My favorite memories …

Adults sometimes need to be reminded what the holidays are all about by looking through the eyes of a child.

We asked fourth-graders at four schools in Lake County to give us their favorite holiday memories.

You might be surprised to learn the holidays mean much more to them than receiving a new PlayStation or American Girl doll. To many of these kids, the chance to spend time with their families is the foundation for their memories.

Enjoy their stories. And, happy holidays.

Time with family

To Grandma's house:

Last year for Christmas I went to Philadelphia to visit my grandparents. My mom, sister and I flew there. My grandparents picked us up from the airport. I was excited!

When I got to my grandparents' house, I saw my dog. The house was decorated red and green. "Yes!" After everybody gathered around the table, we watched a movie. I fell asleep on the sofa.

Wow, what a great Christmas! The next morning, we left. I was sad, but I still will see them next year.

I love Christmas!

It was an inspirational moment!

Alex Galloway,

Oak Grove School

Off to California

I waited my whole life for this, cause I'm going to see my family in California. The reason why I was excited was because I got to see my family for Christmas. The thing that was cool is that I got to spend the night at my Nanna's apartment. I also got to see the Christmas parade.

The thing that was cool was that I got to eat over there. I was really young. I was only like 5 years old. My Nanna loves to take me to the store so I can tell her what I like to eat and drink my Nanna makes the best French toast. She has a bunch of cool stuff. The weird part was there was no snow so I couldn't go sledding. My Nanna's apartment is one room. I felt good that I got to see her and the rest of my family. I had waited a very, very long time.

Melody Ann Greenlee Antioch Elementary

Memories of Grandpa

I woke up one morning and under the tree, I saw a big stack of presents. I wanted it to be Christmas for so long and at last, it was Christmas. I just hoped I would get what I wanted. I got games, horses and big white tiger. I just couldn't wait to go to Papa's house.

At Papa's house, I saw Grandpa Nelo, Nona and of course, Papa. I loved all the gifts I got. I loved that Christmas very much. I miss Grandpa Nelo. That was his last Christmas before he passed away. I wish everybody a very merry Christmas.

Hyacinthe Ingram,

Mechanics Grove School

Singing and fun

On Christmas Eve, my grandma and cousins came over for Christmas. My cousin Sam, my sister and I were singing Jingle Bell Rock. We were being really crazy.

After our beautiful song, dinner was ready. We had turkey, potatoes and green beans.

After our delicious dinner, we opened presents. My sister and I got a giant snow globe. When you press the button, snow falls and Christmas music would start playing. I got many more presents. Sadly it was time for them to go. We waved good-bye and went to bed.

The next day it was Christmas! We woke up our mom and dad and raced downstairs to the Christmas tree. We saw that the milk and cookies were gone. There were presents everywhere! My dog Buddy even got toys to play with. It was a fun Christmas.

By Kelly Kroc,

Oak Grove School

Sloppy Joe time

Every year my family on Christmas Eve goes to my grandma's house to celebrate Christmas. When I walked in, I saw my family, my aunts and uncles. I play cards with my cousins. We play games like Go Fish and Old Maid. For dinner, we eat sloppy joes, ham and other kinds of food. For dessert, we have cookies that my great grandmother bakes. After dinner, we open presents. One or two years ago, I remember getting A Team Titans, command center and another time, I ate two sloppy joes.

Jacob Hubbard,

Millburn Central

No ham … pasta

Have you ever had a special Christmas? Well, if you had not, let me tell you about mine. Last year, on Christmas, my whole family was there, my cousins, aunts, uncles. First, I said hi to everyone then we start playing a tournament of a soccer game. The winner gets to choose what he wants.

Second, we eat my aunt's world-famous pasta with chicken. When we're done, we go outside to play tackle football in the snow.

Last, we go inside, dry off and then we watch a nice movie with all my family.

Johnny Pacheco,

Mechanics Grove

Movie time

Christmas when I was seven was the best Christmas ever. My aunt and uncle came on Christmas eve. They brought photos from their trip to Hawaii. My Grandma and Grandpa also came. My dad was at a Christmas party at his job. When he got home, we all went to the movies. The theater on Christmas was empty and quiet. The best part is I didn't have to be quiet because we were the only ones there.

Derek Veal,

Antioch Elementary

Family is best

Christmas when I was eight was a blast. My family and I made cookies that taste like sugar with sprinkles. We left five cookies for Santa and a glass of milk.

On Christmas day, I was joyful. My brother and I ran down the stairs, but we couldn't open any presents until mom, dad, my grandma and my other brother came downstairs.

We woke them up and opened presents. But that's not the true meaning of Christmas. It's spending time with your friends and family, celebrating a birthday of the Lord and enjoying a great Christmas.

Natalie Ingrum,

Antioch Elementary

A painful holiday

Ouch

I began ice skating and turned the corner and automatically I did the splits. One leg went right and one leg went left. I was in pain. I couldn't move. It felt like I was in a block of ice. My mom helped me up. My legs were hurting. I fell again. This time, I fell on my face. My tongue was stuck to the ice. I pulled and I couldn't get up. My mom had to get a cup of hot water. After that, we just left.

Matt Leyva,

Millburn Central

Only 'purple PJ legs':

One of my most brilliant Christmas memories was just last week. We were decorating our Christmas tree. Everything was perfect. We had music going, my dad was home, none of our ornaments were broke when we hung them. Everything was perfecto. We just got done with our Christmas tree but we didn't put the angel on top. I was talking to my dad, my sister was sitting in front of the tree and my brother was talking to my mom. Then all of a sudden, my dad started to say: "Whoa. Whoa. Whoa!!" We turned around, the tree was falling. It fell … on my sister and all you could see was purple PJ legs sticking out. My brother and I started to cry, we thought our ornaments were broken. My mom said… "Go get towels." We got a bunch of towels, my mom and dad cleaned up the water that fell out of the tree. Me, my sister and brother were crying and it turned out four ornaments broke. But one of those four was my brother's favorite ornament. When we stopped crying my mom and dad said, you want to put up the ornaments again? Me, my brother and sister said, "See ya," and went in the basement to watch TV. That is a Christmas memory I will remember and laugh about it whenever I think of it now and when I'm older.

Sean Rafferty,

Millburn Central

Sledding mishap

My seventh Christmas was the best Christmas ever for me. I got to spend lots of time with my family. My favorite part was sledding with my family, including my cousins. We had a huge hill that we had to walk up before we could sled down. We made a train. I was in the front and it was very painful. We ran into a big log, and then everyone piled up on me. I felt all tingly inside. I had a huge scratch on my arm. I went home so I could clean the scratch out, so it wouldn't get infected. A couple of hours later everyone else came home and my parents started dinner. I was all warmed up already. Before we knew it, it was 7:00 p.m. and time to eat dinner. We had pop, water, ham, spaghetti and mash potatoes. After dinner, my cousins went home. My day was really good -- except when I got the huge scratch.

Tristin Eves,

Antioch Elementary

Other celebrations

Eid-Al-Adha

Every year my family members come to my house. Sometimes every kid gets a present! My mom perpetually makes food and then we eat a lot of food. We always celebrate Eid at my home every year. I get to have (henna) on my hands, it looks awesome. The best thing that day is that I stay up late playing with my cousins.

Now you are probably wondering why we celebrate Eid-Al-Adha. Well we celebrate it for a reason and this is story that tells us why we celebrate it …

Ibrahim had two sons one named Ishaq and the other named Ismail. One night Ibrahim dreamt that he was slaughtering Ismail. He realized that God told him to sacrifice his son's life. He told Ismail what he had to do. Ismail was calm and said, "O father! Do as God has told you to do. You will meet me in one of the contented." This reply satisfied Ibrahim. He procured a rope, and a knife, accompanied by Ismail, they set off to the jungle. Three times on their way, Satan tried to distract them. However, Ismail threw 7 tiny stones at Satan and Satan ran away. When they got there, Ibrahim made Ismail lie on the ground and tied Ismail's hands and feet with rope. Ibrahim tied a cloth over his own eyes, then he mounted Ismail's chest and applied the knife to Ismail's throat. After he did that he took off the cloth from his eyes. When he looked he saw a ram killed where Ismail was, while Ismail was beside him. What happened is that God accepted the sacrifice and put a ram from heaven to take Ismail's place. Eid-al-Adha celebrated as a march of joy on the survival of Ismail from the great ordeal. Animals are sacrificed that day. On the Islamic calendar, it is on the 10th of Zihajj. It can be any day here. This is one of the greatest festivals of Muslims.

Zanub Husain,

Millburn Central School

Candles at Hanukkah

I don't celebrate Christmas like most people. I celebrate a Jewish holiday called Hanukkah. Most people don't celebrate Hanukkah, so I'll tell you a little bit about it. We light candles for eight nights to remember the miracle that happened, when the temple was rededicated and the oil for the menorah lasted eight days, where there was only enough oil to last one day. On each night of Hanukkah, we sing a prayer in Hebrew as we light candles. My dad usually lights the candles, but sometimes he lets my older sisters help. Every year, I hope that he'll let me light the candles, but I've always been too young and he was afraid I would burn myself. While the candles are burning, we get to open presents. Since there are eight days of Hanukkah, we get lots of presents. We also play a game called dreidel. A dreidel is a top with Hebrew letters on it. We take turns spinning the dreidel and depending on which letter it lands on, we either lose or win Hanukkah gelt, which are chocolate coins. I seem to walk away with the most gelt each year. My mom cooks potato latkes. These are pancakes made out of potatoes, which my mom fries. I eat mine with lots of salt.

This year was a very special Hanukkah for me. It started out like every other year. My dad called us into the dining room to light the candles. After my dad lit the shamash, the helper candle, he handed it to me to light the others. I could hardly believe it. I'm finally old enough! The candles weren't the only things beaming! This was the best Hanukkah ever. I can barely wait until next year.

Jennifer Lavin,

Mechanics Grove

Mitzvot, no presents

I want to tell you a little something about my first Hanukkah. Now you're probably thinking "First Hanukkah? I'm in fourth grade already." But you'll see what I mean. You are going to love what you see. My 1st Hanukkah was probably my best one yet. I usually get presents every year for Chanukah, but this year my mom said "We're doing mitzvot." I thought would be very different. My mom said we're going to be doing mitzvot instead of presents this year. A mitzvot is a commandment to do a good deed. There are many mitzvot to choose from. For example, respect your parents, standing up for yourself, caring for the environment, and helping the elderly. I chose standing up for myself and my friends. That's why this is my 1st Hanukkah, because mitzvot are a lot more important than presents!

Julie Gold,

Millburn Central

New additions

Her wish came true:

Christmas 2002 will always be special to me! My family was thinking about buying a new house. Deep down I wanted a baby brother or sister. My parents said it would have to be a new baby or a new house. Then, I thought we might never have another sibling. I already had four.

My family was visiting Santa at the Hawthorn Mall and buying gifts. As we were leaving, we stopped to make a wish in the magic fountain. I took my penny and wished for a baby sibling! You could tell I was really, really eager to be an older sister!

Two months before Christmas, we moved into our new house. I thought I'd never get my baby sibling. Then on Christmas Eve, my parents called us to the living room for a family meeting. It didn't look like a family meeting. My mom was holding a few white bags with our names on them and dad was smiling.

We sat down filled with curiosity. Mom handed everybody a bag. First, my older sister received a coupon that said, "this coupon is to say your wish hereby has been granted!" Second, my older brother got a Playmobile boy and girl. Third, my older brother got the word March. Finally, I opened mine and there was a blue and pink balloon. We all looked to mom and dad with confusion. Mom said, "Be a detective and put it all together." We all thought, "Okay … Mom … Dad, this seems a little …" Right then, my big sister jumped up and exclaimed, "I've got it! We're having a baby!" All I remember next was lots of happiness and hugs.

I finally got it. My wish had come true. My mom was pregnant. Everybody was excited, especially me. I couldn't believe that I was going to be an older sister by March 2003.

Looking back on those days helps me understand dreams really do come true. So next time you're at Hawthorn Mall, make a wish. Sophia, my 4-year-old sister and I know it will come true!

Kierstin Thompson,

Oak Grove School

Late, but better, present

This story that I'm about to tell you happened about six years ago. It was after Christmas, the day before New Year's. My mom was still pregnant with my baby brother. The day was going fine and a little boring. When I went to bed, I was tired and fell asleep very quickly. The next day my mom and dad went to the hospital so my mom could have my baby brother. I was with my aunt and my cousin. We went to buy my newborn brother which my mom and dad named Jimmy, a present. When my aunt, cousin and I got to the hospital, I got a big cupcake. It was good. Then my aunt and cousin took me home and we made a poster. It was for my mom and my newborn brother. My mom, dad and I were so happy. This was my favorite late Christmas present ever.

Jennifer Klem,

Millburn Central

Funny memories

Good morning!

When I was three, I got a drum set for Christmas. The morning I got it, every one was still sleeping. After I hit the toms twice or more then pounded on the bass drum, I woke everyone up. They all said, "go wake up your uncle." He was the only one still sleeping. Sure, enough I woke him up too. My uncle was a drummer also. I am a drummer in school. That was a great Christmas that I'll never forget.

Davin Gleason,

Millburn Central

It's mine!

About three or four years ago my (so far) far favorite Christmas memory happened. It was Christmas morning and I just finished sorting the gifts. My mom had the video camera out and dad was on the couch. Then my little sister, Ellen, came down with her blanket. "Merry Christmas," I told her. As soon as mom got the video camera ready, my sister and I began to open our gifts. I insisted my parents open their gifts that I made at school for them. But mom said for me to finish opening my Barbie and horse gifts. I glanced at my sister, she had one of my gifts. "That's my gift," I yelled. She just looked at me and said nothing. My mom couldn't even get Ellen to give me the gift. "See the writing! It says Debbie," I said. "Sweetie, she can't read," my dad told me. I tried to get the gift but she wouldn't let go. "That's your sister's gift Ellen," my mom said gently. Ellen hit the gift. There was a frown on everyone's face. Ellen and I kept on yelling until my dad interrupted and said, "Why don't you both open the gift?" So we did. We opened it and played with it. Now when I watch the video, it always makes me laugh. That was my (so far) favorite Christmas memory.

Debbie Wood,

Mechanics Grove

Fashion show

In 2006, I had an amazing Christmas holiday. It began on a snowy morning when I ran downstairs to open my presents with my family.

I felt so excited about opening my presents, but I was very disappointed when I got a sweater that made me look kind of chubby. My dad, however, was very surprised when he got some clothes that he wanted. Dad ran to his room and put them on as fast as flash the super hero. My dad was doing the cat walk down the hallway, and my mom was taking pictures like it was going on the front cover of a fashion magazine.

Later that day, we invited our loving aunt over to help cook. My aunt Alexis said that song, "Big mouth" was my aunt Wendy's theme song. I started laughing so hard when I heard this I fell to the floor.

While my aunt was still over, my sisters and I started to play with our big present, air hockey. I was really beating them so bad, and I felt like a master. My sisters got seriously mad that I was beating them, and they started to mess with me so I would lose. Unfortunately, it worked.

I had a great Christmas holiday. My family and I made a memory that I will never forget.

By Bradley Deberry,

Oak Grove School

Additional student essays

Mechanics Grove School, Mundelein

Have you ever had a fantastic Christmas? I sure did. I had so much fun that year. It was a nice Christmas with my mom, two brothers and two sisters. Christmas is my favorite time of year.

It all started at seven o'clock in the morning on Christmas day. Everybody woke up to find that Santa Claus has come to our house. Before we started to rip the wrapping paper off the boxes of presents, we took some pictures so that we could remember this Christmas in the future. After that, we sprinted to our gifts and tore apart the paper. It was amazing to see all the presents we gave one another. When we were done opening the gifts, we looked outside to see that it was a white Christmas. This was the most magic Christmas ever.

My family and I thanked God for everything and wished him a happy birthday. I love Christmas and the gift of giving. That was the best day of my life.

Colin Hecht

On Christmas Day I woke up, dash down the stairs with my brother and sister and I wait until my parents get up. When they get up, they say "calm down. Soon, they'll come too. When they do come, they say "you can open your presents." When we hear that, we jump up and down. That year my parents bought me a Gameboy Advance, car charger and a toy. I can't remember what they bought my 5-year-old brother and 8-year-old sister. I wish Christmas was every day. I was so surprised and happy about the presents and opening them on Christmas Day. I had the greatest Christmas in my life.

Michael Yoo

My favorite Christmas was Christmas of 2006, because my Godmother came to Illinois from San Antonio, Texas. And on Christmas Eve, we had Italian foods for dinner. I will tell you about my special Christmas.

First, on Christmas Even since my Grandpa was born in Italy we had Italian foods, Calzones and Pasta Frita. This was really fun because everyone go to make their own. First, we make the dough then we stuff it with vegetables and meat. And Pasta Frita is a kind of fried bread. Then our Grandma gave us a few presents and saved the rest for Christmas day.

Then on Christmas day we went to my Aunt Vicki's house. We all ate dinner and then dessert. One of my favorite desserts is my aunt's chocolate dipped biscotti. Biscottii is an Italian cookie. Then after that all of the kids went downstairs, we played pool with our hands. When it was time to open presents then the adults said "Present time," and we all yelled "present time!" then we all ran upstairs by the Christmas tree. We all pick up one present at a time. I sat next to my Godmother. She gave me a little backpack with a book of biographies, a nativity set from Texas and a belt from Texas. Then after a long while we all went home.

We found out that in February my Godmother is moving back to Illinois. I am so excited. That was my most special Christmas.

Christine Rivi

I have many memories of Christmas but I have only one favorite. The memory I will cherish the most is the Christmas when my two new baby twin cousins had their first Christmas. A Christmas party for me would be my whole family together celebrating a joyful and loving holiday. The food we had was too good. I can still taste it now. The pie, bread, meat and all the other things people eat, but with more love cooked in every bite. We do many other things that are so much fun to do together. We put up our Christmas tree that sparkles in your eye. Then we open presents that could look like another Christmas tree. I know presents aren't everything, but they count for something. A heart-filled Christmas is the best and when someone new comes in, it makes it all the better. I can't stop thinking of the Christmas next year.

Adriana Salse

My favorite Christmas was last year. I got something I always wanted, a Babe Ruth baseball card. It was the best Christmas ever.

During Christmas, my family meets at a relative's house. Sometimes we host the Christmas. I see my grandma and grandpa, all of my aunts and uncles, and all eleven cousins of mine. They food is mouth-watering. Everything I scintillating, nothing disheveled. My favorite food is my mom's delightful cheesy potatoes. On Christmas, the adults do a grab bag. They do Secret Santa with my cousins and I. So my mom would pick a name out of a hat and buy that child a gift. We all have fun.

During Christmas, I get a lot of gifts, but that's not my favorite part. My favorite part is seeing all of my cousins and playing with them. I love seeing the day Dec. 25 on my calendar. I love Christmas!

Nicholas Duncan

Do you have a great Christmas? I'm sure I do. Every Christmas, my mom, dad, sister, aunt, uncle and cousin go to my house so we can have a delicious dinner together. Also, after everyone is done eating, we open presents. Last year I got a mini gumball machine and a virtual dog. We also play games and whoever wins gets to open the presents first. This is what we eat on Christmas. My mom makes mash potatoes and turkey. She also makes her delicious rice pudding and carrot cake. That's what we do at Christmas.

Noemi Saucillo

"It's Christmas, it's Christmas," I yelled as I burst out of bed. "Everybody wake up and look under the tree!" I screamed. "Look, I got an Ipod, I got some playdough, I got some outfits," we all screamed. "Dad, the relatives are here," my sister said.

As everybody came in it looked like the tree got smaller because of all the gifts that surrounded it. "Kids you can open more presents after supper. OK?" said my aunt in her adult voice.

"Mmmmmm," we all said as we smelled my aunt's delicious, mouthwatering dinner. There were mash potatoes, ham and her famous homemade gravy. What a meal. After we ate, we opened our gifts. That was a wonderful Christmas.

Sierra Escobedo

Christmas is fun and all. But I want to tell you about one special one. One morning, I woke up and I raced my sister downstairs running towards the Christmas tree. I skimmed through the presents to find mine. I found it and it was a remote control car. One of the ones that run on gas. So a few hours later at 1 p.m., we were getting ready for our party and our cousin's house in Chicago. So we got there around 2:20. A few more hours it was 9 o clock, we were just waiting until they let us open our gifts. It was a cd player. We went back home and I fell asleep.

Juan Flores

On Christmas, everybody goes over to my Aunt Rosa's house. My other aunts come, cousins, my dad, mom, brother, sister, uncles, grandmas and grandpas. The activities we do is bet in money bingo and you bet in your money that you have. We play hide and seek but we play it different. We turn off all the lights and the player uses a flashlight and in the dark, you try to find them. Then when they are eating in the family room, all the kids do a dance performance and I'm in it too. After that, everybody eats at these huge tables. Then we go to the dinner table. There is so much food, the table was filled up. There is like five packs of apple pies, five packs of cookies and five different cakes. We also open Christmas presents. Then when it is like 12 a.m., we all hug each other and then leave. That was the best Christmas I ever had.

Tyson Cook

It's Christmas, I yelled. I woke up everybody. My whole family is coming at 3:00. "Calm down," my cousin Abby said to me. I said, "No." We watched Elf when my aunt was there. She brought taco dip and cake for my birthday the day before Christmas. We had presents up to the tree top. My dad made a cherry and apple pie. My favorite is cherry pie because the cherries are really sour and I like sour food. It's my favorite sour food. My sister's face turned red because she had the cherry pie. She said it was the sourest thing she has ever eaten in her whole entire life. I said that's weird. My sourest is Sour Heads. We all ate. That's why I love Christmas the best.

Brandon Kozanecki

Merry Christmas! It is not Christmas yet, but we are getting ready. I will tell you how we celebrate Christmas.

My household usually goes on vacation. But when we don't, it's a big celebration. We set up beautiful glowing lights. We set up a gorgeous Christmas tree. We also put on lovely ornaments. The prettiest thing was the giant glowing star at the top of the tree. The thing I remember is when my brother went to the emergency room. But he didn't have to get stitches. He ran into a pole and split his head. It was the best and worst Christmas ever!

My uncle's household stays at home usually. They set up lights sometimes but not always. My uncle's family is Christian. They go to church. They give away presents they get. They know what Christmas is all about.

My aunt's household stays at home. They have their Christmas tree by the front door. They give presents to a lot of people. When my household comes, they give presents to us. They are a very loving family.

That is how my family celebrates Christmas. We have an awesome Christmas. Sometimes we are all together and we have a blast. Hope everybody has a merry Christmas. Remember when it's Christmas, everybody is together.

Minh Lee

Do you like celebrating Christmas Eve? I do because it's fun. First I always like to make my tree. I like to put the lights first, then I like to put on the spheres, and finally the decorations. Then we go to make the table. First, we put all the things that are on the table in another table. Then we put a big blanket that has drawings on it and we just light up one candle on it. I make food with my mom. Our favorite food on Christmas is pie with milk and cookies. Sometimes, my mom, my dad and my sister and me go put cookies for Santa. Next my sister and I go make cards for Santa, then we go watch a Christmas movie. Finally we go to wash our teeth and hands and go to sleep. In the morning, we wake up early to go see our presents, but first we go see what Santa's card says. Then we go wake up mom and dad and show them our presents happily. That's I do on Christmas.

Jazmin Carrasco Lara

On Christmas day, me and my mom, dad, brother and dog all go downstairs and zoom to our presents. We open them and then play. After we are done, we get dressed and then drive over to either our aunt's or grandma's or grandpa's house. We have breakfast there then we open more presents there and play with our cousins. Then we go to have lunch. Then finally but sadly we go back to bed and have sweet dreams, wishing that Christmas was every day.

Reid Rubio

Everybody has a special holiday memory, whether it involves a traditional food, an important custom, an event or a wonderful surprise. It can be happy, sad, funny or even serious. Either way, everyone has a story to share and I will always remember them.

My most recent memory took place just a few days ago. My church was having a Christmas pageant and I was going to be in it. I had to sing a solo dressed as the Little Drummer Child. I even got to carry a drum. I remember the moment I stopped onto the stage. I held my breath, my heart skipped a beat, my eyes widened and finally, I opened my mouth and sang to about 200 people. Afterwards, I felt much more relaxed and everybody celebrated with scrumptious, mouth-watering treats. People congratulated me and I felt very proud of myself.

Another holiday memory I treasure was when I unexpectedly joined a Christmas parade. I was in Puerto Rico where my relatives, when a line of floats, dancers and singers paraded through the street where my grandparents lived. We all hurried outside, joining the Christmas celebration. Just then, we saw the mayor of Guaynabo and his wife in a lovely, ornate float, throwing blowup balls out to the children on the streets. My grandpa knew the mayor; he even worked for the mayor. We said hello to them and then they invited me onto the float. When the parade ended, my family's faces were all beaming. I was really happy.

I remember all of these memories and many more during Christmas. They are very special to me, and I hope I'll have even more memories to share next year. And I hope that other people will treasure their holiday memories as much as I treasure mine.

Patricia Roques

Everyone has a different and special holiday memory. My favorite Christmas was last year. I'd like to share it with you.

When I woke up on Christmas morning, all my brothers and my sister gathered in the hallway. Next, we went into my mom's room and started jumping on her bed saying, "Wake up, it's Christmas!" we all went into our living room. There were so many presents! My favorite present that I received was an American Girl Doll - Itty Bitty Twins. All the presents I received were amazing.

Not only did the presents cheery me up, but it was mostly my family togetherness time. After we exchanged presents, we all pitched into make our holiday feast. Everyone was helping each other with the food they were making. I helped my mom with the turkey, my brother with the mashed potatoes and my sister with the drinks. When we all sat down we prayed. We thanked God for the wonderful meal we were having and we were thankful for all of the wonderful people in our lives. Everything was so good. The last thing we did was call people and wish them a Merry Christmas. I look forward to another memorable Christmas this year.

Kylie Hecht

My favorite holiday memory is Christmas because I get to spend more time with my family. We have yummy food for dinner and for dessert, we have Christmas cookies. Then, when it was time to open our presents we all bought for each other and we gave them to one another. Then we all went home and we slept. When we woke up we all went downstairs and we looked under the Christmas tree and we got the presents that Santa brought. We opened them and we went to our families' houses to see what they got from Santa Claus. Christmas is a great holiday to spend with your family.

Christian Ambriz

My favorite Christmas memory is when my sister and I went downstairs and saw all of the presents under tree.

There were tons of small presents and big presents and our stockings were full of stuff. There was a chocolate Santa and candy canes. One of my presents was an American Girl doll. It was Marisol. It was my favorite present. I was playing with my American Girl doll and dressing her in the clothes I had.

I ate my chocolate Santa. Later in the day, I went to my grandma's house and opened more presents and ate dinner there.

My sister got the movie "Princess Diaries". Before we went to my grandma's house, we watched it.

When we got home from my grandma's house, I went to bed because I was tired.

This was my favorite Christmas memory. I was seven.

Nicole Milco

I have many wonderful Christmas memories to share. One memory I can still recall was when I was only about 3 years old. My mom told me I should always be thankful for the great life I have and my good health and family. When I think about that, it brings a tear to my eye.

Another memory I have is my family being together while my dad reads "The Night Before Christmas" He still reads it to us even now.

Hide the pickle is a fun thing my family does every year at Christmas time. How you do it is Santa hides the pickle on the Christmas tree. Then the person who finds the pickle on the Christmas tree then gets an extra present. These wonderful memories will be in my mind for years to come.

Reese Dolan

Hi. My name is Teju Kanala. I am in Mr. Walton's fourth grade class at Mechanics Grove School. My favorite is Diwali. Diwali is celebrated by Aisan Indians.

Diwali is the festival of lights. I like Diwali because we usually start to decorate the house with lights. Another reason why I like Diwali is we always have a puja. A puja is when you show the god and wake him or her up.

Diwali is between Halloween and Thanksgiving, but it is closer to Halloween. When we do a puja, we decorate the temple, an Indian church, some Indians have them in their houses. You have probably seen large temples, the ones we have in our houses are very miniature temples. In temples, they do puja for Diwali. We do pujas to this one exact god even though we have many gods. We do pujas to the god Ganasha for Diwali.

Ganasha is an Indian god that we do pujas to. His face is shaped as an elephant, his body is just like a regular boy.

The picture has an Indian family celebrating Diwali. They are in Indian clothes. Those little lanterns they are holding have candles in them. We usually use them and put them at our front step.

Tejasree Kanale

"Bingoong!" We raced to answer the door. Cassie, Jullian, Uncle Mike and Aunt Jenny came in. Cassie said hello with the normal, "Hi Shorty," and Jillian with "what's up?" We stampeded to the basement to play Cranium Hullabaloo, claiming that Cassie cheated because she could tell the future.

I woke up early the next day. "Get up. GET UP," I roared. Yawning, Mom, Dad and my brother Danny slowly made their way downstairs. At the sight of the decorated tree with presents under the shelter of its spiny green branches, we plummeted head-first, turning the wood floor of our family room into an ocean of wrapping paper and ribbon. Our work was done.

I couldn't wait to show my gifts to my friend, Josie. Breakfast on that Christmas morning contained juice, sausage and my favorite: Daddy Pancakes (pancakes that my dad makes.) Dinner consisted of roast beast, from the Grinch, and other Christmas favorites. As I snuggled under my covers at night, a jolly thought popped into my brain, only 365 days 'til Christmas.

Elise Campbell

Every year at Christmas, my family and I celebrate Christmas on Christmas eve. My uncles and aunts have most of their time on Christmas eve. We celebrate by doing fun activities and eat. After we're done with everything and it is midnight, we open presents. I always get lots of presents. My family and I do Secret Santa and that is very fun because we want to know who got me so then we have wait until Christmas or Christmas Eve. That's really fun to do. So if you've never done Secret Santa, you should do it this year. It's very fun.

Yuri Mancilla

To begin, my mom has this tradition that we can't go to the living room until she's ready. Last year, I got up at 8 a.m. and went to Joe and Mike's room. They were awake and watching TV, so I joined them. We were watching the same show for four hours. Around 9 a.m. I got hungry, so I went to the kitchen and asked my dad to make cinnamon rolls. Finally at 12 p.m., we could go to the living room and see the presents.

We also have another little tradition. We open one present at a time in order from youngest to oldest. That means I go first. I picked the biggest one; it was about the size of a flat screen TV. Can you guess what it was? I'll give you a hint; it wasn't a flat screen TV. It was a bike! My old one was a rusty hand-me-down. My dad put it together and put it in the basement. Yes, this was the truly the best Christmas ever.

Benjamin Fehr

Christmas is my favorite time of year because my family has a tradition. Every year since I was two, we go to Dominick's or Santa Maria del Popolo church and pick a name off the tree. I remember two people that we got for. I'm going to tell you about it.

The first one I remember is we got for a little boy. He wanted a truck with lightning stripes on it and some clothes. We ended up getting a truck with lightning stripes and it had legos in it. After we got it we had to take it home and wrap it. We didn't know the boy's address or last name because we got for a boy that was poor. After we wrapped it we brought it back to wherever we got the name from and after we turned it in, the people that work at the church or Dominick's gave us an ornament to remember we got the boy what he wished for!!! Also, we got him clothes. We got him a sweater and pants. Although I don't remember what was on the sweater and pants, I do remember that they were warm and cozy.

The second person we got for was a 12-year-old girl. She wanted a boombox. We looked so many places for that boombox you can't even imagine how many places we looked. Also we got her an outfit. The outfit was cozy and cute. We took both of them home and wrapped them. Then we brought them back to the place we got the name from and those people sent the gift to her. Now every year I wonder if she still listens to the boombox and wears the clothes.

I love Christmas. Especially because my family has a tradition. I love buying for the poor kids. Christmas is my favorite time of year.

Allison Wallace

It was a very cold winter evening. Snow was falling very lightly and it was very beautiful. My mom and I were shopping at the mall. We could hear Christmas music everywhere. All these Christmas songs brought many memories to me, especially something that happened last Christmas.

First, all my relatives gathered at my aunt's house for a Christmas dinner. After the dinner, it was time for the presents. Every year, we do Secret Santa. Everyone picks a name out of a hat and buys a gift for the person they picked. Instead of a name on the gift tag, each one of us had to write a poem about the person. We read the poem and everybody had to guess for whom it's for. That's the only way for the person to get his/her gift.

When it was my turn to say my poem, the dog, Ralph, came and grabbed the gift out of my hands. Everyone started laughing because Ralph was running up and down the hallway with the gift in his mouth. My cousin and I were running after him while my aunt was trying to make him open his mouth by offering him a bone. He left the gift to get the bone and I dived for it. Finally I had it.

Finally, I read my poem and gave it to the person I had. After we ate dessert, we all sat on the couch and watched "The Christmas Story." I really liked us being altogether because that's what Christmas is all about.

Last Christmas was a memorable time. All of my family was together eating, laughing and enjoying each other's company. That was my favorite Christmas of all times. I will always remember it.

Anastasia Metropulos

My first favorite Christmas memory is when we put our tree up. It's a memory to me because it is a family occasion. We hang ornaments up on our tree. We also put garland up on our staircase. We hang lights outside for decoration.

My second favorite Christmas memory is doing an Advent calendar. Every day my sister and I find a clue in our calendar. Sometimes we have to do a funny dance before we find our gift. Sometimes we go place to place to find different clues. My favorite Advent gift was tickets for a play/ballet called Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.

Emma Misialko

Antioch Elementary School, Antioch

It was the night before Christmas and I went to go see Santa at his castle. When it was time to see Santa I was overjoyed with happiness. When it was our turn to go to his castle. My brother got to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what he wanted first. Santa was happy to see me and I was happy to see hIm. Then I got to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what I wanted. My brother and I both got coloring books and crayons. Once we got our coloring books and crayons, we went back to the car. We drove home and once we got home, I went straight to bed and went to sleep. I waited for Santa to come.

Darien Shatley

My Christmas Eve starts by driving down to my aunt's huge house. Santa comes and gives us a purple bag of toys and gifts. When we come back from aunt's house we make sugar, chocolate, and gingerbread cookies. They smell so wonderful in my kitchen. While the cookies cook we cut off the tops of carrots and put them by Santa's cookies on the plate. The cookies look so good that I want to grab the plate and gulp down the cookies so fast.

The last thing we do is put on a Santa key for him so he can come in. We have a key since we don't have a chimney. Then we go to sleep. I hope you enjoyed reading about my crazy Christmas.

Brittany Bluthardt

In winter my cousin, uncle and aunt came over to my house to fix their dish satellite.

While we waited for my uncle to fix the satellite, Amir, who is 13 years old, said "Let's see Drake and Josh."

My cousin, Sidra, 11 years old, said, "Good idea."

My sister and my baby cousin said, "Me too, me too, me too." So, we watched it. Then we went up stairs and played night tag and it was awesome. Night tag is like hide and seek tag in a dark place. So we played for a long time. One time Amir was hit so Sonu hid with me and started to yell Bali (Wali), so he found me and they had to leave. This was my best memories for third grade and I was 8 years old.

Wali Anjum

One Christmas I played in the cold snow with my sister and cousin. There was a lot of snow. We built a snowman. First, we rolled the snowballs from big to little. Second, we stacked them on the top of each other. I found the sticks and I put them on the snowman for his arms. Third, my sister put on rocks for buttons and a carrot for a nose. My cousin helped my sister. Fourth, I put a scarf on him. Lastly, I put my old hat, which doesn't fit on my head anymore, on the snowman's head. It fit on his head perfectly. Then we knocked him down into the snow! I was cold, so was my sister, so we went inside. My sister andi went back in the house and we drank hot chocolate milk. We opened our presents and my sister got a Dora house and I got Sponge Bob Square Pants lights, camera, pants and game. Then my cousin Jared brought me a ripped pants Sponge Bob. It's kinda funny when you rip his pants. My sister and I ate cookies and I played with my dog. My sister, cousin and I had the best day ever.

Cesar Alviter

I was staring at the tree and I saw two gigantic presents and one had my name on it. I was so excited when I saw it. Then I went into my brother's room and hit him with a pillow to get him up. He said "what are you doing?" then I said there were two gigantic presents downstairs. My mom and my dad were still sleeping, so I shook them so hard that they would get up. Then my dad opened a present and another and another and another then finally we got to the last two gigantic presents. I opened mine and I got a remote control Hummer and my brother got two skateboards. I felt so excited to try it out this was a great Christmas.

Matthew Theesfield

In 2004, I went to Florida for winter break. I had lots of fun there but it doesn't snow there. When it was time for dinner my family and I went to a fancy restaurant. The restaurant had arcade games. I had lots of fun. After my family and I were done eating, we went to a place called Oceanside. Inside there was a little village called "Santa's North Pole." They had lots of rides and fun games. It felt weird being in hot weather during the holidays. The next day we went to visit more family and I was in the backyard in my bathing suit swimming. For the next couple of days I went to the beach and visited friends and family. After that my aunt took me to a place called Wanna Do City. This was a place where all the kids pretend to be grown up and grown up jobs and the adults wait outside till the kids are done playing. The next day my family and I woke up at 4:00 a.m. to have breakfast and come back home. It was time to come back to the cold!!!!!

Maddie Gutierrez

It was the day before Christmas and my family was baking delicious cookies. Mom made my brother and I wear our Santa hats. I really didn't like wearing mine because it is very itchy. Cole, on the other hand, loved wearing his. I thought his was itchy too. My dad came down with the camera for my mom. Mom loves taking pictures. I hate it when my mom takes pictures. Then we set up to make cookies. Cole and I went to wash our hands while my mom started to make the cookie dough. My dad got the flour and poured into the plate. When Cole and I came back my mom and dad were all set. Mom had all of the cookie cutters out and ready. Then we all set to work. I thought we worked as hard as bees. Once we were done, my brother put his face in the flour. He looked like a snowman but without the button nose and the hat. We all laughed. After my mom took a picture f him we wiped it off his face and got out the sprinkles. We put red and green Christmas color sprinkles. My mom put the cookies in the oven and we were set to go. An hour later, the cookies were done. I thought they looked so pretty. They tasted good. I was happy.

Megan Gellatly

Hi, my name is Natalie and I'm going to tell you an exciting memory. When I was in preschool, we walked to Santa's Castle. I was so excited to finally see him. We all walked to his castle because my preschool was close to it. I remember that we had to write at least one sentence to put in Santa's mailbox. I used to think the mailbox was magic as a flying unicorn. Santa had a mailbox right by his castle so that's where we put our sentences, but since we were in preschool , it took about a day and half to write the sentence. Going to see Santa in preschool was something I'll never forget.

Natalie Nielsen

It was the day before Christmas. My family was heading to my grandmother's house for a Christmas Eve party. We are always the first ones there so we could help get ready and make Christmas cookies. When everyone gets there, we have the party which was great. Then we eat then we open presents. I got wrapped in all the wrapping paper. I felt very silly. We always open presents youngest to oldest. After we open presents most people say their goodbyes and leave. When we got home the cats were playing in the tree and it almost fell down. First my mom gave my brother and me a bag of coal which was gym. But it smelled like wet dogs. Then my brother and I went to sleep. Then we woke up really early. We went into the living room and under the tree were like a hundred presents. There were even presents for my mom. I felt really happy I got to spend time with my family. That was my greatest Christmas wish ever.

Kyle Banis

It was Christmas Eve, 2006. I couldn't wait until tomorrow, Christmas! I could almost bite my teeth off. I didn't succeed of course.

The tree was in my living room window covered with beautiful ornaments. My mind was "racing" about all the stuff that might be in my stocking and under the tree. The day was as long as a 2,000 foot ruler and wanted Christmas Even to leave so it would make way for Christmas.

I could hardly sleep I was so excited. Right when I woke up, I skidded downstairs. I was on the living room floor, presents, my dogs and my mom were main attraction. I could almost scream. I needed to wait for the rest of my family to get downstairs before we opened presents. Uggh! Finally they woke up and we all celebrated Christmas together.

Abby Lubkeman

Hi, how about I tell you about some traditions my family always does on Christmas. First we put up the tall Christmas tree. Then we decorate the tree. After that we put all of my mom's Santas up. Second to last we make gingerbread men with lots of sprinkles and lots of super yummy icing. Last but not least, my second favorite time of year is waking up on Christmas morning. I feel like I am going to BURST.

P.S. Putting up the Christmas tree is my favorite though.

Nicole Parfitt

My Christmas story is about when I was 9 because I got to help my mom cook dinner and the candy wreaths. That's also I got my skateboard and snowboard. I was so excited. Then when I went to the hill with my friends and took my snowboard with me. Then we made a jump. We fell so many times it, was the best day ever.

Douglas Lyons

It was Christmas Eve and my family and I were opening one present. My sister and I got matching PJs and my dad got an alarm clock and my didn't want to open hers. Once we were done we either put our present away or put it on. After that my sister and I put the milk, cookies and carrots on a tray table. Then my dad turned on the Christmas lights and once they were on, they were bright as the sun. Amost every minute I look at all the ornaments. There were like 100 ornaments. Then it was time for bed and I was so excited.

Anna Reimer

I have been waiting for this day all year. This is the day my whole family comes for Christmas. It is the 3rd day before Christmas. It is 11:00 p.m. and my family has just pulled in the driveway. I rush out to give a hug and kiss to all of them. It was very cold out. My mom and I made hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies. While we ate and drank we talked all about their cold fun trip. Now let's take it over to Christmas Eve. Our house is so magnificent! We have a star on the very tippy top of our house. We have fake candy canes and nutcracker s in the yard and baby Jesus in his manger. Our Christmas tree is amazing. I was so excited for Christmas. Before my aunt, mom, sister, grandma and I went to go see "Charlotte's Web" we baked cookies for Santa. We made sugar cookies with frosting on them. It smelt like a sugar soufflȩ. Then we finally went to see "Charlotte's Web." I was as sad as a basset when Pa almost killed Wilbur. When we got back from the movies, we stayed up until 11:00 p.m. waiting for my dad to get home and read us "The Night Before Christmas". When he finally got home, we went to bed, but I woke up in the middle of the night to see if Santa had come. He did! Everybody woke up at 7:00 in the morning. We opened presents and my last present was the best. It was a Nintendo DS. My parents got it for me. I was so excited that Christmas.

Ellie Bevan

Christmas when I was seven was when my cousin Alex and family stayed at my house until their new house was built and they also had Christmas with us too. So while Alex and I waited for the 25th of December, Christmas Day, we played video games. We also made shrink dinks. Three days after, Alex and I were drinking hot cocoa and watching TV. On Christmas Eve my aunt and uncle made us dinner. After dinner, we made reindeer food to put out in the yard to guide Santa to our house. The next days would be Christmas morning. When we started to open gifts Alex told me to call his name and say," I got an action figure." That was one of my favorite Christmas mornings so far.

Logan Erber

Christmas, when I was eight, was really exciting. My brother and sister and I made a gingerbread house. It had some gumballs in it. My grandmother and my cousins came over to our house. We were really excited to see them. We played in the snow. When we were done eating we were trying to make a snowman, but the stomach kept falling down. When all of my cousins left, my sister and I tried to put the stomach from the snowman back but it wouldn't stay. Finally, we did it again and it did stick on but it looked like a square-shaped snowman. When we went inside our house, my grandma made some tamales and hot chocolate. I was so warm. A couple of minutes later, someone knocked on the door. We didn't know who it was until he told us. My brother really thought it was Santa. When my cousin came, he gave us all presents. I had a really good time with my family.

Daisy Rodriguez

One Christmas, I played in the yard with my friend when it snowed. Next my friend and I built a snowman. My friend's name is Jerry and we watched fireworks. Next I drank hot chocolate. In the morning, my dad I cut a Christmas tree. Then my family ate dinner. After dinner, my family put ornaments and lights on the Christmas tree. Everyone had a happy holiday. Happy holiday everyone!

Roman Mykolayskyy

My dad and I went to find a tree for Christmas. We found one. We cut down the tree. My mom, sister, dad and I decorated the tree. When we were finished it was beautiful.

Hugo Flores

On Christmas, my cousin from Kankakee and some from a couple of down from the block came to my house. After a couple of minutes, it was time to eat chicken with red sauce. After we ate, my dad turned on the music but we didn't want to listen to the music. So we tried to find something that we could make a contest with. We found a cardboard box. It looked like a real table, so we used it to hold a contest. We decided that it would be a funny contest. My cousin Adrioneo and Valit were the judges and Jared and Timmy and Freddy were in the funny contest. After five minutes, it was me and Freddy left in the finals Freddy hit his head on the wall. It was funny, but I did a cowboy act and I held my pants really tight. Everyone laughed hardest at me, so I won. All of us had a lot of fun, especially when my dad was dancing in my room wearing a big white wig and we all laughed at my dad. It was a great moment of our family.

Noel Albiter

This is what happened one Christmas when I was little. It was before Christmas. My sister Morgan and I were decorating a lamp. We put garland on the lamp because, we thought it was a Christmas tree. And my dad came downstairs and said, "What are you guys doing?" And we said, "Decorating the Christmas tree." The next morning Morgan, my dad and I went downstairs to wait for my mom. And when my mom came down, we started to rip through the wrapping paper. It was a mess to clean up. After that, we went to Mass then to breakfast. When we came home my mom and dad put together our toys. I felt excited that day.

Ellie Yankee

Last Christmas was my favorite one of all because I got to play with my dog Buddy. He is a funny puppy. He is as smart as a fox hunting chickens. My dog and I play catch together. I take him for a walk around the block. I love playing with my dog Buddy. I am so glad I have him. He can open the screen door. My dog is a fast dog so when we got for a walk, I have to run. He is my favorite thing in the whole wide world. I love him. He is nice but he is still a crazy puppy.

Demitrice Clay

Millburn Central School, Wadsworth

One Christmas night in Texas my family was opening presents and we had forgotten to open our stockings. So we started loading out stuff then my aunt Jen said not to pull out the last thing because some people were in a different room. Then my aunt Jen rounded up everyone so we could all pull it out at the same time. When everyone was in the same room, we all pulled out the front row seats to a pro hockey game that would be tonight! My aunt Jen didn't get to go because she had to watch my younger cousins. The game was so terrific! A player from the other team smashed into the wall. His eye was red and his nose was bleeding. The coach was putting some alcohol on his face because it was bleeding. Then he walked out and didn't play for the rest of the game. That is my favorite holiday memory.

Allison Hensel

I remember that I always get a movie for Christmas. Before, I got Star Wars. Now I get Pirates of the Carribean. But sometimes I get Christmas movies. I sometimes get funny movies. Usually I get action movies. Othertimes, I get movies that have action and are funny. But I usually get action movies. In conclusion, those are the types of movies I usually get for Christmas.

Michael LeBlanc

Hello, my name is Ellie Willems. I am 10 years old. I would like to talk to you about my "holiday memory." This is a tradition in my family. I always go to my Aunt Cathy's house. What I remember is that there were a lot, and a lot, and a lot of presents near the Christmas tree. My cousins live in a mansion! They have a huge Christmas tree. My family celebrates Christmas. I have a lot of cousins. They are 14,13, 10 and 9 years old. My whole family comes. We have a huge celebration. I have a lot more cousins than just four. We have a lot of food. Then we sit down and talk after dinner. All of our cousins play outside, inside and everywhere. Then at night, about 10, we open our presents. I love my family! Then we leave to go home. We all live around each other.

Ellie Willems

Once when I was going to Mexico for Christmas, I went with my mom and brother. When we got there, it was hot and out and our hotel had a pool and beach. There is a little jungle with animals like monkeys and not cheetahs or anteaters or any dangerous animals. There is also shows every day I was in one of them. It was some Grease songs. I was a Pink Lady. There's a song they sang, but I don't remember how to sing it. It seems like it was last year. I meet two girls and their names were Eloise and Jasmine. They were pretty nice to me and they were fun to play with and funny. My brother David made me laugh and laugh a lot. When he went in the pool with me, I went on his back and he went under the water and he made me laugh like you never saw me before. I had so much fun.

Ashley Wilkerson

We always have presents under our tree. In 2005, I got a remote control car. It was fun and I still have it. I accidentally went too fast and it went straight into the wall! This year, I already got a robe. It is fuzzy, very fuzzy. It is so warm that I think I could sleep outside with it. Well not really but it is very cozy and warm.

Christopher S. Guhl

It was Christmas Day my cousin Amanda was eating with us and then my other cousins and I started to laugh. Then we looked at Amanda's chair and she was gone. We looked up and downstairs and did not see her anywhere. Then we checked upstairs again with my uncle Mark and finally found her and she said me want to play.

Mykala Leibrock

Every year I know that Santa does this special thing and I will tell you now. I have a special something…every year, Santa leaves a note on the back of our Christmas tree. It is a scavenger hunt. Santa does this because he gets one present that we really want. I remember last year Santa got me a Walter Payton jersey. I know my parents don't do this because it's typed on the computer. Actually that's not why I know. I know because one was under my mom's pillow! She didn't even know that. Can you believe it? I can't. This year, what I want for my special gift is a X Box 360. I don't know why I want it. I just do. Second on my list is a sock monkey. Also something that I want is these little aliens, one plays

the guitar, one plays the drums, and one plays the keyboard. I asked for all three aliens. I hope you like my story. I hope you also feel like you want to go on this scavenger hunt. It is really awesome.

Payton Whittier

I really like Christmas. It is one of my favorite holidays because f the Lord and two other holidays that are special, if you include parents and cousins. My cousin's birthday is one of the other special celebrations. It is on Dec. 21. We always celebrate Christmas (and my cousin's birthday) at my cousin's house. By the way, her name is Janey and she is one of the prettiest girls you could meet. I love her clothes and accessories. The other holiday celebration is another birthday. My dad's birthday is the other holiday. My dad is very special and lucky because he was born on Dec. 24, or as you might say, Christmas Eve. My grandfather, on my Dad's side, named my dad Emmanuel because since his birthday is near Christmas which is the Lord's birthday. My grandfather, once again, named my Dad Emmanuel because Emmanuel means God. Anyway every Christmas my Grandma says a prayer about the birthdays: my dad's, Janey's and God's. My Grandma says last "Now it is time to bless the food, so we say." (We actually say a prayer that is called Grace. The prayer we say goes like this: Bless us O Lord, and this thy gift we are about to receive, from thy bounty through Christ our Lord. Amen." That is why we say and then…Time to eat! As you can see, my Christmas is probably different than years in a few different ways. I really do love Christmas, even if it does end up in chaos, with all the celebrations. It still is a holly, jolly Christmas.

Francesca Magoladaro

Last year, I went skiing for the whole day till night. When we started I didn't know what to do and I would fall and go down hills. Then I got used to it. I started to go on a little hill and then I started to go on the big hill with my mom. Once I went down so fast two of my sticks fell out of my hand. I stopped and had to climb the hill to get my sticks. I got them then I went down. I fell and started to roll. When it was dark, we saw the moon and it was orange and then it turned white. I started to go on the hill by myself. We went go eat there and then we went home.

Ethan Jurik

One of my favorite things to do on Christmas is decorating. Me and my family decorate the house. It's crazy. There's white Christmas lights and colored lights everywhere. Like in the bathroom, the living room, the dining room and the front hallway. And there's the Christmas tree. It's decorated like mad. Their colorful beads (pink and green, the little ornaments, little people and animals). But there's no star on the top of the tree. There might be a few handmade stuff on the top, but no star. Anyway, last Christmas, when I got downstairs and looked under the tree, I saw a really small present with my name on it. I opened it and it was a cell phone and a case.

Pyper Canegan

One Christmas when I was in bed, my brother woke me up. I did not know where I was. I fell out of bed. My brother started shouting "It's Christmas! It's Christmas!" I couldn't believe it was Christmas. I was so excited. My brother and I ran down the stairs and we right to the presents. We were so excited. Then my family came and we all opened our presents. My cousin got a robot toy. I got a drawing poster and my brother got a video game. This was the best Christmas ever.

Ben Betar

I love Christmas. It is fun and exciting. My parents always tell us to go back to sleep on Christmas eve. Then my brother and I wake up first and see if Santa ate the cookies and milk, "But don't forget the reindeer," my dad says so we put out carrots for them. Always Santa eats the cookies and at least drinks half the milk. I like to write notes to Santa and he writes back. My brother and I always are excited on Christmas. We can't wait until after church. Sometimes we even have hot chocolate. Christmas is so fun.

Jeffrey Peterson

Oak Grove School, Green Oaks

"Duck!" I said. It was the day before Christmas. My friends and I always go to my cul-de-sac because the snow plow makes a big pile there, and we make it into a fort.

We always have a big snowfall fight there. I was on my brother Charlie's team with my friend Logan. Charlie was 6 years old and Logan and I were 8. We were against my other friend Chase's team with my sister Sydney. She was 10 years old, and Chase was 11.

After the fight was over, we went home and had some hot chocolate. My mom asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I said, "I want more X-box games, computer games and a motor scooter."

Later that day, we went caroling at my friend's house. The whole house was decorated. There was a Christmas tree, wreaths and a roaring fire. Everybody was crazy and running around. We were playing tag in their basement.

After that, we sang "Jingle Bells," "Silent Night" and "Santa Is Coming To Town." We had delicious egg nog and extremely good sugar cookies.

Later, I was on TrackSanta.com. I discovered that Santa was in Mexico. Then, my mom called me for bed. That was the exciting part. We get to wait for Santa! I couldn't sleep all night. I was too excited because I was wondering if I would get everything I wanted. Finally, I drifted off to sleep.

Cameron Foltz

It was Christmas Eve and my brother and I were very excited about it. It was almost time for us to go to bed. I put some cookies and milk on a table by the tree for Santa. Then my mom said to go to bed.

When I woke up, I was the first one, so I got my brother up. We went downstairs and saw the presents. We woke up our parents, and they took pictures of us with the presents. The robot was my favorite present, and my brother's favorite was a video game called Madden 07. Madden 07 is a football game machine that can be programmed to do something.

Then we had breakfast. It smelled and tasted better because it was Christmas.

"Ding, dog." I heard the doorbell. I saw my cousin and grandpa and grandma. They said "hello" and came in.

Sahaj Patel

Christmas with my family is my favorite time of year. We are always as loud as a thunderstorm and super messy. We always get to see the light show in Gurnee. We have our hyper cousins come over.

Next, my cousins, my family and I enjoy exchanging presents. I get to stay up late on Christmas. That day, wrapping paper is everywhere in the house. My cats always are trying to climb up the Christmas tree.

This is when the party starts. We always are entertained. I love that all of my family is around me. There is food, games and lots of excited people. That day is when everyone gets together like a real family.

Last, we play a game. A hyper game that is loud and weird. The smells of ham and salad drifting from the kitchen make my stomach growl like a hungry lion. When we're done eating, everyone goes home. That is my idea of a good Christmas.

Gianna Maestanzi

It was Christmas morning, and I just woke up. I was waiting eagerly to open my presents.

Finally, my whole family woke up, and the next thing I knew we were already opening our presents. After my little brother opened his, it was my turn. I opened the big box first and... it was a new TV for my room!

It took about a week to get it up and running because we had to get the cable installed. Installing it took a long time, so my dad and I were very hungry.

We were coming down the stairs when I started to smell the delicious dinner. I ate dinner very fast and then I went up to my room to watch TV. I watched for about five minutes, but then everything went black! It was a blackout! Why do we have to have a blackout right when I start watching?

Tim McCracken

My 2006 Christmas started off at my dad's parent's house.

We always go to their house for a party. It's like a tradition.

It was a Thursday (on Christmas Eve), and we were on the slippery, icy road when I asked my mom, "when are we going to get there?"

She responded very weary, "Soon Julia."

After a long drive in the car, it started to feel hot like a summery beach day.

When we got inside, my grandma and grandpa had all of their Christmas decorations up, and their Christmas tree looked so beautiful with all of their colorful lights and ornaments. Across from the tree was her village set up very nicely, and it looked so pretty with the snow, people and houses. The food cooking in the kitchen smelled like a chef's kitchen at a restaurant, and I had some snack mix, cheese and crackers and something to drink. After that, I put the presents under the Christmas tree. I put down the presents very happy and very slowly.

Then as fast as a speedy rocket, I eventually found my cousins on the porch. Next, we went upstairs in the computer room/spare bedroom (as we usually do). We talked about school a little before we played Angel. My brother James just came up with my Grandma called us downstairs to play Angel. I love playing Angel, but of course you don't know how to play, so here's the basic steps of Angel.

Angel is a game like bingo, but instead when you get bingo you yell "Angel" and then you would pick a present. When all of the presents are chosen, we open them up, and we keep playing for about 45 more minutes steeling presents from people when we get angel. When we finally got to play Angel, I didn't win anything, but my mom did. And my cousin Megan was so lucky because she got the M&M machine.

After that, we ate the delicious great meal. Next came the fun part "singing Christmas carols" like, "Dashing through the snow in a one horse open, over the fields we go laughing all the way ha ha ha." Well, I think you know what I mean.

Oh, I almost forgot. When we sing, somebody dresses up as Santa Claus and he/she has elves to put on cherry noses. My favorite part of the evening is when we got to open presents. A tradition we do is where we draw names of cousins and we buy them gifts like secret Santa. I had my cousin Charlie. Well, it started out with Mitchell. He had me, and guess what? He got me coconut. "Yes," I said. "This is what I really wanted!" Then I gave Charlie his present, and he loved it so much! Then we had to go home.

In the morning when I woke up, I saw millions of presents under the tree. We had to go to church first, so I got all dressed up. When church was all over, we drove home as fast as I could and I got some clothes on and we went into the family room where the tree was to open presents. We first looked in our stockings. Then we opened presents. I got a cool bike and an iPod shuffle.

Next we went to my mom's mom's house to open presents. When we got there, I put presents under the tree. We ate dinner and then dessert. Finally before we left, we opened presents. I got some cool things I always wanted like a digital camera, and Emily, an American Girl doll with some of her stuff.

Julia Neiweem

One snowy Christmas eve, I was staying at my grandparent's house, and I was eagerly waiting for my cousins to arrive. All of a sudden, I see the headlights of cars coming into the long driveway! It was my cousins! We all dashed outside and covered them with hundreds of snowballs. We were all very thrilled to see each other!

About 10 minutes later after everyone got settled in, we played an insane running game. Only like five minutes after we started, my cousin tripped and fell on the pool table's leg. Right after he finished crying, my brother jabbed my other cousin in the stomach with a foosball table handle, and he started wailing! Then we all had to go upstairs for dinner.

Dinner smelled so good and I couldn't wait to eat! My grandma made a delicious turkey! After everybody finished, we all got ready for dessert. We were so excited because it was almost time to open presents!

Everybody came flying into the family room where the presents were. Then we had to wait for the longest five minutes of our lives while the adults got all the cameras and video cameras. I got some awesome presents from everybody! One of the gifts I received was a giant Lego set. Later on after everyone had opened all their presents, they said thank you to my grandparents and left.

When I woke up Christmas day, I ran into everybody's room and woke them up so we could go downstairs. Once we got downstairs, I saw a North Face jacket, a whole bunch of NASCAR things and a stocking full of smaller things…

Tucker Goebeler

On Christmas day, I woke up and flew to Arizona with my brother and mom. When we got to the airport, we went to security. It smelled like McDonalds in the airport. Next, we got some lemonade to drink. It tasted so good. Then we waited for about 30 minutes.

I saw the plane pull into the airport and my heart started racing. I couldn't wait to see my grandma, grandpa, aunt and soon-to-be uncle. The only reason we were going to Arizona was to go to my aunt's wedding. When we got on the plane, we sat down and the plane took off. The plane smelled like soda and salty pretzels. I could hear the sound of soda bottles clicking from the seat next to me when the bottles opened.

Then the plane landed and we got off. Next, we went to luggage claim and we all got our bags, met my grandpa and grandma and got in the car. We ordered pizza and took it home to eat. After I was done, I went swimming in my grandparents' pool. Even though it was winter, you could still swim there because it was 80 degrees. When I got out of the pool, I took a shower, ate dinner and went to bed.

The next morning I woke up to the sweet smell of cinnamon, so I got out of bed and had a delicious, tasty cinnamon roll. After I finished breakfast, I went to the mall to get some shoes for my aunt's wedding. When I was finished shopping, I was very excited. The next day was my aunt's wedding. I was so happy. I got into my white and gold sparkle top, my brown skirt and I curled my hair. When everyone was ready we left the house and drove to the art gallery because that is where the wedding was. When it was over, we all had food, soda and looked at the excellent artwork! That was a Christmas I will never forget!

Kathryn Kamees

It was the day before Christmas eve. My Uncle Jeff, Kyra, Katie, my brother Jonathan, myself, my mom, dad, grandma and papa were at the dinner table eating supper. The smell of dinner rolls, turkey and turkey smelled so good.

After dinner, we went into the living room and looked at the Christmas tree. The smell of pine smelled so good, and the lights looked so pretty.

After looking at the Christmas tree, we got into bed. Before we went to sleep even though we were in bed we watched the movie, "Annabelles Wish." It was Christmas eve, and we woke each other up to go look under the Christmas tree. The reason Santa left presents on Christmas eve is because that is when we celebrate Christmas with our cousins, but we still get presents on Christmas day.

As I was saying, we ran downstairs as fast as lightning. When we got downstairs, we saw a huge stack of presents. We all sat down and grabbed the presents that had our names on them. We started feeling them to guess what they were. We all wanted to open our presents so bad, but we had to wait till all the parents were in the room. Finally, all the parents were in the room. My mom had the camera, and my dad had the video camera so opening presents took awhile. After we opened the presents, we played with our present. Shortly after that, my cousins had to leave. It was getting late, so we thought we should go home.

When we were driving home, my dad pointed out a red glow in the distance. It was Santa! We ran inside as fast as we could and went onto the computer because my mom and dad knew we could track Santa on the computer. We looked on the computer, and it said he was circling our house.

Then we brushed our teeth and brushed our hair and jumped into bed. My dad jumped on the couch with the video camera trying to capture Santa. I woke up on Christmas day and saw a huge stack of presents. That's the Christmas I will never forget!

Dolores Palmieri

It was Christmas morning and last night I couldn't get to sleep because I was so excited. My brother, sister and I raced downstairs. There were so many presents all around the tree. Then we ran to our stockings to look in them all. After that, we went to get everyone else up. When everyone was downstairs, we looked in our stockings. That took a long time because my dad was taking pictures. Then we went to the Christmas tree and we all grabbed at our presents to open them. I got so much presents. It was the best morning ever.

Kathleen Madigan

Christmas break '05 in Arizona? This is going to be interesting.

Yes! Finally we're here! "Why are rental cars so slow?" I ask myself. Whoa…This place is sparkling with pebbles. I'm a huge rock collector. Off in the distance I see a hammock. "I call the hammock!" I yell to my brother running as fast as Wendy's fast food restaurant serves a "baconator." I get there first, but Nick flips me!

As I cling on my own dear life (not really), I see shadowy figures in the distance.

"Ellohay!" I yell in Pig Latin and wave, but I fall into the leaves.

"Umm... Hi?" one of them says.

Now that things are more clear I can tell that one, the shorter one, is a girl and the taller one, a boy.

"It's Pig Latin," I answer. "My name is Lauren. I'm in second grade. Who are you?"

"I'm Laura. I'm in second grade too," the girl answers.

"Do you want to play on the hammock with me?" I ask.

"Okay!" she exclaims.

So we play on the hammock practically all day.

Lauren Taylor

My 2005 Christmas was amazing! I had lots of Christmases, but this one is my favorite. It was Christmas Eve and everyone in the house was going crazy. When my grandparents got here for Christmas, my dog jumped on my grandpa. When we went to bed, my parents would put chairs in the hallway so we can't see our parents wrapping the presents they got for us.

The next day on Christmas when my parents unblocked the hallway my two sisters, my brother and I ran to the tree in our family room. When our mom, dad and grandparents came in, we did youngest to oldest to open presents. When I first got in the family room I saw that I got a bike and a snowboard. In our stockings we each got $10, a camera and a Game Boy game. After opening presents, my oldest sister made a big breakfast. It was eggs, bacon, toast and green peppers. It was really good.

My 2005 Christmas was my favorite. I got lots of presents. I think the snowboard was my favorite. I will always remember that Christmas.

Jack Bloom

I am so excited my mom and my dad and I were going to have lots of fun giving food to the needy. Whoopee we're here, I shouted! We were walking up the school's sidewalk and I had an overwhelming feeling of immense joy.

We were in the room and I felt joyous. I see lots of empty boxes. Someone called me and I felt a leap of excitement.

They said, "C'mon and help."

"Sure," I said, so I went over to a box and started packing.

There was a craft. When it was my turn, I am almost ecstatic. The craft was a tree, and I was sure the homeless would love it. Here is a picture. I put it in, and all of a sudden I felt a shock of sadness. I realized I didn't want to give it away. But it was for a good cause so I dropped it in.

We helped with packing up all the boxes with joy. We are going back home, and I had an urge of sadness when we left. I will never forget this day.

Adam Pozdro

The day of Christmas morning…Bang!

I fell down the stairs because I was so excited about Christmas. By the time I got down the stairs, I was fine when it was time to put up the star.

Every year, one of my family members puts up the star. But my sister thought it was her year, and I thought it was my year. Then, my sister ran to get a chair to put up the star. I got so furious that when she was about to put up the star I tipped over the chair and my sister tumbled and fell down to the floor.

My sister was fine after she got up, but I was in major trouble. Then my mom was telling me that it was really my sister's turn. I had to say sorry to my sister.

When my cousins came over, we all opened the presents. After we opened the presents, everybody rushed to the kitchen because the smell of the food was like a bunch of flowers, and the taste of the food was fantastic! I would always remember when all the kids would be running upstairs to get a computer. There was only two computers and there was four kids.

When everybody had to go home, I would never forget this Christmas because it was the best Christmas ever!

Natalie Chow

One Christmas a year ago was a memorable experience. It was the Christmas I received a lava lamp that I had been asking for seven years and I finally got it. It all started on Christmas Eve when I was writing my list to Santa. Then my sister popped in and asked me what I wanted for Christmas, but of course I did not tell her. And then she started wailing to my mom, but who could blame her? She was only 4 years old. When I finished writing my list, I put it in my sock and I went out to play with my friend at his house.

When I put my jacket on, my body was as hot as fire, but when I went outside it felt like a cool breeze rushing in my body. I could hear the wind blow in my ear and went to play with my friend. When my mom called me for dinner, I had to go home.

When I entered my house, my mom had cooked a delicious dinner and had a fire blazing in the fireplace. After dinner, we went downstairs to watch television, and we went to sleep. But before bed, I set my clock to 2 a.m.

When I woke up at 2 a.m., I took my mom's video camera and hid nearby my mom's room and video taped her putting presents under the tree. Then I went back to bed.

The next morning, I went downstairs. My mom had made deviled eggs, and it was so crisp that it was the perfect breakfast.

Then I showed the videotape to my mom and asked her why she was putting presents under the tree. When she saw the videotape, she was shocked. When we finished breakfast, we went to open presents, but my mom would not let me open it because I was playing too much with it. When I opened the present, there sat a lava lamp. I was amazed.

Merry Christmas.

Nick Zanze

It was a chilly Christmas evening, and the snow was sparkling as bright as diamonds. My family and I were planning to go out to eat at a restaurant.

"We are going to be late!" yelled my mom. When we got in the car, she kept on talking about how mad my grandma and grandpa were going to be.

We finally arrived at the restaurant. Mom kept on making us check her makeup. It took us a long time to get into the restaurant, but we managed to get into the restaurant. When we were in the restaurant, there were our grandparents. We got to the table and looked at our menu. After that, we started to order.

When we got our dinner, it smelled so good. When I began to eat, I saw a brown piece of hair mixed in my dinner. Apparently, so did my grandpa. He started to freak out! If that was not bad enough, he got the manager and complained.

Eventually, he came back and said a few words that I couldn't say about the manager. Then he made me get a whole new plate of food. By then, I was starving! When we were done eating, we went home.

Once we arrived at my house, everybody couldn't stop laughing about what my grandpa did. I was the one who laughed the most about it. Even though it was a chaotic Christmas, it was my favorite one!

Jaime Travis

My 2006 Christmas was one I will never forget. This year, we were going to my grandparent's house in North Carolina. Our family had decided that we were going for two weeks, so we had to do a lot of packing. Finally, after all that packing, we were done. Finally, we were ready to start.

The driving took a long, long time. After 12 hours of driving through lots of hills and mountains, we were at their house. My brother and I really wanted to play in the backyard or play a board game, but my parents said we had to get settled in. We were disappointed, but I was also eager to see my room. Finally, my parents decided my brother and I could go outside and have some fun.

My brother and I sprinted outside to climb the mountain. After that, we went downstairs to play lots of exciting board games with my grandparents. Then, after we ate lunch, my grandparents decided that we could go out into the town and buy a present for us. We were having an awesome first day, and I still couldn't wait for Christmas.

Finally, it was Christmas Eve. Since my grandparents were leaving for a few days to see my cousins, we gave them their presents before they left. After lunch, we were very busy getting ready to go to church. When we got to church, everybody in our family was dressed in their best holiday outfits. We didn't realize it, but the service was two and a half hours long! It was so late. We had to eat dinner at a Mexican restaurant!

Finally, it was Christmas morning. I ran out of my bed and sprinted down the stairs as fast as I could. To my surprise, my family was on the couch waiting for me. It only took a few seconds before our whole family started reading the present tags and ripping open presents. Everybody received really interesting gifts, and we all started to play with them.

Finally, for Christmas dinner we were going up to where my grandparents and cousins were. When we got there, the house was all lit up with beautiful Christmas lights. Then when we stepped in the house, all of our family members were there waiting for us. After we finished dinner, we ended Christmas with watching fireworks in their backyard.

We had a great Christmas in North Carolina!

Paige Opsahl

Editor's note: Thanks to the following fourth grade teachers for their help: Mike McDonnell, Oak Grove School; Scott Walton, Kathryn Voss, Sharon Rosenberg, Mechanics Grove School; Pam Johnson, Antioch Elementary School; and Becky Harger, Millburn Central.