NaBloPoMo: Family traditions
Two things immediately come to mind here: birthdays and Christmas. In my family, my parents always made a huge deal out of birthdays. My parents would get up super early and set the table, put out all the presents, and light candles. Then they'd wake up me and my brother, and the birthday kid would open up presents and everyone would sing the birthday song. That night, my mom would make whatever dinner the birthday kid wanted, and my dad would have made a huge pie (cherry if it was Lucas's birthday, apple if it was mine). Making a big fuss over birthdays has really stayed with me. And John-- who was never really into his birthday-- has started to really get into it.
The second thing that comes to mind is Christmas, specifically decorating the tree. My family would go out to a tree farm and tromp around in the bitter cold until we found a really great tree. Then once we got it home and got all the ornaments out, we'd play German Christmas music in the background while we decorated it. Since John and I live in Florida now, a tree farm (much less the bitter cold) are sort of out of the question. But we do still play German Christmas music while we put up all the ornaments and decorate the house.
What long-standing family traditions do you practice?