Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to you all! We have been having the most wonderful time of the year with our families and wanted to share our favorite traditions with you – our circle of friends and family. We hope you too are having the perfect week with all of your loved ones. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Susie

Our favorite holiday tradition is a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner. We have only missed one Christmas Eve in 38 years celebrating with one of my brother and sister-in-law’s family. We dress festive, pull out our Christmas china, have an elaborate meal and end the night singing carols where on many occasions, guitarists join in! We started this so my mother who lived in California could spend part of the holiday here with us. We love this tradition!

Matt

Christmas time is a special time of year in our household. Our little girls help bring the Christmas joy through their daily excitement and the daily countdown. Their excitement is so great that on Christmas Eve they need to get the wiggles out before the long winter’s nap! We always take an evening stroll through the neighborhood to enjoy the quiet night and festive lights and decorations. Last year, we were super impressed by a neighboring block who came together to light hundreds of paper bag lanterns. There was not a soul around but us. It was an amazing gift that our neighbors gave to all that passed by. So grateful for their actions and we look forward to what this Christmas Eve brings!

Jamie

The day we get our Christmas tree and decorate for the holidays, Ryan and I always wear our Christmas Jammies all day! We both love the Holiday season and like to get our tree up right away. Mia and Feisty join in with Christmas spirit too! While we decorate, we also like to throw on one of our favorite Xmas movies like “Elf” or “Die Hard.”

Josh

Growing up in a Latin house hold we would celebrate Christmas Eve in the traditional Central American fashion called Noche Buena. We gathered with family and friends to eat and drink traditional Salvadoran and Guatemalan food and bevs. After dinner we gathered in the living room to sing Christmas carols/hymns (in Spanish, of course) and my dad would read a few passages from the Bible, all before opening our gifts at midnight. These festivities would go on to the early hours of the morning and the best part was that it was the one day a year I could stay up all night with my siblings and cousins!

Now that I live in Portland, traveling back home for Christmas can be difficult at times. Fortunately for me, I have been able to celebrate Christmas with the Moran family. They celebrate Christmas Eve in a similar fashion and I’ve also started some of my own traditions with Megan. We have brunch on Christmas Eve at Besaw’s and exchange our new Christmas ornaments for the next year.