With the New Year already into its second week, for some families, the Christmas spirit is still alive and well.
The Makowsky family is celebrating Ukrainian Christmas with traditional customs that have been passed down through generations.
Father Taras Makowsky with the Ukrainian Orthodox church is sharing the holiday with his wife Dobr. Joanne.
"It starts yesterday evening with the holy supper at 5:00. Then following the supper, there were some carols that were sung," said Taras.
Dobr. Joanne has prepared a key element of the celebration — kolache, the round bread braided into a circle, symbolizing no beginning and no end.
"We always make the kolache, which is the round bread, braided into the circle, signifying no beginning, no end. For Christmas, we put three. Of course, for the trinity," she said.
Baking kolache is just one of the many traditions observed during Ukrainian Christmas. Another involves a playful custom where the head of the household flips the first spoonful of a dish to the ceiling, and if the kernels stick the harvest is supposed to be bountiful.
January 7 traditionally marked the Orthodox celebration, but in an effort to distance itself from the Russian wing of Orthodoxy, Ukraine has moved the holiday to December 25. However, this change has yet to catch on among some Ukrainian communities.
"I think it’s more important that we don't celebrate it on a calendar day, specific, but we celebrate the life, the joy, and the holiness of what's being represented. That being Christ," said Taras.
Unlike most of Saskatchewan, Ukrainians this year will have a white Christmas.
