Sugar cookie scented Yankee Candles burning, with a hint of the smell of pine from the Christmas tree. Lights flickering from the corner of your eyes. Christmas music traveling down the halls. In the holiday spirit, there are many traditions I do each and every year around the holiday season that I look forward to doing! Each family has different rituals they continue to do every year since they were a child. Seeing that I favor Christmas over every other holiday most of my traditions occur between Christmas and Thanksgiving. My favorite tradition is making peanut butter balls with my Uncle Corey. My tradition started the first year I met my uncle. I was around five at this time, he had married my aunt a couple months earlier that year. I did not see him that much, plus just meeting him I was not as close to him, as I was with my aunt. Also, my aunt is not technically my blood family, she is my moms best friend. But, ever since I was a kid she has treated me like a niece, as if I were blood related to her. Therefore, that is another reason why this tradition is so important to me. In general, I had been a very quiet timid kid, especially with a person I was not comfortable around or did not know. One day, I went over their …show more content…
As each kid was born I continued to go over and make these cookies with them. We have passed the tradition on to kid after kid, for the past eleven years! Each year, there would be different jobs for each of them. My littlest cousin is only four and can not do much more than hold the bowl while her older brother mixed what is in it with a whisk. Their older sister loves to take charge, so her job through all this is telling everyone what they should be doing and how. Now that Patrick and I are older and can drive, we go to the store alone while my uncle watches the kids. I know that all of my cousins feel the same was that I do about this event every year, we all love
It is curious that as children, humans have the ability to observe and remember details of specific situations and instances yet lack the ability to describe them. Truman Capote, as a grown man, took advantage of his vivid memories and composed the short work, "A Christmas Memory." The story begins in late November, a month symbolic of all the years gone by that Capote could remember beginning preparations for Christmas fruitcakes.
Traditions are reflections of beliefs, superstitions and the personality of a family. I stop short of saying that they are the soul of a family because my family can no longer celebrate these traditions, but the spirit of my family continues to be an integral part of my life, despite the distance that sets us apart. The soul of my family remains unharmed from the miles that deprive us of the opportunity to celebrate common traditions. Regardless of how far we are apart, there is one tradition that can overcome any lengthy amount of distance, and that is my Aunt Millie’s Cinnamon-pecan rolls.
My family had many memorable holiday and birthday celebrations that are still valued by me as I age and move up in life. Before my parents decided to divorce we used to cook all day and night on Christmas Eve and when we finally decided to sleep, or my parents decided, we would wake up at 4:30 in the morning to open presents. I believe that custom is still with me to this day because I still wake up at 4:30 in the morning on Christmas Day. I think that customs depend on the emotional connection. My family would sit around the living room and laugh, talk, and reminisce about different times in their lives. We used to have a big celebration for birthdays and would invite everyone. It was always a personal affair that we would cook for and dance and just have a great time with family and close friends. It was a beautiful thing and it was extremely enjoyable. I cherish those moments with my family and I plan to have those customs and also to add my own customs into my own family one day in the
make my way to the frost coated back door, illuminated by the green and red
It's that time of year again where families gather to enjoy quality time, watch football/ family-friendly movies, and of course enjoy good food. One of my favorite things about the holidays is baking, more in specifically cookies. I tend to find baking to be a fun and relaxing so much so that I've no doubt I whipped up the majority if not all of the holiday classics at some point in time. My mom usually is my sidekick in the kitchen and growing up she taught me how to make gingerbread men, Russian tea cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies (her favorite as well as my fathers), peanut butter blossoms, sugar and chocolate chip, etc. I don't discriminate and neither did she.
mother was behind the idea of this tradition, but definitely my father has as much
The first, and most important, part of our holiday season starts with my sister, mom, and me baking the cookies. My sister and I mix together the yummy batter (while arguing a small bit). After we chill the batter, we grab our Christmas cookie cutters and spend awhile cutting out cookies together. While the last batch of cookies is in the oven baking, we clean up the mess we made while making the batter.
Throughout the year, many members of the family get caught up in the everyday routine of life, whether it is school, work or personal issues. It is as if nobody takes a minute to breathe and reflect on their lives. Luckily, this once-a-year family gathering is nice event to humble all who come and bring everyone back together, not only physically but emotionally as well. Being the second youngest in the family, it has been difficult to see all of my older relatives branch off from the family for inescapable reasons such as: going off to college or getting a job in another city or state. Although this is hard to see, it is refreshing to be able to have a period of time where we can all catch up and talk to one another before the responsibilities of real life catch up with us again. For example, every year I talk to Ryan, one of my many cousins, and discuss school and life. Ryan is a year younger than me, which makes him the youngest in the family, and we used to be extremely close when we were younger. Nothing drastic happened for us to step being so close as people may think, but the responsibility of school became more prominent as we had gotten older. This instance of Ryan and I growing apart because of inevitable reasons is a prime example of why having such a tradition is necessary and somewhat
Thanksgiving in the Seidel house always starts with me begging my mom to make “Duck Cake” more commonly know as dirt cake. I have memories of being a small toddler and running into the kitchen and shouting “Mommy, Mommy can I help you crush the Oreos?”, “Of course, you can”, my mother would reply in a sweet tone and she would pick me up, and she set me on the counter. My mom did this so I could reach the Oreos. After we crushed the Oreos into small pieces, she would tell me to go and play with Morgan. So my mom could finish cooking us a delicious lunch. When I had been playing with Morgan for an hour or two, my mom would call us down to set the table for our lunch. My dad arrives at the table after spending the morning watching the parade with
Frosty the Snowman waves hello alongside Santa 's reindeer that are ready to take off. Candy canes line the sidewalk and the ginger bread dolls dance in a merry circle. The trees all sparkle with thousands of red, yellow, purple, blue, and orange lights. Out back, Mary and Joseph stand over baby Jesus, Choo-Choo train’s chug in spot, stars twinkle with bright yellow bulbs, and Mr. and Mrs. Santa Clause wave in the distance. Kerkhoven, MN, the location of the happiest house on the block. Every year my breath is always taken away as my eyes struggle to soak in the utter abundance of Christmas spirit. I 'm smiling and we 're not even inside yet.
We spend the day baking cookies, making fudge and preparing a big Christmas dinner, with all the trimmings. The children love to see each other. They spend the day playing games and sharing their new gifts and toys that Santa Claus brought for each of them. They get so eager to decorate, that it is hard to restrain them.Decorating for Christmas is so much fun. My father always draws a new background scenery, for the Nativity scene, that he displays, every year. He, my brother-in-laws and my husband start with the decorations for the outside of the house and the front yard.
Christmas is a holiday that has different meanings to different people. To some people it is a time of rejoicing, happiness, and Hope. They gather with family to enjoy the blessings of the past year and being together. Christmas radiates throughout the house. There is the smell of food cooking, the smell of pie warming up in the oven.
Of course, there are too many traditions to speak of since its celebrated differently around the world, but normally an idea that many consider during the holiday is to be charitable to the poor and homeless and to give back to their community, which I feel is the main importance of the holiday to me. Also, many people believe that Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus, and many go to a church service on this day to recognize that. Possibly all of these traditions are utilized today, as they have also been in the past as
Although I am really close to my mom's side of the family. We moved back to Indiana after two years because my mom hated the heat and we missed my mom’s side of the family. Since we have came back to Indiana we have lived in three houses. We now live in Brookston, Indiana, and this year would be our 4th year living there. Since we have moved back we also got two cats and one dog. One recent family tradition we started on my dad’s birthday was when we forgot to buy birthday candles, so we used a candle my mom just bought. We all thought it was hilarious, and because we all love candles, instead of buying birthday candles for each other we get each other actual candles. All of us have family roles. For example, My dad is like a rock because he supports all of us emotionally and financially. While I feel I am the comforter and the advisor of the family because I’m always the one to comfort people when they are down, and I give them advice. My chores of the house are doing dishes, watching Charlie when parents
Ever since I could remember, I have spent Christmas at my grandmother’s house, a house which is full of comfort, warmth, and happiness. At Christmas, I have always been able to escape the cold and dark real world allowing myself to truly enjoy just several moments in time. These moments have left impressionable memories from my childhood making Christmas a holiday that is special to me and my family. It is a time for my family to get together, share stories, laugh, and even cry.