Favorite Family Traditions

lunarsongbird

I LOVE LOVE LOVE family traditions! They give me something to look forward to all year- and make me feel so warm and fuzzy. There is something incredible about the feeling that you are somehow connected to many people and generations before you.

Moto told us how it's a tradition in her FI's family to sing happy birthday in Danish and receive presents in the morning. 


And I just had a Nigerian student come in and tell me the amazing Christmas traditions that take place in his village- it is QUITE a feast...and all about family. They go door to door visiting everyone in the village.


So tell me- What traditions do you have in your family?
And are there any traditions you want to create?

elannis

We have birthday parties for everyone in the family, young or old, and we sing happy birthday to them, they blow out their candles, but then we take one of the candles and light it and take turns blowing it out afterwards. This is something everyone else takes turns doing and it's kind of a way to involve everyone and share in the holiday and a kind of good luck for the birthday guy/gal.

motoLyn

To elaborate on FI's family of birthday traditions after the waking up and breakfast part.  Later in the afternoon they have tea, coffee and cake.  FI's mom would make a yummy Danish coffee cake and then cut it up to make it look like a gingerbread person and the family decorates it to look like the bday person.  Then we all sit down and FI's mom will hold a butter knife to the neck of the bday cake person count to three and everyone lets out a cry or yelp as she cuts the head off.  Yeah... it was strange the first time I encountered this and never figured out where it came from.  Then every one picks a body part and we enjoy with coffee or tea.  Here is the version of my FI.  Note the blue eyes and blond hair.  haha...


For dinner the bday person picks the food and the family cooks and we all sit down to a crazy delicious dinner with napkins, candles, and cups that have the Danish Flag on it.  Dessert is usually whatever the bday person wants and so one of FI's younger sisters is a culinary student and she usually bakes.  I have asked her for a nutella cake for my birthday this year.

PaigeMcC

Christmas eve it's tradition for a huge lobster dinner at my parents.  EVERYONE comes over.  Friends, family, everyone! We open one present each and eat til we can't move.

We also have lobster races.

motoLyn

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_favorite-family-traditions?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:136Discussion:f7760a2d-eb3f-4bd0-9a1b-4d6a9321af2fPost:1326d9c2-1d0f-4a0d-b94c-3d4fb54951f7">Re: Favorite Family Traditions</a>:
[QUOTE]Christmas eve it's tradition for a huge lobster dinner at my parents.  EVERYONE comes over.  Friends, family, everyone! We open one present each and eat til we can't move.<strong> We also have lobster races.</strong>
Posted by PaigeMcC[/QUOTE]

This I need to see!

cu97tiger

In our family, we go around the Thanksgiving table and say one thing that we've been thankful for that year. It's really nice to hear all of the good things that have happened for everyone.

Random fact: 7 years ago, my sister and now bro-in-law decided to do that the night before t-giving so they could do their own special ones. My BIL said he was thankful for my sister, and asked her to marry him. Yay for family traditions!

PaigeMcC

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_favorite-family-traditions?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:136Discussion:f7760a2d-eb3f-4bd0-9a1b-4d6a9321af2fPost:6941820c-2f4c-4927-9a21-9f8c129d73d9">Re: Favorite Family Traditions</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Favorite Family Traditions : This I need to see!
Posted by motoLyn[/QUOTE]
I will try to get photos this year

PaigeMcC

Here's our lobster wreath from last year:

motoLyn

For Christmas FI's family holds hands and sings and dances around the tree on Christmas Eve.  After each song we open one present.  Then at the end we all hold hands and sing & dance through the house sweeping in the good tidings.  As you can see my side of the family doesn't have bigtraditions or unsual ones.  FI's family on the other hand.

Blue & White

At our family Christmas party, we play games.  Hardcore, competitive games.  Like "how much can you remember in the box" game and many other ridiculous games.  We pit family vs. family and it can get brutal.  My dad is the "boss" of the games - he gets to say whether or not there was any cheating involved and clarifies the "rules" before the game.

It's pretty intense.

I should probably go this year, because otherwise MY family only has like 2 people. 

CCO2012

BF's family plays BINIGO for $$$... Its awesome
My family always has guessing games and I am soo competitive at trying to win!!!! Also my aunt gets wasted and hands out super random gifts... Last year, My sister got a stocking mug with candy canes and  $21 and I got the same with $17 : /

bsidebella

Oh, I am sad ... we don't really have any traditions. They all kind of fell away as my cousins and I got older and my dad died.

When we were little, my grandma would make a big game out of hiding the Hannuka gifts.

I guess the only big tradition we have is every year we do Passover seder at my grandma's. That is the biggest thing in the family, it's a lot of fun!

SopChick

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_favorite-family-traditions?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:136Discussion:f7760a2d-eb3f-4bd0-9a1b-4d6a9321af2fPost:1326d9c2-1d0f-4a0d-b94c-3d4fb54951f7">Re: Favorite Family Traditions</a>:
[QUOTE]Christmas eve it's tradition for a huge lobster dinner at my parents.  EVERYONE comes over.  Friends, family, everyone! We open one present each and eat til we can't move. <strong>We also have lobster races.</strong>
Posted by PaigeMcC[/QUOTE]
One of the many reasons I <3 NS so hard, although we were having a lobster battle in this one. I don't seem to have any pictures from races on my computer.

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My family usually just does the dinner and get together thing for pretty much every birthday and holiday. I guess there's a tradition on birthdays of BF's brother singing. He has DS, and sings the cutest version of happy birthday (accompanied by the family's cocker spaniel). It never feels like your birthday until you've been serenaded by him and the dog - but I'm soooo glad he has learned that no one wants to be woken up at 5am on their birthday.