A Holiday Tradition

Every family has its own special traditions. A favorite from mine is putting "Uncle Harvey" on top of the Christmas tree. Years ago (30 maybe?) my grandfather's brother, Harvey, had crazy ornaments made out of a picture of him. He gave them to everyone in the family. He probably gave one to everyone he knew. And several years ago my parents and I began the tradition of using the Uncle Harvey ornament as their tree topper. It hasn't always been like this. Before that I remember we used a crooked angel that looked like she was about to shoot off into space and was therefor affectionately named, "The Infinity and Beyond Angel." I'm not sure what happened to her, maybe one New Year's she finally blasted off.... but since then we've used Uncle Harvey. It is so weird, but so perfectly quirky. By the way, Uncle Harvey is still alive and well, so it's not like we're memorialising him. The holidays just wouldn't be the same without him!

Christmas Eve Eve we enjoyed another tradition of having all the Bradley's spend the night at Ryan's parents house. We spend all afternoon and most of the evening playing high competitive board games. Ryan's mom mentioned casually that she had a few boxes of old things to for the siblings to sort through. Most of them were trophy's and awards that they had won in school.

Oh.My.Gosh. Apparently, those Bradley kids were the best at everything growing up. They must have been raised with expectation for greatness because they all had TONS and TONS of trophies! Trophies for sports. Trophies for math competitions. Amanda even had a trophy for being born! I think I've received 2, maybe 3, trophies in my lifetime, and that by now they are all long gone. After much bragging and even more laughter, it was decided that the trophies be thrown out. It was a bittersweet sound the next morning to hear them being crushed by the trash collector.

Christmas Eve morning we all woke up and did present time! Kiersi and Kayden got new bikes! I think every adult has a great memory of getting their first "real bike." Mine was purple with streamers on the handle and I remember how excited I was. I hope Kiersi and Kayden remember this morning too, even though there wasn't much space to ride them and it was pouring rain outside.

Christmas Day we continued the tradition of Ryan and I hosting everyone for brunch. As we were all seated at the table enjoying the meal, I looked around and was overwhelmed with thankfulness. I know my grandparents won't be here forever, and I was grateful to make and share this special meal with them. They are always so appreciative of me making them one meal, and I think about all of the holiday memories that they created for me. I am so blessed to have such a great family that loves each other.

I actually forgot to get the camera out until everyone was getting ready to leave, but I wanted to snap a few shots to remember how we spent Christmas Day. Thanks to all my family for driving all the way to our place and being willing to start new traditions!