Family Reunion

Most of our family traditions died away by the time I really got old enough to realize they were a tradition. My mom used to make us matching pajamas every year to wear on Christmas Eve/ Christmas morning. We'd make this Christmas cookie train... or something. I think we might have eaten a car every day before Christmas or something from it. If you talk to my older siblings these were a big deal, but by the time I came around they kinda stopped. I'm not really sure way. We really only have one tradition now, and it only started about 6 or so years ago.

Each time my whole family gets together we get a pinata. Only one rule- You can launch something at it, blow it up, light it on fire, etc- you just can't actually swing and hit it with something (like a bat or stick etc). It's pretty funny- I feel like each year we try less and less to destroy the pinata. We have way too much fun watching what everyone came up with- it would be sad to destroy it to early! My personal favorite is to watch the little kids who are now old enough to think of ideas on their own.
one year old Issac throwing a football at it.

Smashing a it with pies


Jaron (my eight year old nephew) thought of the fantastic idea of getting on a sled and being slung toward the pinata with a giant rubber band.



We tried a new thing this year as well.- a talent show inspired by the movie Dan in Real Life. Featured in our show was a mini American Idol show complete with judges done by Marika's family, a dance by my brother Nathan and his four year old daughter, a sqeaking/humming/something musical number by Andrew and Lauren (what would you call that?) and sharing of some fresh, homemade mozzarella cheese made by Doug and me. (yep, we learned how to make homemade cheese. Aren't we so cool?)