]

It's Thursday!

This one is similar to last week´s but still a bit different. I am a Christian so I grew up celebrating Christmas. My favorite holiday tradition is actually not that old. My wife is a quarter German and her grandmother (and great grandmother and great great grandmother and ...) used to bake Stollen (German Christmas cake) before Christmas. My wife managed to get the recipe written down (her grandmother didn't follow a recipe anymore at that point). Ever since we got married, my wife has made Stollen before Christmas. Every single time except the year one of our daughters was born - she was too pregnant and then we were too busy with an infant.

So what about you, tell us about your favorite holiday tradition (doesn't matter which holiday it is).

Let’s make it a great Thursday!

KGM

[John Funk]

I would say that it is putting up the Christmas tree and decorating the house (inside with various things, and outside with lights). That process always takes me back to my childhood even though we do it at a different time now (earlier) and obviously with different decorations.

[Robert Wen]

Christmas for me usually involves food.  Breakfast is panettone French toast.

A little bit about panettone: it's an enriched bread, rich like a cake.  The legend goes that an Italian baker named Antonio created it so he could have money for a dowry so he could marry his daughter. The resulting bread (pan de Antonio) became very popular.

More info here: https://www.eataly.com/us_en/magazine/culture/legend-panettone-cake/

[Taranjeet Singh]

@Kristjan Geir Mathiesen - Origo It is always a great fun time during holiday season towards the end of December here in US.

I don't have any specific favorite holiday in mind but I always love to do get together with friends and family members on any holiday opportunity I get. I strongly believe that no holiday celebration is complete without your closed ones joining you and celebrating together.

[Kristjan Geir Mathiesen - Origo]

@Taranjeet Singh very true, holidays as made better with dear ones, family and friends. It can also be a very hard time for some that are in unfortunate situations. Great time to reach out and show kindness; uplift and help a stranger.

[Dave Rosenlund _ALM Works_]

This doesn't exactly conform but it's pretty relevant... 

When my girls were young we would visit with their maternal grandparents on Christmas Eve. They're Italian Americans and for them, Christmas Eve is a bigger deal than Christmas Day. We'd head home after midnight mass and carry the sleeping girls to bed.

Christmas morning we had our own family Christmas — just the four of us. The girls always worried we would run into Santa and scare him away coming home after Christmas Mass but inevitably I would spot an airplane with red flashing light early during the drive home and exclaim, "There's Santa and Rudolph now! He's still a long way away from our house."  Crisis averted.

After our own Christmas morning, we would head to my parents' house for Christmas dinner.

There were presents during both visits with the grandparents and at home that morning of course.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

When my kids were about 6 or so (guessing) they came home from school one day, just before the holiday break, and sadly told their parents, "Mom/Dad: Do you know some kids have only ONE Christmas?!?"  Meaning, only one present opening event.