(Stephanie)
Holiday Traditions
Valentine's Day: When I was growing up, my mom always made a special breakfast on the morning of Valentine's Day. I always looked forward to finding a homemade Valentine on my plate as I waited for breakfast to be ready.
Easter: My mom always helped us kids dye Easter eggs the Saturday before Easter. On Easter morning we would have an Easter egg hunt. This Easter egg hunt was done in our front room because where I grew up we usually still had snow at Easter time. I had a purple Easter basket which was filled with candy and some sort of small toy. It was also an Easter tradition for my sister and me to get a new dress. I loved picking out my Easter dress because we also got frilly socks, gloves, and purses.
Memorial Day: Growing up, my family spent the Sunday before Memorial Day visiting the cemeteries where family members are buried. I enjoyed hearing stories about my ancestors.
4th of July: In the community where I grew up a flag raising ceremony was held on the morning of the 4th. My family always attended this flag raising ceremony. We had a pancake breakfast at the local park with members of our ward. In the evening, my family had a cook-out behind our house and set off fireworks.
Halloween: Autumn is my mom's favorite time of year, and Halloween is my mom's favorite holiday so as you can imagine my mom made this time of year very special. We spent time decorating the house inside and outside. We always made a scarecrow and a ghost to put in the front yard. My dad cut tree branches with red leaves for my mom to decorate with. We made Jack-O-Lanterns to put on the front porch. Every year my mom made homemade pizza for Halloween supper. Then we would go trick-or-treating. When I got older middle school age, my mom and I would put on scary masks and go visit the homes of friends or extended family members. We never spoke so they would have to guess who we were. It was such fun!!
Thanksgiving: My family didn't travel anywhere for Thanksgiving. We stayed at our house, and my mom made a delicious meal. My mom always set a beautiful table. She always had a center piece and her finest china set on the table. Before we ate Thanksgiving dinner, we went around the dining table and each one of us had to say something we were thankful for. Thanksgiving night we ate turkey sandwiches and watched movies or played games.
Christmas: When I was growing up, my family always put up a real tree the first or second Monday of the month for Family Home Evening. My mom stayed busy all month baking goodies for us and for our neighbors. I always enjoyed delivering these goodies to our neighbors. Some of my favorite holiday treats are: ginger bread cookies, fudge, banana bread, sugar cookies, pumpkin pie, cinnamon rolls, homemade doughnuts, and pecan pie. Christmas Eve we had a family program. We sang Christmas songs, read holiday poems or stories, and read the Christmas Story found in Luke 2. After this program, we got a plate of cookies ready for Santa. Christmas morning we got to play with our Santa gifts until our dad was ready to get up and open presents. My mom always made a fabulous Turkey meal for lunch. Then we spent the day playing games or watching movies.
New Year's Eve: We spent New Year's Eve eating goodies and watching movies until just before midnight. Then we would turn on the TV to watch the ball fall in Time Square. At midnight we would have a toast (with soda pop of course) to the new year.
Other Traditions
Family Home Evening: My family was not perfect at having Family Home Evening every Monday night, but my parents tried really hard to have it often. My mom made a poster chart. Each member of the family had a bunny with a removable tail. The tails had different assignments written on them. We would take turns praying, picking the songs, giving the lesson, or being in charge of the treats. I always looked forward to Family Home Evening especially when I got to teach the lesson.
Family Counsel: On Sunday evenings my family would sit down together with a calendar and plan out the week. This way my parents knew what each of us kids had going on. For example: if we needed a ride somewhere.
Family Prayer: We had morning and evening family prayer daily.
Family Meals: We ate supper together as often as we could.
Dave's Holiday Traditions
Valentine's Day: My mom always made sure we had Valentines to share with our class. We always got a Valentine from our grandparents.
Easter: We had an Easter egg hunt with my brothers, sisters, and cousins. We always got together with my cousins who lived close.
Memorial Day: I remember relatives always coming to visit with my grandparents. They live next door to my parents so I was able to see whoever came and visited them. We also went to the cemetery to see the graves of loved ones. When my grandpa died, we would go see his grave and spend time with my grandma who lived in Utah.
4th of July: We would get up early in the morning and make breakfast outside. All of my family who lived close would come. Some of us would even sleep outside in a tent. We also went to parades and rodeos. We would watch fireworks at night and have a cookout.
Halloween: We would go trick-or-treating with my cousins. This would take a while because we lived in a small town and could go to a lot of people. Sometimes we got to ride in the back of the truck as we drove from house to house trick-or-treating. Often we would have to put straw in the back of the truck because it snowed in October, and the straw would help us to stay warm as we drove around.
Thanksgiving: We would spend Thanksgiving with my mom's family in Utah. My grandma loved to have all of us together.
Christmas: I love Christmas! Christmas was spent with family. On Christmas Eve my mom would make a big dinner and we would invite my grandparents over. We usually had prime rib, potatoes, salads. etc. We would then read Luke 2 and open the gift we drew names for. Christmas morning we tried to wake up early but couldn't always go out when we woke up because we had to wait for my dad to get in from doing chores. We would open gifts and then get together with cousins and open more gifts and have another big meal. (As you can tell, we spent a lot of time with our cousins and relatives on my dad's side. We still do today. We have a close family.)
New Year's Eve: We would watch movies, play games, and pig out! In recent years, my sister has hosted a New Year's party.
Other Traditions
The traditions I remember the most have to do with rodeo and horses. I started riding a horse at a young age. I had a horse named Heidi. She was not my first horse, but she was the one I remember doing the most on. I showed her in horse 4-H. She was very gentle, and I could do anything with her. She lived until the age of 24. I rode almost everyday with my brother and cousins. We had to be told often to slow down.
Our family did a lot of things with horses. We went on cattle drives twice a year. This was a big deal with our family. We would get up early in the morning and trail our cattle up the canyon for summer grazing. When lunch-time came, my mom, grandma, and aunts would bring us something to eat. It was a long ride but it was a lot of fun.
Rodeo is something our family has been greatly involved in. My grandpa is a great horseman. He taught us all about horses and how to take care of them. I loved to hear his stories about riding and training horses. I have some great memories of going to rodeos to watch my grandpa, mom, and dad compete. I also enjoyed watching my brother and sisters compete. I remember watching them practice in the arena behind my parent's house. Some of our summer vacations were spent at the week long High School Rodeo Finals. We also enjoyed going to some bigger rodeos as a family. Stephanie and I try to go to a couple of rodeos each summer. Although I don't ride much any more, I love being able to watch rodeos and talk about it with others.
Another memory I have is branding our cattle. My grandpa and dad operated a beef and dairy farm. We would brand the beef cattle each spring. It was a lot of fun gathering the cows up and helping to get them into the corrals.
