What's Your Favorite Christmas Tradition?

Christmas is my favorite time of the year for a number of reasons. First, I love my Savior and commemorating his birth is always a joyous occasion. Second, I genuinely love to give presents to others. Ever since I bought my first Christmas present for someone else with my own money (a coffee pot for my dad - junior year of high school), I have always been more excited about seeing others open their gifts than I have to open my own. A third reason that I love Christmas is because of the time I get to spend with my family. It is during these family times that small routines become family traditions that we repeat each year.
These traditions are actually very important in family life because they help create a sense of stability for our kids (positive family times that are repeated each year). These times also create a sense of heritage within the family as our kids eventually repeat these same traditions with their kids. In light of this reality, I thought it would be appropriate for us to share some of our favorite traditions with each other as we prepare to celebrate Christmas in a few days. Who knows? Maybe we will get some great ideas from each other that will help us make this or future Christmas celebrations even more special.

Here are my two favorite memories...
As many of your know we moved frequently when I was a kid (I went to 22 different schools between kindergarten and tenth grade), as a result it was kind of hard to establish a lot of traditions. Christmas was different almost every year. In spite of the changes from one year to the next a couple of things remained constant. Prior to my teenage years I asked for a new football every year for Christmas. My father always obliged. This led to a Christmas memory I will always cherish - playing football with my Dad and brothers for hours on end. I will never forget those football games. They were great family time. Another "tradition" from my childhood was actually started when I was a teenager. One year my mom served us cinnamon rolls with orange flavored icing for breakfast on Christmas morning. We loved them and they became our Christmas morning staple. This tradition has survived. Marcie, Tyler, Brooke, and I still eat the same kind of rolls every Christmas morning for breakfast before we open gifts. It is always a special time in the Bonts household.

Do you have any simple Christmas traditions/routines your family shares that may seem inconsequential to others but are actually very special to you? I would love to hear about them.

Chris