DAYS: Traditions, Traditions
Forget about sipping egg nog and singing Christmas carols by a roaring fire. These DAYS OF OUR LIVES stars have moree unusual traditions. Learn who has a pool party, who eats crabs, and who decorates the Christmas tree with fish!
Deidre Hall (Marlena)
“My boys (David, 15, and Tully, 12) and I tend to sleep under the tree on Christmas Eve. We just go to sleep by the light of the tree. It’s something we’ve done for years. We get all our satin blankets together, come downstairs, pile blankets, pillows and stuff around the tree and go to sleep.”
Brandon Beemer (Shawn)
“Since I’ve been an adult, usually on Dec. 23, my whole family and all my friends will go out to a bar, eat dinner, play pool, and stay out all night. It’s our chance to catch up, and we always have a great time. Since Christmas is all about family and friends, it’s nice to be able to enjoy all of them. The main tradition on the night is my dad and best friend from first grade, Jeff Christian, facing off in a game of pool. They’ve had an ongoing pool game for the last eight years. My dad wins every year. Jeff doesn’t understand why. My dad only plays pool once a year — that night! Jeff plays throughout the year. I don’t ever play either of them. They’re too good.”
Darin Brooks (Max)
“Growing up in Hawaii, we never had a fireplace. We’d hang our Christmas stockings on the piano or over the side of the couch. Every single year, my mom would stuff my stocking with underwear. She still does it. I’m like, ‘Mom, I think I’m old enough to buy my own underwear.’ She’ll say, ‘But these are so cute.’ Last year, she bought us these tightie-whities that were red with a Christmas frog on the front of them. I was like, ‘You honestly think I would wear these?’ But, year after year, it’s underwear. I’m always hoping there’s going to be candy in my stocking, but no. Another annual thing we did in Hawaii after we woke up on Christmas morning and everyone opened presents, was say, ‘Okay, let’s go surf.’ The whole family would go to the beach. My mom would lay on a blanket while my dad, brother and I would head into the ocean.”
Bryan R. Dattilo (Lucas)
“I hunt around Christmastime. I know that sounds bad, but it is a tradition. I’ve been doing it for the last 10 years. I go to Indiana and I hunt in the snow for deer with my brother, Brent. It’s the best experience, because you get all dressed up in fatigues. It’s a guy thing. A lot of people don’t understand it, but it’s fun. Where I’m from, it’s what we do. It also balances out the overpopulation of deer in areas where they probably shouldn’t be. Hunting is a tricky thing. There is a time designated to do it, and I do it at that specific time. It’s really the only month we can hunt all year.”
Shelley Hennig (Stephanie)
“As a little kid during Christmastime my friend Caitlin’s mom used to set out all these villages with decorated houses, stores, people walking around. She’d set them up in her dining room for everyone to see when they came over for holiday parties. Caitlin and I would sit there for hours and draw them on paper with pencils. We would never color them. We started at the first house and went all the way through to the last one. We drew everything we saw. When we were done, we’d give the drawings to our parents and they’d put them up on the refrigerators.”
Martha Madison (Belle)
“My husband AJ’s birthday is on Christmas Day, so we really have more of a birthday party than a Christmas party. That’s what I’ve been doing since I’ve known him. The first couple of years we were together we used to have a tradition where we’d go to his sister’s house in San Francisco. Every year, we’d do a big crab feast for Christmas. We’d peel crabs all night and it was great. Since AJ moved to L.A. we have his family down here.”
Kristen Renton (Morgan)
“I grew up in Florida, so I never had a white Christmas. Every Christmas we would take a ride down to the beach and look at all the decorations and lights on the houses on the water and on the palm trees. I was actually obsessed with the lights at our house. Every bush and tree in our yard had to be covered. We’d put lights on all the palm trees and tropical hibiscus bushes. We also used to put out one of those Christmas flags. Our flag had Santa wearing his hat and swim trunks, sitting on the beach. These days, I do a tropical-theme Christmas tree. My mother has collected different ornaments for me over the years. I have seahorses, fish and palm tree ornaments. Anything that has to do with the beach, I love. In fact my nickname is Fish, because I have always loved the water. As a kid, you could never get me out of it.”
Conversation
All comments are subject to our Community Guidelines. Soap Opera Digest does not endorse the opinions and views shared by our readers in our comment sections. Our comments section is a place where readers can engage in healthy, productive, lively, and respectful discussions. Offensive language, hate speech, personal attacks, and/or defamatory statements are not permitted. Advertising or spam is also prohibited.