My Holiday Traditions

1. My Holiday Traditions AOA Faculty and Staff

2. Mrs. McCartney When I was a child, my parents used a tape player to record me saying the Christmas story from the time I could speak until I was in high school.  I really enjoyed being able to hear my voice change.  I started the same tradition with my children.  But, we have video taped them saying the story. : )

3. Mrs. Aning Mrs. Aning enjoys making Christmas treats for her friends and family, including yummy homemade fudge!

4. Mrs. Vierra The first weekend after Thanksgiving finds the Vierra family amidst the wilds of nature, searching for the perfect Christmas tree to behold our star. This year was no different, with the exception that our newest little Vierra blessed our festivities.

5. Mrs. Kraft My mother's side of the family has been gathering for Christmas Eve potluck for over 70 years.  We used to exchange gifts with our cousins until we all started having children.  We also all went to Christmas Eve midnight service until the year it was 98 below wind-chill and they cancelled the midnight service.  We now go to the 4 or 5 PM service then meet for a potluck and sing carols after dinner.  I come from a very musical family, so we have a lot of instruments to sing along with.  During a typical year, 50-70 cousins get together.  We only have one aunt left from the original generation – she was at the potluck and first in line as the oldest goes first. This has been a wonderful experience sharing Christmas Eve with my cousins all of these years.  We will all meet in heaven, too, as the majority of my mom's side are believers - what a joy!

6. Mrs. Schultz Every year when we get together my siblings cook everything from scratch in my mom’s kitchen (rather than having a potluck).  All of us have our tasks, and it’s a great time of being together and socializing.

7. Mrs. Brauning This is my niece, Emma, and me. Every year my husband and I go with my sister’s family to a Christmas tree farm to choose and cut our Christmas trees. Emma loves helping pick one – she once tried to pull up a six-inch-tall tree by herself.

8. Miss Michaud When I was a kid, our family tradition was to wake up early on Christmas morning.  My Dad would read the Christmas story, and then we would each take turns opening presents.  We would then have a big breakfast and watch the parade on TV.  The remainder of the day was spent cooking and enjoying our presents.  We would have a giant feast for dinner, and then end the day watching a movie together as a family.

9. Mrs. Blind Mrs Blind really got into the Christmas spirit by donning holiday-themed scrubs for her team’s Operation-themed decorations!

10. Mrs. Eben History teacher Mrs. Eben and her family spend time in the Florida Keys over the holidays.

11. Ms. Harbach Ms. Harbach really looks like she has some Christmas cheer!

12. Dr. Secord One of Dr. Secord’s favorite thing about Christmas is Christmas cards! Here, she and her husband, John, are hiding behind her mom’s Christmas tree.

13. Mrs. Rasmussen This is a picture of my family: Tony, Kimber, Delilah, and me after the Christmas Eve service.  I always TRY to get a family picture with the church decorations after the service.  Sometimes they turn out, and sometimes they don’t – depending on how much my kids cooperate!

14. Mrs. Essman • The last year I taught in a brick and mortar school, the drama club presented “The Christmas Story.”  This was an edited version of the one that runs continuously for 24 hours on TBS starting on Christmas Eve every year.  I had been asked to knit a very long stocking cap for one of the main characters, and so I took what they paid me and bought the prop they were offering.  We still try to watch that movie at least once each year.

15. Mr. Bakker Mr. Bakker got in the holiday spirit by playing a game at the Christmas party.

16. Mr.Haveman This is a picture with me and my wife showing the presents we received in a gift exchange where we drew names.  Each year as a family we draw names with me, my wife, and our three boys and then exchange gifts which is a lot of fun!

17. Dr. Quint We spend the month before Christmas with Advent preparations: Advent wreath, calendar, etc.  We try to bring out one Christmas item or decoration each day.  The tree goes up on December 24 and stays up until mid January. Each person receives a Christmas stocking with 13 small gifts in it. One gift is picked each day from Christmas Day through the 12 days of Christmas ending on January 6 with Epiphany. 

18. Mrs. Morales, Mrs. Heidloff, Ms.Coulson, Mrs. Nelson, and Mrs. Drenth… …won second place in the decorating contest!

19. Mrs. Cole This year, it worked out for two of our three children's families to come to Iowa. One tradition we have kept for many years has been church on Christmas eve, then home for Chili and Oyster Stew.  Then on Christmas morning, we open our presents and have a nice meal later that day.  The most cherished part of the meal is the Cranberry muffins. They have fresh cranberries in them, and then I put a warm sauce of cream, sugar, and butter over them. 

20. Mrs. Mitchell This is one of my sons and me working on a gingerbread house.

21. Mrs. Cole Mrs. Cole enjoyed singing with the choir at the Christmas party!

22. Mrs. Schonhardt We set out a nativity early in December, but Baby Jesus doesn't get set out until Christmas.  On Christmas Day we add Baby Jesus, sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus, and eat cake.

23. Mrs. Mestler One of our uniquely Arizonan traditions includes going to an old Western town called Rawhide. We enjoy the burro and train ride, as well as riding the stagecoach, watching a Wild West gun show, and having a steak dinner. The town is always decorated beautifully for Christmas, including a 4-story lit tree.  This picture is of my family, along with my kids' "adopted" grandparents.

24. Mr. Sunne Math teacher Mr. Sunne enjoyed fellowshipping with fellow AOA faculty and staff (Mr. Vogel, left and Miss Wohlleber, right) at the Christmas party!

25. Mrs. Pulkrabek enjoys the Christmas potluck lunch! Mrs. Pulkrabek

26. Mrs. Inlow Stockings are a bigger deal for my family than the "real" gifts.  My mom made our stockings and decorated each of them with buttons (a baseball mitt for my dad, a carrot for my sister, a sewing thimble for me, an airplane for herself).  All year she would find little things (flavored chap stick, small chocolates, etc.) that reminded her of us, and then at Christmas she wrapped them individually and put them in our stockings.  On Christmas morning each of us had a stocking stuffed with small, personal gifts to unwrap.

27. Mrs. Huygens Mrs. Huygens enjoyed helping lead her Christmas decorating team to second place!

28. Mrs. Klimes Is Mrs. Klimes a French/Music teacher or a doctor?

29. Mr. Burns • This is a photo of my wife, Linda, and me with our two newest grandsons, Micah and Caleb (left to right).  Getting together as a family for Christmas is very important to us.  We do a lot of family activities and enjoy some serious family time over the holidays.

30. Mr. Berg Mr. Berg made a wonderful, jolly Santa!

31. Mr. Gesch Mr. Gesch got in the holiday spirit by balancing Christmas tree ornaments on a yardstick set on top of a roll of wrapping paper!

32. Mrs.Janney This photo is with some very dear friends with whom we spent many of our Christmases in Iowa before they moved up to northern Minnesota. We had prepared a delicious dinner and were ready to enjoy it together. Our regular traditions for Christmas always involve family and good friends with lots of food and game time. One of the traditions that my parents began when I was little was the filling of stockings on Christmas Eve. Some years, the stocking filling actually becomes more extensive than the rest of the present exchange! My immediate family now travels to the Chicago area for Christmas with grandparents every year. My family home is still where my parents live, so there is plenty of room for everyone to be comfortable, and we are well fed, often for an entire week.

33. Miss Wohlleber Miss Wohlleber checks out the “competition” in the decorating contest.

34. Miss Hunsberger There are 2 traditions represented in this picture. The first is that we always get new pajamas in our stockings on Christmas Eve; we wear them that night and then most of Christmas day. The other tradition from my younger years is posing with our favorite Christmas presents. In this photo, I had to pick my top 2: a new bear (our family is a bit obsessed with teddy bears) named Rudi and a new doll I named Jennifer. Then Now!

35. Mrs. Smith Our holiday tradition basically takes place over New Years since Mr. Smith is a minister and usually working Christmas Day!  Here is a photo of our tradition – sailing on New Year’s Day!

36. Check out the AOA Today for next month’s topic and submission instructions!