Favorite Holiday Traditions

[kenny thomas]

I have a pretty quite one here. My daughter and grandkids are usually away at sailing regattas. My highlight is lunch, I usually buy 1kg of prawns to pig out on.

Ken

Explain please in redneck hillbilly terms.

 

[ChrisB2]

When kids were younger it was Christmas morning. Now I love seeing how excited the grandkids get at Christmas but dates and times of getting together changes year to year so doesn't seem like a tradition. Personally I have always loved July 4th, long, warm summer day, maybe grilling with family, and watching fireworks.

 

[SmokinM]

Explain please in redneck hillbilly terms.

Roughly translated: His youngun and her get take off to race them cotton pickin sailin boats whilst he sets up to a mess of shrimps.

 

[SmokinM]

My favorite holiday growing up was the first day of hunting season. We didn't miss it for anything. Just not the same these days without Pop around.

 

[Down in Dixie]

I usually try to just do the same things I do any other day. Have to watch A Christmas Story but that's about it. Don't have much family left on my side so only have the wife's family to deal with.

 

[roxie]

My favorite holiday tradition is gathering at the ranch around the fire pit to make smores, share stories and just enjoy each other's company. We try to do this on Thanksgiving and Christmas/New Years. It has been very dry here this summer, so we are currently under a burn ban. We continue to pray for rain--not only for operation--but so we can light-up the fire pit soon.

 

[coachg]

We usually do a low country boil either at Christmas or New Year's. Shrimp , corn on the cob, new potatoes, Conecuh sausage , crab legs .

 

[shaz]

I usually try to just do the same things I do any other day. Have to watch A Christmas Story but that's about it. Don't have much family left on my side so only have the wife's family to deal with.

Same here. Holidays are for my wife and her daughters and I'm just kinda stuck

 

[Farm Family]

Thanksgiving is our family's favourite holiday! Obviously being Canadian it is in October. We enjoy turkey with all the trimmings, pumpkin pie, fall colours and CFL football. By thanksgiving the crops are typically mostly settled, the garden at its peak, so the table has a lot of homegrown goodness and there is a small break before the cows come home. Also it is usually the last of summer before winter rolls in.

 

[504RP]

I guess the best way to describe my family holiday traditions would be to say they were very similar to the TV show the Waltons on Waltons mountain. Like the movie there was mom and dad and seven of us kids, 4 boys and 3 girls. Our age differences were very similar to the Waltons. And like in the movie we were poor when it come to money but rich when it come to a family that cared for and there for each other during the good & bad times.

We would all get together at Mom & Dads house during Easter, Birthdays, Holidays to celebrate the good times and support each other through the bad times. When we were younger we didn't have to have a holiday for us to come together although holidays were one of many reasons that brought us together.

But there were things like the birth of a new addition to the family was enough reason alone to get us together. And the men in our family always held our traditional deer camps that we held for around 35 + years. During the summers during those years we would set trot lines and hold fish fry's fill the freezers with fish. Really enjoyed frog gigging. Then it was traditional to hold dove hunts, duck hunts, used dogs to hunt rabbit and deer. Even though these were family events we had probably more friends attending our family traditions than actual family members. We didn't have to have necessarily a holiday or tradition in order to get together with family and friends. A lot of times during the summers all it took was setting up stakes to play horse shoes and the yard would be full of family and friends that would a lot of times lead to making home made ice cream.

I could ramble on a lot more about traditions but as far as picking anyone of these things out and saying it was the most special to me. I can't do that because they were all special to me.

But also like the last episodes of the Waltons where Grandpa Walton dies and Grand Ma Walton has a stroke, John Boy gets married and moves to New York along with the rest of the cast members each go their separate ways. Friends and family members get families of their own and move away or in some cases pass away changing traditions.

I am 63 now and don't by no means consider myself over the hill but do have problems with my back that interferes with me doing some of my personal traditions like hunting and fishing that I used to really enjoy doing. And will also interfere with doing anything that would require much walking or visiting other than at home. I didn't see this coming as I guess most of us don't when we are younger and in good health. Knowing what I know now I would highly recommend to anyone who is in good health to take advantage of it and spend as much time as you can with family and friends while you can and while they and you are both able to. Because tomorrow is not a guarantee that you or the people you care about will get to spend time together or ever see each other again. Make it a point to spend every holiday or tradition whatever and whenever that may be with your family and friends.

I wish you all a Happy New Years, Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas.

 

[wbvs58]

Explain please in redneck hillbilly terms.

I think @SmokinM pretty much nailed it. Prawns = shrimp to you people and pig out means I will over indulge in the prawns and the grandkids will be racing their 470 which is a two handed Olympic class boat in a few regattas in the southern states.
One tradition I always like is on Boxing Day, now you probably don't know what Boxing Day is, it is the day after Christmas Day. I don't know if it is because everyone puts things away in boxes or used to but it is a public holiday so everyone takes it and doesn't ask questions. Well on Boxing Day the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race starts on Sydney Harbour, it is a 628 nautical mile ocean race that all the big ocean racing boats come for. The start is quite a spectacle on the harbour with spectator boats and people lining the harbour. The race to see who clears The Heads first is keenly contested. I liked it better when the boats were more of the traditional cruising yachts though some do still compete including some vintage boats from the early days of the race. The top maxi yachts are amazing though with the speed they get but are far from a cruising boat, they are just a shell with basic facilities downstairs. Some crew spend the whole race sitting on the rail as ballast.

Ken

 

[Lucky]

As a kid I always looked forward to Christmas Eve and Easter. On Christmas Eve we all got together at my Grandmothers house and on Easter we always went to my Aunts ranch. I hate to say it but for the last 20-25 years 95% of the time I've worked Thanksgiving and Christmas. We always cook at work and try to take it easy. Somebody's gotta keep the lights on I guess.

The first 10-12 years we had the gas station the wife would stay open and cook a Thanksgiving meal for anyone that wanted to come eat. Several older folks would stop in through out the day and eat. She loved doing that. The Holidays can be a real downer for some people and it was nice to brighten their day a little. I think some of them didn't feel comfortable going to a families house they didn't really know but felt comfortable at the station. Heck some of those old guys would leave their families house to come up there.

 

[Dave]

I forgot to mention the community Thanksgiving is held at the old school (AKA the community center). We eat at noon. A good number the ranchers leave to go do chores. The heat isn't on in the old gym. All the food is packed in there to be kept cool. The people who stayed play cards and tell stories. Around 5:00-6:00 the food get pulled out and people who left come back and we do round 2. Some time later I drag my over fed self home.

 

[bbirder]

For the last 20 or so years , I have cooked a big Chicken and Sausage gumbo on Christms Eve at our house for my side of the family. Wife's relatives are not local and they prefer July 4th for a get together. Can you guess I have a pool?
After last year with my health and turning 80 this year, I decided to turn over the Gumbo to my Niece who has been asking for the task for a while. I even gave her my large pot and spoon not needing them any longer. After eating we pass out gifts to the young ones from Aunts and Uncles and we all enjoy their excitement.
Oh, and for New Years you have to have Caabbage for health and black eye peas for wealth.
Thanksgiving is usually quite with just my BIL here. My wifes only brother. Due to the length of the trip my kids usually only make Christmas at home with us.

 

[Big Creek]

We get together twice a year, thanksgiving and Christmas. Thanksgiving is at my oldest son's house. Show up early to visit and play and absolutely eat way too much then, head home to collapse.
Christmas is at my house. Everybody shows up mid morning so that I can hand out gifts. I always try to slow this down so that everybody can watch and ohh and ahh and appreciate . Then a big meal and then , my wife and I get to watch the taillights.

 

[LazyARanch]

It's gotten harder to all get together as our kids and grandkids get older. Pulled in too many directions. We try to have one day to eat too much, open gifts for the kids and visit but there's always someone missing. We do not decorate much. Small tree and that's about it.

 

[TexasJerseyMilker]

For me every day is Thanksgiving. How thankful I am to have such a blessed full life living in a beautiful place with my husband best friend. Surrounded by nature that God made with mountains, rivers and forests among the livestock and wildlife. On Thanksgiving day I cook a feast for my husband. Our family is either far away or passed on but there is no stress of having to do anything, just be. On Christmas we give each other thoughtful and useful gifts, no wrapping just bring it out. This year I'm giving him a BugASalt rifle. Blackeye peas for New Years.

 

[Twisted]

Thanksgiving is a big family affair that is done at a different family member's house every year as with most Holidays. Pot luck gatherings where food, football, and deer pictures are shared.

Christmas is my favorite. We have Christmas get togethers the same as Thanksgiving but the immediate family all gathers at our house Christmas Eve where I cook a big pot of chili ( by request ) and we gather afterwards for the opening of presents. I have 14 grandkids and love every minute of watching their reactions.

The best part of it all is when they show up to the house the night before Christmas Eve. The grandkids always get up early the next morning, me being an early riser, I get up make my coffee and start cooking pancakes. I get to carry on the most interesting conversations with just me and the kids. I love that. Last year I asked one of the youngest what they thought about something and he said "all I know is it don't look like you know what you're doing"

New Year's Eve we have blackeyed peas, hog jowl, and turnip greens and cornbread. Which is a pretty good meal anytime of the year.

 

[mickroos65]

I would love to hear about your favorite holiday traditions -

Do you open gifts up on Christmas Eve? Do you not wrap any presents on Christmas Eve? Enjoy Blackeye peas and collard greens on New Year's...

Let's share and get to know each other more.

With Mom and Dad gone and my brothers with their families i go to Church Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Remember the good times.

 

[AmandaQ]

We always try to have at least 1 "whole family" get together in the Thanksgiving/ Christmas time part of the year but with the family getting stretched out geographically and with multi generations it makes things harder. The biggest family gathering where the most show up in one spot is actually labor day and we spend it at the Guadalupe River just outside of Canyon Lake. We all arrivec early fr the weekend and stay a day late and share the best times and memories ever

I'm from San Antonio but living in Georgia now. I miss both the Guadalupe and Canyon Lake. Such fun memories!!