Christmas is one of the most popular holidays in the United States.

Families spend Christmas opening presents, spending time with their family, and most importantly creating memories.

Sophomore Lydia Quinn says that her favorite Christmas memory is a tradition she has always had with her family.

“We go to my grandparents house on Christmas morning and eat a big breakfast with all my cousins and we exchange gifts,” Quinn said.

It is Quinn’s favorite memory because she enjoys seeing her family on the holidays and it’s a good time.

There are many different traditions that families have on Christmas.

Freshman William Rush shares that his favorite memory of Christmas is the traditions he has with his family.

“My favorite Christmas memory is waking up, all of my family having matching pajamas, taking pictures, and opening presents, having a lot of fun, playing with new toys and games we just got.

And going to our other families’ houses and seeing what they got and just having fun,” Rush said.

Rush says this is his favorite memory because it shows how much his family has for each other. There are also many people who travel around the world to celebrate the holidays with their families.

Spanish teacher Natalie Rosario says that her favorite Christmas memory is going to her home country of Puerto Rico to spend Christmas with her family.

“My favorite Christmas memory is memories from when I was in my late teens like after I graduated high school in Puerto Rico. Because when I was in college I used to travel to Puerto Rico and when I was there I got to see all my family because I was there for a limited amount of time,” Rosario said.

Due to Rosario being away from her family for college, there were many different things she got to do when visiting her home country.

“Everywhere I went I got to try all the family traditional dishes that I longed for for a long time. I got to experience the joy of seeing my family, spending time with my cousins, and being outdoors. Being able to go to the beaches, being able to go to main attractions in Puerto Rico, and parties with the family but also parties around the community. And just the culture is very rich and everybody’s out and about and everybody’s happy,” Rosario said.

Some people’s favorite Christmas memory is a gift they have received from a friend or family member.

Junior Janssen Kinder-Crouse says her favorite memory is opening a gift she got when she was younger.

“My favorite Christmas memory is waking up and going out to my Christmas tree and waking my mom up and opening my first present. And it was a little cat but it was like a robot cat and it had a little leash on it and you could tap a button and it would walk and meow,” Kinder-Crouse said.

Kinder-Crouse says that receiving her robot cat for Christmas is her favorite Christmas memory because of how much she loved the cat.

Unfortunately she doesn’t have it anymore but the cat was given to her neighbor and has received even more love.

Parents put so much effort into making Christmas fun for kids.

Senior Ian Rickelman’s parents put great effort into creating a core memory for him and his family.

“We have a tradition where as kids we would get in bed and then all of a sudden from downstairs we’d hear our dad playing the audio of the train arriving from polar express and we’d get out of our beds and we’d get popcorn and hot coco. And then we’d get in our car and we’d drive and see Christmas lights,” Rickelman said.

Rickelman says that he enjoyed spending time with his family and it was always a surprise.

“We never knew what was gonna happen so as a kid when you’re just waiting in bed at night and waiting for something. That anticipation was always fun,” Rickelman said.