Christmas Traditions

I know this is a little late, but I've been meaning to write down some of the Christmas traditions that my family has. These are some of the more crazy ones. (We're weird.)

Christmas Eve Dinner
Every Christmas Eve we have hamburgers for dinner. (Just FYI for those non-US readers of mine, in America we celebrate Christmas on the 25th, not the 24th... so the big Chrismas dinner is on Christmas Day, the 25th.) This has been a family tradition ever since I can remember, and my brothers and I have always hated it and complained about it almost every year. At this point both the hamburgers and the complaining have become tradition and I don't think any of us would allow it to be changed.

Christmas cookies
We always make sugar cookies and frost them--green trees, yellow stars, and red bells. And sometimes some other shapes. They are so good. We usually give them to friends and neighbors, and save a lot for ourselves, too. I think the "my mom makes the BEST [insert some type of food here]!!!" thing is the most annoying cliche ever, but it's true that our cookies are probably better than anyone else's that I've ever had. (Most people make thin dry cookies, ours are thick and moist and not overcooked.) Also, they are like fine wine--better with age. If you leave them for a couple days and let the frosting flavor meld with the cookie, it's so much better. When I am out of the country and/or unable to come home for Chrismas, I always demand that my mom send me some cookies. Last year she mailed 2 to Denmark. They were still edible when they arrived. :)

Opening presents on Christmas Eve
A lot of people do this--open one gift on Christmas Eve. We usually do it too. (Actually I can't remember if I did that this year or not...) It's fun. But the real tradition is the one I started: you can't peek at your own gifts, but it's perfectly okay to peek at other people's, since they will still be surprised. So now we always sneak peaks to see what everyone got for everyone else... ("I wonder what grandma got for Aaron..." "Hmmm... what's this present from mom to Nathan?" etc) My mom doesn't approve of this tradition. I wonder why.

Upside-down Dr. Mario
It all started one Christmas when my brothers and I were all home from college for Christmas break, and getting bored. We ended up playing Nintendo (on the original NES system). We were having a Dr. Mario competition, but since we are all pretty good at that game it wasn't very challenging. Then, around 1 am someone suggested we play upside down--meaning you lie on your back with your head toward the TV and look backward at it. This proved to be much more entertaining, and a new tradition was born. I'm not sure my mom even knows about this one. :P

Reading Luke 2 on Christmas Eve
We also read the nativity story in Luke 2 on Christmas Eve. Usually my mom herds us all up and makes my dad read it. This was often accompanied by some (good-natured) whining when we were younger. Fun times. Also there may or may not be a joke cracked about a "crowded manger." ("And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.")

Reading 3rd Nephi on Christmas
We recently started reading in 3rd Nephi on Christmas morning--where it talks about the signs of the birth of Christ in the Americas. This is kind of cool.