The Christmas season has always been one of my favorite times of the year. There's more focus on family and togetherness and that's important to me. Everyone has their own Christmas traditions; mine include baking tons of cookies and other holiday treats. One of my personal favorites of my family's traditions that I carry on now with my husband is watching holiday movies. After Thanksgiving, most nights you can find me curled up in my favorite chair with some popcorn and a holiday special of some sort. I'll watch while cooking or wrapping presents or just about anytime at all. With the Christmas season right around the corner, I thought I'd compile a list of my five favorite Christmas movies. I hope you enjoy it.

White Christmas is a classic. It was always part of my mother's holiday rotation and I can't let it go now, either. Released in 1954 by Paramount Pictures, it was written by Norman Krasna, Norman Panama and Melvin Frank and produced by Robert Emmett Dolan . It was the first film produced and released in Vista Vision, a wide screen process that used twice the surface area of standard 35 mm film. The large-area negative was used to produce finer-grained standard-sized 35 mm prints.

White Christmas is a musical starring the hilarious Danny Kaye as Phil Davis and Bing Crosby as Bob Wallace, his partner and good friend. The two men meet when Davis saves Wallace's life while in Europe during WWII. Wallace is an established entertainer back in the states and Davis has show business aspirations. Davis convinces Wallace they should team up professionally when the war is over. They do and become hugely successful . As a favor to an old friend from the army, they agree to give some advice to a sister act, The Haynes Sisters, played by Vera-Ellen and Rosemary Clooney. It marks the beginning of a hilarious scheme by Davis to set his partner up with Betty Haynes (Rosemary Clooney). It's one of my favorite movies and I have pulled it out and watched it outside of the holiday season many times.

Elf is another of those fantastic movies that I can watch anytime. Written by David Berenbaum and directed by Jon Favreau, Elf was released by New Line Cinema, in 2003. Will Ferrell plays Buddy, an orphan who crawled into Santa's (Ed Asner) bag, as a baby and was raised by Papa Elf (Bob Newhart). Buddy thinks he's an elf, too, until he overhears two of his co-workers at Santa's Workshop talking. Suddenly his ineptitude with toy making and his height are explained. Santa then gives Buddy the very bad news that his real father (James Caan), who doesn't know Buddy even exists, is on the naughty list. Buddy decides to set out that night for New York City where his father works as an executive in a children's book publishing company. Buddy is determined to meet his father and find a way to get him off the naughty list. The casting in this movie is superb. Buddy's childlike behavior as he discovers New York City is hilarious. If you haven't seen this movie, you should rent it as soon as possible. I promise you'll love it.

 It's A Wonderful Life is based on a short story by Philip Van Doren Stern.  It was directed and produced by Frank Capra and distributed by RKO Radio Pictures in 1946.  Jimmy Stewart plays George Bailey, a man who has lost his way and is about to commit suicide, feeling he'd be worth more dead than alive to his wife (Donna Reed) and their children.  George's guardian angel, Clarence (Henry Travers), starts hearing prayers from George's friends and family all saying the same thing; please help George Bailey.  Clarence goes to Earth and shows George all the good he's done by showing him a world where he never existed.  This movie is one I never get sick of.  The message is clear; everyone touches someone else's life, everyone makes a difference in another person's life, whether they know it or not.  No man is worthless in the overall scheme of things.  Even though it makes me cry, every Thanksgiving night I watch this movie, just like my mom always has.  I hope to continue that tradition for many years to come.

 The Muppet Christmas Carol is exactly what it sounds like, an adaptation of the Dickens classic.  Only it's made with Jim Henson's Muppets.  The film was directed by Brian Henson and was released in 1992.  Michael Caine plays Ebeneezer Scrooge brilliantly.  Kermit the Frog makes a wonderful Bob Cratchit and Miss Piggy is, of course, his wife, Emily.  Gonzo the Great plays Charles Dickens and acts as narrator with the help of Rizzo the Rat.  This is easily my favorite version of this classic Christmas story.  Then again, I own all the Muppet's movies.  This movie is a great way to introduce children to a classic they might not be interested in otherwise.

A Christmas Story is one of those movies that my family had to watch every year. Sometimes, more than once. My father, especially, enjoys it. A Christmas Story is based on short stories written by Jean Shepherd, who narrates the film as the now adult, Ralphie. The movie was directed by Bob Clark and released in 1983 by MGM studios. Melinda Dillon and Darren McGavin play Ralphie's parents, Mr. & Mrs. Parker. The story follows 9 year old Ralphie Parker, played by Peter Billingsley, through all his trials and tribulations leading up to Christmas Day. All he really wants for Christmas is an official Red Ryder bb gun. Everytime he tells someone this, from his mother down to the department store Santa, they tell him; "You'll shoot your eye out!" It's a very funny movie. I think anyone who's ever wanted something their parents didn't think they should have can relate to Ralphie's plight.

Honorable mention goes to A Smoky Mountain Christmas. It was written by William Bleich and Dolly Parton and directed by Henry Winkler (that's right, The Fonz!). The movie was made exclusively for television and debuted in 1986. It's cheesy and sappy and I love it. Dolly Parton plays Lorna Davis, a country music superstar who is looking for a change in her life. She decides to take a break and spend her Christmas at a friend's cabin in Tennessee's Smoky Mountains. However, the cabin has become the refuge of seven orphans hiding from the orphanage in town. While at the cabin, she meets "Mountain Dan" played by Lee Majors. They all find what they've been missing and rediscover what family really is. If you can handle the eighties cheese, you should definitely check this movie out.