Grew up in a family of 7 kids (60's &early 70's). At some point during Thanksgiving dinner, we would draw names from a bowl to determine which sibling we would buy a gift for. It was to be kept a secret until Christmas Eve.
Bought the tree Thanksgiving weekend and would be decorated it two weeks before Christmas. Opening the boxes of ornaments was always something special. Each one always seemed to have a story. The best were the ones from our parents first Christmas as a marred couple.
On Christmas Eve, we would open that gift from each other, have egg nog and other treats listening to Christmas Carols 
on my father's home made Hi Fi ( he was an electrical engineer for GE). Santa always made an early visit at some point and gave us new PJs to wear the next day.
Also, part of the Christmas Eve tradition was to place our stars. With seven kids, there was never room under the tree for everything. We had home made cardboard stars covered in foil with our names written on them. Just before going to bed (all seven sleeping in my sisters bed) we would place the star somewhere in the living room and the the next morning, it would be magically sitting on top of our pile of presents. 
(Our Uncle worked for the local toy company)!
On Christmas morning, we were allowed to get up at 6 am and open our stockings (handmade by my father's mother). We were NOT allowed to touch our pile of gifts from Santa until 7 am when Mom and Dad would get up. We each had to eat the orange and apple stuffed in the toe of the stocking before touching the candy canes or that sweet book of lifesavers! 
We too, had the BIG lights for outside as well as the smaller big bulbs for the tree inside.
Advent wreath with 5 candles, one to be lit each sunday leading up to Christmas. And advent calender ( always a source for a fight as to who's turn it was to open the little window). Mom always had a Yule Log (birch log with a bayberry candle stuck in it with evergreens and holly). The candle was the 'burning" of the Yule log as our fireplace was made of cardboard and was only brought out at Christmas time to give Santa an entrance place!
We use to have snow every year... now not so much 
Oh...and according to my grandmother, the bergermeister meisterberger's evil sister, it was in bad taste to use X-mas 
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