Trojan traditions

“On Christmas morning we have to wait until 8 to wake up our parents to open gifts. We usually wake them up with a cup of coffee,” Shmidt-Rundell said.

“Whoever eats the most turkey gets $50, Whoever can eat [the most] stuffing gets $30,” Salazar said.

“One of my favorite holiday traditions is the candle service [on] Christmas Eve at my church. Everyone stands in the dark room with a candle while we all praise the King of the universe (Jesus Christ). Another of my favorite traditions is having a massive sleepover at my grandparents house with all of my cousins and aunts and uncles around [Christmas time]. We all pack in and eat breakfast like kings...

“Lighting candles on the menorah for my Jewish side of the family [and] decorating the Christmas tree with my Christmas celebrating side of the family,” Zukin said.

“Watch christmas movies and make cookies,” Barker said.

“Telling the Christmas story on Christmas Eve and reenacting it with our nativity sets,” Davies said.

“We do an advent calendar every year and write down all of our guesses at the beginning of the year,” Carpenter said.

"An interesting tradition that I have with my family would be to visit houses with beautiful lights on Christmas Eve. We wear our most festive clothing and drink hot cocoa while driving around the area," Ramkumar said.

“During the holidays, my family and I don't do anything special. We just light the fireplace, get some drinks, and watch movies together. We think that the point of Christmas is to spend time with each other, and not just about materials and the presents,” Nguyen said.

“My family and I always eat ice cream and drive around the area to look at Christmas lights on Christmas Eve,” Graham said.