My Favorite Holiday Tradition

Some of my favorite parts of the holiday season are the traditions that we have as a family and the fact that we keep them going year after year. We have many but I think if I had to choose one, it would be celebrating St. Nicholas Day.
Both of my parents are of German descent. St. Nicholas is celebrated on December 6th. The night of December 5th my brothers and I would put out our stockings and hope that in the morning they would be filled. We were never disappointed. When I was 5 we moved to the area I live in now, which is predominantly Italian. My parents kept up the tradition. Our family was the only one in my school (to my knowledge) that celebrated St. Nick. Today, it is a tradition that I keep alive and going with my own daughters. I love that it is a reminder of my culture and my parent's culture.
Who is St. Nicholas? St. Nicholas was a kind and generous man. The legend states that he dropped gold coins down a man's chimney when the man was too poor to pay the dowry for his daughter's wedding. St. Nicholas dropped gold two more times for the man's other 2 daughters. The man caught him on the third time and since then, anytime anyone received a surprise git it was attributed to St. Nicholas.
So tomorrow night, my daughters' stockings will be out, waiting for St. Nicholas to fill them. I love that this tradition still appears to be a rare one in our area yet we are keeping it alive year after year.

What is your favorite holiday tradition?