Sarah ArnoldAlthough it may not be a white one, we hope you have the merriest Christmas with your family and friends! In celebration of this wonderful time of year, we thought we would share with you a few of our favorite holiday traditions. Join in and share your own favorite tradition by leaving a comment below!
Joe Stephens: My favorite tradition is going to the PHS A Cappella Christmas concert. I’ve only missed it once in the last fifteen years and it just didn’t feel like Christmas. I was honored to be the narrator for it this year.
Sarah Drake: My Mom and I bake dozens and dozens of cookies every year, box them and gift them to all of our family, friends and neighbors!
Cristie Thomas: Brad and I’s favorite Christmas traditions are baking new cookie recipes and watching National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.
Liv Hefner: Our family always watches It’s A Wonderful Life on Christmas Eve. We usually host a big Christmas Eve dinner before that & then spend the rest of the evening relaxing (& I inevitably cry because It’s a Wonderful Life does me in every time).
Brittany Hapney: My favorite holiday tradition is coming home from running around for two days straight (Christmas Eve & Christmas Day) and sitting on the couch with a glass of wine or a mimosa. I also enjoy watching A Christmas Story on repeat for 24 hours straight!
Claire Berlin: My favorite long-time holiday tradition is spending time with my family, no matter whose house or state we end up at for the holiday! My relatively new holiday tradition for the past four years is walking through Parkersburg City Park for the Holiday in the Park light display with Dan. This year Dan and I bought a house and moved to Little Hocking, OH where we discovered the Holiday Lights Festival in Belpre Civitan Park!
Laura Pytlik: I’m old, so I have a lot of favorites! But I LOVE baking Christmas cookies, while listening to Christmas music. I bake over 15 kinds, and make up trays to give to friends, it’s my gift from the heart!
Autumn Winters: My favorite Christmas tradition that I started a few years ago with my little ones takes place at Belpre Civitan Park. Part of the light show consists of a lit archway that people can drive under. My kids love for me to wait until no one is around and then speed through the lit archway. They love zooming through the lights! We’ve done it on 5 or 6 separate trips so this season.
Courtney Smith: Mine is baking candy cane cookies with my daughter. My mom and I have been baking those together along with my sisters for as long as I can remember. I’m excited to carry on the tradition with my little girl.
Michelle Waters: We sit by the tree, turn the rest of the lights out, let the tree light the whole room, and listen to the Christmas records I grew up listening to (my mom gave them to me a few years ago).
Laura Knobel: Watching A Christmas Story multiple times (there’s usually a 24 hour marathon on TV on Christmas Day). “I triple dog dare ya!”
Nate Knobel: When I was growing up, it was getting to open up stockings with my younger sister before our parents were awake. We’d already be hopped up on candy before mom and dad’s alarm went off! My favorite Christmas morning treat is a chocolate orange. (And my wife still gets me a chocolate orange for my stocking every year.)
Scarlet Sheppard: Ever since learning about France’s Christmas traditions in French class at PHS, I’ve been making a “Buche de Noel” yule log cake every Christmas Eve! They get better every year…usually. But mostly I concentrate on the pretty garnishing!
Sarah Arnold: Two of my favorite family traditions are watching Scrooge the Musical (featuring Albert Finney) and singing along to all of our favorite parts, and icing the sugar cookies to see whose will be the most “tray worthy.” When I was little, we would drive around all the different neighborhoods to see the Christmas lights – and for a few years, we even gave a tray full of cookies to our favorite house!
We look forward to hearing your favorite holiday traditions! Merry Christmas!