Christmas Eve Traditions


What will you be doing on Christmas Eve?

Some countries and people open their gifts on Christmas Eve.  To me this is just wrong!  What is left for Christmas Day expect stuffing yer face with the turkey? 

On Christmas Eve some people play endless Christmas Carols and decorate their tree.  Some people attend midnight candlelit church service and go to family to had out gifts.  Some people have a special Christmas Eve dinner.

Here are a few of our family traditions for Christmas Eve.

We usually watch "Dinner For One" or "Wizard of Oz" before hanging up our Christmas stockings.  We put out cookies and beer milk for Santa. Our Reindeer get crunchy fresh carrots and we sprinkle "Reindeer Food" on the lawn so that Santa's Reindeer knows which house is

Our Reindeer Food consists of oats and plenty glitter. 

So that when we sprinkle it on the lawn at night,
the moon will make it sparkle bright. 
As Santa's reindeer fly and roam,
this guides them to our humble home.

A fairly new tradition of ours (introduced last year) with our very close group of friends is the exchanging of R30 gifts with everyone.  Last year there was about 20 of us, this year its about 16 of us.  We each buy each other a gift no more than R30.  Sometimes its more exciting trying to find a gift that cheap than actually receiving them.  They can be gag gifts or something useful or something that reminds you of a specific someone.  It is usually a mountain of gifts and stay up until midnight to open them (even the little ones).  Its a lot of fun and laughs.

This year we are having a burger braai for supper and will hang around the house playing 30 Seconds or Twister or some other equally lame games that you normally NEVER play but its fun to have all our friends together to enjoy Christmas Eve.

What are your Christmas Eve Traditions???  I'd love to hear how they all differ.