Graham family Christmas traditions
Will Graham, executive vice president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, appeared on “Fox & Friends” to explain his family’s Christmas traditions.
Christmas Day is a time for Americans and people around the world to spend time with loved ones while participating in time-honored traditions, and members of Congress are no exception.
Far from the noise and drama of the Capitol, members of Congress opened up to Fox News Digital about their favorite ways to spend the Christmas holidays, past and present.
“Jackie and I are thrilled to have all of our staff under one roof for a frigid Minnesota Christmas. Our four grandchildren will also be part of the holiday joy (and hustle and bustle!) of the Emmer family. I’m getting a crash course,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minnesota, told Fox News Digital. “The Christmas village is ready. Ugly sweaters are a must.”
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A Christmas tree is lit during a ceremony on the west front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, on December 3, 2024. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
South Dakota Republican Sen. Mike Rounds hosts more than 100 family members each Christmas Eve for homemade chicken noodle soup, his office told Fox News Digital.
His office said, “Senator Lowndes’ late wife Jean was also extremely talented at creating cross-stitch and sewing art, and Sen. Lowndes and their children decorated their entire home with her handmade Christmas art. “There is,” he said.
Congresswoman Claudia Tenney of New York remembers the Christmas scavenger hunts her parents organized.
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House Majority Whip Tom Emmer said his family’s Christmas traditions involve ugly sweaters. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
“My parents always planned a treasure hunt on Christmas Eve. My four siblings and I had to decipher a series of clues that led us to different parts of the house to find the next clue. “And that finally led to the final clue,” Tenney said, “and that’s where we found the present that we opened.”
She said the locations included “car trunks, dryers, closets, etc.”
“It was really fun. My parents made the clues smarter and more challenging each year,” Tenney said. “Then we went to our neighbor’s house across the street for our annual Christmas Eve party. The whole neighborhood was invited. Afterwards, many of us, including our Jewish neighbors, I went to midnight mass at the Presbyterian church.”
Congresswoman Claudia Tenney recalled the Christmas Eve scavenger hunt her parents organized. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc, via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Wyoming Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis said her favorite Christmas tradition is skiing with her grandchildren at Star Valley in western Wyoming.
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And for Missouri Republican Sen. Eric Schmidt, Christmas means family dinners and board games.
“We go to Christmas Eve Mass in the parish we grew up in, and then we eat dinner at my parents’ house,” Schmidt told Fox News Digital. “After Christmas, the extended family gathers together. [an] An epic game of risk. ”
Elizabeth Elkind is a political reporter for FOX News Digital, where she leads coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines can be found on the Daily Mail and CBS News.
Follow @liz_elkind on Twitter and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com.
