Traditions

Traditions help define families. Those special moments between people make the greatest memories. My family doesn't have very many traditions that we practice regularly, but the ones we do have will continue when I have a family of my own.

Even though we were soaking wet, we're still smiling! :)

Dinner Time: When my parents started having kids, they realized how crazy life could get. Everyone is going in different directions, doing different things. So, they decided dinner time was family time. It was our chance to all sit down together without television or phones and actually talk to each other about our day. Without this tradition, I know I would not be as close with my family, because we are rarely all together outside of this time. While we normally eat dinner at home every night, Fridays became our day to eat out. Because of this, Fridays became extra special family time.

Christmas Cookies: Everyone has holiday traditions. I'm sure my family's traditions are similar to most families, but they hold a little place in my heart. My favorite tradition growing up was making Christmas cookies. The women on my mom's side of the family (grandma, aunt, cousin, mom, sister, and me) would get together and make cookies. But this wasn't a two-hour deal. This lasted ALL DAY LONG. And that's why it was so fun. We'd make 6 or 7 different types of cookies from scratch and deliver them to friends and neighbors. My favorite cookies were my great-grandma's sugar cookies. For some reason, they tasted like heaven, but maybe that's because I can vaguely remember my great-grandma making them when I was very young. I loved this tradition. However, about five years ago, this tradition became too difficult for my grandma, so it ended. Even though we don't do cookie day anymore, I know it will be something I do with my own kids.

Beginner's Luck: Since I am newly 21 years old, while I was home, my dad took me to the casino to teach me the "evil of gambling". We played blackjack for almost 3 hours and BOTH came out ahead! We had the best time laughing and making new friends, and and it meant a lot to share that day with my dad since we rarely get time to just be together. Even though neither of us are big gamblers, I wouldn't mind if a casino trip became a birthday tradition!