My poor blog has been neglected, yet again. So, what better way to wake it up than with 30 Days of Thanks in November? I have a lot to be thankful for and this is a good way for me to remember to count my blessings. These will be in random order, of course. I might as well be upfront and honest enough to say that I haven’t planned well enough to coordinate a proper “count down” and, besides, all blessings are worthy of thanks, right? 🙂
Day 1 – I am thankful for family traditions.
I just love family traditions. I love the familiarity of beloved traditions and I value the memories they bring to our family life. Some of our favorite family traditions are:
- Taking our annual “autumn adventure” trip to the apple orchard and pumpkin patch. We all LOVE this day! Now that both girls are in school, we take them out early and head up on a week day to avoid the orchard and patch being crowded. We always have the best time. We started this when Macey was one and now that she is nine and Mariana is six, we still love it! We have only missed one year and that is the year Macey was two.
- Halloween Fun! Our girls have the most fun dressing up and going out each Halloween. Some years, Mickey and I dress up, but we haven’t done that the last couple of years. I think we need to work on that for next year. Our neighborhood always has a little gathering where the association provides hot dogs and neighbors bring sides, desserts and drinks to share. Some of our neighbors provide a hayride each year. It’s always a lot of fun! Mickey takes the girls out trick-or-treating while I stay home to hand out candy. And, when they come home, I have warm ham and cheese biscuits waiting for them. It’s such a great night!
- Thanksgiving. This has always been a favorite holiday of mine. I won’t even try to act like the food isn’t a draw because, hello, cornbread dressing rocks my world! But, it’s more than that. It’s about remembering our blessings and sharing time with our family and friends. And, for Mickey, if the Lions happen to pull off a football win, it’s a bonus happy for the day.
- Christmas!! This one has all sorts of joy to it. Certainly the greatest blessing is celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus! We have fun family traditions such as decorating the tree, the house and the yard, opening annual ornaments on “Christmas Sunday”, Christmas Eve service at church, getting to open new PJs and one gift on Christmas Eve, reading the Bible story of the first Christmas at bedtime, putting out snacks and reindeer food, the joy of Christmas morning, baking a birthday cake for Jesus, being with family and friends. I could go on and on and ON about this one. Christmas = joy!
- Birthdays. In our family, when it’s your birthday, the day is all about YOU. The birthday person gets to pick the meals, choose fun activities and get spoiled all day. Birthdays rock in our house!
- Side by Side Sister Photos at the Beach – When we first took the girls to the beach, we got this awesome shot of them side by side looking at the water. Macey was three and Mariana was almost one. We loved that photo so much that every time we go to the beach now, we get a similar shot.
- Soccer Mints. One of the cutest traditions Macey has is her “soccer mint.” She always likes to have a fruity breath mint before every soccer game. She is sure this helps her play better. How cute is that?! Love it!
- Thankful Time. This year we started asking the girls at mealtimes what they are thankful for each day and, of course, we tell what we are thankful for that day, as well. This has been such an awesome tradition to start. We are so blessed and it’s nice to remember that each day. So, we have that time just prior to the blessing and eating our dinner.
We have lots of family traditions, so this list isn’t quite complete. But, it’s a great sampling. I smile reading through and thinking of all the memories we’ve made so far and anticipating those to come.
Have a blessed day, y’all…
Kelly
Photos of some of our traditions:
Autumn Adventure 2012:
Halloween Hayride 2012
Sisters Beach Photo Collage
