Monday, November 26, 2007

Traditions

The holiday season always makes me think about traditions, as I am sure it does everybody. My sister-in-law Kaylin was talking about how her family eats homemade noodles in chicken/turkey broth on top of mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving. My family also eats noodles and potatoes (although not at Thanksgiving) and I have NEVER met anyone else who does so. I was so excited to learn that Kaylin's family shares in this tradition. So, I thought it might be fun to do a tag about our traditions. Here are a few of mine and I hope everyone will share some of theirs. I love hearing about other families' traditions!

1. Every year since I was born, my mom has given me an ornament for Christmas. She started me on the Frosty Friends series and they are still going strong. I have so many cute Eskimos and it makes my tree complete each year. I also follow this tradition and give each of my kids an ornament. We haven't found a series for any of them so we give them something that has to do with the previous year. For example, Halle got a little karate ornament last year because she took karate. I think finding the perfect ornament is one of my favorite parts of Christmas. I also collect an ornament from every trip we go on. This has been a challenge in some places such as Singapore, but we still found something. I absolutely LOVE to get out my travel ornaments and remember the trip.

2. Sunday dinner is a big deal at our house. It's usually the best meal of the week where we can sit together as a family and talk and eat longer than on a busy weekday. A traditional Sunday meal for me is roast beef with potatoes and gravy, rolls, corn, salad, jello and if we're lucky, chocolate cake for dessert.

3. Every December we like to get a hotel in Salt Lake and tour the temple grounds to see the Christmas lights. My parents did this with us when I was kid and we always stayed in the Marriott that was connected to the mall. The mall is no longer there, so it's kind of sad to me, but I still enjoy Salt Lake at Christmas time.

4. Biscuits and Gravy has been a staple meal for me since I was tiny. My mom would make homemade buttermilk biscuits and gravy from bacon drippings. (A little different than the Northern version of sausage gravy.) This is a favorite meal for my kids too. Looks like the tradition will continue.

5. Jarom's family has many fun traditions too and I don't want to steal from what Becky or Emily might say, but I thought I would post one of my favorites. Each Christmas season they hold a progressive dinner. They go to each family's house and have one course of the meal. Last year we started in Pocatello for drinks and appetizers and drove all the way to Rexburg to end with dessert. It takes about 5 or 6 hours, but it's really fun and a great way to ensure that we get to see each home decorated for the holidays.

These are just a few of my traditions. I sure hope each of you will share yours. Here's to a tradition filled, wonderful holiday!!!

4 comments:

Jennifer P. said...

Thanks so much for sharing! I love to hear what other people do for traditions. I grew up in a house with not many, and am trying really hard to make sure my little family gets STEEPED in them--up to their eyeballs!-- so that they will feel obliged to drag their spouses and offspring back home every year for tradition-sake :)! I'll post some of ours later today or tomorrow.

Elise said...

I love ornaments! We do the same thing and I love getting them out every year to reminisce. And yum-- I'm coming to Sunday dinner at your house-- especially if there is chocolate cake!!

Jonathan & Rachel said...

I love traditions! We do the same things with the ornaments-and I love it. It's always so much fun to pick them out! It was super fun to see you guys!--I love knowing what you are all up to!

becky ward said...

What a fun idea! And you have some fun traditions. I will have to try my hardest to get this post up.