Traditionally Speaking...

 

            I’ll talk more about this on the Saturday Suggestions this week, but I happened upon a post that talked about family rituals…family traditions. I do love a good tradition, and it made me want to pause and consider the traditions we have enjoyed over the last decade (plus a year) together! I’m thankful for the ones we’ve made and kept each year. Others we enjoyed for a time before they had run their course. And I’m sure we’ll add more as we go! Life is ever changing, isn’t it? I’ll observe them according to month:

January
We always kick off the year by watching the ball drop in Times Square, sharing a new year’s kiss and glass of sparkling grape juice. We also spend some time on New Year’s Day looking through our memory box from the year before, choosing which items we want to keep forever, and clearing the box so it’s ready to capture memories from the year ahead.

February
We always celebrate Valentine’s Day together in some fashion. Most years we stay home and cook a special meal together. Sometimes we’ll brave the crowds and go out to eat. And Ryan always gets me roses – which I love so much. We also exchange a small gift for Valentine’s Day.

March
Easter isn’t always in March, but I’ll include it here on my list. I have long held a tradition of getting a new dress for Easter, and I still do that. We exchange gifts in Easter baskets (small items – and always Reese’s eggs for Ryan and Cadbury eggs for me). In the past couple of years, with our new church and friend community, we’ve also enjoyed adding the tradition of participating in a Seder meal and some other Holy Week events that have become really special to us.

April
Ryan’s birthday falls in this month, and we (okay, I) have a hard-and-fast rule about celebrating birthdays on the actual day. If possible, we take his birthday off work and do something special. If it’s not possible to be off work, we at least have a special meal together and he gets to open his gift from me!

May
My birthday falls in this month, so we repeat the celebration you just read about – but for me! For several years, we also hosted Mommapalooza – a Mother’s Day lunch for our combined families. After Ryan’s mom died, his siblings were ready to start enjoying the day with their own growing families, so the celebration looks different now, but we had fun with that tradition while it lasted.

June
This one doesn’t always take place in June, but I’ll list it here. During our first year of marriage, we made a commitment to always celebrate our combined birthdays with a small getaway. We’ve done one every single year – and the timing often depends on where we’re going. (We learned not to go north before June!) Over the years, this trip has landed in April, May, June, and July, but it always gets done!

July
Until a couple of years ago, we always went to a fireworks show on the 4^th of July. I shared on the blog just last week how our years have looked different from the pandemic forward, for different reasons each year, but I hope to one day go back to this tradition, because it’s one of my very favorites. When Ryan’s mom was alive, we also went to the lake at the end of every July for a family get-together. That ended when she passed away, but now we get to enjoy lake life every day, so we appreciate the return of that tradition in a different way. We also used to attend the county fair each year in July. We’ve not been able to go every single year since we moved away, but we still enjoy a good fair visit if we’re able to make it.

August
I’m not sure we have a tradition specific to August. We might need to work on that one!

September
I’m not sure we have a tradition for September, either. How did these two months get missed in all the love?

October
We have often gone to a corn maze and/or pumpkin patch during this month, and those are always fun. Now that we live close to our favorite (and first one ever) it should be much easier to make sure this tradition stays alive! Another October tradition is getting new family pictures taken – when the leaves are in their prime beauty!

November
This has become the month we decorate for Christmas, since December is always so busy. Though I do the bulk of the decorating, we always decorate our family tree together. We collect ornaments throughout the year to commemorate places we visit or significant moments in life, and we use those on our family tree. We also order Christmas cards and write our Christmas letter during this month. (This is usually my job, but it’s still a tradition for us.)

December
This is the month we celebrate our anniversary – and that always includes a getaway of some sort. We recreate 10 of our wedding pictures, watch our wedding video and look at our album, too. We usually get cupcakes or some special dessert to enjoy with sparkling grape juice, and we have some kind of special meal during the day. We exchange anniversary gifts and Christmas gifts as well, later in the month. We always take a picture in front of the Christmas tree and spend an evening driving around to see Christmas lights. This month feels easy to have lots of traditions because of all that takes place!

            I’m thankful for traditions and thankful for a husband who embraces them. What are some of your favorite traditions?