The Christmas Holiday

The Christmas Holiday in our home.
May, 29th, 2012

If someone was to simply ask what their favorite holiday of the year is, they would expect Christmas to be the answer. For most of the people who have the pleasure of being able to celebrate this holiday, they would usually agree. In my family, this would certainly be the automatic response. The holiday Christmas, means a lot of memorable family time and a breath from our chaotic lives. My two oldest sisters are able to return home from college for about a two weeks. Other relatives including my Grandmother and Grandfather, aunts, uncles and cousins can join in the family gathering. Knowing that the end of the year is approaching very quickly at this time, we usually tend to get a little overwhelmed and stressed, but we try to keep calm and just being together seems to provide us with some extra help but also at times it seems to make things worse. I, myself have to say that Christmas morning is the most beautiful morning of all. The sun never fails in providing lots of warm rays of sunshine through our huge family room bay window, and the expressions on each persons face when they open their gifts are priceless. On Christmas Eve, my family looses no time preparing for the big day ahead. If we are behind on Christmas shopping, we’ll run to the store and then wrap the gifts in nicely delicate packages. My mother has raised me believing it is important to put our hearts, minds, and souls into the holiday of love, cheer, laughter, kindness, and togetherness. So therefore, we make it a habit of doing every little thing to our full advantage. For instance, when we bake cookies, we have to use the cookie-cutter to make them perfect and frost them thoroughly. The presents must be wrapped decently enough and even look presentable, although they are going to be shredded to pieces. Decorations have to throughout our house to spread Christmas joy and, of course, provide an environment that reminds us what a delightful time it is. By doing all of this, we are able to make the holiday much better of an experience and it will hopefully make Christmas morning, at our house, a morning to remember for the rest of our lives. After a very eventful Christmas Eve in which we exchange a few gifts later at night, we head to our sleeping places for the night, and faithfully wait for Santa Claus to arrive. My little sister is unsure whether Santa is real or not, but she chooses to continue her faith in order to create a Christmas that most other people would love to have. Innocence is a thing pf the past, in which, many adults and teenagers have lost, so having my little sister around takes us back to our young and innocent years. Then, when we fall into a deep sleep, nothing can bother us that night and nightmares are not a problem. All that runs through our restless minds is the thought of Christmas breakfast and receiving presents. Even though, Christmas does have more meaning than just gifts and a delicious breakfast, we compensate by thanking God for the wonderful lives we have and wish Jesus a Happy Birthday. By Christmas morning, all three of my sisters and I wake up at the crack of dawn, and then rush for our exhausted parents that lay in bed to arise. To make use of our spare time, my sisters and I pull out some old board games and entertain ourselves in the upstairs hall for awhile until our parents decide to wake up. The rule is the same each year; we line up youngest to oldest to enter the room in which our over-decorated, real pine Christmas tree stands tall with all of our presents underneath it. The eagerness is very difficult to fight back, but it just makes the beginning and the sight of that beautiful room ten times better. When entering the room, my sisters and I gasp at what a great job Santa has done this year. The presents are neatly stacked, the larger ones towards the back and the smallest ones in the front. But before opening presents, we look in our stockings that holds all sorts of goodies like candy, CD’s, gift cards and other knowledgeable stocking stuffers. I personally love being able to look at my sisters’ faces when they pull out something that they absolutely love. It’s almost as though they don’t expect to receive these presents. But indeed, I love watching everyone’s faces as they unwrap their exciting gifts, Especially my parents. After revealing the amazing gifts in our stockings, we prepare ourselves for the annual Christmas Breakfast. Everyone pitches in for this event, whereas my mother and father make the main dishes like pancakes or French toast, and my sisters and I make bacon, eggs, toast and sausage. The preparation for breakfast is so exciting and enjoyable, we sometimes seem to encounter in food fights or design foods that resemble a face or symbol. The best part is when the food is served, and we all take delight in this delicious meal. Once we’ve stuffed ourselves to the fullest we can, we enter our family room again to begin opening presents from beneath the Christmas tree. We turn the Christmas lights on, not worrying about it being light out, and we also turn on the local radio station that plays Christmas songs. This makes our excitement more enrich and creates a mood that none of us want to leave behind. Then as the mood is set, we begin to unwrap the gifts and exchange thank yours and hope that the morning will never end. My Grandfather pulls out his video camera to capture these joyous moments and we all take pleasure in seeing the expressions upon our faces as we receive the most meaningful present of all; family. I always look forward to this time of the year the simple reason, I realize how thankful I am for my family and that every minute spent with them is very special moments and to never take it for granted. It is a comforting thought, but once Christmas is gone, it’s back to reality. At least we enjoyed it while it lasted, we know it was a memory cherished in each and everyone of our hearts and we know the excitement will return next year.