Traditions

(Disclaimer...dates on pictures are WRONG!!)
Most families have traditions....ours is no different. Granted, as we get older we end up adapting our traditions a bit, but we are creatures of habit and we like doing the same things over and over, year after year.When all the kids lived at home they each took piano lessons. After dinner I would say..."whoever plays piano doesn't have to clear the table!!" So...they fought over who would play and I would hear beautiful music while the others cleared the table. Since Josh really doesn't play anymore, when Jenny and Logan came home for Thanksgiving last week, I told her if she played the piano she didn't need to help clear the table. Hence....this tradition lives on:)
Grandma and Grandpa Cameron always come over for special occasions and even though Grandpa isn't with us anymore, Grandma was here for our special Thanksgiving dinner.
We're a funny family.....When we gather together for holidays we have this "thing" about taking pictures of us all gathered around the table before we eat our food...except of course, I'm usually NOT in the picture because I'm taking it. A tradition we will look back on fondly and wonder WHY we've gained so much weight (do you see all the food we're about to eat???)
And then of course....my ongoing tradition with my longest and dearest friend Melanie....we don ourselves in matching sweaters and get up before dawn the day after Thanksgiving. One of our traditions is that we get someone to take our picture while we're shopping. We usually find one of our friends to take it...or we've been known to ask complete strangers too. They're happy to do it because everyone thinks we're so much fun to dress alike. Actually, one reason we do it is so we can find each other in the crowds:) This tradition has gone on for 23 years.
Each year we have always tried to do some fun things with the kids during the Christmas season....whether it's going to see the light displays at PIR... going on a night tour of Fort Vancouver or touring the Victorian mansion in Portland.....we kept the tradition alive this year by attending the tree lighting in downtown Vancouver. We had never done this before...so it was a treat!! Jenny, Logan, Josh and I had fun out in the "cold" waiting for Santa to arrive:)On the kids last night at home we went to Zoo Lights at the Oregon Zoo. It was BEAUTIFUL!! Jenny sang there during her high school choir years, but the rest of us had never gone. I'm so glad we did it together this year. We even rode the Zoo train to see the over 1 million lights displayed. We'll have to go again when Jon gets home from his mission:)

So you see.....I love the traditions we've created over the years!! We may be getting older.... but I will never tire of the traditions that bring us together as a family:)