1. We always take a holiday family photograph each year in the same spot,
such as by a favorite corner of our yard. I now have a wonderful record
of the growth of my family.

2. We usually adopt a needy family for the holidays. Each member of my family
buys a present for the person closest to their own age.

3. We eat our dinner illuminated only by the Christmas tree.

4. I see to it that as soon as I wake up in the morning, I play Christmas music
until I leave for work.

5. Some time during the holidays, we go through our closets and box up
clothing we haven't worn in two years and we give away items that are
still in good condition to an orphanage or to the charity ward of our hospital.

I joined my friends to the Christmas Bazaar this weekend and as we were driving along one of the major thoroughfares of the city, I noticed the many lanterns, trees and other Christmas decorations lined up in the entire stretch of the long road. This made me reminisce the cherished Christmas traditions my family had maintained other than the usual Filipino ways and the new ones we had lovingly created as years went by. I marvel at the power of holiday traditions and the comfort and continuity they bring to us each year. So I will be sharing them with you every Monday starting this week. This is my way of reminding you too of some old traditions you need to revive or some fresh new ideas you might want to try. Here is my first list….

1. While we are together for Thanksgiving, we try to find out what's on
everyone's Christmas list.


2. We ask each family member to write down their activities for the holidays in
a big wall calendar so there won't be any mix-ups.

3. I put a basket with photos from past Christmases and put it in a prominent
spot of our living room.

4. I buy a big red candle and I light it every night at dinner during the holidays.

5. We drive through the neighborhood looking at Christmas decorations while
we are listening to our favorite Christmas CD.

At last I was able to finish decorating our tree. There are 3000 lights with red and gold trimmings in it. I also wanted to take shots of the garden and our front yard because my hubby filled it up with christmas lights but there was a strong typhoon today. In my country, these lights stay lit until the first week of January after we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany.