Christmas & Advent

Argentina:

• we set off fireworks in our street
• we were going to release “globos” at a park (note: we had them ready to go but didn’t actually light and launch them because it was very windy that evening and we didn’t want to cause a fire hazard)

Australia:

• we sang “Christmas carols by candlelight”, either inside our home or while walking around the neighborhood with flashlights
• one person dressed up as Father Christmas and another person dressed up as one of Santa’s elves, and together they distributed Christmas gifts

Belgium:

• we played pass-the-parcel (with a prize in each layer of paper, including candy, gift cards, and a baby Jesus figure in one of the outermost layers); whoever got the baby Jesus was king or queen for the rest of the day (they received a crown, a bell to ring, and special awards to distribute throughout the day)
• we prepared and baked “letterkoekjes” (cookies shaped like letters) – each one forms the shape of their letter(s)

Chile:

• we enjoyed some Cola de Mono
• we made a Sculpey (clay) nativity scene – one person assigned a character or animal to each of the other participants, who then crafted one from the available colors. I like to purchase a large sampler pack, like this one, so that there are many colors available.

China:

• for several years now, we’ve done a team juggling competition (divide everyone into teams of no more than 4 people; give teams 30 minutes to come up with music and movement for a 60 second routine; everyone fills in scoring sheets for other teams (per the International Juggling Association). We provide equipment – hacky sacks, juggling rings, juggling clubs, juggling balls. Two people are selected at random to tally the final scores for each team, and each person receives a prize based on their team’s ranking. This is so much fun for all ages!
• we made decorative paper chains
• we made paper lanterns from pre-decorated papers and / or magazine pages

Colombia:

• we created fancy designs on the driveway using lots of tiny white and red candles (our three teams made beautiful designs, but it was so windy we couldn’t get the candles to stay lit!)
• we decorated outside with extra Christmas lights
• we sang Christmas carols together

Denmark:

• those who wished to donate gave anonymous donations to help the poor, and together we pooled our resources to give group gifts towards alleviating suffering in the world via some reputable charities’ gift catalogs

England:

• we took turns reading through Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” aloud
• we opened store-bought Christmas crackers around the dinner table (one favorite set included differently pitched kazoos, forming a kazoo choir to perform Christmas songs)
• we played a pantomime game (with prepared slips of paper ahead of time)
• everyone filed under a “kissing bough” and kissed one another
• we held a wind-up toy race, using duct tape to mark starting lines (we formed a regular polygon and started 2 people on each side, with multiple rounds as needed); we marked an “x” in the center as the goal. We had a mixture of wind-up toys in a bag so each person selected one at random.

Ethiopia:

• we built models of Ethiopian houses & churches out of clay / dough
• we built gingerbread houses

France:

• everyone together portrayed a living crèche (dressing up as characters from the Nativity story)
• everyone lined up a pair of shoes in the hallway, and then each one put surprises / little treats in each other’s shoes

Germany:

• we lit a white candle and recited Christmas-related poems (selected from books of poetry or online)
• we wrote letters to Jesus (what each one wanted Him to bless them with in the coming year)

Ghana:

• we did a blind taste test of five kinds of Ghanian chocolate – points were given for details detected (e.g. milk / dark, flavors, types of nuts, other ingredients). The winner received a sixth bar of chocolate from Ghana, one of the world’s leading producers of cocoa.
• everyone grabbed a bucket / pot and used their hands to beat out rhythms in a drum circle; we took turns initiating a rhythm and others joined in
• we made paper ornaments to decorate meal table with (this book was a wonderful resource!)

Greenland:

• we made star Christmas ornaments using these designs
• we decorated wooden star ornaments (Paul drilled a tiny hole in each for yarn hanger)
• we folded origami star ornaments

Holland:

• we read Christmas cards & emails aloud
• we took turns performing a Christmas song or instrumental piece

Iceland:

• we designed, made, and cooked leaf bread

India:

• we crafted snowflakes from beautiful origami paper
• everyone present told Paul privately how much they’d like to donate to charity; the total amount was divided by the number of people present, and each one selected gifts in that amount from the Compassion / World Vision / Samaritan’s Purse / International Justice Mission gift catalogs
• we made paper streamer decorations
• we created a nativity scene using sand (when we celebrated Christmas at a beach)

Israel:

• we made paper snowflake decorations

Italy:

• we passed around baby Jesus, while sharing something we’re thankful for that He’s done for us
• we memorized Bible verses in teams and received coins upon recitation

Mexico:

• we made a “nacimiento” – a nativity scene, using Sculpey clay (baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, manger, angels, star, shepherds, sheep, wise men, camels, donkey, etc.)

New Zealand:

• we opened Christmas crackers during our Christmas feast – each one included a paper hat, a silly joke, and a metal trinket (carabiner clip, puzzle, cufflinks, ballpoint pen, dice, fishbone-shaped bottle opener, heart-shaped keychain, or screwdriver).
• we crafted decorative traditional Pohutukawa flowers
• we sang traditional New Zealand Christmas songs, including “Te Harinui”  and “The 12 days of Kiwi Christmas”

Pakistan:

• we collected donations from whoever wishes to donate towards a special charity project (one year we joined our church in raising funds to build a water well in Zambia)
• we decorated small special cupcakes to give away to our neighbors later while caroling door-to-door

Romania:

• we recited Christmas-related poems
• we made blessing posters (each person came up with a word or phrase to describe each other person and wrote it on that person’s poster), then prayed for one another
• we made blessing posters using memories from this past year that each one had about each other person
• we put everyone’s name in a hat; we drew pairs of names – each one told a story from the last year about the other person

Russia:

• one guy dressed as Дед Мороз (“Ded Moroz” = Grandfather Frost), one girl was his granddaughter, Снегурочка (“Snegurichka” = Snow Maiden) and together they distribute Christmas gifts

Serbia:

• we distributed a kazoo to each person and used them to sing along with some songs about chickens

South Africa:

• we distributed and opened Christmas crackers
• we played Christmas-related charades (using prepared slips of paper)

South Korea:

• we went door-to-door caroling to our neighbors and handed out homemade, fancily decorated cookies
• we prepared Hotteok (Korean sweet pancakes)

Spain:

• Urn of Fate – first we wrote slips of paper with each one’s name and put into a special container (urn). Then we drew out one pair of names at a time, and each one said to the other some or all of these things:
  • what they appreciate about the other person
  • what their hopes are for the other person for the coming year
  • how they plan to treat the other person during the coming year
• we sang Christmas carols from room to room with rhythm instruments, with each child choosing a song for the room

Sweden:

• we made little Origami baskets and filled them with jelly beans
• one girl dressed as Santa Lucia and served coffee / hot chocolate & gingersnaps to each person

Switzerland:

• we made scented candles by heating and pouring wax and decorating with dried flowers

Turkey:

• we did St. Nicholas activities from this book

Ukraine:

• we crafted Didukhs using wheat stalks, twine, and blue ribbon (per the color in Ukraine’s flag)

United States:

• we made homemade Christmas ornaments
• we listened to Handel’s Messiah

Christmas Eve 2022: Cascade initiated our first (hopefully) annual Sculley Family Secret Santa with Paul, Karen, Peter & Alex (via video chat), Jonathan & Aditi, Michael, Cascade, Karis & Robby – a huge success, with much love, thought, and care put into the selecting of each gift. We each tried to guess the giver of our gift, and in spite of wish lists, there were still several delightful surprises along the way. Aditi surprised everyone with an incredible one-of-a-kind painting she created for each person / couple, beautifully rendered and personalized (Paul & Karen – the Grand Canyon, Peter & Alex – Perast, Montenegro, Michael – a library filled with books, Cascade – Mount Ranier in the Cascade Mountains, Karis & Robby – Hogwarts Castle from Harry Potter, Esther & Emre – an underwater scene). They are all masterpieces! We gave everyone who stayed overnight for Christmas Eve new pajamas to wear later that evening. Then we piled into cars, along with our houseguests Julia & Simon, and attended our lovely Christmas Eve service at Liberty Vineyard – a simple one hour celebration including songs, refreshments, Scripture, a short Jesus talk, and a fun oven mitt game. Then we drove over to a friend’s neighborhood to look at some spectacular Christmas lights. We finished the day by relaxing in our new PJs and watching “Twister” (in readiness for the sequel which is due for release in summer 2024) and which actually has a reference to Christmas tucked into it 🙂 [Aditi, Alex (video chat), Cascade, Jonathan, Julia, Karen, Karis, Michael, Paul, Peter (video chat), Robby, Simon]

Christmas Day 2022: we celebrated Christmas Around the World by reading and doing traditions from 4 countries in the morning: India (Jonathan & Aditi lead us in making beautiful snowflakes from origami paper), Chile (Karis made Cola de Mono drinks and Robby assigned each of us nativity scene figurines to make from Sculpey clay), Spain (Cascade lead us in drawing pairs of names randomly for “Urn of Fate” in which we spoke words of encouragement and hopes to one another), China (we did our team juggling competition – 1st place – Crazy Jugglers, 2nd place – Christmasly Confused, 3rd place – Jump-K). Then we had our fabulous Christmas feast (including vegetarian lasagne, roasted brussels sprouts / broccoli, paneer pakora, mung bean fritters, mac ‘n’ cheese, ham, and brisket), with New Zealand traditions (we opened Christmas crackers containing a paper hat, metal toy, and corny joke). After the meal, we ate dessert (homemade English fruitcake thanks to Cascade’s housemate Emily, and Ukrainian kutia) while watching our annual Sculley Family Christmas video, including photos / videos / music from 1972, 1982, 1992, 2002, 2012, and 2022. Then we read and did traditions from the remaining 5 countries: Switzerland (Cascade & Julia lead us in making wax candles decorated with dried flowers), Ghana (Cascade gave us a blind taste test for 5 kinds of Ghanian chocolate, with Karis winning a 6th bar for scoring the highest), Denmark (we made charitable donations to help those in need around the world), Ukraine (Sasha & Valentyn lead us in crafting Didukhs from dried wheat, twine, and ribbon), Australia (Michael dressed up as Aussie Santa and was helped by his two randomly selected elves, Jonathan & Simon, all of whom sported Hawaiian shirts, shorts, and caps. They distributed all of the Christmas stockings, which contained warm socks, hacky sacks, llama key chains & straws, international spices & sauces to support Rahab’s Rope which helps to free those caught in human trafficking, lip gloss, and assorted British / American chocolates, with our essential chocolate oranges in the toe of each stocking). We then had fireworks on the street and a spontaneous music / song / jam session with Rohan on the violin and Karen on the keyboard and some solos from Karis & Cascade and others joining in. A great time was had by all! We are so thankful for Emmanuel, God with us – Jesus – the reason for the season. These celebrations are very precious to our family, and we were grateful for the extra joy from our 5 guests this year. [Aditi, Cascade, Jonathan, Julia, Karen, Karis, Michael, Paul, Robby, Rohan, Sasha, Simon, Valentyn] Esther dropped by for a few minutes late that night and we were glad to be able to share her Secret Santa gift with her. We also had the blessing of other super special events this Christmas / Advent season, including our Tiller family reunion at Bill & Diana’s barn, Lucy the Llama in our front yard, and Tamera’s Girls’ Night of Lights!

Christmas Adam 2017: dinner (grilled BBQ chicken, baked veggies, St. Lucia rolls), outing to Java Cats Cafe / dropped in to see Jonathan + Aditi / drove by Cascade’s new apartment [Cascade, Er Jin, Esther, GumSuk, Hong Tae, Ian, Karen, Karis, Michael, Paul, Ruth, Sunny]

Christmas Eve 2017: breakfast cinnamon rolls lovingly baked by Amy + Margy, morning worship service at Liberty Vineyard / assortment of appetizers (meatballs with chili sauce, brie en croute, bee bites, sweet & sour trail mix granola bars, fresh fruit tray, cheese balls & crackers, Mexican layered dip with corn chips, cookie assortment, Rebecca’s chocolate cake, hot apple cider, hot cocoa assortment) . . . Christmas Eve service at the Weaver-Schoenhals home / first two countries for Christmas-Around-the-World [Aditi, Cascade, Daniel, Er Jin, Esther, GumSuk, Hong Tae, Ian, Jonathan, Karen, Karis, Michael, Paul, Rebecca, Ruth, Sunny]

Christmas Day 2017: four countries in the morning / beef brisket, lentil & rice pilaf, spaghetti squash w/ parmesan & basil, green bean amandine, braided swedish bread, cheesecake assortment, sparkling cider & sparkling grape juice / four countries in the afternoon [Aditi, Alex (Skype), Cascade, Esther, Ian, Jonathan, Karen, Karis, Michael, Paul, Peter (Skype), Sunny]

Christmas 2007: North Myrtle Beach, dinner (cider drinks, cranberry relish, candied sweet potatoes, whole wheat potato rolls, curried broccoli casserole, oven-roasted veggies, brisket, ham, christmas cake, au gratin potatoes, corn muffins, rosemary bread, smoked sausage, jalapeno cheese dip, chocolate pudding pie, collars, danish, jello, whipped cream, biscotti) [Cascade, Esther, Grandma T, Grandpa T, Jonathan, Karen, Karis, Kathy, Kevin, Michael, Paul, Peter, Savannah]