Traditions

I have always loved the idea of family traditions. Growing up we had many. Although I didn't realize they were traditions at the time.

Thinking back, some of my favorites were: Easter breakfast at Omi and Opa's (Oma and Opa mean Grandma and Grandpa in Dutch. My big sister couldn't say Oma when she was little; she could say Omi -- and it stuck!), summer swimming parties with artist friends my parents knew through their gallery, a card and heart shaped box of candy waiting for us on the dining room table Valentine's Day morning, singing the "Anniversary Song", three little after-dinner mints left in the same spot on the kitchen counter whenever my mom and dad had gone on a date the night before, Kentucky Fried Chicken for Sunday dinner (at least once a month), staying up late and talking to my mom as she ironed a shirt for my dad each night, and especially getting a fudgesicle during intermission at the drive inn movie!

Since Craig and I have been married we've started a few traditions. The biggest one being going back to Salt Lake every Christmas. We leave Indiana and get there before the big day or take off from home the day after. And it only takes us two days of driving to get there! (Yes, we drive. We take a lot of gear and need our car to get up to the slopes.)

I don't think a tradition has to be a big event.

Some of the smaller traditions that I cherish in our family are: family hugs, snuggling at bedtime, reading together, kissing hello and goodbye when we see or leave each other (just like my mom and dad always did), camping out in the living room, looking for lightning bugs, going to the pumpkin patch in the fall, and in the summer time... picking blueberries!

We've gone blueberry picking for four years in a row now. We first went when Logan was a little over a year old. He had a great time picking and eating the berries and has loved them ever since!

 

Last year we went with some of our extended family and had so much fun that we changed the tradition to include them each year.

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So we all went again last Monday and while filling our buckets, we parents had fun reminiscing about how little the "big kids" seemed last year. Bergen was only six months old then and sat in the stroller. She was right in there picking this year though, and had no problems keeping up!

 

 

I think family traditions are a tremendous blessing. They give us memories to pass on to others and to cherish for a lifetime ourselves.