On Christmas Eve, my family and I get dressed up to have dinner. That’s when we give our Secret Santa gifts one at a time. 

We have done this my whole life, and it’s always so fun to get to see who everyone gets—and it also allows everyone in the family to at least get one gift.

My family always requests that I make "Preacher's cookies" for Christmas! They're a no-bake cookie said to be whipped up fast enough for when you see unexpected guests—like the preacher—coming to your house.

I make these with almond butter for my peanut-free household. I've also substituted with almond milk to make for my dairy-free friends, and it still works well!

Every year since my husband and I got married, we take a photo with our pup in front of our tree—in the same spot and in the same pose. We do this with a self-timer photo first thing on Christmas morning in our Christmas pajamas with our Christmas mugs. 

We have three already, and we look forward to looking back on the dozens we'll have in the future.

Every Christmas, instead of the usual repeat of a Thanksgiving meal, we make homemade Clam Chowder with bread bowls. After dinner, we always have pumpkin pie together and sing Happy Birthday to Jesus.

My husband and I create a Christmas movie tracker and try to watch one or two each week—depending on the week, we might even watch more than that! It's a fun way to remember date nights like this, and we look forward to it every year. (Movie musts always include "Home Alone," "It's a Wonderful Life," and "Jingle All the Way.")

Place it near the chimney (or where Santa enters the home) to give the reindeer a nice treat for their journey!

My parents would give each kid an ornament that was unique to us or explain something we enjoyed/accomplished that year. Then we got to keep them and have our own box of ornaments when we moved out!