Holiday Memories

Holiday Memories

As we approach the festivities themselves and try to wind down from all the rush, we're often reminded of the memorable times from holidays past. Some celebrities have their own vivid memories and are willing to share them.

Kyra Sedgwick

He put a ring in the toe of a stocking, and on Christmas Eve we opened our stockings and it was there at the bottom. And then he got down on his knees and he was shaking and said, 'Will you marry me?' I thought, 'What took you so long?' We'd been going out for 10 months already ... He says it took a long time for me to say yes, but I'm sure it wasn't more than 20 seconds.

---- Kyra Sedgwick remembers when her husband, actor Kevin Bacon, proposed

Tom Cruise

I would say one of the best Christmases as a kid is when we didn't buy each other stuff. My mother came up with this idea to pick names out of a hat and, for a month, you had to do something for that person. And then, on Christmas Day, you had to write a poem or a story for that person.

---- Tom Cruise remembers his family holidays growing up

Carrie Underwood

We don't really have that many traditions, but we are together, and that's the most important thing. We eat ourselves silly and try, of course, to remember the true meaning of Christmas and celebrate the birth of Jesus. My mom always makes, like, a broccoli cheese casserole, and we do, like, potato casseroles and stuff like that. Just whatever is meat-free.

---- Carrie Underwood says food was often the centerpiece of her family's holiday

Keanu Reeves

I had been away from home for a long time and gone through quite an extraordinary experience, and I remember coming home and having Christmas at my house and having so many friends who couldn't go home or whatever. It was a wonderful Christmas with 20 people -- just friends and family -- and just a great night.

---- Keanu Reeves recalls returning from Katmandu, Nepal, where he was filming "Little Buddha

Chris Rock

A couple years ago my family, we were in Africa on safari for Christmas. And stayed at a lodge and my kids were really young and they were so scared Santa wasn't going to show. And just the look on their faces when their toys were under a tree in Africa. Kind of cool.

---- Chris Rock remembers a special Christmas in Africa

Halle Berry

Christmas was always a great time. I grew up with a single-parent family, so we didn't always have a lot of money, but my mother, she must have spent the entire year saving up for Christmas, because I felt on Christmas that we were rich, because we always got everything we ever wrote on our list to Santa.

---- Halle Berry remembers joyful holidays as a kid