An Irish Christmas

We have a wonderful tradition in my family at Christmas time that is a bit unique. Each year I select a different country and we use that as the theme for our family Christmas celebration. We eat traditional food from that country, decorate the house as people would from that country, and play games, sing songs or conduct traditions unique to that country.

There are several reasons why I started this tradition. First, as a single person the holidays could be challenging. So I decided that if I came up with my own tradition and hosted my own party I could focus on that rather than focusing on the fact that I was not married. Second, I have always loved all things International. I've had the privilege of travelling overseas and have loved every trip. But there are lots of places I haven't seen yet.  And not everyone in my family has been able to travel. So this was a wonderful way to share International things with them. And finally, I'm a teacher at heart. My bachelor's degree from UM was in elementary education. And I've always loved writing lesson plans.  So now I could write a lesson plan for our Christmas party!

This will be our 20th year of this tradition!  The countries we've celebrated so far are:
1993: Mexico
1994: Michigan - okay, so I couldn't quite get everyone on board so we had a traditional US Christmas.
1995: Hawaii - right, I know, Hawaii is a state not a country. But hey, it was fun!
1996: France
1997: Italy
1998: Australia
1999: China
2000: Greece
2001: Sweden
2002: Germany
2003: Russia
2004: Morocco
2005: Taiwan
2006: England
2007: Ecuador
2008: Costa Rica
2009: Finland
2010: India
2011: Spain
2012: Ireland - This year we will be celebrating an Irish Christmas in honor of my niece and my trip to Ireland last summer.

If you know anyone who has an Irish background or can help us with this year's celebration, leave a comment!

Nollaig Shona Duit - that's Merry Christmas in Gaelic!