Tag: Christmas

Single Father of 7 Left Speechless During Secret Santa Surprise

This single father and his seven kids were about to have a big surprise for Christmas.


Children’s Books: Christmas Stories to Read Together

What’s your favorite book to read with your children during the holidays? Here are some true-and-tested picks. ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ by Laurel Long (Dial Books) The classic English Christmas carol that counts the gifts “my true love gave to me” over the course of 12 special days comes to life through the stunning…


Let There Be Light: Christmas Lights Lift Spirits in Dark Days of Winter

When I was growing up in the ’50s and ’60s, the passage from Thanksgiving leftovers to packages under the tree started with my mother. On the first Sunday of Advent, she would assemble an evergreen wreath with four candles—three purple and one pink. Some years, she would attach satin ribbon bows to the base of…


Christmas Songs and Carols: The Stories Behind the Music

Christmas delivers more traditions, festivities, and entertainments than all other American holidays combined. Worshippers sing traditional carols and hymns, and light Advent candles. In their churches and homes, they set up nativity scenes, a practice created in 1223 by St. Francis of Assisi. On the other side of the fence are secular holiday traditions. Originally…


‘It’s Just Lovely’: Man Who Has Been Santa Claus for the Past 35 Years Shares His Journey

With the holiday season upon us and Christmas approaching soon, a professional Santa Claus from England shares his experience and tips for parents to make their family visit to Santa this year a truly memorable one. “Henley Santa,” Michael Facherty, 70, who resides in Reading, UK, has been a professional Santa for the past 35…


4 Ways to Ditch Your Phone This Holiday Season

With our phones continuously tugging at our attention, being fully present with friends and family during the holidays can prove challenging, but there are things you can do to make it easier. According to research by Adrian Ward, an assistant professor at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin, and…


Peru’s Socialist Government Cancels Christmas Gatherings

The administration of Peru’s socialist president Pedro Castillo has cancelled all social events, including family gatherings, on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day this year. Using a supreme decree—Nº 179-2021-PCM—which passed on Dec. 9 and went into effect the following day, Peruvians are required to stay home without exception. In the same order, those over age 18 must now…


Christmas Tree Planted on Elderly UK Couple’s Property in 1978 Is Now 50 Feet Tall

An elderly couple who live in United Kingdom’s darkest village and who’d planted a 6-foot Christmas tree in 1978 now use a cherry picker to decorate the 50-foot magnanimous tree with 3,000 lights. Avril and Christopher Rowlands from Inkberrow, Worcestershire, England, bought the 6-pound (approx. US$8) fir from a garden center shortly after moving into their…


A Sparkling Forest from Christmases Past Lights Up Downtown

MANITOWOC, Wis.—Standing in the softly falling snow, staring at the colorful and brightly lit Christmas display, Barbara Bundy-Jost understood anew—there was just something special about that tree. “It was just lit up like a sparkling forest,” she recalled. “We were on our way one Christmas Eve to visit my mother, who lived overlooking the lake…


Sparkling Forest from Christmases Past Lights Up Wisconsin Town

MANITOWOC, Wis.—Standing in the softly falling snow, staring at the colorful and brightly lit Christmas display, Barbara Bundy-Jost understood anew—there was just something special about that tree. “It was just lit up like a sparkling forest,” she recalled. “We were on our way one Christmas Eve to visit my mother, who lived overlooking the lake…