Suárez Family: Past and Present: Christmas Eve Traditions

As a family we have always done our big "event" on Christmas Eve. For us, the 25th is a day to stay in your pajamas til noon and wander around the house snacking on the remaining Christmas treats and playing with recently-opened gifts.

Here are the elements of a typical December 24th with the Hatchs:

Fancy Dinner

It has definitely become fancier over the years. Instead of ham, like we used to eat on Christmas, this year we ate a fancy piece of cow bigger than Santiago. [Believe me, both were laid on the counter next to each other. Same size.] All credit goes to the matriarch of the family. The rest of us mostly just show up with smiling faces. Or maybe we help set the table and pour the Christmas slush into cups. But that's all. This part is a one-woman show.

Holiday Entertainment & Nativity

Following the dinner, we all retire to the living room with hopes that the dishes will get washed by themselves. [Or by Dad, as the case may be.] Do we sound spoiled yet? On Christmas, we probably are.

Then we sing a few songs, talk and laugh. To tie in the Christmas message, we sneak in a [sometimes creative] rendition of the nativity story [usually mingled with talking and laughing - we've never claimed to be the most reverent crowd]. All of that is done while wearing Santa Hats.

Singing. (There was some dancing going on, too)

The Nativity begins...

We usually have to twist Dad's arm to read, because he knows how rambunctious things are going to get.

Mary, Joseph and Jesus // Shepherd with the baby // A singing angel

Mary wanted one more peak at that baby, who [strangely] was almost her size...

Eventually the wise men showed up. One even came from the East, true to the Biblical account. [The middle East to be exact.]

They brought some gold [tinsel]. And somewhere along the way, baby Jesus turned into Santa Claus. (?)

The end of the nativity.

2013 was fairly tame.

Gift Exchange

Every year we complain that its tradition to open allllll of our presents on Christmas Eve [I'm not going to go on public record by saying it's not, but....] The parents don't usually cave in completely. We start by opening presents from our sibling gift exchange to warm them up [that part really is tradition] and then they usually give in and let us open a few more. [Because we're all so cute its hard to say 'no'. Right, mom??]

Santiago got an Iron Man toy from his cousins.

My Dad got a re-programmed Easy button. WAY better than the original.

The Unpredictability Factor

Yes, we have our traditions. But year to year, you just never know what will happen next. Which is usually why Christmas Eve is so fun. One year there was a spontaneous haven't-played-these-instruments-in-a-decade concert. Thank goodness that wasn't a real tradition, but was funny none-the-less.

This year we had a little babushka gathering. [Courtney brought us all scarves from Russia.]

And this may soon be a real tradition, since it wasn't the first time it happened. But while Grandma distracted the boys with a story, a remote-control Angry Birds balloon descended from the staircase.