Growing up was different for me than most. I was raised by my grandparents who later adopted myself and my brother Jonathon. Our youngest brother, Josh, was adopted by our aunt. Our other sister, Desi was adopted to distant family and the youngest of the 5 of us was raised by our birth parents. Holidays were always full of family but mainly spent in the car going to and from a few relatives. We never saw Desi, Jackye entered our lives when she was 5 and that was randomly until she was 9.
My brothers and I saw each other on the weekends and holidays and other than living 30min apart it didn't seem so odd or different until we were older and understood more of why we were where we were and why our last names were different after the adoptions went through. You dig?
All that to say that once I married Evan, my life was changed beyond measure. Evan has a HUGE family. Even better? They embraced me and loved me from the get go! Their traditions are now our traditions and I've been so happy to share with the girls a few special traditions that my grandfather instilled in me every year. My upbringing was hard and sad but that man did everything in his power to bring some normalcy to it and joy in times of the year that I resented most.
Now that I'm a mommy and have my own family, traditions are MAJORLY important to both Evan and I. Little things to big things, we are all about making memories and keeping family traditions going.
Labor Day is a tradition.
What do we do? We go on a minor road trip. The past 4yrs now, we have picked a direction, picked a time limit (or mile limit) and then planned a random trip over the weekend for wherever we ended up. It's been fun! One year we went to Austin, another it was Wichita Falls and this year we landed in Abilene. It's just a way we celebrate the end of summer and now with Avery officially in School it was also a way to celebrate her starting school and surviving the first week. Evans parents come with us too I must add. It's the best.
So much fun and yet we didn't do much. Lounged at the hotel pool, watched movies and played Wii. Went to some local places recommended and visited a church. Overall, just being together as a family and enjoying being out of our bubble.
My cuties and the Giant Armadillo in Buffalo Gap, TX
Do you have any traditions you look forward to every year?