A very "Shieldy" Holiday: The SHield Staff's favorite holiday moments

It's the holiday season! The season of giving, traditions, and pretending you like that horrible gift from that one relative.

The holidays are a special time of year when we share a little extra love, so we figured we'd share some Shieldy warmth with our readers.

Cozy up by the fireplace, grab your cup of cocoa or nogg, and enjoy our staff's favorite holiday traditions and moments. 

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Mr. Illuzzi - Shield Advisor
When I was younger, my family and I would attend a Christmas Eve candlelight service. On the way home, my mom would playfully instruct my brother and I to look into the sky to find Rudolph’s red nose. Our faces pressed against the window, we tried our best, hoping beyond hope, to catch a glimpse of the reindeer and Santa’s sleigh. 

​While we never saw anything, it was always an enjoyable experience to let our imaginations run wild. Now, as parents of three, my wife and I try to keep the magic of the holiday alive, as difficult as it can be with how commercialized Christmas has become in the last decade or two. We decorate our house following Thanksgiving, find a farm to cut down a tree, play hijinx with our elves, bake Christmas cookies, and attempt to relax with visiting relatives. 

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​Bell West- Senior Editor in Chief
Every holiday season, my mom and I find a new recipe and we try to make some homemade for gifts for our family. One year we made marshmallows and hot chocolate mix and one time we made our own jam together. My favorite year was when we found my great-grandmother's homemade sugar cookie recipie; now we make them together every  

year. It’s always something I enjoy doing with her because it just allows for us to bond and hang out together and it’s always so fun making memories together.
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Avery Donnollen
My family and I celebrate Christmas, but put a few small twists on it. We like to decorate our tree late, usually waiting until the last weekend before the break to do it. My grandparents visit to watch the winter concert the week before Christmas. 

Then, we occasionally go out to a hockey rink for a stick time together and stay in shape for hockey after the break. On Christmas eve, we stay up late and watch a holiday movie. We spend the next few days after Christmas staying around the house, then my cousins come to visit the week after. Overall, nothing hugely unique or interesting, but a tradition that we all enjoy together.
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Vanessa Buechler
Usually for Christmas my family and I watch holiday movies together. We always visit my grandmother around the holidays, and sometimes we bake. On Christmas Eve the past few years, we get to open one of our presents that our parents decide on, and then we leave the cookies out since I have an eight-year old brother. ​

My parents are divorced, so I spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with one parent, and the rest of the winter break with the other, depending on the year since it rotates. This year, I’ll be working over break, but I have lots of Christmas parties to look forward to!
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Milith Batchu
Christmas time for my family was never similar to the people around. I grew up a Hindu and celebrating Christmas was a christian thing. However, my parents always put up a Christmas tree and showered me and my brother with plenty of presents. Holidays weren’t about religion but bonding together in making food and decorating the house.

However my favorite time of the break is definitely the night before christmas, not being able to sleep and anxiously awaiting for the surprise in the morning, that was the time I cherished.

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Ademide Shodunke
During the holidays, my family and I put up our Christmas tree together. We play holiday jingles while putting up our large assortment of ornaments. On Christmas day we watch the annual Christmas parade and compare the floats on which ones we like the most. My personal favorite part of the holiday is opening up the presents under the tree.

 I remember when I was younger it was so hard for me to sleep given that I was so excited to open my presents. My Nigerian heritage is a unique aspect to my usual holidays. During Christmas dinner we have mostly Nigerian food and that's one of my favorite parts of Christmas. I'm looking forward to this Christmas, especially the presents under the tree."
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Thomas Seaman
During the holidays, my family celebrates Christmas. At some point in December every year we set up and decorate our Christmas tree. Leading up to Christmas we cook some food for our family gathering. On Christmas day we open presents in the morning and then we drive over to our grandma’s to see our relatives and have dinner. My family’s ​

Christmas dinners tend to consist of ham steak and some other main courses before we have various homemade pies.

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Henry Kvech
My family celebrates Christmas, and we like to keep it lowkey the day of. We turn on the 24 hour marathon of “A Christmas Story” and we stay inside. On Christmas eve we like to play white elephant with my extended family, and it’s usually a long family party. The night of Christmas we invite my moms parents over for dinner, we exchange a couple gifts with them and for dinner we normally have ham.

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​Shaun Inake
My family doesn’t do anything too special for Christmas, but we do celebrate the New Years that is celebrated in Japan where food is cooked the night before or the morning and eaten on New Year's Day. The tradition in Japan started in and was brought to the US in the 1800s, with the food varying between families. Some of the food that my family

cooks includes a type of soup with mochi, candied chestnuts, and a special type of black beans. Each food is supposed to represent different things like wealth or good health.
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Valerie Menendez
I don’t really do anything that special with my family, my siblings and I just tend to go over to my aunts house. I spend it with my nephews and niece and we stay up late and watch movies together in our pjs. At times though now that we’re older we get to stay up more late and party, play fun music, eat, and just chat it up with my older cousins.​

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Spencer Gonce
Me and my family have one Christmas tradition that we all do together, sharing dinner on Christmas Eve. Everyone gathers round the table in the holiday spirit and to taste the delicious food my mom prepares two days ahead. Our main course, roughly a twenty pound turkey, and numerous sides such as corn bread, stuffing, mash potatoes etc. Feasting and sharing stories on Christmas Eve is always something that a family looks forward to every year.

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Sam Wilmeth
Every year before Christmas, my siblings and I go out shopping together and buy gifts for each other and our parents. We open up the gifts we get each other on Christmas Eve and spend the night talking or watching a holiday movie. I love having the time to spend the holidays with my siblings even after they have all moved away, and we usually finish off the holidays together with turkey salad for dinner together.

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Manuela Dabiri
On Christmas Day, my family and I drive to my aunts house with our gifts to celebrate. When we get there, we all hang out, play games, and have fun before opening presents together. Everyone brings a  special dish they made, and the kids bake treats. We spend the day enjoying snacks, laughing and spending time together. At  the  end of the day we have a big dinner and talk amongst ourselves.

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Jacob Miles
My family and I have a Christmas tradition where we go to Hibachi for dinner on Christmas Eve. Our Aunts, Uncles, and Grandparents all meet at the restaurant. Another tradition we have is on christmas morning we watch “A Christmas Story” while we unwrap presents. We don’t do too much for Christmas but we have these traditions that we have been doing for a long time.