Christmas starts around the first week of december when we go and pick out a christmas tree and drag the huge box of decorations down from the loft. We go to a local garden centre and pick a real tree each year, usually its pretty big as well because we have tall ceilings! But we always try and choose one with a nice shape too. We bring it home and put it up in the corner of the living room at which point we whack on the christmas music and start decorating.
'My sister was filming the decorating of the tree this year and commentating as we went along. We always plug the lights in and have to get them all working before they can go up on the tree, this is not an easy task! The lights are split into sections and each has a fuse bulb. But if one goes in a section they all go so you have to go along the whole section and find the one that isnt working! We had been going for a good hour with my sister filming lots of bits and we finally managed to get the lights working! Only for my sister to turn round and go "i didnt have the camera on, quick turn the plug of and pretend they are just coming on again". So we turned the plug off, pretend to fiddle with them, turned the plug back on.... and they didnt work! I think it took another good half hour to sort them out again!' (congrats if you just made it through all that haha)
We also decorate round the house with things we have collected over the years.
The rest of our family traditions start on the 24th, christmas eve. We spend the next three days with my dads side of the family. One of his brothers lives in london and the other in new york so i dont get to see them or my aunties that often! On christmas eve we always go out for a meal and have tried a few different places out in recent years. We are going to somewhere new again this year, which is a nice addition to the old traditions. In the evening we have a good catch up over drinks and chocolate and fill under the tree with all the presents. Just before bed my sister, brother and i all lay out our 'santa sacks' in the same corners of the front room as we do each year, and pop out the usual snacks for santa. We are all getting a bit old now, but christmas wouldnt be the same without these little things!
On christmas morning we all wake quite earlier and the 3 of us sit at the top of the stairs under a blanket and wait for the rest of our family to get up. Last year we couldnt fit all 3 of us across the top step cause we had all grown! Once everyone is up we 'check santa has eaten his mince pie' and then get to open all the santa presents. After this we have breakfast with croissants and cereals and then do and get dressed. Then my granny and grandad arrive and we open all the presents under the tree together that we have bought each other, quite often with my mum running backwards and forwards to the kitchen (i dont know how she manages everything at christmas, shes a saint!).
This is all followed by brunch of scrambled eggs on toast, bacon and bucks fizz made by all the boys. All accompanied by festive tunes in the background and everyone trying out there new gifts. Then before we settle in for a huge meal and lots of chocolates we go for an afternoon walk across the local golf club and little woods. This is made even more special when it snows and we always get some lovely photos from our time outside!
When we get back everyone gets glammed up in their christmas dresses and usually new pieces of jewellery, and we help to decorate the table and finish of the cooking. Christmas dinner - a mass of roast just about everything, turkey (and nut roast for us veggies), mashed sweet potato, sprouts, gravy, stuffing, yorkshire puddings and so much more. And this is all before dessert! After dinner we all collapse in the lounge and begin an evening of games. Bowling on the wii nearly always makes an appearance. And then we have a few of our own games (let me know if you play these!). We play several rounds of country, county, town - my granny and grandad must practice all year round cause they nearly always win haha - and also play cards in the hat. I think they would both take too long to explain! We spend the rest of the evening eating more desserts than we can handle and sipping at the champagne.
I could go on about the traditions in the next few days, and the time we spend with my mums side of the family, but i think i best stop there for today! Congratulations if you made it through all that! I would love to here all about your traditions. Do you have any things that you do every year?
x
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