Every child (probably the teenagers too) every year stay awake at night waiting…waiting…waiting.One of the only nights of the year that they just can’t wait till morning . Christmas Eve. Ever since I was old enough to be excited I have been excited for Christmas. For em Christmas isn’t just about the presents or teh food. For me its more about the company and being able to spend time with my family. I have two brothers and a sister and my sister and one of my brothers don’t live in my house anymore so its one of the only times I get to see them.
Every year at Christmas my dad gets a little grumpy. He doesn’t really like having to put up the lights or the tree. He’s always very busy and its hard on him. The worst part is shoveling snow. My dad has a bad back and so he always hurts his back shoveling snow. This year when I get home and there’s fresh snow on the ground I become a helper. if my dad and mom aren’t home or if my mom is home I go outside and shovel snow for my dad.
My house is always alive around this time of year. The Christmas dinner is always at my house and this year my aunt moved to town so that’s one more family that’s coming. Sometimes my cousins come and we all celebrate together (my cousins live in Vancouver). I remember one year at Christmas when my cousins came all of the kids had to eat down stairs and one of my cousins did have any mashed potatoes. We all asked him why and he just said “I don’t like potatoes.”. We all called him crazy. When we asked “why do you LOVE french fries then?” and he said ” because their tasty and good!”. Everyone laughed and then kept eating.
One of the best things about my Christmas is I’m half Ukrainian. I get to celebrate twice. Once on Christmas and then again on January 6th. Ukrainian Christmas is not the same as normal Christmas. The Traditions are much different. Here in Courtenay we have a Ukrainian Cultural Society. I am a part of the Ukrainian Dance group we have here in the valley. Every year we celebrate Christmas in January as a group. We have twelve dishes with no meat or dairy. The first dish is Wheat and honey. I don’t remember the name but its good. After that we have Kolach (Ukrainian Christmas bread). After that we get to REALLY eat. We get Perogies and sauerkraut. Plum Perogies and kielbasa. The food is great and so is the company. Everyone in the Ukrainian club is like family to me and always has been. I don’t get a second set of gifts but most other people do. I love who I am and being able to have this opportunity.
Now you know what I do at Christmas, I want to know what you do for Christmas! Please send it in a comment so I know what you do and learn about your traditions.
Flickr Picture By:gadl
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