What holiday traditions do you enjoy with family and friends?

[Patrick Lee]

Hey there, Atlassian Community!

Excited to be a newbie here and thought I'd kick off with some holiday cheer! My family is all about traditions, and I'd love to swap stories with you all. 

For me, the first of December marks the start of the holiday adventure. We hit up a local tree farm, get into the spirit of things, and pick out the perfect tree. Then comes the real magic decorating the tree! :)

What are some of your favorite holiday traditions, and how do they make this time of year memorable for you and your loved ones? Let's share the joy of the season and inspire each other with the diverse ways we celebrate!

[Neghena drawio Diagrams]

Although we don't celebrate x-mas, we love getting gifts for our neighbors with kids who do.  The holidays for anyone is about spreading kindness and joy especially for the little ones. I personally love this season because of all the holiday movies, everyone being in a festive mood and being able to have a nice refresh after a long year.

Hope everyone has a great holiday ahead! Love seeing posts about the holidays this month :D

[linda.stotsky]

I love to bake cookies for friends during the holidays. My all-time favorite is the powdered sugar pecan balls. Similar to wedding cookies yet shaped in balls or crescents. Really easy to make and always a hit.

[Kate C_]

How lovely, @Neghena drawio Diagrams We've been watching all the holiday movies, too. What's your current favourite? My 2yo is obsessed with the 2018 animated Grinch one at the moment, so we've had to watch it (literally) daily!

[Trish Cescolini]

Greyt topic!  Right after Thanksgiving, we start with outside decorations.  I have to say, since moving to Arizona this is a much more enjoyable task.  Working outdoors in shorts and sunshine is much better than risking frostbite in the Midwest.  Then it's on to decorating indoors with the final task being to decorate the tree.  This always involves Christmas music and generous amounts of spiked egg nog.

In the Phoenix metro area, there is one radio station that starts playing nothing but Christmas music the day after Thanksgiving...24x7...nothing but jingle jangle.  My husband knows that if he gets in my Jeep, anytime from late November - late December he's going to be stuck listening to holiday songs.  No Grinches allowed.

I have one tradition I've carried forward from my Mother and Grandmother...on Christmas Eve, I serve a northern Italian dinner of Canederli for friends and family.  I use an old family recipe but you can learn about Canederli here 

As a kid growing up in a northern Italian household, we opened our presents from family on Christmas Eve before heading out to Midnight mass...which actually took place at midnight.  We found our gift from Santa the following morning.  But, since moving to Arizona my husband and I have saved our gifts for Christmas day morning.

[Amanda Barber]

We always make sure to watch a few of our favorite holiday movies (Home Alone, Christmas Chronicles, and Elf) throughout the month of December. We also put up our tree sometime the weekend after Thanksgiving. Depending on weather, we might have already put up outside decorations, but we always try to have them up and on after Thanksgiving!

[Kate C_]

Christmas Chronicles was never on my radar until last year, but I loved it! Love me the Kurt Russell-Goldie Hawn combo 🎄

[Kate C_]

Great question @Patrick Lee! It's a holiday tradition on Christmas Day in the morning for my family to head down to the beach and drink champagne and eat strawberries. Being in Australia means Christmas in summer, so it looks quite different to our northern hemisphere friends!

[Carlos]

One tradition that has become more mainstream in the last decade for Latinos is celebrating Christmas Eve and opening up Christmas presents as soon as it turns midnight. It helps because kids can be too anxious to sleep, and it gives the adults more freedom to sleep in the following day. 

I didn't like it when I was younger because I wanted a more traditional Christmas, but as I've gotten older, I have really come to appreciate it. 

[Kate C_]

Big fan of adults having more of a sleep-in on Christmas Day! Though my kids would be utterly feral if they stayed up til midnight! 🙃

[linda.stotsky]

In my house, we don't celebrate Christmas, although we have fun joining in friends and families' celebrations. We do however celebrate Chanukah, which came really early this year. So far, we have all worn Chanukah PJs, cooked, baked, eaten and laughed together. Of course, we exchanged gifts, but my favorite part is just being together. When my kids were small, we loved getting hot chocolate and riding around looking at Christmas lights. In my neighborhood, we have an annual "Griswald" contest to see whose house qualifies as the most overly decorated. It's a festive time of year and I love it!

[Mayur Jadhav]

Hi @Patrick Lee ,

Welcome to the Atlassian Community!!

[Saunagent]

One of my favorites is our annual Christmas Eve bonfire in the backyard. We gather around, roasting marshmallows and sharing stories late into the night. It's a cozy tradition that brings us all together. Speaking of gatherings, I once attended a festive celebration in a friend's large garden summer house. The atmosphere was magical, with twinkling lights and laughter filling the air.