When I was growing up, our big Christmas adventure was our Christmas Eve dinner at a restaurant. For a family of 5 children, it was a treat to go out for dinner and we looked as forward to that evening as much as we did the Jolly Old Elf who would later visit us.

In the early years, it was to a Chinese restaurant. It certainly wasn't typical Asian food, but more a hybrid Western fusion that used to be considered Chinese food in North America. We loved it...I always ordered a milkshake - a decadent treat we only got at Christmas. Later, we started going to an Italian place. The owners eventually got to know us and always treated us to the specials on Christmas Eve. We would have lobsters (of course, thinking back now it was really just jumbo shrimp but we didn't know at the time) and left feeling stuffed and fulfilled.

When my brothers got married and had their little ones, we changed the tradition to an afternoon out and a movie for the kids. It was always an adventure with my parents and I herding 8 Christmas-hyped children through the mall for McDonalds and a movie. Each year became a little more strategic as the kids grew up and became a little more independant.

This became a cherished memory as they, too, grew up. My nieces and nephews are all in their 20s now, yet they remember 'Nana's Christmas Movie' as some of their fondest childhood memories. It was good for us to get the kids without the parents around for some quality time, and great for my brothers to give them some extra time without the kids to get ready for Christmas.

We realized this year that Ms. Thang is old enough now to re-ignite the movie tradition. She's nearly 5 now and well able to sit through a movie. Yesterday, my Mom and I took her to see 'Charlotte's Web'.

It made us think about how important these times are. These traditions. However, small. They connect the generations and the years. For Hayley, she's still a little young to understand why it's so important but her mother was thrilled.

What does your family do around the holidays? What tradition do you follow?