Leah's Mom Shares a Few Traditions

Here's a little bit from my mom about what we did while I was growing up:

Easter - We always hid the kids' Easter baskets. When I was a kid they were always on the dining room table on Easter morning. But Gary's family always hid theirs so we started doing that with our kids. Also, we hid plastic Easter eggs that had coins in them instead of candy.

Halloween - This was always a fun holiday with our kids. I made their costumes each year and really went all out. When we lived on the farm and went to the Halloween party in Wolf Lake they usually won a prize for best costume. Gary's mom always made costumes and she inspired me to do the same.

Christmas - We always spent Christmas Eve at my in-laws. When the kids were little this was a very special night. The adults dressed up. The guys wore suits and the girls usually wore long dresses. Leah always had a special Christmas dress to wear. The food was extra special. Usually shrimp cocktail, prime rib, homemade desserts. Gift giving at the in-laws was insane. We bought for everyone. The pile of presents was so big you couldn't even get near the tree. And everyone opened presents all at once. It was complete chaos and tons of fun. There were always lots of gag gifts.

We spent Christmas Day with my family. Since I have three sisters we started taking turns hosting Christmas dinner. We drew names around September or October and opened gifts one at a time so you could see what everyone got. Food was always great. Lots of sweets. My mom and sisters and I always got together around the first week of December and made candy together. All the grandkids loved to dip chocolates. Peanut butter balls were the favorite.