We are, by every definition, a “traditional” family.
I am a Caucasian Anglo-Saxon female married to a Caucasian Anglo-Saxon male. We have 2.5 (OK, fine. THREE. Though Emily is still wee) children. We drive two vehicles, attend church on Sundays, and sometimes skip down the sidewalk out of pure glee.
(That last part is a lie. Maybe.)
We are the epitome of The American Dream.
Except that we are Canadian. I am pretty sure that The Canadian Dream involves Bacon (Mmmm….), beer (SICK) and Poutine (EVEN WORSE).
We also do not look down our noses at those who choose lifestyles different than ours. It really is not my place to judge. I will leave that up to God Himself.
(Who came to Earth and not only hung out with “sinners”, but turned water into wine. Dude was/is awesome.)
So maybe we are not entirely “traditional”.
Where was I?
The point of this post was to talk about traditions.
We don’t have many of them, but are working on it.
I come from a broken family. My family tree is more like a family WEED. Offshoots all over the place and HOW THE HECK ARE WE ALL RELATED AGAIN?
Matthew’s family is a little more “traditional”. So far.
The one tradition that has stood the test of time in both of our families is that we got to open one present on Christmas Eve. The present was always pajamas which we wore to bed in anticipation of “Santa”.
(I use quotes because he is not real. OR IS HE?)
My side of the family is spread across the province…and the country. The last time I saw my Mom was when she came here when Emily was born. Almost two years ago. My family has never been on to congregate for Christmas, or Easter, or Thanksgiving (except for last year).
Matthew and I want to create traditions for our little (nuclear) family. We decorate sugar cookies at Christmas (one of his family’s traditions). We have made it to the IPE (Big Exhibition. LOTS OF STINKY FARM ANIMALS) a few years in a row. We give the kids pajamas on Christmas Eve, and have cinnamon buns for breakfast on Christmas morning.
Matthew spent the first thirteen years of his life in Abbotsford, which is/was a farming community about an hour outside of Vancouver. He has a Great Aunt who never married and would take him and his siblings to the Abbotsford International Airshow every year.
This year Matthew was exited about the airshow. Emily is getting easier to travel with and the four hours in the van would be worth it to see all of the planes! And shows! And FIGHTER JETS!
He told me the dates of the airshow. It is this particular weekend. A weekend that I spend marking accounting exams (Woo). He could have taken the kids by himself because that would be SO MUCH FUN, but he is a smart man. The plan is to stay home this year and hope that it works out next year.
While I was away last weekend Matthew heard some news that made him a little giddy. The SNOWBIRDS were coming to town.
He may or may not have dribbled a bit.
We packed all three kids in the minivan, headed to the lake, fought CRAZY crowds, and parked ourselves right on the edge of the lake. I popped on my zoom lens and snapped away while Honey made sure the kids did not drown.
No, I did not invert the following photo.
Yes, I would likely CRAP MY PANTS if I were in that plane.
Or any of these ones:
Yep. Squeezed out a turd.
Um. And one more.
A friend of mine got a kick out of my zoom lens and asked if I could see the colour of the pilot’s eyes.
Blue. Or green.
The show was absolutely amazing. The kids actually SAT STILL for more than two minutes and cheered along with the crowd.
Honey suggested I zoom out to give perspective. I did my best.
This one would be awesome, but my aim was off.
I may or may not have been reaching for a Mini Donut.
Two more for the road.
I can feel my stomach in my throat on that one.
The whole evening was spectacular. We are really hoping that we can make it to the Abbotsford Airshow next year and for many years after. We want our kids to have memories of being loved, of having fun, of connecting with each other as we partake in annual traditions.
Do you have any family traditions that you hold dear? We are new to this, and are open to adding things to further enrich our family experience. Might as well make it as good as it can be, right?
Poutine is sooooo gross!!! I am glad you agree! I couldn’t believe it was even a FOOD when I was forced to try it in 2006 when I came over. UGH!
Anyway … the snowbirds look AWESOME!! Great pictures.
We have a few family traditions, like going to the Easter Show every year as a family. It’s heaps of fun making new traditions with your own family, eh?
Hannah’s last blog post..More than words
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Dad was airforce, so of course we went to the airshow every year. What I liked best though, was the annual dependant’s day picnic. We took a Navy boat over to an island where cook tents were set up. There were cold beverages (courtesy of dry ice!) games and entertainment. And ice cream!
witchypoo’s last blog post..Rolling with the Rellies
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i LOVE poutine. Love it, and it weren’t so bad for you, I’d eat it each and every day. For real. I actually did eat it for lunch each and every day of CEGEP (college)…seriously…probably 4 times a week for two years straight.
just wanted to stick up for greasy french fries, cheese curds and grazy all melted into a gooey mess. i’m salivating right now.
joyce’s last blog post..When the letter “A” is not a letter “a”…
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What the hell is Poutine?
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Fries, gravy, and CHEESE CURDS. I *love* fries and gravy (Was a pregnancy staple for me). I *love* cheese. Cheese CURDS on fries and gravy? NOT SO MUCH.
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On Christmas Eve, the kids–um who are hardly “kids” anymore at 25 and 20–do the matching PJs thing, too, and get to open one present. On Christmas morning, we still have to wait on the stairs, as my mom gets her stairs photos, which we have from all years. Then, we see what Santa has brought (which aren’t wrapped, just laid out under the tree), then open stockings, then have breakfast, then open the wrapped presents. The order has never faltered since I’ve been alive!
Um, other than that we don’t really have any traditions, that I can think of…
Camels & Chocolate’s last blog post..Step 1
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My favorite family tradition is that on Thanksgiving day, we tape a big sheet of paper on the fridge so everyone can write what they are thankful for. It is quite touching and fun to keep and look back on – some years there are new babies or jobs or houses, and even the strong silent guys get to sneak in and write a little note about their wives and families…
Suebob’s last blog post..Am I Normal? Part 27
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I’m with you on eveything but the beer and poutine. I love both of them and would eat nothing else if it was physically possible!
As for family traditions, we’re still establishing our own here. Because we live so far away from family, we’ve had to create our own. I have a couple favourites like the lovely Christmas day service at our church (more casual and relaxed than the Christmas Eve service) and annual camping trips (postponed for this summer).
trish’s last blog post..2. some days are better than others
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Ooh – great pictures! I love air shows! It would have been fun to go to Abbotsford today, but I’ve got too much to do at home. I’ll probably hear the planes as they scream overhead anyway.
We have so many family traditions, I wouldn’t even know where to start. Christmas is a big one. Up until about 5 years ago, we would always do the same wonderful things (extended family meals, crab for dinner Christmas Eve, candlelight service, PJ’s from Santa that night, etc. etc.), but now the four of us have started our own tradition of going to Hawaii for the holiday (best. idea. EVER!!). Since we don’t get to see our extended family on that holiday any more, they all come over to my parents house for a few days over New Years, and we have a massive party together.
When we were younger, we’d spend Canadian Thanksgiving doing a “Daddy’s Surprise Weekend.” We didn’t know what we’d be doing, so we’d have to pack for just about anything. We’d load up in the car, and my Dad would take us somewhere for the long weekend. Usually it was somewhere in BC or Washington, but it was always so fun.
Sharon’s last blog post..Friday Love List: South Africa bound edition!
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We have a lot of traditions, but they mostly involve the holidays. Decorating the Christmas tree on the first Saturday night of December with appies and nog, for example. Oh- and pancakes every weekend. Pizza every Thursday night. hmm… every tradition involves food. Is that normal?
That air show gave my goosebumps. I’m a chicken when it comes to things like that. I’m always sure that this will be they all collide and die and I’ll have to witness it. What a fun time for your kidlets!
Jen’s last blog post..Are You Ready For This?
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One of my family’s traditions was that the day before father’s day my grandfather and a bunch of my aunts and uncles would have a golf tournament, they would head back to his place and the bbq and beer would start up. The next day all the grand kids would come over for father’s day to visit grandpa and all the aunts and uncles and the bottom of the swimming pool would be covered with pocket change. We would spend hours with goggles on diving down and collecting as much coin as we could. It would take a couple of hours and then we would have a bbq dinner. I loved it.
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Super shots of the snowbirds! They are always so cool to see.
We are in the same boat as you on the family tradition thing… needing to start some of our own.
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That so cool. The snowbirds were down here for BC day and I was right under them in my apartment and since my digital camera’s not SLR and those things are so fast I got a lot of pictures of blue sky! Tee hee! It was really funny
Victoria’s last blog post..I’m Scratching My Head Over Here
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Our Airshow is this weekend, too! Except, I’ll not be attending. TOO NOISY.
On traditions, I’m hoping that my little family (dad, uncle, aunt) and I can keep our Christmas Eve tradition going on – my grandma passed away in February and I know that it was important to her that we stick together. I’m going to try my hardest to make her proud
Rhi’s last blog post..Friday Bullets: Bye Bye Cyst Edition!
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Another Christmas tradition-we got a new story every Christmas Eve that my dad always read. This tradition lasted at least 25 years. It was special that my dad read it because when we were young my mom read us a story every night. There’s another tradition! It wasn’t long in the nightly story that my mom moved on to novels. Totally hooked all of us on reading for life. My dad listed to lots of the stories as well.
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I love the snow birds!!! They train a mere hour away from here. I’ve seen them numerous times at the Terrace Air show, and got to meet them while I was at Briercrest.
We have the same Christmas Eve family tradition, but it derived differently. Growing up, my family always opened ALL our presents on Christmas Eve to save Christmas Day for Jesus. We’re Dutch Reformed Christians you know. Our little family opens one on Christmas Eve, just to keep some Dutchness in it, and we open the rest Christmas Morning before a breakfast of crepes, fruit, and ice cream. We also have a special breakfast on holiday mornings.
You made me want to see the snowbirds now! I’m going to go look up their schedule …
Mrs. Wilson’s last blog post..08.08.08
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Uh oh, I looove poutine. Can we still be friends
Big camping adventures in the summer, Wild Lights at Christmas, Pumpkin Patch in the fall…
Love the airshow, we’ll have to try and find one!
Elizabeth’s last blog post..One of a Kind
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Bet you thought I had disappeared, huh? Nope, have just been drowning in summer teaching (a 5 week intensive) and am now drowning in grading but… it’s almost OVER! Awesome photos. I’d try to think of our traditions but my eyes are screaming with exhaustion so I’ll have to keep this short.
Kaza’s last blog post..An Unusually Productive Sunday
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The Snowbirds are set to take to the skies within about an hour. It’s raining. And cloudy. And windy. And cold. Your little local show was much better than what you would have paid out the wazoo for here at the actual Airshow. Good on ya!
Rachel Joy’s last blog post..ladybug
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the Snowbirds! awesome!
we go to tim horton’s every sunday morning. gabe and i have coffee and the kids each get a donut. it’s the best!!!
ali’s last blog post..the best laid plans. the garage abyss. the nudeys.
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Oh, I love family traditions. We always have a big pancake breakfast on the 4th of July and we always watch “A Muppet Christmas Carol” on Christmas Eve before bedtime. Then Jon and I play Christmas music and get the house ready for Christmas…One of my favorite nights of the year.
Loralee’s last blog post..Sideblog:WTF?
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Taditions were big in my family growing up and my husband & I are trying to do our part to add some to our family. Christmas is always huge for traditions. Growing up we always had a oil fondue for supper on Christmas eve and were not allowed to open presents until after we were dressed and in our right mind on Christmas morning. (After the Christmas story from the Bible which my sister and I always acted out with the little nativity people.)
We have had to change this tradition now that we are married. We travel EVERY Christmas. Christmas day with one side of the family and New Years with the other. This has made it hard to do traditions but we manage some. Sugar Cookie decorating, Appitizers, Egg Nog.
With our son being from the great US of A we added some American things to. We celebrate both Thanksgivings, put up the Christmas tree the day after American Thanksgiving and head out to the malls do do as much shopping as we can.
We LOVE the snowbirds and have discovered that the one good thing about living in southern Saskatchewan is that they often train over our little town!! Love it!!
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Ahhhh…Traditions! I love them!
For years, my sister and I would sleep at my Grandparents house on Christmas Eve. We’d have treats and watch The Chipmunk’s Christmas!
Our family also stays in a condo on the beach every year!
There are so many things that I love about family traditions!
Sounds like you have some great traditions too!
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We went to the Abby airshow too! I want to be a snowbird! Adnd fly fighter jets! But I don’t want to be in the forces, so too bad till I am rich!
Traditions:
~We love going out for dinner then ice skating every week starting in the fall!
~Going to the same pumpkin patch every year.
~Carving pumpkins the day before halloween.
~Buying an adult size article of clothing when your baby turns on. Getting a picture in that SAME thing every year to see how they grow. We love this one! So neat to see!
~Pictures with Santa EVERY YEAR STILL!
~Sunday night family dinners
My friend has a sweet one, when it’s your birthday, the rest of your family brings you breakfast in bed, then you get to open your gifts right there!
I could go on, but I’ll spare you.
kaili’s last blog post..Oh geesh!
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As always, your photographs are amazing.
Amanda of Shamelessly Sassy’s last blog post..Whiner, Winer, Whiner.
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We have a lot of the same traditions in our family as well. We don’t do the “Santa” thing as we open our gifts on the 24th at midnight. We do however always have Sugar Pie at Christmas – a french tradition nearly if not more deadly than poutine
I also wanted to share with you that I actually flew with the Snowbirds about 7 years ago and it was one of the most incredible things I’ve ever done. Working in the media I get to do and see a lot of cool things, but that tops my list. It was absolutely amazing and I’m happy to say that I didn’t even come close to puking – not even when we flew upside down like in your one picture – though I was the only media person who didn’t use the puke bag.
One day once we’ve finally purchased a new home and not living out of suitcases at my parents house I’ll have to find the pictures I took and post them on my blog. I sometimes forget all the neat stuff I’ve done in the name of being a radio announcer.
Nicole’s last blog post..Papa’s dream come true.
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Those photos are really good! I kinda feel like I was there except for the noise, which is perfect! HA!
We go to our state fair every year. We eat fried oreos or snickers or twinkies (they fry EVERYTHING there…) and ride the enourmous ferris wheel. It’s a lot of family fun too!
Elaine’s last blog post..Me & My Guy
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