Christmas Fun with Abby

Welcome to my blog! In my blogs, I will be talking about all things Christmas! Some of my blogs will consist of:

• How Christmas Originated
• Fun activities to do around Christmas time
• Best Christmas movies 
• Best Christmas songs
• Decorations/decorating
• Gift Ideas
• Baking cookies and making gingerbread houses

In this blog, I will be discussing how the holiday we all dearly love, Christmas, started and how people around the world celebrate it.

How Christmas Started

Christmas is a holiday that most people celebrate where gifts are exchanged and people are brought together with the joy of the season. Christians first started celebrating Christmas because of the story of Jesus and how he was born and rose again from the dead. Now, Christmas is celebrated by almost all people, Christian or not. The date when Jesus was born was not in the Bible, so we celebrate it on the 25 of December. If you would like to learn more about the religion part of Christmas, click on this link: whychristmas.com On that website it also says that the first Christmas was celebrated on December 25 in the year 336 around the time of the Roman Empire Constantine. 

Christmas Traditions Around the World

Countries and cultures celebrate Christmas and have their own traditions around the world and here are a few that I thought were interesting. In the Philippines, they have a giant lantern festival the Saturday before Christmas Eve in San Fernando, the "Christmas Capital of the Philippines". The lanterns are made of various materials and are six meters in size. In Sweden, Christmas is celebrated with a Gävel Goat. The Gävel Goat is a 13-meter tall goat made out of straw and ribbons and this has been a tradition since 1966. In Austria, they have a tradition of the Krampus. The Krampus is a figure that roams the streets to scare kids and to keep kids in line. St. Nicholas rewards good children while the Krampus is supposed to kidnap bad children. In Iceland, they have a tradition of the Yule Lads where the 13 days before Christmas, 13 characters come out to play! Every night in the 13 days leading up to Christmas, children put out their best pair of shoes and the Yule Lads leave gifts for the good children when they awake.

My Family's Christmas Celebrations

Just like every family, mine has traditions. On Christmas Eve we celebrate with my Dad's side of the family whereas on Christmas we celebrate with my Mom's side of the family. Every year on Christmas Eve we go to church and then go to my Grams' house with my Grams, Grandpa, cousin's, and my aunt and uncle's on my dad's side of the family. At my Grams' house, we eat dinner and then open presents. On Christmas, my brothers and I open gifts as a family in the morning and we eat my mom's special breakfast frittata that she makes every Christmas. After that, we go over to my Grandmom's house with my cousins, aunt, uncle, grandmom, grandpop, great aunt, great uncle, and my second cousins. 

Christmas Eve 2019