Christmas Traditions

Christmas, 1981

I love going through old photo albums...especially from Christmastime. There's always so many good memories associated with this merry holiday. I recently came across this little gem from a Christmas of yesteryear. I think it was 1981. I'm basing this assumption on the length of my hair...looks just like my kindergarten yearbook photo. And Holly looks like a naughty little 2 1/2-year-old!

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is making gingerbread houses at Grandma's house. The Fab Four (shown above) are the oldest of Gigi's now 11 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Holly (far left) and Brooks (far right) are only a month a part in age and Ryan (center) and I are only a year a part. Lots of good times with these boys and their three younger brothers (who would join the family in 1982, 1985 and 1986, respectively).

What I love about this tradition is Gigi (one of 11 children herself) knew the importance of making individual gingerbread houses. I'm sure it would have been much easier for her to bake pieces for just one house, (not to mention all the extra candy and toppings she had to buy), but at the end of the day, each of us had a masterpiece that we could proudly stand behind. Of course, I use the term "masterpiece" lightly. It actually looks like we got quite a bit of assistance from Gigi and maybe a parent or two.

Now that we're all grown up, I'm sure Gigi would still make gingerbread houses, if we asked her to. No doubt the kitchen would be a disaster, and I'm sure we would still need quite a bit of assistance. Long live grandmas and gingerbread houses!

What's your favorite Christmas tradition?

PK