Stars’ Favorite Memories From The Holiday Season

Family and friends gather together to get in the holiday spirit and celebrate with joyous moments — from decorating the tree to giving gifts to lighting the menorah. Along the way, these special moments become lasting memories and create the stories that will be told for years to come. Of course, celebrities have their own holiday traditions too, making for some of their own very fond memories.

Find out what these stars had to say about their favorite parts of the holiday season below…

1. Meghan Trainor

One of Meghan Trainor’s favorite holiday memories comes from Christmas morning when she was just a kid. She says that she and her brothers received a train set that they treasured for almost a decade.

“We woke up one Christmas morning, me and my brothers to a beautiful train station playset. We thought it was the coolest gift and it literally lasted us like 10 years. We played with that train station till it broke. We loved it,” Meghan told Audacy.

2. Miley Cyrus

When it comes to the holiday season, Miley Cyrus is all about family time. She says some of her best memories are playing football with her dad on his farm.

“My favorite thing to do when I go home is we go and we throw the ball around outside on my dad’s farm. Some of my greatest memories are playing football with my dad,” Miley said on “Good Morning Football.”

3. Amy Poehler

Amy Poehler says she spent one Christmas day visiting children who were in the hospital in New York City. She was able to deliver gifts to the kids and their families while hearing their stories, making it a memorable experience.

“I was able to deliver, I think it was Playstations, and hand them out and that was really awesome. I got to meet a lot of incredible New York families and very strong, brave and hilarious kids who were unfortunately celebrating Christmas in the hospital but still full of Christmas spirit,” Amy said on “The Kelly Clarkson Show.”

4. Melissa McCarthy

Melissa McCarthy’s favorite holiday memory comes from when her family got snowed in one Christmas. Unable to leave the house to get food for Christmas dinner, they had to make do with what they had at home.

“Our Christmas dinner was whatever my mom had in the fridge. So she made hot dog and green bean pizzas. We had tomato sauce on a tortilla and she cut little wedges of a hot dog on it and used frozen green beans and that was our Christmas dinner. It made us laugh and also I kind of liked it!” Melissa told “The Kelly Clarkson Show.”

5. Jennifer Lopez

For Jennifer Lopez, it’s hard to choose her favorite holiday memory. Looking back on her childhood, Jennifer says that the whole idea of Christmas and her family’s traditions on Christmas eve were incredibly special to her.

“My favorite holiday childhood memory is the whole holiday ritual of Christmas eve and Christmas day,” she said in an interview with Coach.

6. Bryce Dallas Howard

One of Bryce Dallas Howard’s favorite moments from the holiday season is her family’s annual cooking decorating day. She explained that everyone gets “really into it” and her dad Ron Howard especially has a “good cookie-decorating game.”

“We decorate cookies. We have a whole day that we dedicate to it and it’s largely driven by my mom. And we make all the cookies in advance and then it’s like a decorating party and we all get together and it’s really fun and it gets a little competitive,” Bryce told Us Weekly.

7. Zac Efron

One of Zac Efron’s favorite parts of the holiday season has to do with quality time with family. The actor says that one of his favorite memories is skiing with his grandfather.

“Skiing with my grandpa who’s, like, super old now. He’s still like one of the fastest guys down the hill,” Zac told iVillage of his grandfather, who was in his 80s at the time.

8. Reese Witherspoon

Reese Witherspoon lists baking as one of her favorite parts of the holiday season. She says she has fond memories of decorating gingerbread houses with her children even if they just end up eating a lot of candy.

“One of my favorite things about this time of year is decorating gingerbread houses with my kids. Well… ok… we mostly just eat the candy,” Reese wrote on Instagram.

9. Carrie Underwood

One of Carrie Underwood’s favorite holiday memories is singing in church in her hometown before she made it big. She explained that her experiences performing in church actually influenced several of her albums.

“Singing the inspirational Christmas songs I love so much is still one of my favorite holiday memories. Those times singing in church were the heart of my Christmas album ‘My Gift’ and my album of gospel hymns, ‘My Savior,’” Carrie shared with Tulsa World.

10. Dolly Parton

It’s no secret that Dolly Parton is a big fan of the holiday season and she says some of her favorite Christmas memories go all the way back to her childhood. Growing up, her father would cut down the tree in the mountains where they lived and she has fond memories of decorating it with all of her family.

“I grew up in the smoky mountains…I remember how we always loved Daddy going out, bringing the tree home and decorating it with our country fixings and all that…Having Mama and all of us kids around with our toys and all of our homemade things that’d we’d make for each other. I loved that Christmas,” Dolly told Good Housekeeping.

11. Michael Bublé

Michael Bublé’s best Christmas happened when he was just a kid. In the days leading up to the holiday, his parents told him that his room had to be fumigated and he couldn’t go inside. But on Christmas morning, he was sent on a scavenger hunt that led to his room — which had been completely redecorated.

“When I got into my room, my whole room was transformed from this regular bedroom to having ‘Star Wars’ newspaper everywhere to having a Darth Vader light. My bedspread was all ‘Star Wars,’ everything was ‘Star Wars.’ If I had doubted the existence of Santa Claus, I no longer doubted the existence because you couldn’t go into the room! It was being fumigated! And somehow, through the magic of Christmas, he went in and redid my whole room,” Michael shared.