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Country Stars' Christmas Traditions

From Chili Dogs to Chillin’ With Family, They Know How to Make the Holidays Special

With the arrival of Christmas Eve, it’s time to fire up the traditions and really get in the holiday spirit. Your favorite country stars have their favorite memories and traditions, and they’re quite sweet.

Little Big Town’s Kimberly Schlapman remembers pajamas.

“My favorite holiday tradition -- it’s happened every year that I can remember that I’ve been alive -- we would go over to my grandmother’s house and have Christmas over there, and everybody would come home to Mama and Daddy’s house. We’d sit down, and Mama hands out everybody a gift, and we act like we don’t know what it is, but we do ‘because it’s always Christmas pajamas. So everybody opens their Christmas pajamas and goes and puts ‘em on, and we come back to the living room and we sit around Daddy and he reads The Christmas Story. And we tuck ourselves in until Santa comes.”

Things are a little different at Alan Jackson’s home -- even to this day.

“We don’t let anybody open any presents until Christmas morning, after Santa Claus comes,” Jackson admits. “We don’t let them get up on their own and take off, you know. Everybody has to wait and kind of get situated and maybe have a cup of coffee, and then we start all of the regular Christmas morning activities, opening presents, taking pictures and video.” And of course, the Christmas music is going strong in the background.

Kacey Musgraves’ grandfather has a sneakier approach to gift giving -- a scavenger hunt.

“My grandpa had a scavenger hunt puzzle that he does every year," she says. "Even though I’m like too old for the puzzle, he’s like, ‘You’re still gonna do it.’ So every year, we do that, and it’s funny ‘cause sometimes you’ll find your present in the bathroom or in a tree or out behind the shed. He does a little trail of like either corn or a string to it. It’s very imaginative, and it’s something I look forward to every year. It’s a little tradition.”

But the most delicious tradition of all has to go to Luke Bryan.

“Our main Christmas tradition is we like to do chili dogs on Christmas Eve and then wake up and just open presents with all the kids,” Bryan says.

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