Our yard is full of large oak trees but many of them are leaning, and we have lost a few over the years. About 10 years ago, we planted 5 maple trees in the gaps - 4 of them survived the transfer and are getting really big!! For Mother’s Day, I decided our family should start a new tradition on this special day. I thought it would be so neat to buy one tree for each boy every year to plant in our yard. We went to the greenhouse together, and the boys made their selections. Titus wanted an oak…well I vetoed that…so he settled for a Crabapple Tree; Brant snagged up an apple tree; and Sawyer chose a large red maple tree. As soon as we got home, all the boys…plus Daisy (our dog) and Buck (our bottle lamb)…digging holes and planting the new trees. Does your family have any special traditions? I would love to hear about them in the comments below!! Please share!! Now that the boys are older - 12, 12 and 7 - I think I am going to be more intentional about family traditions. See…I’m a lover of all things changing…so…traditions just really aren’t my jam but I love the thought of them!! For example: Our family has had real Christmas trees, fake trees, no tree, tree set up in the basement, tree set up in the den, or multiple trees set out on the front porch. We’ve had Christmases with lots of presents and a few with no presents. For birthdays, we’ve celebrated at the beach, in our front yard, at a jump house….sometimes with cake and you guessed it…sometimes without! As a photographer, it’s sad to admit, but I’m not good at yearly pictures or 1st Day of School pictures (but I’ll blame that on homeschooling). Curtis and I love to travel. We especially enjoy exploring new places. We don’t have a traditional vacation spot.Traditions we do have…Celebrating birthday months…yep…we love to celebrate all month! Since Brant and Titus turned 4, we’ve been taking birthday trips instead of giving gifts. Delivering sweet treats to our friends/neighbors the week of Thanksgiving. We go chop down our Christmas tree together…well it’s an evergreen in a random field…but we do it together!When we get a new animal for the farm - we all go to get it. Going to church every Sunday.Growing up we had traditions…Our summer vacations were to Forbes Lake - we had a favorite camp site, we would go boating, and anytime you were up to ski or tube and wanted Dad to go you had to say “Hit It”. Every Sunday, we went to church for both the morning and evening Sunday service. For many years, Mom made all my Easter and Christmas dresses. For birthdays, we got to choose our “birthday meal” - Curtis still pokes fun at that - but it was always special to us!! (Since I know you’re curious what my birthday meal of choice was: BBQ pork chops from Mike’s Market, “Deanna’s Potato Stuff”, Green beans, and a blackberry pie or German chocolate cake)We would go down to the Flora fireworks every 4th of July. Dad would park along the road about 2 miles from the park and we’d watch in the back of the truck. Not until I was in junior high school did I learn that there was a carnival at Charley Brown Park in addition to the fireworks. My parents just said all the hooping and hollering we could hear from miles away was the firefighters lighting an American flag firework display on the ground. We still joke about that as a family!! I think my longing for more traditions comes from my desire for the boys to have fun memories when they get older. I know repetition helps people remember things better. When they grow up, it will be neat hearing all of the things they remember from their childhood. Curtis and I have been intentional about presence over presents - I hope our boys appreciate that in their adult lives. Kids spell love T.I.M.E.Living a life set apart, RachQuote:”At the heart of every family tradition is a meaningful experience.” - Author unknownScripture: III John 1:4 “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in the truth.”Family