“The weekend before Christmas, I help my children, ages 9 and 7, bake hundreds of cookies and package them into holiday baggies. Then on Christmas Eve day we drive around the streets of Ontario (mostly the City Hall area) and distribute the bags to the homeless population.”

Sandra Aguirre

“We drive around the neighborhoods that go ‘all-out’ when it comes to decorating and look at the lights. Also, we look forward to drinking homemade eggnog (alcoholic and non-!).”

Sara Garske

“In Russia, Christmas is not a popular, commercialized holiday like it is in the States. New Year’s, however, is almost an identical transplant: we have a tree with decorations and presents under it except that they are left there by ‘Ded Moroz’ (Grandpa Chill) rather than by Santa Claus. In our family, everybody will leave the living room 10 minutes before midnight on New Year’s Eve and come back with presents for everyone. As zero-hour strikes, the champagne cork flies up and we drink to a ‘New Year, new happiness.’”
Max Gokhman '06

“My mother has a fruitcake recipe that actually makes fruitcake taste good (honestly!). I would always help her mix up a huge batch to send to family and friends for the holidays. The best part, of course, was trying to eat the cherries and nuts off the top when my mother wasn't looking.”

Megan Baesman, '03

“We barbecue a Malaysian satay, in addition to turkey, for Christmas dinner. The rule is that if you don’t string it onto the skewers, you don’t get to eat any. We also have a spicy peanut sauce that goes with it, and most people end up using it in place of traditional gravy on the rest of dinner too. Yum!”
Holly McCord '92

“Twelve years ago we started having a special Christmas dinner for close friends. Someone at the first dinner had never read the How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss. We sat in a circle and each read a page from the book. The dinner is now affectionately known as the ‘Grinch Party,’ and includes an annual reading of the story. We started signing the book 10 years ago and the book is now a treasured family keepsake.”

Barbara Nanning

“My brother and I take turns choosing candies from an advent calendar until Christmas Eve, when we pick the last. My mom has quilted a tapestry-like calendar with a pocket for each day.”

Jay Kvam '05

“Hello! The Retzlaff family observes both Hanukkah and Christmas because we have family that are Jewish and Catholic. We observe traditional Chanukah celebrations such as lighting candles, eating potato latkes, and getting together with Jewish friends. For Christmas we travel east, to New York, and have an Italian Christmas with a lot of great Italian dishes, among lots and lots of relatives.”

Max and Steve Retzlaff

“My dad creates an elaborate trivia test/treasure hunt for me and my brothers. The trivia test always presses our knowledge of family history, Chinese words, and the best ways to save/invest money. The treasure hunt includes cryptic limerick clues that baffle us to no end, and have us racing around the house trying to find certain items. He has done new tests and treasure hunt clues every year for over 25 years. The last few years he has threatened to stop the tradition, but it hasn't happened yet."

Jennifer Wong '90

“Every year my family bakes and decorates sugar cookies together. A group of friends/neighbors from around our community also goes caroling for canned goods for several nights. We sing and collect food for Northwest Harvest, our local food bank. We then go as a group and help the food bank sort/pack/distribute food.”

Leila Cook

“My mother buys my two brothers, sister, and me a new Christmas tree decoration every year They almost always are Hallmark ornaments that seem to fit each of our personalities and lifestyles in some unique way. We get to put them on the tree early---the only thing we get to open before Christmas Day! (THANKS, MOM!)”

Jeff Smith '03

"Although I am Jewish, the Christmas season has always been an important part of my secular home life. Patrick, my domestic partner of 23 years, has made me a Christmas fanatic: we go caroling through the streets of Silver Lake (LA) with a group of about 10 gay and lesbian celebrants, singing upbeat Broadway show songs, dressed in seasonal costume."

Marc Katz

“Although Hanukkah doesn't fall during the traditional holiday month this year, it is still considered to be a part of the holiday season. A family tradition of mine during Hanukkah is to go out to a nice dinner with all of our family friends.”
Sam Kepler '06

“My family's tradition has always been to watch Miracle on 34th Street, the ORIGINAL version, on Christmas Eve.
Brian Maurizi '03

“I eat Thanksgiving dinner at Collins, because . . . people who don't live in California . . . don’t have the requisite time to get home.”
Clinton Morgan '04

“Yahoo for Christmas! Ever since I can remember, the smell of ginger and cinnamon has filled our house during the holiday season. Grandma always baked traditional Dutch, spiced-ginger cookies for the whole family to enjoy. I'm thankful that she had the time to teach me how to bake these delicious treats before she passed away last year, so that I can continue her tradition. Thank you, Grandma, for your legacy of happy tummies, full of yummy sweets.”
April Wilson '04

“My family always cuts down our Christmas tree on the same day: December 13, which is my Mom’s birthday. In addition, we have a rotation for who gets to pick the tree because nobody can agree on what kind of tree is the best.”
Ricky Helke '04