We’re in the midst of the 2023 holiday season, and along with the chill in the air, this time of year brings a bit of nostalgia to many. It’s fun as adults to reminisce on holiday seasons from years past. The aroma of freshly baked treats, the sight of gifts under the tree, and the magic that seemed to be in the air in December.

Here’s a glimpse of some of our team’s most favorite holiday traditions that make this time of year so special, year after year.

Addie

For the last six years, our family’s holiday tradition has been traveling south to spend Christmas in the sunshine. We have created so many memories with our boys during our 17-hour road trips to Texas and it’s something that we look forward to all year long. Throughout our stay in the warmer weather, we have some of our favorite things that we do together over the long holiday break, year after year. This includes taking in an NBA game together (we’re big basketball fans!), going golfing, spending hours at the arcade, dining at our favorite local restaurants and one of my most memorable moments – going to the movie theater on Christmas day with chair-side snack service. This year, we’re changing things up a bit and flying to the desert to spend ten days in sunny Scottsdale, and I can’t wait to experience new adventures with my husband and boys! 

Alli

During the holidays, my immediate family, cousins, grandma, aunts and uncles all play games after we eat supper. We have done gift exchange games, dominoes, card games, etc. It seems that over the years we go in waves of different card games, but a more recent game we have been getting into is NERTZ!

Ariana

One of my favorite parts of the Christmas season is my family’s Christmas Eve tradition. My younger sister and I start the day by doing last minute gift shopping at the mall. It’s always super crowded and busy, and we typically don’t have much shopping to do, so it’s fun to watch the hustle and bustle of other shoppers, buy things here and there, and sip holiday drinks from Starbucks. My family always goes out to dinner on Christmas Eve (typically at a Chinese restaurant), so we get all dressed up for that and the one-hour service at our church. After church, we go to a drive-through light show at a park in our town. When we get home, we typically each get to open one gift from under the tree before we go to sleep! I haven’t been with my family on Christmas Eve the past few years, but when I am home in South Carolina, it’s one of the best days!

Jess

Every year, Ryan, Everly, and I make hot chocolate and cookies, pile into the car, and go drive through the lights at the Falls! If it’s nice enough, we will get out and walk around and take photos. Everly loves all the lights and listening to the Christmas music on the radio. When she’s happy and enjoying herself, I’m happy! This year we plan on bringing new our kitten, Pepper, so that should be interesting! We started this tradition the first Christmas we all spent together, which was in 2020. Anytime the three of us get to spend quality time together is so special to me!

Kali

My favorite tradition is baking holiday treats to share with friends and family. It’s something I started partaking in with my family at a very early age, and I have kept it going strong since. It looks different now, because it was frosting sugar cookies for Santa as a kid, and has since turned into a time to try more elaborate and new recipes. It started with my parents and brother, but has now turned into something I do each year with my friends, and even my boyfriend! I love doing this each year, because it provides me such joy, while getting to show some extra love and gratefulness to those in my life that I get to share the treats with!

Kendra

My family has had a lot of holiday traditions around Christmas over the years! Growing up, my siblings and I slept in front of the Christmas Tree on Christmas Eve and it was magical. However, my favorite tradition is our Christmas meal. Each person in our family picks a dish (main or side – doesn’t matter) that they want to eat, and we all work together as a family to make those dishes on the night we open presents! It can be a hodgepodge of a meal, so stuff that doesn’t necessarily “go” together, and nothing is out of the question! We have done this ever since I can remember, and it is so special to now add my siblings’ plus ones into the mix. After all of our hard work in the kitchen, we eat in candlelight and all together recite Luke 2 – the Christmas story!

Krista

One of my favorite holiday traditions is making lefse with my grandma. Lefse is a traditional soft Norwegian flatbread. It’s made with riced potatoes, all purpose flour, butter, milk, and cream. It’s typically cooked on a large, flat griddle. I think my grandma has always made lefse for the holidays, but it wasn’t until I was in college that it became part of my traditions. My grandparents, dad, aunt, and cousins all gather at her house to partake in making lefse. I love getting to share it with my daughters, Evelyn and Rosie, too. The prepping, mixing, rolling, flipping and of course, eating, brings us together but the best part is just extra time with my extended family.

Lexi

Each Christmas Eve, we always go over to my aunt and uncle’s house for my cousin’s birthday party. After the birthday party, we go over to my mom’s house to watch “Christmas Vacation” in our matching pajamas and drink eggnog from the moose cups in the movie. The birthday party tradition started when my cousin was born 18 years ago, and we started the movie aspect when I was in college. Christmas Vacation is my mom’s favorite Christmas movie, and it brings her so much joy to have both of her kids under the same roof snuggling on the couch. After the movie concludes, we all go to sleep and wake up to open all of our gifts on Christmas morning. We don’t really have any “traditions” in our family, so my mom is really proud that she started this one.

Makenzie

Growing up, we had a German-American tradition that involved an ornament shaped like a pickle. The adults would hide a pickle ornament in one of the Christmas trees at our house on Christmas Eve, and the kids would compete to see who could find the pickle first. The winner was promised good luck for the year to come, and got a special treat from my grandma. This tradition has been happening for as long as I can remember, and while us kids are closer to adults now, I plan to continue this tradition with my future kids some day! This tradition is special to me because it brings my German roots into the Christmas celebration.

Nicole

Each year on Black Friday, my sister, brother, and cousin and I always drive back to Sioux Falls from our family’s home in Sioux City for the Parade of Lights downtown. We start the night by walking downtown and finding a good location for watching the floats! We stay until we can’t stand the cold anymore, and then we dip into Sushi Masa for dinner. Being in the restaurant during the parade is such a fun experience and almost feels like a movie because it’s so quiet in there and the parade is happening just outside! Afterwards, we head back to my house and stay up late to play games together. The next morning, we go to the gym together before we head back to Sioux City for a second Thanksgiving meal!

Paige

One of my favorite holiday traditions to do with my family is to make my grandma’s homemade cut out cookies to enjoy all December long. We have made these cookies for as long as I can remember, and we make it an all-day bake off. We have so many sprinkles, cookie cutters, yummy homemade frostings in all the holiday colors, and lots of laughs along the way! This time with my family is so special to me because baking truly makes it feel like the holidays. Cheers to all that holiday baking!

Whether you’re spending the holiday season enjoying old traditions or creating new ones– we wish you a joyful time spent with family and friends.