Christmas Traditions

Well, I saw this on my friend Anne's blog and had to steal it. As I may have mentioned before, I LOVE these things. I think I might actually steal an answer or 2. Thanks Anne! BTW, feel free to steal this for your own blogs if you happen to be a junkie for these things like myself!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper preferably as nothing is funner than watching your kids rip into it, but often we end up with gift bags as well as mom (me) gets lazy and tired of wrapping.
2. Real tree or artificial? We always had a real one growing up, though my parents now have a fake one. Wes and I have always had a fake one, but I am psyched to have my own house next Christmas so I can totally get a real one and not worry about any apartment rules!
3. Do you like eggnog? Totally, it is awesome!
4. Do you have a Nativity scene? Yes, 2 or 3 of them.
5. Hardest person to buy for? Spence and Mel are hands down the hardest. So is Wes, and for some reason Solace has been hard this year.
6. Easiest person to buy for? Myself ; ) No really, probably like my mom.
7. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Seriously cannot think of one, but I do remember getting a rice patty baby from China for a birthday once that I did not really appreciate at the time-let's just say I was a bit of a brat, but I have repented of that, and still own that doll, even with her eye ripped out! (So, I'm saying it was the gift I was least grateful for, but not really the worst gift ever. I cannot think of an answer for that, so I am just avoiding the question very stealthily...)
8. Mail or e-mail Christmas cards? I love sending out Christmas cards (and I love getting them) though I don't know if they are going to happen this year...
9. Favorite Christmas Movie? Elf is awesome, and I like a few of the old stand-bys (White Christmas, and Miracle on 34th Street-the old school one with Natalie Wood as a child)
10. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I basically do all my shopping the day after Thanksgiving every year, though the sales were disappointing this year so I did not get much and still have a lot of shopping to do.
11. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Not that I can think of.
12. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? There are so many foods I associate with this time of year, and that I wait all year to eat. To name a few: pomegranates, peppermint ice cream (the only kind of ice cream I ever really like), Christmas pudding, Hickory Farms cheese balls and beef stick, Honey Baked Ham's turkey... I also always like having fresh grapefruit cut and ready to eat on Christmas morning.
13. Clear lights or colored on the tree? I love colored, but Wes is a white lights guy, and his opinion is much stronger on this one so we generally end up with white.
14. Favorite Christmas song? I LOVE Christmas music in general! But there are quite a few newer versions of old classics that drive me CRAZY! I just love listening to FM 100 forever leading up to Christmas, and am SO happy to have found the all Christmas music station here in Spokane this year! I love riding in my car now (wish I had a radio in the house)!
15 Travel at Christmas or stay home? We always end up traveling to Utah for Christmas with our families. Even the one year we stayed in Omaha, on Christmas morning after all presents were opened, Wes, who was stir crazy from a few days home from school on his break wanted to get in the car and drive to Utah. So, we did.
16. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? I have to sing it..."You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid and Donner, and Blitzen, but do you recall...the most famous reindeer of all...Rudolph the Red Nosed reindeer..."
17. Angel on the tree top or a star? I think an angel, but don't really care either way.
18. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? One present on Christmas Eve with my family that is always pajamas, and as I recall, Wes's family opens the sibling presents on Christmas eve too (Stef-am I remembering this right?). The rest are on Christmas
19. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Traffic, and the busy, busy stores! Also, I hate the people that make it their business to be scrooges the whole season long.
20. Favorite Christmas tradition? I love the Christmas eve Evans family play thing (though it can get long at times), and I love visiting with both families and just being together with family. I appreciate this much much more now that we have lived away so long! It is really the only time our kids get to see the whole family all year long.
21. Up early or sleeping in? Up EARLY!!! I cannot sleep on Christmas Eve, even now as an adult. I hate waiting to go in and see the presents. Usually I am the one waking everyone up at like 6 am (I don't feel I can start waking anyone up earlier than that.)
22. Who hands out the gifts? Always my dad at my parents house.
23. Does Santa wrap your gifts? Yes, unless it was a huge gift, then it was often just hidden behind the tree or under the pianos to be pulled out at the last second.
24. Do you tell the Christmas story? Always on Christmas eve! In a play format (I think my mom wrote it up and we use the same script each year) that is often quite hilarious and often long, but I love it!! It is filled with music, scriptures and fun! It drives most everyone crazy, but like I said, I love it!