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08 December

BLINK BLOG: Holiday Plans + Traditions

Christmas is just a couple of weeks away and have another Blink Blog about holiday plans and traditions. Read below to see what our Blink authors have planned this holiday season…

What are your holiday travel plans?

Alison Gervais: This year I went to Arizona to celebrate Thanksgiving with my mom’s side of the family. I have a new baby cousin I’ve been waiting to meet, so I’m very excited.

Annie Sullivan: Well, if you follow me on social media or on my blog, you know that travelling is one of the things I do for fun. I don’t’ normally like to travel for the holidays (my family is all local.) But this year my parents and I will be setting out to visit Australia and New Zealand over Thanksgiving. I’m so excited because after going there, I will have been to every continent, but I will miss seeing the rest of my family on Thanksgiving.  

Jonathan Friesen: To travel as little as possible!

Lorie Langdon: No plans to travel. Most of my family lives near me, which is nice.

McCall Hoyle: We’ll visit my husband’s family in North Carolina. If we’re lucky, we might squeeze in a long weekend to St. Augustine, Florida. If not, we’ll spend lots of time at home watching Christmas movies, reading good books, and enjoying good food.

Any Christmas traditions?

Alison Gervais: For the past ten years or so, on Christmas Eve my family and I all get together for pizza and then go to our church’s midnight mass, which has always been wonderful. The church is beautifully decorated and the choir is amazing. Afterward we go home and open presents. This tradition has been evolving into something new lately since my sisters have kids now, but the family is still together for Christmas, and that’s what counts.

Annie Sullivan: Christmas is my favorite holiday, and the traditions start the day after Thanksgiving. We blast Christmas music throughout the house and decorate. We put up the crèche and hang the stockings. We also go out and get a real tree every year, which I love because then it smells wonderful in the house–like Christmas! On Christmas Eve, we go to mass and then spend the evening with my mom’s extended family. Then, on Christmas morning, all my siblings gather at my parent’s house, and we have a giant breakfast and sit around in our pajamas opening presents. It’s a day filled with love and joy, and it’s my favorite morning all year long.

Christina June: My family does the traditional Polish Wigilia on Christmas Eve, which involves a lot of eating and wishing each other well for the new year.

Lorie Langdon:  My favorite tradition is simple…waking up on Christmas morning with my family, opening gifts, and then eating cinnamon rolls while we watch A Christmas Story.  

McCall Hoyle:  We’ve done the Elf on the Shelf shenanigans every year since my children were small despite the fact that the mischievous little guy has caused more than one argument between the adults in the house. And we always hide a glass pickle in the Christmas tree. It generally takes weeks for one of my children to find it. Whoever finds it wins fun holiday-themed presents, like Christmas socks, books, and pajamas. No December would be complete at the Hoyle house without the Lego Advent calendar. I think I’m going to stop there before anyone starts worrying about my family’s holiday obsession.