Jordan Conley
Administrative Supervisor - Tyler Office
We try to get together and play a baseball game with the family. It gets pretty competitive so we usually do our Christmas gathering BEFORE we hit the field! 😊 Nothing quite like a family Christmas where we throw things and swing heavy bats!
Tim Skurdahl
Service Supervisor - Fort Smith Office
The Spirit of this Season to my family is celebrating the birth of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. He is the true reason for the season. It helps us humble ourselves and have a giving spirit. It’s not about the gifts but spending time with family and being thankful for the true gift Jesus and the everlasting life it gave us.
Some traditions we have is we always go to a Christmas eve candlelight service so we can reflect the reason we celebrate. We go to my wife’s parents on Christmas eve after the service for Dinner and opening some presents. And on Christmas we go back for Christmas brunch. My Family comes over to My house for Christmas dinner and presents.
Also, we pick a night and drive around to look at Christmas lights and get hot chocolate.
Keith Cook
Account Representative - El Dorado Office
For us it is about celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus. We go all out and decorate everything, inside and out. Thanksgiving night we will get the tree up and start decorating.
My wife and I have decorations that we have had since our childhood, and we enjoy the memories that come with each one as we put them out. Spending time with family is the best part. Seeing the grandkids open their presents and the joy and excitement is just amazing.
Food plays a big part as well, tradition is my smoked prime rib on Christmas eve, and reading the night before Christmas. We have a traditional Christmas day dinner. All of the kids and grandkids have their favorite dishes and we make one for each. After all of the food and presents, we read the Christmas story from the Bible.
Ellen Hollins
Human Resources - Little Rock Office
The spirit of the season for my family and I means slowing down and spending time together. One of the ways we celebrate the holiday season is through our yearly gift exchange.
Makenzie Vital
Project Specialist (TSG) - Tyler Office
As a child, Christmas was always about "togetherness" in my family. This is something I've carried into my adult life. We don't so much care about fancy gifts, or expensive vacations, but rather being together with everyone we love, celebrating life, and spreading joy.
My favorite holiday tradition is baking in our Christmas Pajamas. Some of my most enjoyable memories are of me and my mom baking cookies, fudge, and pies while singing Christmas carols in the kitchen. Nothing beats the aroma that fills the air after 20 different desserts make their way to the dining table.
Now that my child is older, and finally fond of helping in the kitchen, this has been something we've carried on for the past couple of years.
Lindsey Russett
Collections Specialist - Texarkana Office
This year I am just thankful to have my parents still here to celebrate with me. My dad is fighting some serious health/ lung issues and its been a struggle to say the least. We love to get a hot chocolate and go look at Christmas lights. We take our dogs too any they love it!
Wesley Andrews
Parts/Warehouse Specialist - Tyler Office
For my family and I, the Christmas Spirit means celebrating the birth of Christ and expressing gratitude for the abundance in our lives. What makes the season so special, is the anticipation leading up to Christmas day. From driving thru the Christmas lights every year at Santa Land, to watching all movies Christmas, from the “Home Alone” series to “The Grinch”.
A tradition we started a few years ago is decorating our tree post-Thanksgiving dinner. Timing is key, don’t want to get decorating too early. Finally, Christmas eve we stay up late wrapping presents, placing gifts that were once hidden, under the tree, playing “Santa”. On the big day we have a family breakfast, watch the Christmas day parade, and unwrap all the gifts from “Santa” of course.
Bryan Bearden
Business Process Consultant - Lufkin Office
Family is important in this season to me as I get a little older I want to enjoy each year because we never know when will be our last. This will be my first without my dad there but we will carry on and the memories will always remain.”
Julia Richerson
Receptionist - Dallas/Fort Worth Office
The Spirit of Christmas is a very special time of year for me. Decorating and trimming the tree & baking cookies. Attending the events and seeing the many lights & displays in Grapevine Texas!
Candlelight Service at Prestonwood Church in Plano TX. Celebrating the birth of our Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ.
Leah Lewis
Administration - Little Rock Office
The Holiday Spirit is something that me and my family look forward to leading up to the holidays. The family tradition is Thanksgiving at my Granny's, and Christmas at my cousins house.
The past few years, we’ve been making new traditions where we’ll do game nights thru out the week that’s Holiday oriented and it’s so much fun. When I say we have Christmas at my cousins house, we just eat dinner there. After we eat, every year my immediate family (Mom, uncles, all 1st cousins) we’ll go back to my Grannys and open our gifts and mingle more until the night end. It’s something I look forward to for sure even the older I get. 😊
Rachel Acosta
Dispatcher - Little Rock Office
The Spirit of the season to me means kindness and giving. When I say giving it does not have to be material things it could be giving someone your time or help. My husband and I will either donate to the angel tree or for the past couple of years have been choosing a family that has kids in need and will buy their Christmas gifts. This is not to get any credit for us but to see the joy in the parents' faces knowing their children will have a good Christmas.
We normally celebrate our Christmas on Christmas Eve. Our Family used to get together at my granny’s house until about 10 years ago when our family got to big for the space, now we gather at my mom’s house and celebrate with all the kids and grandkids. We normally choose different foods such as hamburgers, Mexican, or snack foods to eat as a meal and then we play games such as dirty Santa or left, right, center.
We love to just spend the time together because normally everyone is so busy and it is hard to get everyone in the same place at the same time.
Shelby Estes
Business Process Consultant - Dallas/Fort Worth Office
The spirit of the season is spending time together with my family. The main tradition in our family is having a real Christmas tree. The idea of us going as a family to pick up the perfect tree is my favorite thing probably because my brother and I try to pick out the largest one in the lot.
There is something special about watching Iron Man, a new tradition we started when us kids grew up, on Christmas day in our pajamas. The season is so special to me because we get to all be together under my parents' roof and act like kids again.
Andrew Watson
Account Representative - Little Rock Office
The Christmas season has always been about family for us, both growing up as well as adults now. Centering it largely on our faith, and celebrating together with each other in our household, and both sides of our nuclear families and extended families over various meals, events, etc.
It’s also a special time of the year of togetherness as well. Being in the warm company of those we care about most, and giving of ourselves to those that are less fortunate through our time, donations, volunteering, etc.
We have combined several of our respective childhood traditions with/ those we created for ourselves since being married. From the Christmas parties and dinner get togethers, trying a new advent calendar every year, cutting down and decorating our own real tree and decking the halls at home, and midnight Mass on Christmas Eve at our parish here in midtown. I’m here for all of it. My very favorite is our boozy breakfast/brunch at my in-laws on Christmas morning. We all are required to remain mostly in pajama-adjacent clothes, we put on Christmas music, get the famcy coffee and cocktails rolling, and open gifts together and spend the morning cooking (and demolishing) a scratch breakfast feast. It’s also one of our last “events” of the Christmas holiday. So it’s going out on a great note every year.
