Christmas is by far my family’s favorite holiday! It is such
a beautiful time of year with so many happy people all around town.
The holiday seems to last the entire month of December with
all the beautiful decorations in our homes, stores, and even outside in our
town!
The real exciting part of Christmas begins Christmas eve; we
go to my dads for a big family dinner! Typically, we have ham, cheesy potatoes,
and some vegetables. It is a happy evening with lots of love and laughter. We
have our annual cousin gift exchange at my dad’s. The young children exchange
one gift off their Santa wish list and the older cousins typically get a gift
card to their favorite store. To wrap the evening up, everyone goes to Church for the 9 o’clock mass. It is a great opportunity to praise our lord and go to a
beautiful candle light mass. After church we drive around a few subs and enjoy the beautiful Christmas light displays. When we get home, we set homemade cookies out for
Santa Clause.
In the morning, our family wakes up to the smells of a delicious
home cooked breakfast and fresh roasted coffee. The family does a gift exchange
under the Christmas tree and watches A Christmas Story. It is a tradition for
our family to watch that movie every Christmas morning! To complete Christmas day, we go to my husband’s parents for a Lebanese dinner. Our
Christmas traditions are my absolute favorite because there are so many
traditions with almost every family member involved. Only 42 days until
Christmas!!! J
One of our family’s favorite Christmas traditions is
creating a GINGERBREAD HOUSE! There are so many different decorations to
decorate them with! Everyone in our family makes one and at the end, everyone
votes the one they like as the best decorated gingerbread house. The winner wins a
Starbucks giftcard. It is a fun family night during the Christmas holiday.
During the holiday season, we always bake Christmas cookies.
Below is one of my family’s favorite recipes by Cassie Johnston for sugar cookies! We like sugar
cookies because they are fun for the whole family to decorate!
INGREDIENTS
For the Cookies
·
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened
·
1 cup sour cream
·
1¾ cup granulated sugar
·
2 eggs
·
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
·
½ teaspoon almond extract
·
6 cups all purpose flour
·
1½ teaspoons baking powder
·
1 teaspoon baking soda
·
½ teaspoon salt (omit if using salted butter)
For the Frosting
·
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened
·
1 teaspoon vanilla, coconut, almond, or peppermint extract
·
4 cups powdered sugar
·
5 tablespoons milk
·
Food coloring and sprinkles, optional
