Editor's Note: Our staff of writers and photographers want to wish you and your family a very, happy holiday season. We thought it would be nice to share with our readers some of our own favorite holiday traditions. We will share a few each day. Enjoy! 

Vanessa McManus, Canton Patch Reporter and Photographer:

"One of my favorite holiday memories as a child was waking up on Christmas morning and waiting with anticipation to go downstairs and see what our family room looked like after Santa had visited.  After my brothers and I had awoken our parents, we would stay upstairs until they could get the tree lit and a fire going with Christmas music playing in the background.  We would stand at the top step in our pajamas until we got the ok to race downstairs and check everything out.  That moment when we'd go in the room and see the festive setting with gifts under the tree and treasures in our stockings was a great part of the magic of Christmas for me as a child.  Now that I am a parent myself to two little ones, I love seeing the same Christmas magic start to come alive through my children's eyes."



Theresa Knapp: Canton Patch Reporter

"One of my favorite holiday traditions is centered around the first snow.  When the ground is covered, the children rush to put on their ski pants and snow boots, and rush out to have their first snowball fight and build the year's first snowman.  When they can no longer feel their fingers and toes, they rush right back in with the same abundance of energy to a waiting cup of hot cocoa (with whipped cream, of course) and sit beside the year's first fire to warm their hearts and souls.  I wish you and your family the beauty of the first fallen snow, the warmth of family, and the joy of life's simple pleasures.  Holiday best, Theresa Knapp  

Todd Wilson, Canton Patch Photographer

Merry Christmas from Millie and Maggie Wilson! They had their picture taken with Santa at The Animal Protection Center of Southeastern Massachusetts.  http://www.apcsm.org/ If anyone is feeling the Christmas spirit, they might want to think of them this time of year and send a present their way. They do amazing work for the areas' unwanted animals and have a great group of animal lovers on staff.

Maggie McClellan: Canton Patch Reporter

"Merry Christmas Canton! One of my favorite holiday recipes is super easy. It's very general - depends on how many you're making it for. (It's not a Maggie-original, for the record!)"

Marbled Peppermint Bark

• 3/4 11.5oz (regular sized) bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 11.5oz (regular sized) bag of white chocolate chips
• 12 candy canes
• Waxed paper

Crush candy canes into dust/small pieces; set aside. Using a double boiler, melt semi-sweet chocolate chips. Mix in several pinches of peppermint dust and immediately spoon melted chocolate onto a sheet of waxed paper, spreading thinly. Using a double boiler, melt white chocolate chips (be sure to pay attention to the white chocolate... it's more temperamental). Mix in several pinches of peppermint dust and spoon onto the layer of semi-sweet chocolate in small "blobs." As you even out the blobs of white chocolate, do not create a full layer of white; the nearly finished product should look like a brown base covered in randomly shaped blotches of white. Create a marble effect by dragging a knife or other utensil gently through the chocolate (particularly through areas of white-covered semi-sweet chocolate) in either straight or meandering lines. Sprinkle small peppermint bits and remaining dust over the chocolate and leave to set. (Refrigeration also works and will cause it to harden much more quickly.) Once hardened, separate the chocolate from waxed paper and break the sheet of chocolate into pieces. Eat up!