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Spend a Minute with Millstone and Enter to Win a Keurig! (Winners Announced!)

Time’s up!

The winners of the Millstone and Keurig Giveaway are:

#328 Bridget: “My favorite tradition is taking my daughter to see a performance of the Nutcracker! =)

#835 Kathy Iverson: “My favorite holiday tradition is the my husband’s family sleepover on Christmas Eve! We all gather together at his sister’s home, we drink hot chocolate and everyone puts on their brand new jammies. When the kids go to sleep, the parents put out gifts and prepare for the morning! The whole family wakes and spends Christmas morning together!

#1280 Jennifer: “When I was growing up, my mom always made cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate for us on Christmas morning. My husband always had a breakfast casserole. I have continued making his favorite casserole for Christmas morning.

Congratulations girls! What beautiful traditions. I’ve sent ya’ll an email. Merry Christmas!

To celebrate the holiday season, and the early mornings, family gatherings, and festive holiday parties that come with it, the awesome folks at Millstone would like to invite you to take a well deserved break and “Spend a Minute with Millstone” by enjoying a perfectly brewed cup of Millstone coffee in your own brand new Keurig Elite Brewing System. I’m so excited to share this with you guys today, I absolutely love my Keurig! It’s perfect for newlyweds, the occasional coffee drinker, and coffee junkies alike. It’s great to have on hand because you can easily offer your guests a freshly brewed cup of coffee, ready in literally seconds, without having to brew an entire pot. Of course you know the Hazelnut Cream flavor from Millstone is my favorite! I’ve got not one, not two, but three of these fabulous giveaway packages to give away today, courtesy of Millstone.

 

The Giveaway

Three (3) Kevin and Amanda readers will win the following items:

  • Three (12-count) boxes of Millstone K-Cups in Breakfast Blend, Foglifter© and Hazelnut Cream
  • Crate and Barrel coffee cup
  • Keurig Elite Brewing System
  • $25 American Express Gift Card

 

How to Enter

To be entered to win the Millstone giveaway, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post:  In honor of the holidays, I would love for you to tell me about your favorite holiday tradition. I can’t wait to read all about them! :)

Contest ends Sunday, December 18, 2011 at 8 pm CST. One entry per person, please. Winners will be chosen by Random.org and notified by email. Giveaway provided by Millstone.

More from Millstone. Now through December 27, Millstone invites you to enter for the chance to win a Grand Prize of $10,000, a Keurig Brewer, and a 1-year supply of Millstone K-Cup Portion Packs.  By entering, you also have the chance to win weekly prizes for a $100 grocery gift card, a Keurig Brewer, and a 1-month supply of Millstone K-Cup Portion Packs. Visit www.millstone.com for full contest details.

 

Good luck!!!

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1,726 Responses
  1. sharon rittler

    Every year my son asks for rather expensive gifts like computers, game systems etc. I’ll tell him that we can’t afford to get that one thing he wants and make him believe that. Then, of course we do get it and completely surprise him! We hide it in another room of the house and not under the tree so he opens all the small gifts first and he thinks he’s not getting the big one. Then, tell him to go get something in the room his big gift is in and he’s sooooo happy and excited! It’s the best! I know it’s kinda mean, but he falls for it every year! You gotta get a little creative when they are too old to believe in Santa :} Thanks for the chance to win!

  2. Laura

    My family would always start with reading the birth of Christ from a few passages in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Then we would pray for one another. THEN we would stand in a line going up the stairs youngest to oldest….my mom would take a picture….and bam we all ran up the stairs to set our eyes on a million presents stacked under the Christmas tree and three feet from it, because I am one of six so my parents couldn’t fit them all under the tree.

  3. Elena

    On Christmas day we gather at my mom’s and have a big meal! I always tend to feel a pain in my stomach at night due to all of that chocolate!

  4. Haris

    Hi all!
    On Christmas Eve, we gather at my parents house, next to the fireplace, and we play games! So lovely… My eyes are full of tears even now that i am thinking of it, since my parents slowly slowly get older…

  5. sarah

    Every single Christmas day is tradition…wake up, read the stoory of Jesus’ birth. Open presents. Go over grandparents and have fun with the family! Love it and sooo many woonderful memories i have thru the yearrs! :)

  6. Trisha Brown

    My favorite holiday tradition is at my grandma’s house she hides a nut in the dessert and whoever gets it wins $10. It’s so fun to see so into their dessert trying to be the lucky winner.

  7. Ashley

    My favorite holiday tradition is turning up the Christmas music and drinking hot cocoa and decoration the Christmas tree with the family.

  8. kph

    My favorite tradition is celebrating a big family meal on Christmas Eve and then heading to church for Midnight Mass. It’s a long and late service but always so beautiful!

  9. Birdena Starline

    For the past 30 years, ( hard to believe) my girlfriend, Marsha and I bake sugar cookies and decorate them. We try to get elaborate with them but drinking wine and baking tend to make them just good….not good looking! I cherish this tradition. Our families do too. I wish you and your readers a very Merry Christmas!

  10. Rochelle

    My favorite holiday tradition was going to my great-grandmothers house and sitting around the table making tamales, laughing, crying, arguing, and making up in the end. This something I would look forward too every year.

  11. Jennifer S

    my favorite holiday tradition is spending Christmas eve with my entire Maternal side of my family and playing white elephant Christmas as well as stuffing our bellies until we pop.
    Merry Christmas Kevin & Amanda!

  12. me and the dogs

    Each season. we drive in to Salt Lake City to see the wonderful light displays..on the way home we wind around a few neighborhoods to enjoy the decorations.

  13. Cassie Tucker

    My favorite holiday tradition is the one we have Christmas day. We get up early and open presents, we then go and put Christmas music on (before it was CD’s and someone had to man the CD player but now we just shuffle on iTunes), and we make a HUGE Christmas dinner that of course everyone falls asleep after. HOWEVER, this year we are doing things different and instead of a huge dinner we’re going to be doing Christmas breakfast, hope it goes well *fingers crossed*.

  14. Bridget Brown

    My favorite Christmas traditions are all centered around midnight Mass (really AT midnight). As a child and then with our children that would be in our parish church. In later years that same tradition at a wonderful monastery, followed by delicious treats with the Sisters. Christmas morning always began with the delightful smell of cinnamon from baking sweet rolls enjoyed as gifts were being opened with a choice of piping hot coffee, cocoa or orange juice and champagne.

    This Christmas I look forward to enjoying my children’s own traditions with my first grandchild Elizabeth Ann!

    A wonder-filled and blessed Christmas to you and all your readers…

  15. Kay Mitchell

    I love my Keurig. We finally broke down and bought one. I am really picky about countertop space but this is so worth it. Does anyone have influence with Millstone? I want the Peppermint coffee to be in the Christmas set. I love the Hazelnut but can’t I have it all?

  16. Cary Jenkins

    What a wonderful giveaway! I need, need, need that!
    I guess my favorite part of Christmas is just the family being together, laughing, sitting in front of the fire, and eating until we are all sick!!
    Merry Christmas to y’all!!

  17. DianeM

    My favorite tradition is to give my son most of his gifts before Christmas…because I can’t wait! I have to save at least one for Christmas Day, though. Merry Christmas!

  18. felicia nguyen

    My favorite things to do for the holidays is SPEND it with my family…I come from a family of 9 kids and it is wonderful having everyone home and over at my parents house…we all cook and just sit and eat then we all play game…I now have over 40 nieces n nephews so it is so so MUCH FUN
    felicialetran@yahoo.com

  19. Jessica Y.

    What an awesome giveaway, especially this time of year. Nothing like a fresh cup of coffee to warm you up on a cold day. My all time favorite tradition is Christmas Eve celebrated with a fabulous dinner with family followed by attending candlelight service at our church, coming home and getting cozzied in for the night. Merry Christmas to you and yours.

  20. bo h.

    We spend Christmas Eve with my husbands family and Christmas with mine. I now have a daughter so I am excited to create new traditions.

  21. meghan

    My favorite Christmas tradition are the cookies! We have our staples, but try something new each year. My favorite Christmas cookies are Russian Tea Cakes!

  22. Heather

    My favorite tradition is watching ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ with my family on Christmas Eve. It’s such a wonderful, heartwarming movie!

  23. Jamie

    A Keurig! I would love to win one of these for my in-laws. My favorite childhood tradition is staying up with my family until midnight on Christmas Eve and then opening all our presents. Since we get more gifts the next day I loved having two days of presents!

  24. Michele

    Our favorite tradition is gathering with the parents, children, sisters, brothers, nieces and nephews and celebrating Chrismukkah. We are a ‘mixed’ family and have so much fun with both Hanukkah and Christmas traditions. We range in age from 77 years to 2 years young, and there are plenty of laughs, food and fun. Happy Holidays to you and yours! :)

  25. Nicola

    i love the baking traditions. our family has built up quite the collection of treats that “have” to be made!

  26. niki

    My favorite holiday tradition is to visit a neighboring community that offers free Christmas trolley rides throughout the town to see the big ole Victorian homes all lit up for the holidays, does a drive-through nativity scene at a church, then drops you off to a Christmas village to visit with Santa!

  27. Megan

    I enjoy opening the mailbox and finding all the pretty cards addressed to me. It seems the only mail I get these days are bills!

  28. Marlo Dunlop

    Thanks for having the giveaway. Our tradition is to watch Christmas Vacation on Christmas Eve. We have lots of snacks, laughs, always lots of fun!!!

  29. Ann

    We began this tradition with the birth of our 2 year old girl/boy twin grandchildren! On Christmas Day, everyone in our family describes the day and any special memories in our Christmas Memory Book. It is already so much fun to look back and see what eveyone said about the babies just 2 short years ago!

  30. zaara

    Thanks for the giveaway.Our tradition is to have all the family over and just enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Its extremely exciting to look forward to see all the faces that we haven’t seen in a while!!!!!

  31. Emily McManus

    Love the blog! My favorite tradition is my little sister and I rolling out our quilts on the cold hardwood floor (right next to the tree) and opening up gifts with the family in order of youngest to oldest. It ends up lasting all day!

  32. Corrine

    We always go to Church on Christmas Eve with my children and the Grandparents. Then, we have a nice sit down dinner with Christmas China that was my Grandmothers. We open Christmas presents while listening to Christmas music.

  33. melissa albert

    Wow! There are so many things I love about Christmas. We have a Christmas tree decorating tradition … an order that we put different type and different size ornaments on and where. It yields, in my bias opinion, the prettiest trees I’ve seen. My sis and i continue the tradition with the trees ino ur homes now. We make snickerdoodle cookies, peanut butter balls and turtles. We put our stockings up Christmas Eve, go to mass Christmas Eve, open gifts in the AM, have a BIG breakfast with eggs, pancakes, sausage, bacon and english muffins and then spend the day visiting with family. Dinner usually involves turkey and stuffing :-) And, one of my other fave things is that my whole life Christmas has always involved buying gifts for needy kids to make sure they have a special day too! My parents always instilled the concept of giving back, something for which I am grateful!

  34. Jenny Kwitowski

    My favorite holiday tradition is baking all my christmas cookies to give out to family and friends. They all love getting tins of assorted cookies and I love trying them all out – cookie dough is the best!

  35. Leslie

    My favorite holiday tradition is definitely the traveling dinner we have on the street I grew up on. We have appitizers at one house, then salad at another then dinner at another and end at another house with dessert and carrolling, I love it!

  36. Carlee

    Ours is as simple as decorating the tree. Every year my son can’t wait to study all the ornaments from years past and the memories that go along with them.

  37. Yuri

    What a great giveaway! Our tradition is actually on New Years Day. In Japanese culture, the first meal of the year is a huge feast and is really important. :)

  38. Carolyn

    Like a couple of other commenters, my family does the pickle ornament! It’s a fun little way to kick off the gift-opening and the kids love it!

  39. Pat Henderson

    Our favorite tradition involves making candy and giving it to those in our neighborhood who are sick or elderly AND attending the candle light Christmas Eve service at our church.

  40. Lynn

    My kids and grandkids favorite holiday tradition is stockings! They rip through their packages then they have to wait until after breakfast for stockings. My kids say they would give up presents before they would give up stockings!!

  41. Stacy

    Favorite holiday tradition: hosting a Christmas party for just my husband! I love getting or making all his favorite foods.

  42. Rachel

    Oooo, this is a FANTASTIC prize!!! :)

    Our holiday tradition: watching it’s a wonderful life and eating meats & cheeses (can you tell I’m from Iowa ;))?

  43. Diane

    One of my favorite family traditions is waking up at 5 or 6am as a child with my little brother and organizing everyone’s presents into piles!

    -Diane

  44. Jen

    Spending quality time with my husband’s family on Christmas Eve then all day with my family on Christmas. Love this time of year and celebrating the birth of Jesus!

  45. Madison

    We love decorating the Christmas tree and hanging the stockings. We also love leaving milk, carrots, and home made cookies for Santa!

  46. Jessica

    Christmas Eve at my grandma’s house! We get to open one present and reminisce about memories from previous years! :)

  47. Julie Chunn

    Every Christmas Eve since I was a little girl, my dad would get out the old popcorn tin and read my sister and I The Night Before Christmas story. Now that I don’t live close to them anymore I plan on having my father read it to me over the phone. Some traditions just can’t be broken :)

  48. kathleen

    I love getting together with the in laws. Everyone goes over to mom and dad’s and we all have a nice dinner and all the cousins play together. It is so awesome!

  49. Pam Frank

    Love cooking the Christmas dinner and being with family. Watching my grand
    daughter open her gifts. Thanks for this giveaway. Love your blog.

  50. Jenna m

    Ooo.. Almost missed this! My favorite tradition is Santa putting the stockings at the end of each childs bed so they can open them in the morning. Buys about an extra 15 -20 minutes of sleep!

  51. Christy Skertchly

    My favorite Christmas tradition is Christmas dinner. The one time a year everybody is happy and enjoying each other and food. Food is probably the reason we’re so nice to each other

  52. Molly W.

    One of my favorite holiday traditions is baking with my daughters. We make different things every year, but cut-out cookies are a staple!

  53. Tia

    Thanks for the chance to enter this contest! My favorite tradition is opening just one present each on Christmas Eve! :)

  54. Cindy S

    Thanks for the opportunity to win a Keurig. We have one at school. Everyone can make their favorite kind of coffee. My favorite Christmas tradition is decorating the tree and reminiscing about where all of the different ornaments came from. I also love continuing my grandmother’s tradition of making boiled custard and Mexican Wedding Cookies.

  55. Maya alvarez

    My favorite Christmas memory/ tradition was my sister waking me up early Christmas morning, running downstairs to see santa had come to or house, and seeing that even the reindeer came in! Mom would always get our puppies paws and dip them into the soot from the fireplace and carefully walk them around our brick fireplace next to our cookie tray/ carrots.. I always left santas reindeer carrots.

  56. Josie

    My husband and I wanted to start some traditions with our two little girls, so we drive around and look at Christmas lights while drinking hot coco. When we get home we read the Night Before Christmas. It’s a little cliche, but it’s a tradition they look forward to every year now!
    We also enjoy going to the movie theatre on Christmas Day with the whole family.

  57. Kelly

    One of my favorite traditions is lighting a scented candle, turning on the Christmas music, and baking an array of holiday treats with my family.

  58. emily

    my favorite holiday tradition is going to the candlelight service on Christmas Eve. Our whole family goes every year.

  59. Lindsey

    Thank you for this opportunity! My favorite christmas tradition is lunch at my grandmothers. It’s the only time of the year that I get to see my WHOLE family. It’s very special.

  60. Faith

    My favorite tradition is Christmas morning breakfast of homemade cinnamon buns with coffee-which would be great from the Keurig!

  61. Nannette

    My favorite holiday tradition is one we do on Christmas Eve. Each of us opens one gift which is always pajamas followed by a “family gift” my children open which is a game we can play together. We then take our showers, put on our new pajamas, and spend the rest of the evening playing the game while “A Christmas Story” plays on the TV repetitively.

    Merry Christmas everyone!

  62. Jacks

    When I was little we hung our stockings up when we put up our Christmas tree and sometime between then and Christmas Eve, the stockings would be filled and the top would be sewn shut. (we obviously didn’t do Santa) It was so great! It was fun to feel the stocking and try to figure out what was inside! My husband and I do the same thing now except that we don’t sew them shut as we have much better self-control! :)

  63. Olivia

    Would love the Keurig! I waste a lot of coffee now. One of my favorite traditions is Christmas baking. I love baking cookies with our three girls.

  64. Suzanne

    While the kids are at school, I take one morning to sit in front of our Christmas tree with a cup of coffee, turn on a Christmas movie and wrap presents, enjoying my own little quiet time tradition!

  65. Emma G.

    All of my mom’s family go to her parents’ house and open up presents. There are a lot of us, so it’s usually around 1 am when we finish. We make a big breakfast and eat it before we drive home so Santa can come.

  66. Cortney

    Our favorite holiday tradition is as follows….
    First we’ll make snow angels for two hours, then we’ll go ice skating, then we’ll eat a whole roll of Tollhouse Cookiedough as fast as we can, and then we’ll snuggle. :)

    Obviously watching Elf has become one of our fave traditions :)

    Thanks for the giveaway!

  67. michelle thiesen

    thanks for letting us have a chance to win this..wow..I’ve heard some good stuff about this machine..mmm coffee my favorite..: ) spending time with friends and family and talking about old times..

  68. RUTHANN

    Thanks for the chance to win! I love the traditional music, church services and of course the cookies and candy. Family is so important this time of the year!

  69. Christy Sturgill

    My favorite Christmas tradition is waking up at the crack of dawn and listening to my mother read the Christmas Story from my grandmother’s old bible…we have done this as long as I can remember, and now that I have a family of my own….we gather around the tree first thing in the morning before opening presents to listen her read it….but now it’s my tree!

  70. Lynne

    My favorite tradition for Christmas was started by my parents when my sister and I were young. Every year, near Christmas, we would go out one night, grab neighbors, whoever wanted to go, and go caroling around the neighborhood.
    Now we are grown, as are our children, and we still try to carol, only now, we are piled in an SUV, instead of walking. JOY TO THE WORLD, THE LORD IS COME…

  71. melyssa

    my favorite holiday tradition is baking cookies for our neighbors & friends. This year my two little boys helped:) so much fun!!

  72. Erin

    My favorite holiday tradition is going to the Macy’s parade in downtown Seattle on Black Friday with my family. Rain or Shine we end up going and having a blast together, along with the rest of the crowds downtown!

  73. Diane

    I love everything about Christmas!! I especially love going to church Christmas eve and then spending time with my family…this year is even more special because of my 18 month old granddaughter!!

  74. Anna N

    our tradition every year is to do both the “fun” Christmas things: have a tree, stockings, opening gifts on Christmas morning; while still celebrating the religious aspects: Christmas mass, the nativity scene, etc. I hope that my girls will understand and enjoy both sides of the holiday and take that with them when they start their own families (but not for a long, long LONG time) :o)

  75. Rachel

    As a military family, our traditions seem to change year to year. We always do a lot of Christmas baking and making crafts with the kids. Many years, we make trips back to our home town to visit family, and the years that my husband is home, we’re just so thankful to be together.

  76. Barbara

    My favorite Christmas memory with my family is drinking eggnog while decorating my grandpa’s Christmas tree and watching all the old classics, like Rudolph, Grinch, and Frosty. This memory is particularly treasured since he is no longer with us. Christmas just isn’t the same without him.

  77. Melissa R.

    My favorite holiday tradition is giving each member of my family a gag gift before their actual gift. Their facial expressions, especially on my nephews, is priceless! Happy Holidays to you and yours Amanda!

  78. Vanessa

    oooooh! I have wanted a keurig forever!

    My family used to have big holiday traditions until there was some drama between family members. Now we usually just meet up eat, and exchange gifts. I am sad there are no more big traditions though!

  79. Miranda Ochocki

    The females in my family (grandma, mom, aunt, cousin and myself) get together for an annual cookie bake where we usually make over 100 dozen cookies in one afternoon in one kitchen with one oven!

  80. Alyssa

    Favorite holiday tradition? Digging into my Gramp’s Italian Christmas cookies… he’s 82 and typically makes over 1000 cookies each year. He’s a champ.

  81. Giavanna Rivera

    This giveaway is awesome! It’s just me and my mom for the holidays, but we always make sure to spend lots of time together since I’m back home from college for winter break. We watch all the classic movies (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, How the Grinch Stole Christmas) and we catch up on our favorite show- “Jeopardy!”. We also cook a really nice meal for Christmas.

  82. Evelyn

    On Christmas Eve we always have snacks and watch old Christmas movies. I believe that is my favorite part of the holidays:)

  83. H~M

    My immediate family goes to church Christmas Eve and then has a big buffet meal for a late night supper! It’s always so fun and a great time together!

  84. Tricia

    My favorite holiday tradition growing up was waiting to hear Christmas music playing in the morning. This was our cue that it was time to come downstairs and open presents. Can’t wait to start a family of my own and continue the tradition!

  85. Alycia W

    My favorite tradition is building gingerbread houses with my kids. It’s so fun to watch their little face light up and to try and get MORE candy on the house than in their tummies. They always win but it’s a lot of fun!

  86. Lorinda Wike

    Hi~
    My favorite tradition is our annual Christmas Eve fondue–we do meats, cheeses, chocolate, etc. Our parents started this for us when I was about 5 (35 yrs ago) and it has become our favorite part of the holidays. We’ve invited friends and extended family over the years to join us and now, its a huge event that lots of people look forward to. Sadly, we won’t be doing it this year as my Mom, the center of our Christmas, passed away suddenly in October. It’s too hard for us this year but we look forward to continuing it next year:-)
    Merry Christmas to you and your family!! And, for the record, I’ve been wanting Keurig forever…Thanks for the opportunity to possibly win one!!!!

  87. Shaunah Turley

    My favorite thing is decorating the tree and house and ever time you pull something out of the box it tells a story..”remember this, mom…” I love that!

  88. Haley

    My eyes opened to the Keurig world today when my aunt fixed me THE MOST AMAZING COFFEE I have ever had!! I want one so badly for college! (: My favorite Holiday tradition would be skiing every year with my family and then coming home to watch Christmas shows and drink cocoa! (:

  89. dena wipprecht

    My favorite holiday tradition is our family christmas eve party where we sit in a huge circle n give our gifts to one another 1 at a time, everyone gets a gift even if your a guest ( $1 store gifts welcome) the point is to make everyone feel welcome to our families home! Its so cute to see the little ones give out their dollar store gifts, lets them know at an early age it is better to give than to receive !! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

  90. Carolyn H

    My favorite holiday memory lies around spending time with my family… going to midnight vigil and then waking up at 7 a.m. to open presents… smelling the fresh coffee brewing and the breakfast feast my mother prepared

  91. Amy

    My favorite Christmas tradition is making breakfast Christmas morning while listening to some good Christmas music. Cinnamon Rolls + Christmas = :)

  92. Sue

    In our home we have two trees….one is decorated with an assortment of ornaments some made by our kids and grandkids, some we have collected during our travels with the one we purchased on our honeymoon front and center. This is where we put the presents. The Angel Tree is dedicated to Jesus and has our Nativity underneath.

  93. Carly

    My parents used to hide our stockings the night before Christmas and my brother and I would have to follow a trail of clues to find them… but we only got the first clue when we brought them coffee in the morning :) now I can’t wait to do that someday with my own kids!

  94. Angela

    My favorite tradition is making Christmas cookies with my grandmother. She can’t really do anything any more, than read me the recipe, but I still love to go to her house and cook :) I’m headed there now, in fact!

  95. Lauren Betancourt

    Hi =D
    I’ve been reading a few comment and they’re all so sweet! There really is nothing like spending time with family. Our family tradition is that we have an “Ugly sweater party”.. I’m 21 now and we’ve been doing this since I was little. On Thanksgiving we pick out names from a hat, whoever’s name you get you must go out and buy an ugly christmas sweater for.. We Wear them on Christmas Eve and just enjoy the night. One of my Uncles always dresses up in a Santa suit and literally gets on the roof ringing a bell to surprise all the kids, it’s toooo cute! I love seeing their faces light up. Happy Holidays to all! =D

  96. Amie

    Our tradition has always been christmas pjs on christmas eve. This year we started the Elf on the Shelf and have had lots of fun with it. Its definately going to be a tradition we do every year in this family :)

  97. abby

    My favorite holiday tradition is going out to dinner on Christmas eve with my parents and younger brother. I never get to see them so it’s something I look forward to all year!

  98. Leslie

    Our Christmas starts with Christmas Eve at my Dad’s side of the family then continues Christmas morning with presents with the hubby at our house, then off to my parents, his parents and my Mom’s side for dinner. It’s a busy two days but oh-so-fun! We’re lucky to have most of our family within a few miles.

  99. Michelle

    What a wonderful opportunity, thank you! My favorite tradition has to be my brother dressing up as Santa and surprising my nieces and nephews in the middle of the night with gifts. Seeing them so overjoyed is what the holidays are about for me.

  100. sabrina isaac

    Merry Christmas to you all ! My favorite holiday tradition is opening new PJ’s on Christmas EVE to wear them and open presents in them in the morning. To me its the simple things. we are all together in our new comfy pjs.

    Sabrina

  101. Shannon

    Oh, how I’d love to win this! My favorite Christmas tradition is making gingerbread houses on Christmas Eve. When I was younger, I used to get so excited. They are so much fun. Now that I’m an adult and don’t live with my parents anymore, I still make one every year! I just had a baby in August and I can’t wait for her to be able to join in on the fun! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you! :)

  102. Blair

    We bake spritz cookies, and watch The Shining (mini-series version). This version of the movie is 2 disks long and MUCH better than the Stanley Kubrick version (sorry Jack Nicholson)! I’d love to win the prize because today is my Bday! Thanks for the chance.

  103. Stephanie S

    Our first son was born this past October. We have started a new family tradition of a real xmas tree going to the farm and cutting it down ourselves. It was magical.

  104. Kristin

    My favorite holiday tradition is opening presents on Christmas morning. We have 20 people there, an absurd amount of presents, and it takes us 5 hours because we go one present at a time. I love it!

  105. Nicola

    I love that instead of Christmas dinner, my family makes a huge delicious brunch to eat after presents and then we have cheese and wine in the evening. It’s delicious.

  106. Ann Katherine

    Every Christmas day at my church, we have a Christmas service at 2:30 P.M. It’s so much fun after the service because we have a great party. All the men bring their favorite coffee, hot chocolate, or apple cider, and the women bring their favorite cookies. It’s a great day to see each other on this wonderful holiday without feeling so stressed to get a present for everyone. Our preacher’s wife owns a cupcakery, and she brings a huge amount of cupcakes every year!

  107. Amanda

    Thanks for the giveaway! My favorite Christmas tradition is having appetizers and cookies while playing board games on Christmas Eve with my family!

  108. Janie Hyde

    I love the holidays. We have a formal dinner on Christmas eve and we read the Christmas story from Luke and the kids act it out. On Christmas day we open our presents and have delicious snacks and we just play together all day and we all tell what we are giving to Jesus for Christmas this year.

  109. Loralei

    We open one gift every Christmas Eve! It helps my kids contain their excitement until the next morning. If they get something like a board game or new game for the Wii, we take it with us to our family gathering that night to play.

  110. Georgia

    Every Christmas Eve, my grandmother, my cousin, my mother, and I all make cookies. That night, everyone comes over to my grandmothers house, and we eat the cookies, ham, and other holiday foods. My uncle owns a coffee shop in town, so we all drink some of his ‘gourmet’ coffee. Since he moved to Italy this summer, we can’t do that!

  111. theurbanbaker

    Although chaotic, I do love the holidays. We celebrate by baking and making candy, tempering chocolate and wrapping all of it up for family, friends, teachers, neighbors, and the homeless. The first night of Hannukah is filled with a huge meal, candle lighting, and family. After dinner we drive 20 miles to Santa Clause Lane to see all the gorgeous christmas lights! X-mas day is always a movie and a trip to Chinatown for a delish meal. Happy Holidays!

  112. Meri Violette

    My favorite traditon is celebrating St.Nicholas Day on December 6th. It reminds us of the real St.Nick who brought gold coins, toys, and clothes to the little children. We buy the gold coin candy, an ornament (instead of a toy), and clothes that we need not want. It’s also a great way to get us all in the spirit of Christmas!

  113. Mimi Miller

    My daughter is almost three and is just now understanding the holiday thing, great time to start new traditions. One thing I did this year was go through all her toys together and choose the ones she would donate to kids who were not as lucky as she is.

  114. Katy

    Our family tradition is going to our Christmas Eve service and coming home to a giant spread of appetizers. It is so yummy & so much fun! We love trying out new recipes.

  115. Stephanie

    Christmas Eve dinner of crab legs and homemade Swedish meatballs followed by presents from the family, a game of Monopoly with hot cocoa, and then waking up to our stockings filled by Santa. :)

  116. Jill

    Eating cuban food on Christmas Eve : mojo pork, black beans and rice, yucca, and plantains. Of course spending time with my family too!

  117. Jodi

    Great giveaway!

    I have my nieces over every year for a gingerbread decorating party. They each get a house to decorate. They’re old enough now that they don’t need help piping icing or putting on sprinkles, so I mainly watch and take pictures. This will be our 11th year. It’s such a fun day for them — and for me!

  118. victoria

    oooooooo wouldn’t this be perfect to add under my tree!!! christmas season is among my favorites. traditions i love: cutting down and trimming our tree, late night wrapping, peppermint mocha, stockings hung by the chimney w/ care…

  119. Doris

    Since I was a small child, my parents took me and my sister out to dinner every Christmas Eve. We would all dress up. It was something I always looked forward too. After my sister and I got married, the husbands were then invited out to dinner. All paid by my father. When kids arrived they were invited too. My father passed away in 1996. My mother carried on the tradition and treated us all to Christmas Eve dinner at the same restaurant. My mother passed away in 1999. I’m proud to say my husband and I are carrying on the tradition. We take our kids and their kids out on Christmas Eve. Hopefully it will be a tradition that carries on for generations to come.

  120. Catherine

    Every year, as a family, we pick out a new ornament to add to our tree that perfectly reflects the most memorable thing about that year. This year we welcomed another baby boy :)

  121. Rachel B

    We all get together for chili and wild rice soup on christmas eve and then have a big christmas lunch on christmas day! Oh and we love watching the Chirstmas Story marathon all day!

  122. Charlene Lucas

    Anything to do with being with family or friends. I do a lot of baking, too. And I enjoy sharing with those that enjoy it. :)

  123. Karen

    We always have a big dessert spread at midnight of the 24th, AFTER we’ve already had dinner. Can’t wait to be going home and being with my whole family this year! It’s been a long time since we’ve all been together. And now that I have a baby, I’m excited to start our very own family traditions as well.

  124. Katherine R.

    What a great giveaway! I love the traditions of all of us “kids” waiting on the stairs for our parents to be ready to go down and see the tree on Christmas morning. Also we always have hot chocolate. =)

  125. Sara

    My favorite Christmas tradition is baking cuccidatis with my Grandma and Mom. This year we taught my daughter how to make them too. Four generations of bakers in one home = favorite Christmas tradition :)

  126. Teresa

    My favorite Christmas Eve tradition is gifting the kids PJs. They absolutely love it! My favorite Christmas Day tradition is eating my mom’s unbelievably delicious lasagna! Merry Christmas everyone!

  127. Janie H

    Church on Chrismas Eve, followed by Beef Fondue with all the great sauces for dinner. Christmas Day opening presents while smelling Sausage and Egg Casserole! Bliss.

  128. Lauren

    One of my favorite traditions is baking a gazillion things with my family because we get to spend time together and of course eat all of the delicious things later.

  129. Misty Sutton

    Thank you for offering this giveaway! One of our favorite holiday traditions actually involves coffee :) Every Christmas morning after opening gifts my husband and my mom make everyone very strong irish coffees to start the morning- everyone is very merry by 10am!

  130. Betsy

    Christmas Eve is spent with my parents and my brothers family. Christmas morning is just my family. We get to sleep in because my daughters have never been morning people and we leisurely have breakfast while opening our gifts. It usually takes a couple of hours.

  131. J. Mies

    Mass on Christmas Eve followed by opening presents at my in laws. My mom always does breakfast Christmas morning. Then the day spent with family.

  132. Katy

    My favorite holiday tradition as a kid was getting to pick out a present on Christmas Eve to open. Now, since getting married, I enjoy decorating the house with my hubby while listening to Christmas music and getting to spend time with both sets of our families!

    Merry Christmas!

  133. Alice

    My favorite tradition is having fresh squeezed OJ and warm cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning while opening stockings.

  134. Karla

    One of our traditions is to make Christmas cookies! As in sugar cookies with the dough rolling and decorating with frosting and sprinkles! It’s what I’m doing this afternoon!

  135. Cindy Davis

    One of our favorite traditions is getting our children (we have three) a Christmas ornament for whatever they are into that year. We’ve done first five baby years, ballet shoes, Harry Potter, gymnastics, soccer, backpacks, The Rockettes, lunch boxes, Blues Clues, pom poms, Twilight, Tom and Jerry, Hannah Montana, tap shoes, etc. It is so fun to relive all of the memories every year as we decorate the tree. Our oldest is 15, so we have lots of fun memories!! Thanks and Merry Christmas, Amanda!!!

  136. Jodie P.

    Happy Holidays!

    We always get together Christmas morning and make Eggs Benedict (with homemade hollandaise) served with half sliced peaches in champagne glasses…in champagne of course! It’s just one of a number of things we do every year…

    Merry Christmas to you and yours!!!

  137. Kate

    this is such a wonderful give away, thank you! My family seems to make new traditions every year–so I guess that’s our tradition! This afternoon we’re having a little family linner!

  138. Tracey

    Mimosas in the hot tub after the gift opening on Christmas morning! Sadly, we moved this year and no longer have our hot tub, but I will be making mimosas. :)

  139. Clare Purvis

    My favorite holiday tradition is grabbing a cup of Starbucks hot chocolate and driving around with my family to look at Christmas lights!

  140. Vicki

    Love the holidays and the time with family. Christmas is my favorite because of what it represents and the joy that the kids get with their gifts they receive.

  141. Marissa

    Thanks for a chance to enter! My favorite memories are definitely from back when I was a kid at home with my parents. My Dad passed away this year, so this is my first Christmas without him…I’m so blessed to have cherished memories of wonderful childhood Christmases.

  142. Margo Kimble

    We always get to open two presents on Christmas Eve, and one is ALWAYS a new set of pajamas. :) I would LOOOOVVEEEE to win this coffee maker! I’ve heard nothing but good things about it!

  143. Shannon

    oh what a fun giveaway!
    Our (my husband and me) traditions are new as we have only been together for two Christmases, this one being our third. He is from Poland, and we usually have a fantastic Christmas Eve dinner followed by board games and an annual Christmas photo with our tree and us all dressed up.
    I am beginning a new tradition this year with his family who all live in different countries. I sent them some homemade beeswax candles and our plan is to all light them on Christmas together (at the same time, thank you Skype) to remember loved ones and friends who are no longer with us.

  144. Erika P

    My favorite holiday tradition is the wrapping paper “snowball” fight that my whole family participates in around the Christmas tree in my grandparents living room.

    PS. I just found your blog through Pinterest, and I think it’s wonderful! I’ll definitely be referring back to all your camera tips posts!

  145. Tasha

    Wow, what an awesome giveaway. My favorite holiday tradition growing up was going out for hot chocolate, french fries and onion rings at about 10 pm on Christmas Eve with my brother, cousin, uncle and grandma. It was a great way to relax in the midst of all the running and bustling. Happy Holidays!

  146. Kristyn

    Another wonderful giveaway!

    I’d say my favorite holiday tradition is spending the day, at home, with my husband at making a nice meal. We’re very much homebodies, but we love to spend quiet holidays together. I also love to go see my family, though they’re far away.

    Merry Christmas, Amanda, I hope yours is great!!

  147. Kim Eisenhard

    I am one of 3 sisters and we would wake up so early for Christmas. Our parents, in order to let them sleep longer, would allow us to open our stockings first in our room. All 3 of us would gather in one bedroom and open our stocking together. We lived in Florida where it’s not really cold but we had thin blood so we would layer two pair of PJ’s. Looking back at the pictures, we looked ridiculous. I remember being so excited on Christmas morning. Now I hope to see the same excitement in my own 3 year old son this year. Merry Christmas!!!

  148. Lynn

    We just had our Christmas with our family-4 children, son-in-law, daughters-in-law, 8 grandchildren(9the due Feb 1), all 17 of us. Wonderful noisy, loving time!
    Thanks for the opportunity to get the gift!

  149. Nicole

    My family and I always get together on Christmas Eve at my in-laws. We always cook chili and watch “Christmas Vacation.” My mother-in-law gets us matching PJ’s for all the couples (even though we are all grown). It may seem silly, but it’s something I look forward to every year!

  150. Beth R.

    My favorite Christmas Tradition is before Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve my whole family sits in a room lit only by the Christmas tree with their holiday beverage of choice. My dad sits with us and reads Twas the Night Before Christmas. I know it sounds pretty plain, but as we’re all in our 30’s now and Dad is approaching 70, its a tradition none of us was willing to give up. This year we have the first grandchild, so I can’t wait for him to listen (sleep through,lol) the story. Hope you both have a very Merry Christmas!!

  151. Amanda

    My favorite Christmas tradition is opening 1 gift on Christmas Eve. Our 3 year old is so excited for Christmas this year- I can’t wait!!

  152. beth stark

    Each holiday since I’ve been little we make homemade ornaments with grandma, and my mom. Now that my kids are that age I am doing the same thing-clay, wood, glass or fabric-we don’t discriminate. Christmas music blasts in the background while we creat ornaments galore, which decorate the multiple trees in the house.

  153. Jen Auschwitz

    My favorite holiday tradition is bundling up and driving around looking at Christmas lights with the windows rolled down! It’s so much fun to see the beautiful (and sometimes crazy) decorations!

  154. Pamela Spradlin

    My favorite tradition or memory as it may be goes back to my childhood. Our church always held a Children’s Service every Christmas Eve. My parents would get all 4 of ready and then Dad would load us into the car and take us for a ride around the neighborhoods to look at Christmas lights. For some reason our Mom could never get ready in time to go with us to to look at lights. After looking at lights for a while my Dad would swing back by the house to pick up Mom and we would head to church. Imagine our surprise that all 4 of us kids found that Santa had already been to our home while we had been at church. My Dad said the funniest part of all of this would be was as each of us got older we would realize the help Santa was getting from our Mom, who always stayed behind to put presents under the tree.

  155. Trisha

    We always had to have coffee ready for my parents before we could wake them up on Christmas morning and no earlier than 7:00 could we wake them. We have kept this alive with my niece. We are all coffee junkies!

  156. Ashley

    Thank you! My favorite holiday tradition is baking Christmas cookies with my mom. Every year, we make a plethora of homemade varieties to give platters to family, friends, and coworkers. We have done this together since I can remember.. So many deliciously unique and beautiful cookies!

  157. Melissa Williams

    My favorite holiday tradition is gathering around a huge pot of steamed oysters with my favorite friends and family and chowing down!

  158. DavetteB

    Since we don’t celebrate Christmas, I used to work that night so that people that did celebrated could have time off with their families. Then after a nap, we’d go to the movies. I continued that tradition with my son. Now I am retired (!), but we still go to the movies on the 25th.

  159. Jenn

    I love reading all the wonderful Christmas traditions! Some we do our
    selve and others are ones I never thought of and would love to try!!

    Each year my children get a child’s name off the Angle Tree and we look
    for the gift the child would like to receive. We love doing this and I think it
    is important for my children to understand that others are not as fortunate.
    I don’t know why but it brings me to tears when we drop off the gifts. My kids
    always tease me when I am trying to fight back my tears. At this time especially,I truly know how blessed.
    Wishing everyone a wonderful Christmas!

  160. Kristin Friscia

    Making sugar cookies with my little girls, watching It’s A Wonderful Life and not letting my kids see the tree Christmas morning until I check to make sure Santa came ;)
    Christmas is the most incredible time of the year!!

  161. Kimberli

    My favorite tradition is happening today!! :-) My family as well as my siblings and their families, all go to my parents house for the day to hang out in our pjs – eating breakfast, lunch, opening gifts, then eating dinner (with lots of yummy snacking in between) – just hanging out together, relaxed, and enjoying each other – letting all our children play together!! Thanks so much for the chance to win, I’ve been drooling over a Keurig for awhile now!! Merry Christmas to you!

  162. Ashley F.

    My favourite tradition is making banana pudding with my mom for our family’s Christmas dessert, and now that my younger twin sisters are old enough they’ve started helping. I’m glad that I come home for the holiday’s.

  163. Ellen

    My favorite tradition is baking date- nut bread using my grandmother’s recipe. We wait to enjoy it for breakfast on Christmas morning. Slathered with cream cheese of course!

  164. Joyce Y

    I would love to win this so I could take it to work and use it there when we have sales reps come to call on us.
    My very favorite Christmas tradition is making cut out cookies with my daughter every year. We have many traditions but that is a special memory every year.

  165. Teresa Gill

    As our girls have grown up, we like to watch The Christmas Story together all night on Christmas Eve over and over. It has become a very special time for our family. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

  166. Sylvia

    Our favorite holiday tradition is to bundle into the car and drive around looking at Christmas lights. We get everyone travel mugs with hot chocolate, bags of popcorn, Christmas music on the radio and vote on the best decorate houses. Love it!!

  167. Colleen

    Every year we go to my Grandparent’s house on Christmas Eve. Even when I was a child it was my favorite part of the holidays, sitting in their living room singing songs, opening gifts and laughing. Now that we’re all grown we’ve talked about splitting up and spending Christmas Eve with our own growing families…but we never have, and I hope we never will.

  168. Leah

    Wow, what a great giveaway! When the kids were little we would go to a Christmas display in a nearby small town. They would have these enormous “stations” of the 12 days of Christmas and had that song playing non-stop. We would start at Day 1 and sing with the song and would jump and run to the next station as the song would lead us. It got pretty funny when we got to around day 8…all of that running back and forth. Now that our children are married and have children of their own they taking their kids to the same display and are playing the same Christmas game…gotta love that!

  169. Lori B.

    I love baking cooking with my four boys! This year will be a little difficult because I have plastic surgery on my left hand in a few days- we won’t be able to make as many different kinds.

  170. Shannon

    A favorite family tradition is having Grandma’s fried corn mush for breakfast Christmas morning. That might not sound appealing to everyone, but it was mighty tasty — the smell of fresh brewing coffee, too. Thanks for the great giveaway!! Merry Christmas!

  171. Veronica @ Café con Leche

    since we’re Latin, my huge entire family always eat dinner on christmas eve around 10pm and then open alllll but one our presents at midnight. the last one we open christmas morning! when we were younger we’d always go out to “look for Santa” at around 11:45 while our parents actually put all the presents under the tree! Good times :)

  172. heather

    Oh my, so many traditions we have. My husband and I always go to Christmastown in Busch Gardens, Va. His family also has a huge Christmas Eve get together complete with food, presents and singing carols. I would list way more, but it would get way to long.

  173. April Southers

    Great giveaways Amanda!! I think my favorite tradition has to be walking through the botanical gardens when they have their walk through nights. My daughter and I have done this the last few years and we bundle up, buy some hot chocolate, and wander through. So much fun…

  174. Rebecca

    I forgot to include my Christmas tradition… my family and I LOVE holiday movies. On Christmas Eve, we watch as many as we can fit in one day.

  175. Erin Lancaster

    My favorite tradition really spans two days. Christmas Eve is spent with my Dad and all of my siblings opening gifts (that generally revolve around tools and wine/liquor) before going to my Aunt and Uncle’s house for a party with the extended family. On the way to the party, we stop at my childhood nanny’s home to sing Christmas carols together. After much laughter and fun has ensued, we all head to the Christmas Eve service at our local church. The next morning, the immediate family spends the day with my Mother where we all spend time opening gifts before heading to the kitchen to cook together and celebrate over a hearty meal. Next is movie time where we all fall asleep by a blazing fire. Upon waking…it is leftovers time! I love my family and all the time spent with them over Christmas.

  176. Larissa

    Merry Christmas! Every Christmas Eve, the whole family attends church service together in the evening and then we go back to Aunt Donna’s for a family dinner of chicken and dumplings. It’s the best!!

  177. Nikki

    Every year our whole family gets together at my parents’ house on Christmas day and we eat a huge beautiful brunch and just lay around all day relaxing. Of course, it is tradition to make sure and watch ” Christmas Vacation” and laugh like it was the first time seeing it.

  178. Maria

    My Favorite holiday tradition would be the fact that we have music, movies and books that we only take out and enjoy during the holiday season. There’s a very old and traditional song that is very popular in the Latino community (Mi Burrito Sabanero) that every child grows up listening to. So, to bring out that CD and play that song is an instant flashback to past holidays. I also like to watch at least one holiday movie with the kids, and i like that it is and will always be the same one – It’s A Wonderful Life. We also read one book with the kids, usually one of the books that they received as a gift. We’ll read it during the holiday break from school. So, every time they read that book, they’ll be reminded of a particular holiday season. I’m a huge fan of “creating experiences” that will foster memories for a lifetime.

  179. Jennifer

    It’s gonna sound silly, but we always have KFC on Christmas Eve, open one present, and always go to Midnight Mass. It’s a silly tradition, but it fits our silly family! Thanks for the contest!

  180. Jamie Snyder

    We love baking together as a family, participating in an advent as a family and waffles for breakfast on Christmas day.

  181. Shelley Mayo

    I always look forward to spending an evening filling out our Christmas cards, sipping hot cider, and listening to Christmas music.

  182. Rachel in PA

    We have so many Christmas traditions in my family! From baking cookies for weeks, wrapping presents for hours, and just spending time together, celebrating the true meaning of the holiday.

  183. Jordan Chae

    This is a fantastic giveaway!!
    One of my family’s holiday traditions is to make date balls on Christmas eve. They’ve got brown sugar, dates, rice krispies, sugar, and they’re all rolled up in powdered sugar. Everyone always loves them!

  184. Tiffany

    I love Christmas! My favorite tradition is spending time with my family. This year we have a little one to make our own traditions with!

  185. Melissa Borgan

    Thanks for the chance to win! Our favorite holiday tradition is getting everyone together and bake holiday treats

  186. Aimee

    A cozy Christmas Eve with the family, then wrapping the Santa gifts with my husband after the kids are sound asleep. I love the anticipation of Christmas morning!

  187. Laura

    Favorite holiday tradition… Every year my family drives around looking at the beautiful Christmas lights while we eat ice cream cones. Heaven!!

  188. Traci L

    We watch Polar Express on Christmas Eve (with hot chocolate) and enjoy family time on Christmas Day, opening gifts, eating, snoozing and hanging out together.

  189. Layne

    We go ice skating, make homemade marshmellows, sit by the fire and drink hot cocoa (with our marshmellows) and watch the cutest Christmas movie of all time…Elf. Oh, and open most of our presents on Christmas Eve! :)

  190. Melinda

    Thank you! My favorite Christmas tradition is to make hot chocolate, turn on Christmas music and decorate the tree with my husband and 4 children. It is always a magical evening for all of us.

  191. Katie

    We spend Christmas Eve with my in-laws and play the white elephant game, then we come home to get ready for Santa’s visit with new pajamas for the kids. Christmas day is spent with my family, with more gifts and an awesome meal!

  192. Rhea

    Perfect giveaway! My favorite holiday tradition is Elf on the Shelf. Although we didn’t call it that growing up, my parents had a mini elf who moved throughout the house each night. We looked forward to it every year and now, I look forward to it with my girls.

  193. Jessica

    What a great giveaway! My favorite tradition is listening to Bing Crosby’s ‘White Christmas’ while decorating the tree. Love every second of it, I do! :)

  194. Christina

    Every year on Christmas Eve, after all the guests have gone home and after my younger sibblings (and my lovable father) are asleep, my mom and I stay up wrapping all of our family’s presents. I couldn’t even say when it all began, but on year my mother found herself a little behind on the wrapping (not to hard to do with a family of 6), so I offered to help her. We ended up staying up until 2:00 in the morning, only to be woken up at 5:00am by my little brother on Christmas morning!! Ever since, it became our special mother-daugther Christmas tradition…And even though we’re all older now, you can still find her and I up until 12, 1, or 2am, and you can still find all of us being awakened at 5:00 (on-the-dot) by my not-so-little brother :) Wouldn’t give it up for the world! Happy Holidays.

  195. Connie R.

    We open our gifts Christmas Eve at midnight. My oldest son came up with this idea and since there aren’t any little ones it works out. We have alot of fun.

  196. Kimberly M.

    Time passess so fast…so, I want to savor every minute with my two children, husband, and family…there’s nothing better. Since I have a large family, our tradition begins with the 24 days of RAOK (Random Acts of Kindness…Don’t have to cost a penny) …then we begin Christmas Eve with a huge feast prepared by my Italian sister-in-law (and her family), then wake-up to find Santa’s goodies, have a huge Christmas Brunch (prepared my me), lounge around, then have a huge Christmas Day supper. All of this is followed by the drive around to see Christmas lights (with hot cocoa or coffee). So much fun and boy are we stuffed!! Of course, each meal consists of LOTS of coffee and cocoa…so this would REALLY make the festivities even more exciting! Thank you for such a great opportunity! Happy Holidays!! :-)

  197. emily g.

    My favorite holiday tradition changed when I got married….now it is making tamales (my mother-in-law taught me how) and giving them away.

  198. Ryan Goldhammer

    One of our family traditions each year during Christmas is a hayride to look at all the pretty light displays!

    Thanks for the chance to win. Happy Holidays!

  199. Norma in NC

    We have our big meal at Thanksgiving, then on Christmas Eve we have appetizers, snacks, sweets and open presents. My kids are teenagers now so we get to sleep in, then have a late lunch.

  200. Kim

    Great giveaway! Looking forward to baking cookies, driving through the neighborhood to see Christmas lights, & of course watching our little one open gifts.

  201. Debbie

    What a great giveaway! I love coffee …

    My favorite Christmas tradition is spending time with my family on Christmas Eve quietly. After attending church services, I love to serve a few appetizers and sit in front of the tree listening to Christmas music.

  202. Susan Fennell

    Thanks for this opportunity to win! I love opening presents with family on Christmas Eve. We always have oyster stew and goodies! Merry Christmas!

  203. Shawn

    We always go to church and then Grandma’s for Christmas. The kids get presents from Grandma and Papa and have to sing Christmas carols to get them. It is so much fun.

  204. Emily

    I love coffee!! :) My favorite tradition growing up was having Chili and Oyster Stew on Christmas Eve every year.

  205. Carol Graham

    My favorite tradition is that I give my three grandchildren a present of new pjs that they open on Christmas Eve and then their dad reads “The Night Before Christmas” and then they hop off to bed:) Thanks for the chance to win!!

    Merry Christmas,
    Carol

  206. Stephanie B

    My holiday tradition starts on Christmas eve with church and presents with my family and Christmas day with his family. Ending out the night with just the two of us going out to the movie. Popcorn and milkduds! Mmm. Mmm.

  207. Allison

    My favorite holiday tradition is on Christmas morning, my sister and I would wake up at 5 am, spend the next two hours in her room contemplating what was wrapped for us under the tree, and at 7 we would rush to our parents room and jump on the bed with out stockings in hand. My mother always filled them and left them on our door knobs to find when we woke up. She would have a huge bowl ready for all the candy and my sister and I would open up our “stocking stuffers” together. Meanwhile, our father would be setting everything up in the living room-turning on the Christmas music, the tree lights, getting a trash bag for all our wrapping paper, and he would make us all a cup of hot cocoa. It really was a perfect morning and now my husband and I do it for our daughter and I hope she continues the tradition on.

    Merry Christmas,
    Allison

  208. Jennifer

    My favorite tradition is Christmas morning, reading the Christmas story from the Bible and after each part someone adds that figure to the nativity set.

  209. Lindsay

    What an awesome giveaway!

    It’s so hard to pick a favorite tradition. I just love everything about the holidays. Cookie exchanges, decorating the tree, opening new pajamas every christmas eve, Christmas movies. I can’t imagine Christmas without any of them!

  210. Becky

    My holiday is always busy with 8 family gatherings, but my favorite tradition is spending Christmas Eve at my grandmother’s house. This year is our last year there, as it is getting to be too much for her to prepare. We eat baked spaghetti, shrimp, ham and green beans, and spaghetti bread. We also have a birthday cake for baby Jesus. This is by far my favorite day of the year!

  211. Linda

    Merry Christmas! On Christmas Eve day we spend the day with the kids playing board games and munching on goodies and snacks, by evening its time to settle in where they pick their favorite Christmas shows and we always end with It’s a Wonderful Life. Christmas Day is then spent opening gifts and eating our traditional egg casserole which then leads us into awaiting for extended family to join us!

  212. Rose

    My favorite tradition is eating my dad’s breakfast burritos withe everyone in their pj’s, before we open gifts on Christmas morning!

  213. Karen Seltrecht

    By popular demand from my family, we always have Irish Chowder with garlic toast. It is so easy and soooo good. thanks for the chance to win this great prize! I am a coffee nut. My business tag line is “First We’ll Have Coffee” taken from the wonderful book First We Have Coffee. k

  214. Sharon

    Thank you so much for this awesome holiday chance to win…my favorite Christmas tradition is a story in our family of at midnight on Christmas eve all of the dogs get to talk to the baby Jesus…what a beautiful time for all of our animals…

  215. Kimberley M

    I’m starting the Pickle Ornament tradition this year. It’s going to be fun watching my 7 year old search for it on the tree!

  216. Monica Ackerman

    One tradition we had growing up is spending every other Christmas Eve at my aunt’s house and every other at our house then Christmas day would be spent at home. Once I grew up that tradition faded away as we lost members of our family or they moved away. Today my husband and I like to spend Christmas Eve with his family and Christmas day with my mom. We also like to open one gift from each other late on Christmas Eve and leave the rest to open first thing Christmas morning.

  217. Kristina

    On Christmas Day, we open presents in the morning, take in a movie matinee in the afternoon and come back to a casual dinner of honey ham, potatoes, salad and dinner rolls.

  218. Tracie

    Our favorite family tradition is gather around the tree on christmas morning and everyone say what they are thankful for and have hot chocolate. thanks for offering this giveaway. Merry Christmas to all!

  219. carmel atanasu-teeters

    One of my favorite Christmas traditions is going down Candy Cane Lane in my hometown of Vacaville, Ca. I was lucky to see them this year…. as I had moved clear to other coast almost 10 yrs ago. I was especially lucky this year seeing all the beautiful lights on the houses with my daughter and granddaughter!! She’s 4 yrs old and marvelled at the lights, the blow up decorations and the excitement of the season. I wish we could all see the season thru the eyes of a 4 year old!!

  220. Stacey

    Our tradition is to spend Christmas Eve in our PJs and eat pasta. Then the kids open one present and get ready for bed. Thanks!!!

  221. Lauren

    My favorite holiday tradition is spending time with family and friends while enjoying all of the beautiful lights and decorations! Happy Holidays!

  222. Erin A

    Does anyone out there remember bubble lights? My grandmother had these candelabras of them that she always kept in the kitchen window. As kids we would line up in front of that window and guess which one would bubble up first. Winner had bragging rights for the whole year! I’m in my thirties now and my brother and I still get excited every year to plug in those in lights and make our pick. We even play with our spouse’s and our own children now. Sometimes it’s the little things you pass down that make the happiest memories!!

  223. Heather M

    We each get new Christmas jammies! My parents started this with me and my brother when we were little and I’ve kept the tradition alive with my husband and 2 little boys!!

    Merry Christmas!

  224. Aimee S

    My favorite holiday tradition is on Christmas Day, just being together as a family. We all stay in our PJ’s all day, cook a huge breakfast and a late lunch…snack all day and watch the kids play.

  225. Julie

    One of my favorite Christmas things to do is take a candy cane off of my parents tree as I am leaving. We used to do this at my grandparents and since they have passed on…it has continued through my parents.

  226. Susan

    I love riding around with my hubby and children looking at lights, listening to Christmas music and drinking hot cocoa. Thanks for the chance to win! I have been wanting a Keurig for a while.

  227. Melissa R

    My favorite Christmas tradition is my grandma hiding gifts around her house and giving us all a clue to go find where it is. What a great giveaway!!

  228. Teresa

    Our tradition begins with mass Christmas Eve then a visit from Santa in the morning. We then gather with other family members for food, festivities and gifts!

  229. Kristie

    I love watching classic Christmas movies with my dad while we decorate the tree. (Holiday Inn, It’s a Wonderful Life, and Miracle on 34th Street are the favorites.)

  230. MacKenzy Harper

    Playing the Snow Bowl Football game… Grandpa still plays and is all-time quarterback. We film it and choose an MVP afterward, then award them the trophy that is passed around each year!

  231. Christa

    Since I now have a little one of my own, we are starting new traditions with her like the Elf on a Shelf and mixing in old ones like riding around to see Christmas lights and spending Christmas Eve with the family.

  232. melissa currin

    Each year my daughters take turns putting the angel on the tree. It is the same angel I had on my tree when I was a little girl.

  233. deb williams

    At some point during the week of Christmas we still have our family gathering with just our 3 kids and their spouses. Sometimes we have a traditional meal, other times it’s just potluck….where “luck” is the key word! We are in 3 different states and not everyone can make it every year but we still try. We still do all the other family gatherings but I like to be with my kids at some point, sharing a meal, reminds me of when they were all young. We also go to church on Christmas Eve as a family, even if they head in different directions afterwards. I think they enjoy the quiet time there as much as I do!

  234. BCoan

    One Christmas about 8 years ago, my husband and two sons and I decided to go for pancakes at the Denny’s up the road from where we lived. We had so much fun sitting around that small table laughing and talking and drinking coffee (yay caffeine!) that ever since then we make plans to do it again. My sons are now grown but they are sure to come over Christmas morning and off we go to Denny’s.

  235. Cretia

    My favorite tradition is spending Christmas morning with my husband and kids, opening presents and eating breakfast pizza. His parents come (across the road) to see what everyone got for Christmas and we exchange gifts with them. My dad eats Christmas lunch with us every year since my mom passed away. We spend the day as a family, enjoying each others’ company and remembering the real reason we have Christmas – Jesus. Merry Christmas to you!

  236. Jeanne N.

    My favorite holiday is spending Christmas Eve watching “White Christmas” with Bing Crosby in our p.j’s and snacking on various Christmas goodies.

  237. Beth Sanborn

    I am so excited about this giveaway. I have been wanting to buy a Kuerig but just have not been able to. My favorite tradition is opening our Christmas jammies on Christmas Eve and wearing brand new jammies that night. LOVE IT!!

  238. Azalea

    Every Christmas Eve we open 1 gift (pajamas) and in the morning we have hot chocolate and cake donuts while we open our gifts. It has been this way since I was a kid.

  239. Laura(wr)

    I can’t really remember too many traditions that my family ever prescribed to, when I was growing up. I guess I would have to say I vaguely remember having a tree up, when I was younger.

  240. Megan B.

    I love being with family while making cookies, shopping, and opening presents.My favorite holiday tradition is our Christmas Eve dinner and watching National Lampoons Christmas Vacation!!!

  241. Christina J.

    My favorite tradition is making gingerbread with lemon sauce and having it for breakfast with my family before all the madness of the day starts.

  242. Audrey

    We have a nice family dinner and then sit around to enjoy all the Christmas lights open one present. Tradition is to make Christmas cornflake wreaths.
    Merry Christmas to you and yours!

  243. deannab1

    My husband and I exchange Christmas ornaments every Christmas morning – they always represent something that was special to us in that year. I love to see what he picks out.

  244. Melissa R

    My favorite tradition with my husband is going to Starbucks to get a warm drink and driving around fancy neighborhoods looking at Christmas lights while listening to Christmas music on the radio. It really gets us in the spirit!

  245. meriel

    Every year I bake a ridiculous amount of goodies to give away as presents! One year I made mini red velvet cupcakes, mini pumpkin spice cupcakes, sand tarts (look them up!), peppermint pinwheels, oreo truffles, and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Let’s just say people were returning their goodie tins for “refills” :)

  246. Jackie

    I just enjoy the happiness and excitement that surround the holidays, regardless of what the traditions happen to be!

  247. Naomi A. of Colorado

    Our holiday tradition is to make Tamales. We all gather around our table and prepare an assembly line in making anywhere between 15-25 dozen to eat during the holidays as well as give as gifts! Thanks for sharing your blog!

  248. Denise

    Thanks for the chance to win this fabulous gift! This will be the first Christmas without our matriarch…this year my new tradition will be to continue those my nana left for me. Make Cookie wreaths, stuffed Italian cookies and always have “coffee and” at the close of every night. I have 2 of her coffee cups so I can still have my coffee with her.

  249. Mell

    Every year my family and I drive to eat at our favorite cafe in the Texas Hill Country and dirve around to look at all the Christmas lights in the Hill Counrty. My husband has been doing this ever Christmas since he was a child.

  250. Sarah C.

    I always look forward to eating pecan chocolate chip pie for breakfast! I used to do that every year with my grandmother, and since she’s been gone I’ve kept the tradition alive all on my own. :)

  251. Kindyll A

    Thanks for the opprotunity to win! I would love to win this for my parents! My favorite memory is sneaking in before time to wake up and standing at the edge of the living room. I could just barely see what was there and see the stockings spilling over. Then I would run back to bed until it was time to get up! :)

  252. Brooke

    I have 2 favorite traditions. My favorite childhood tradition was going to see the Richmond Legendary Santa Claus. There were really long lines and my mom and grandmother (both deceased now) took me. I always had a frilly Christmas dress, patent leather dress shoes and a new purse for this special event. My favorite grown up tradition is the one I started with my son when he was only 2 years old. We make Christmas cookies for sharing with family and for leaving out for Santa of course :)

  253. Tara

    My favorite holiday tradition is decorating cookies with my mom, aunts, cousins, and sisters. It is always so much fun!!

    Thank you for the awesome giveaway!!

  254. Judy

    My favorite tradition is going out with the kids to get a tree, and then decorating it with them while listening to Christmas music and drinking eggnog.

  255. Robbin

    Favorite traditions include going to candlelight service at church Christmas Eve, baking cookies with my mom and daughter, and setting the mood to open gifts Christmas morning….Candlelight, music, breakfast….

  256. Emily

    My favorite holiday tradition is video taping Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning. Not because the activity itself is fun, but it’s so fun to look back on years later.

  257. Heather

    My sister and I made and decorated cut-out sugar cookies for many years when we were growing up, in college, and even after we had both gotten married. I have carried this holiday tradition on with our own children, and we love baking and decorating them together each year.

  258. Erin Cookmeyer

    My favorite holiday tradition is buying my husband an ornament that represents something that happened during the year.

  259. Elizabeth Otter

    Santa would always deliver our stockings to the foot of our beds (mine and my sister Emily’s). She would bring her stocking to my bedroom where we would open them together. We would put them back together and proceed to our parent’s bedroom where we would show them our loot and watch them open theirs. I hope to make the stocking experience just as special for my boys.

  260. val lewis

    We celebrate a very traditioanl Christmas, but New Years Day we eat corned beef and cabbage. We also love taking a picture of each family member on New Years Day! Fun to see how we’ve all changed!

  261. Lynn

    Fabulous!
    My favorite tradition would have to be Christmas morning with the family, stockings first, then opening presents one by one (no wild free for all here) and then a yummy brunch that wouldn’t be complete without my mom’s cinnamon rolls.
    Thanks for the chance.
    Happy Holidays!

  262. Dawn Ritchie

    We have tons of traditions that I love around here for Christmas… but our newest is the Elf on a Shelf and our 2 year old LOVES it!! Best idea since sliced bread!! :)

  263. Agneris A.

    My favorite family tradition is driving around with our 5 & 2 year old to look at christmas lights and decorations.

  264. Crystal Sanders Thompson

    oh my goodness, this is a fabulous giveaway!! We are AVID coffee lovers in my family, all the way down to my 2 year old! (yes, I know, bad parenting!) My favorite holiday tradition is making cookies and candy..and then eating them over hot chocolate and coffee!! Thanks so much for the chance to win!

  265. Emma

    Thanks for the give-a-way. We love to bake cookies with the little kiddos, baking both sugar cookies and chocolate chip cookies (yum)! :-)

  266. Mary Beth|Cupcakes and Crinoline

    Being with my family is more important than anything…the gifts are nice…the food is wonderful…but more important than any of that is being together.

  267. mlb

    Christmas Eve has always been our immediate family time in the evening. The morning is a celebration brunch for family and friends but that evening we have our own supper. From the age of 3 on, our son has always picked the meal. We’ve had a variety of things – from waffles, green beans and water at age 3 to prime rib and the trimmings in later years. This year at age 30, he and his wife will be here and we will, once again, honor the tradition. On the menu is Dungeness crab two ways for appetizers, steak, baked potatoes and a veggie yet to be decided. Dessert will be bread pudding. I love this tradition!

  268. Tricia

    Thanks for the chance to win this fabulous prize! My favorite holiday tradition is to be able to honor this time of year by spending it with the people we love – baking cookies, eating too much and having lots of laughs!

  269. Heather Mayberry

    i look most forward to sausage cheese balls and playing rook. this makes my holiday. and being with family of course!

  270. Amy

    My husband’s side of the family always get together at his mother’s house on Christmas Eve. We read from the Bible, eat, the children exchange gifts, and the adults play dirty santa. It has been a tradition since we have been together and I live it!!

  271. Susan

    Favorite Christmas tradition is now still making the same Christmas Eve mean of 7 seafood courses to keep the ethic family recipes. Lots of great memories of years past.

  272. Robin

    My favorite tradition is trying to get candid photos of the family over the course of the day. They either start posing or run and hide, so it’s like a photo safari! This year I have a new DSLR, though, and a zoom lens, so I can hide in the hallways and dark corners and they won’t spot me.

  273. Christina Stagner

    Our holiday traditions include waking up early to get Christmas dinner on cooking, making BLTs or pigs in a blanket for breakfast, watching my nephew open his presents, opening my 4 month old niece’s presents for her, and spending the day with family, food, and love. :) A Keurig would make that day even better!

  274. YM

    No specific traditions but Christmas is the only time of year my whole family (in-laws included) is together, so I really enjoy catching up with everyone.

  275. Cassandra

    My favorite Christmas tradition is simple but I love turning off the lights in the house and just sitting by the tree when its all lit up. It’s cozy and puts me in the holiday mood.

  276. JoEllen

    My favorite tradition is that we don’t travel over the holidays. We spend time at home with each other as a family. We bake cookies, eat meals, play games, and enjoy each other.

  277. Leah Rose

    I am so looking forward to our new (2 year) tradition of opening all our gifts, but then when the kids wake up all of “Santa’s ” gifts are unwrapped under the tree…I just love, love, love Christmas time with my babies!!!

  278. Genevieve

    Thanks for this giveaway. My family tradition is to gather at a restaurant and eat our heart out in between beers and wines and sweet treats!

  279. Meghan

    My favorite tradition from when I was younger was hanging our stockings on Christmas Eve and then my mom would read Twas the Night Before Christmas to me and my brothers before we went to bed! We are a bit too old for that now but it is a tradition I will definitely continue when I have children!

  280. lori DeCoite

    In the mix of all the craziness of the holiday and seeing all the family I love our Christmas eve…we spend it with just our little family of 5 at home, eating a nice quiet dinner, and listening to holiday music..thanks for the chance to win… happy hoilday to you both!

  281. Pam

    My favorite tradition is “games and goblets” (playing games and drinking wine) with my family on Christmas night. It’s a great way for the adults to talk and have a fun evening after tons of gift opening for the kids.

  282. Lori

    One of our favorite traditions is we have this advent calendar that each day you move the little mouse into a new window, one day closer to Christmas eve. It’s one of our favorite kids memories that they still love, even though they are grown up with babies of their own! It’s awesome. Merry Christmas

  283. Stephanie

    My favorite holiday tradition has to be how my family celebrates Christmas Eve. The food, the parties, the excitement, the anticipation. I love it all!

  284. Stephanie G.

    OMG….what an awesome giveaway! We go to my in-laws on Christmas Eve, sing carols & play SANTO…it’s like BINGO. The kids look forward to playing and win small prizes. It’s a wonderful evening with the family.

    thank you for the chance to win….Happy Holidays Kevin & Amanda!
    hugs,
    Steph

  285. Karen

    My favorite tradition is getting to spend time with family and friends. I am getting very excited to watch my daughter open presents this year…she is 1 1/2 years old and I am loving watching her aww over Christmas lights, Santa, and snow!! It has been fun starting new straditions with her–looking forward to baking cookes for Santa :)
    Merry Christmas!!

  286. Dawn

    Thank you for the opportunity! My favorite tradition is time off work to spend time just hanging out with the kids or more like being available to them, as teenagers they don’t really want to ‘hangout’ with mom, but they do want you available!

  287. Susan Lew

    My favorite tradition is making Christmas eve dinner in my house where we open our presents and spend time together.

  288. Emily

    When I was younger, my mother would create a scavenger hunt for my niece and I. We would have to find the items that fell out of Santa’s bag as he warmed up his cookies, for example. Now, since we are much older, she still does this, but for the grandchildren! It helps keep the kids occupied that much longer!

    I love the holidays and thank you very much for this opportunity to win the Keurig!

  289. Patti Olsem

    Awesome giveaway, thanks! My favorite traidtion is hiding the pickle ornament and having the kids look for it! The winner gets a special prize, which is also a favortie traiditon because I like to chose something completely out of the ordinary! That can be challenging because my kids ages range (oldest os 15 youngest is 5) and I always have the prize ahead of time wrapped and waiting for the winner!

  290. Ashley Shelton

    I love cofee! I think I might be addicted! My favorite holiday tradition is every Christmas Eve we have a cookie cook off contest with family, extended family, and friends! It gets intense but the cookies are amazing!

  291. melanie

    my favorite tradition is having the family together on christmas eve. someone always plays santa and gifts are passed out, all marked from santa!

  292. Tracey C

    Our family tradition is to have all family members meet for dinner at the grandparents home. We exchange gifts at the end of the evening to be taken home and opened the next morning. When I was a child, another piece of this tradition was to get up early to open all gifts and select one gift to take along, as we visited family and friends on Christmas day. Now that I am an adult, my daughter takes along her gift of choice.

  293. Danelle Reilly

    My family opens new jammies christmas eve, and my sons always has a movie for family movie night with popcorn and candy. Other than that it is cooking christmas breakfast with family and just hanging out in our pjs most of the day.

  294. Brenda B.

    It’s just been my daughter and me for the past 12 years. On Christmas Eve we go to church, then to P.F Changs for dinner, drive around and look at lights, then home to open one present (which of course is always new PJs). Not too exciting by some standards, but we like it. She is almost 20 now and I know that it won’t be long before she has her own family and will be making her own traditions so I savor every minute now.

  295. LolaT

    When I was little, we would stay up until midnight and open all the presents then. But now that we have kids, we just do the early morning.

  296. Christy B

    Every year my mom would buy/make an ornament that we would open on Christmas Eve, so through the years we had built up our own personal ornament collections for our own family trees. This is a tradition, I plan on carrying on with my own two children. Merry Christmas!

  297. Lynda

    being asian, we dont’ really celebrate christmas in the traditional sense, so we make our own. we actually have hot pot every x’mas eve where we cook meat and veggies in a big pot and eat around a table.

  298. Leisel Harder

    Traditions…they seem to shift a bit as I “grow up.” Hearing my dad read the Christmas story on Christmas morning before we open gifts, puts it in perspective. I’m hoping to develop new traditions. Last year we spent the day at the hospital with our new babe who came too early, but we did get to hold her a bit. This year it will be fun to experience the day with a one year old! and no more hospital!!!

  299. Arilla

    Merry Christmas Kevin & Amanda! My favorite holiday tradition is making pizzelles and then wrapping them up in tall stacks with ribbons and bows to give to all of my family.

  300. Natalie

    We go to church Christmas Eve, then off to look at Christmas lights, then home for chicken chili, and finally the kids open their Christmas pjs – love!!

  301. julie daughdrill

    Thanks for the opportunity to win. I’ve been wanting one of these. Our family tradition is eating shrimp and grits on Christmas morning and then taking turns opening gifts. I love watching the kids in the neighborhood ride their new bikes and play with their toys. Merry Christmas to all!!!!!

  302. Pamela Palmer

    I have been wanting one of these. One of my family tradition is on Christmas Morning we open presents then I fix a big breakfast for everyone.

  303. Peggy

    I always have Christmas Eve at my house for all the family. Christmas day is more casual with all of us relaxing and enjoying all the leftovers.

  304. Kaela

    Great giveaway – thanks Amanda! Two favorite traditions: watching Christmas Vacation with my husband and Nachos with my family on Christmas Eve! Merry Christmas to you and yours!

  305. Wilma King

    Spending ALLLLL day with family! Starting at 9ish in the morning and going strong till 10pm or so!! And thats usually 2 different days :) Once with my family and once with my in-laws — I love it!

  306. Amy

    I love your site! Our favorite tradition is to drive around with friends and hot chocolate to look at the lights…I’m extra excited to do it this year as I made your DIY bokeh filter and can’t wait to try it on the houses with super crazy lights! Thanks!

  307. Tammi C

    We just love everything about Christmas….from watching Christmas movies every day, listening to Christmas music, the shopping and celebrating the birth of Jesus! On Christmas Day we open presents at home as a family, then travel to the in-laws and open presents, then to my parents for more presents then back to the inlaws for dinner, at like 10pm! It’s a crazy busy day and exhausting, but we are so thankful to have both of our families here in town and I love being able to share Christmas day with everyone!!