I took the Halloween decorations down and started to drag out the Christmas stuff and it made me think of all the traditions we had when I was a kid. My mom would play the Frank Sinatra Christmas Album in the sitting room while all 6 of her children took turns putting one ornament on the tree at a time (so that it was fair). She kept them in these super old trunks that her grandfather bought, so opening them was like finding lost treasure. It took all night, but it was one of the few times we didn't fight with each other. She always woke us up extra early Christmas day after she had already gotten up and cooked a FEAST for breakfast (waffles, pancakes, bacon, sausage, eggs, hashbrowns, orange juice, tea, chocolate milk, buscuits...). We opened our presents with full tummies and slept for the rest of the day. And on New Year's we would stay up all night playing games and watch tv (mom always watched X-Files) until midnight, my grandmother had this giant handbell, it was like 15 lbs and massive- and she would let us go outside and take turns ringing it at midnight. It was so loud it echoed all the way up the street. What are your favorite holiday memories?
