Two final holiday traditions to round out the season and the year! The first comes from Howard CSR Ashley Baye:

Every year on Christmas Eve, my huge family gathers at my grandparents’ house and we all crowd into the basement. The family has grown bigger over the years, and now has 18 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. After everyone has crowded together, we begin exchanging gifts (we draw names beforehand to determine which person to buy for). We start with the kids and eventually move up to a more age-appropriate Secret Santa game for the adults. Everyone has a blast opening their presents and spending time together. This has always been one of my favorite nights of the year, and I look forward to seeing everyone soon.

And from Green Bay West BOSM Diane Leiterman:

There are 10 kids in our family. We all have kids, and half of us have grandkids. We rent a hall for our Thanksgiving and Christmas get-togethers. My mother maintained a tradition from my grandmother of knitting booties for everyone, and added making a gallon-size Ziploc bag of homemade carmel corn for each person, too. My mother passed away five years ago, and one of my sisters and I have kept up with the booties tradition; my father and a sister kept up with the carmel corn. It’s something we all look forward to.

Previously: Sledding, snowboarding and searching for the pickle