Yearly Traditions

Since we moved into our house just over a year ago, I have been thinking about traditions to have for our family as we continue to grow. Sometimes I feel like some people have too many traditions and all they do is all their traditional activities and never do anything new. I don't want to get stuck into always doing the same things just because its tradition. And sure, some traditions are good to continue. I think we may have continued a great tradition earlier this week.

When we first moved into our house, my friend took a picture of us as we were moving in. We were in our front door and it was really cool. Last fall we planted  a tree in our front yard and thought it would be cool to photograph the tree growing each year to see how much its grown. Last winter I took a picture of the front of our house to document the tree being in our front yard. This week we decided to take a family picture out by our tree.

So here it is. Our dysfunctional family photo by our tree! Chloe (our dog) is licking her lips (an annoying habit she always does) and our two kitties are in the doorway looking left out. We sort of planned it that way. Anytime we go out front, the cats come to the door and look jealous that we are all outside and they are stuck inside. But I think its great. Its our perfect family! 

But thinking about this as a tradition. How many traditions are worth it? When do you know when you over-do the tradition of traditions? I feel like every family has to have some and there is deep meaning in doing something that reminds you of family or certain happy moments. Can you try too hard to make those memorable moments? I feel like you can, but how do you know you are? I guess there can't really be clear cut guidelines, but hopefully you just know. I think a good judge of over-doing the traditions is when every family trip, dinner, or holiday is stuck with only one way to do it because of the tradition. The best memories tend to come when nothing is planned and when true memorable moments can naturally happen. Just let things happen. I guess thats a good way to  live! Maybe that should be my new mantra...