This time of year is different for everyone. Some families celebrate with fun decorations and go all out with the holiday spirit. Other families would much rather celebrate by sitting at home being with family enjoying each others company. There are all different ways and ideas to get in the spirit of the holidays.

I asked students about the kind of traditions and memories that they have of their families during the holidays. Senior Caden Finley says, ” My favorite part of the holidays is seeing all of my extended family. They all live in Texas so we don’t get to see them a lot. One year we were able to surprise them for Thanksgiving and it was the best feeling. I will never forget that time and how fun it was to see them.”

Another senior, Jesus Espino, explains what his family does, “Every year we go to my brothers house where all of my extended family comes and we eat a lot of food. One of my favorites is this meat that we makes where we basically put random things on top of meat and eat it. I love it so much. After we eat we all gather outside and start a fire and project a movie onto a huge screen outside. This will forever be in my mind and I will pass down these traditions to my kids.”

Senior Matthew Ekstrom says, “Every year on Christmas Eve my family comes over and we all have a cook off. Each of us is assigned a different thing that we have to cook. Sometimes the food turns out really good but other times it’s just funny to see all of the creative things my family comes up with. This is my favorite tradition.”

A lot of people identify their holidays with the traditions that their family does. For me my parents always on Christmas Eve get us a new pair of pajamas and an ornament summing up our personality or what has happened to us that year. It is a small thing but it means so much to all of my siblings and I because it takes a lot of observation to know what ornament to get us that year. This is one of the traditions I will pass down to my family and hopefully they will do the same.

Traditions are such a meaningful thing and I hope that if you don’t have any traditions that you will start one that will be meaningful in your loved ones lives. Happy Holidays!