Christmas Excitement

What excites you about Christmas?

I was thinking about it on my way back to Cortland tonight. Driving always provides for random thought tangents. Perhaps I was recalling information from earlier in the weekend--Christmas shopping in oh-so-busy shopping malls, baking Christmas cookies, wrapping presents, sitting by the fire, and hanging out by the tree.

But what is it, which of those, or others that really make Christmas the most enjoyable for you?

Is is the presents? The family togetherness? The weather? The traditions? The food? The baking? The giving? The music? The movies? The shopping?

What is your favorite thing about Christmas?