It seems like Saturday was just a day ago, but another week has slipped by and Randy Seaver has issued this week’s challenge for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun. We are to answer the questions to Pauleen’s 2012 Christmas meme. That was just over a year before I began blogging, so this meme is a new one for me.

1. Do you have any special Xmas traditions in your family?  The only tradition is that we spend the day with family and have a turkey dinner in late afternoon. It is the same tradition that was followed in my family growing up and when I married Dave, his family did the same. Family that lived nearby always spent the day. I only know of one year in which my family drove to Massachusetts to spend Christmas with my maternal grandparents. That was Christmas 1956. In California, Dave and I would drive to either his parents’ home in Hemet or to his brother’s family in Chino unless we were hosting the holiday that year. In that case, they drove to our house.
2. Is church attendance an important part of your Christmas celebrations and do you go the evening before or on Xmas Day?  My parents weren’t church goers, so Christmas Eve or Christmas Day attendance wasn’t part of our routine. As young marrieds, Dave and I regularly went to Midnight Mass, but we’re too old for that now – it’s way past our bedtime!
3. Did/you or your children/grandchildren believe in Santa?  I believed in Santa Claus until I was six or seven and a classmate told me there was no Santa. Of course, I ran home to ask my parents about it and dejectedly found out it was true. I was also warned NOT to ever tell my brother (who was only 1 or 2 at that time), but he found out at about the same age, also from a classmate.
4. Do you go caroling in your neighbourhood?  I vaguely remember going Christmas caroling on my street when I belonged to Pioneer Girls. I have much more vivid memories of caroling with my son’s Cub Scout troop. That was a lot of fun. Adults and kids had a great time.
5. What’s your favourite Christmas music?  Mostly traditional hymns and tunes. Bing Crosby and Burl Ives are two of my favorite singers.
6. What’s your favourite Christmas carol?  The Little Drummer Boy by the Harry Simeone Chorale, but I also really like Bing Crosby’s and David Bowie’s updated song Peace on Earth/The Little Drummer Boy. I still think Crosby and Bowie were about the oddest pairing ever, but they did a beautiful job on that song.
7. Do you have a special Xmas movie/book you like to watch/read?  A Christmas Carol, the movie with Alistair Sims from 1951.
8. Does your family do individual gifts, gifts for littlies only, Secret Santa (aka Kris Kringle)?  Our immediate family is small – just six of us, so we all exchange gifts.
9. Is your main Christmas meal indoors or outdoors, at home or away?  We always indoors at the home of whichever part of the family is hosting that year.
10. What do you eat as your main course for the Christmas meal?  Think Thanksgiving dinner on repeat – exactly the same meal and we all love it! Classic roast turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, Dave’s mom’s recipe for lime fruit salad, vegetables, rolls, snacks to nibble and dessert, usually a chocolate pie.
11. Do you have a special recipe you use for Xmas?  I have a number of cookies I only bake at Christmas. They aren’t decorated for Xmas, it’s just that I’ve only baked them at that time of year for gift plates to friends.
12. Does Christmas pudding feature on the Xmas menu? Is it your recipe or one you inherited?  Christmas pudding is basically a fruit cake – nope, it hasn’t ever been on our Christmas menu. Nobody in the family would eat it.
13. Do you have any other special Christmas foods? What are they?  I’ll splurge and buy some eggnog – just one container of Borden’s, which I love.
14. Do you give home-made food/craft for gifts at Christmas?  My cookies, already mentioned in question #11. I used to share them with teachers and aides at my school, too, before I retired.
15. Do you return to your family for Xmas or vice versa?  My brother-in-law’s family lives literally a 4 minute walk from my house so we don’t have far to go.
16. Is your Christmas celebrated differently from your childhood ones? If yes, how does it differ?  No, it is celebrated in very much the same way as when I was growing up.
17. How do you celebrate Xmas with your friends? Lunch? Pre-Xmas outings? Drop-ins? Mostly with pre-planned holiday lunches. I hosted a holiday brunch/luncheon this past Friday for the genealogy group I teach. Everyone brought some food and shared a brick wall (for suggestions on where else to look) and her best find of 2017. It was a big success!
18. Do you decorate your house with lights? A little or a lot?  We used to put lights along the roof line, in the bushes and even along the driveway edge when we lived in CA. Here in Tucson, the way our house is set, the lights wouldn’t be seen by anyone and adobe stucco isn’t very conducive to hanging anything. I do decorate inside, though, with my Christmas collections.
19. Is your neighbourhood a “Xmas lights” tour venue?  I live on a cul-de-sac of only 4 homes, so no, we aren’t an Xmas lights neighborhood.
20. Does your family attend Carols by Candlelight singalongs/concerts? Where?  No. I’ve occasionally gone to a Christmas singalong, but it isn’t a regular event.
21. Have any of your Christmases been spent camping (unlikely for our northern-hemisphere friends)?  No and my idea of camping is checking into a hotel for the night!
22. Is Christmas spent at your home, with family or at a holiday venue?  It’s at the home of whichever family is hosting. I did Thanksgiving this year, so we will make the 4 minute walk to my brother- and sister-in-law’s home for Xmas.
23. Do you have snow for Christmas where you live?  We occasionally had snow flurries on Christmas in California. None on Christmas here in Tucson yet, but we did have snow covering the cactus on New Year’s Day 2016, so it is possible.
24. Do you have a Christmas tree every year?  Yes, we have a tree each year even if we are spending the day elsewhere.
25. Is your Christmas tree a live tree (potted/harvested) or an imitation?  In California, we had a live tree, but sadly, have had a fake one each year in Tucson. It is so dry here that real trees don’t hold up very well. I miss having a real tree, even though it means cleaning up all those darn needles off the floor.
26. Do you have special Xmas tree decorations?  We have vintage ornaments that have been passed down through both Dave’s family and mine, plus ornaments that we’ve collected on travels or bought as a family.
27. Which is more important to your family, Christmas or Thanksgiving?  Christmas.