After Thanksgiving

I suspect this was a picture taken after a big family feast, and the relatives all went home, and the kids headed to bed or out to play. As an adult I have hosted many family gatherings for my husbands family, and now know how much work goes in to all that Mom and Dad did to make our holidays special. I have always tried to emulate that for my children, so that they would have as many special memories as I had. You would have to ask them if I succeeded with that but I sure gave it my best effort. I know that my granddaughter Emily will complain if I make some change and say, "but Grammy, it is a tradition". I love that we have traditions. Have any of you made new traditions with your families? I would like to hear about them. One of our day after Thanksgiving traditions is a family celebration of Emily's birth. She was born on Dec. 1st fourteen years ago. My guys all head out to go deer hunting the Saturday after Thanksgiving so are never around to celebrate her birthday, so from the time she was very small we have celebrated her birthday the day after Thanksgiving. Many years ago I made a white table cloth with many pictures of her transferred onto it. Each year we all have permanent fine point markers and write a message to Emily and some draw pictures on that table cloth. When she is grown and has her own family, I hope she will look back at that table cloth and have as many happy memories as I have. Now that she is no longer a little girl but a young woman, she and I are making a new tradition. Instead of gifts we all give her money and then she and I get up at 3:00 A.M. and get ready to go do black Friday shopping. She can usually have her money spent before 6:00 A.M. and we head somewhere for breakfast. What fun we have! LaDonna