Like, a lot.

Most of them have to do with putting up the Christmas tree, but there are others that have to do with Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Let’s start with the tree.

We choose a day in early December, sometimes late November, to put up the tree. It’s usually just our immediate family, spouses, and sometimes a friend.

Courtesy Photo The writer and her sister decorate cookies at a Christmas Extravaganza in this photo from 2003.

A Christmas playlist plays in the background, usually Alabama, Trans Siberian Orchestra, or some form of a cappella group. Of course, we can’t go a year without torturing our dad with the song “Thistlehair the Christmas Bear,” because it’s his least-favorite song. He always gets us back by playing something we don’t like.

We all take part in putting together the tree, since we have a fake tree. Every year, one of the three sisters puts the topper on the tree. We’d strike a pose by putting the topper over our head or simply holding it next to us like some sort of Olympic torch.

This year, we changed it up a little bit by having our dad put the topper on the tree.

My parents put up the lights with the help of my sister, and we all put ornaments on the tree. My mom has a Precious Moments ornament for almost every year since my parents have been married, and the sisters get to put up which one coincides with our first Christmas.

The last part we do is put the tree skirt on, but that’s not without fun, either. In years past, the dog, Maggie – and, the last few years, my sister’s dog, Sprout – would get a chance to shine by us dressing her up in the tree skirt. It’s only for a few seconds and it makes for a great photo. However, I don’t think she liked that too much.

Another thing we did when we were younger was go to the Christmas Extravaganza at the elementary school we went to. We would walk right over and have fun making cookies, singing karaoke, and shopping for small trinkets for my family. Sometimes, we still go back to say hi to teachers we love and see how everything changed.

Now, let’s talk about the holiday.

We went to my dad’s side of the family on Christmas Eve and to my mom’s side of the family Christmas Day.

Dad’s side was where we got all decked out while mom’s side was a little more casual. We enjoyed German food, such as lebkuchen, at my Dad’s side, while, on my mom’s side, we sometimes broke a Christmas wafer together. The last one is more of a Polish tradition.

I could write another column just about the food at Christmas, it’s so good. With cheesy potatoes, venison, salads, schnitzel, cheeses, shrimp, and a lot more. My mouth waters just thinking about it.

Courtesy Photo The writer’s dog, Maggie, wearing the tree skirt before it goes under the tree.

While that’s fun, my favorite part is what happens on Christmas Eve with our immediate family.

As a kid, you always wrote a letter to Santa, hoping he had a good holiday and giving him cookies and other things like that.

Well, as we got older, writing the letter seemed too ingrained in our holiday traditions to make like Elsa and “Let it Go”.

So I kept writing the letters.

Soon, Santa got a little swig to a big glass of jagermeister for his journey, with a stern reminder to not drink and drive. One year, when we were children, we left out vegetables and told Santa to lose some weight. Yeah, we got on the naughty list that year.

Courtesy Photo The writer left out this letter for Santa, giving him broccoli and a protein bar instead of the regular milk and cookies.

I started adding “I love you” in the letter, because I knew my parents would read it and they did so much for me during the holiday season.

As we got older, the letters got slightly more inappropriate by carrying on the tradition of threatening to chop his beard off or referencing movies and TV shows or other things. I wrote in one letter – and I quote – “This year is just a big Shaka when the walls fell,” referring to 2020. That is a Star Trek reference. Again, we – most likely I – probably got on the naughty list for those things.

Another thing I can’t forget is playing my flute and singing in the church choir. My sisters and I have sang and played our instruments in the choir since we were children. I think we started around 2008. The way the music filled the church and echoed everywhere always filled me with joy, and the decorations were just fantastic. Some of my best friends I met there and I’ll never forget them.

What’s even better was the Christmas concert that was held shortly after the new year. One year, I got to play a solo without anyone else playing. I started off the song and I was so nervous. However, afterward, people came up to me and said I brought them to tears with my playing. It made me feel confident in my abilities as a musician.

Some of my favorite memories came from my immediate family. We had – and have – a lot of fun together. I’m allowed to act silly around them and everything isn’t formal. Heck, even when my sister moved out, they still came in pajamas or comfortable clothing to open presents on Christmas Day. I really like that.

Family was and always will be important in my life. Even during the coronavirus pandemic, our whole family got on Zoom and shared in the festivities together. It made the holiday that much more special, even though we couldn’t be together.

I know that, no matter how far I travel, I’ll always have my family supporting me through it all.

Alyssa Ochss is page designer at The News. She can be reached at 989-354-3111, ext. 317, or aochss@thealpenanews.com.