Each year on December 25th, a widely celebrated holiday arrives in homes across the country. While some travel faraway to feast with distant relatives and loved ones, others stick around to  enjoy a traditional Christmas at home. This holiday is celebrated in many weird ways by Day Creek’s Coyotes.

“On December 17th, we write a Christmas wish and put it in a lantern. [We do this] because it’s for good luck,” said Naomi W.

These unique traditions bring enjoyment regardless of how different they may be.

“We make french toast casserole because my dad likes to cook, and we’ve been doing it since I was born. We have what we call a Shepherd On the Search. It’s like the Christian version of an Elf On the Shelf. My parents don’t like Elf On the Shelfs, but we begged them multiple times to get us one, so they got us this,” said Mya G.

“Every night a magic pickle hides in our Christmas tree; it’s a German tradition. Whoever finds it gets to hide it the next night. When we were little, we had to believe in the pickle for it to move around, but it was really just my dad moving it. Even though the magic pickle doesn’t move on its own, we still do the fun tradition,” said Scarlett B.

All around the world, families have many different traditions to honor Christmas. Eating interesting foods and playing trivia games allows for bonding moments that families will cherish as kids become adults. In every case, spending time with loved ones is a must.

“Christmas is about family. Everyone gets together; they give gifts and receive gifts. With my religion it’s about celebrating the birth of Jesus. At my grandma’s house, we sing happy birthday to Jesus, and we all get together and have a ton of fun,” said Mya G.

Even though Christmas is celebrated in so many different ways, each tradition always has one thing in common: being together as a family.