Traditions

Halloween came and went. It was a fun one. Jesse "gets it" this year. Last year he was completely clueless. Heck, last year he didn't even know what candy was! We did our annual traditions, decorated the house, watched scary movies (without Jesse of course), carved pumpkins on Halloween Eve, roasted seeds, dressed up and passed out candy and stickers.

The Friday after Halloween was Tim & Jen's wedding, Paul's brother. It was a blast. Not until the next day when I was looking at pictures did I realize there were no pictures of me! I even liked the way I looked. I got a ton of fabulous pictures of the bride and groom and one strip of Paul and I from the photo booth.

Paul can't resist the boob grab.

It was a beautiful wedding and a fun reception, with good food too. Glad we could be a part of their day!

Now the holidays are coming. I am usually very excited, but this year is going to be different. My parents sold their condo and are moving to Alabama in February . They are currently living with my Aunt (Dad's sister) through the holidays. Things are changing again and I am sad, but accepting of the change. They told us this was their plan last year at Thanksgiving, so I have had time to prepare.

When we were kids Christmas was always at my house. Our house was decorated, we had a real tree, we baked cookies, and lots of them. Dinner was always a huge spread. Roasts, dumplings, veggies, gravy, potatoes.... protein and carbs a plenty. Christmas at our house was a huge ordeal. I don't even know how my Mother did it, but I respect her even more now because I wouldn't know how to pull of something she made look so simple. Everyone came. Aunts, uncles, cousins, Grandparents.... there were a lot of us, my Dad came from a family with 7 kids. My relatives would joke, be loud, be "merry". My uncle would read "T'was the Night Before Christmas" in his best story reading Irish accent and all of us kids would gather on the carpet in front of him. It was magical.

When my parents sold the house, our Christmas traditions were gone too. We started new traditions, our family was growing and things needed to change. My sister and I gained husbands, so therefor we needed to accomodate other families, so we switched our Christmas Day to Christmas Eve with just us, immediate family. It was held at my parents condo. It was quiet and quaint and kind of nice. Mom and Dad would make a fancy dinner and open gifts. Not much changed since we had kids. I liked this. It wasn't a big ordeal like it used to be, but that was ok.
Now Mom and Dad won't be hosting and the Christmas torch has been passed on to my sister and I. It's time to start our own traditions with our own families. I am a little sad, but a little excited too. I don't want to plan new traditions, I hope they just start developing out of what's already in our hearts.