Assignment #14- Noah Ford

My family has a host of traditional traditions, and then the expected family idiosyncratic traditions. My father is the one who is extremely holiday oriented in our family, and his favorite times of year are Christmas and July the Fourth. When these two times of year roll around, my dad goes nuts.

During Christmas, and the 24 days leading up to Christmas, my dad decorates like crazy. We get a 7 foot tall (minimum) tree and then decorate it with garlands, ornaments, and lights. Last year, my dad put 1600 light bulbs on our tree. I didn't even bother trying to count the amount of ornaments that he put on it.  My dad gets out stockings and hangs them over the mantle. On Christmas morning, he spends thirty minutes rearranging our gifts. Then, once we come down and start opening gifts, he takes notes on what we get and who its from so that we can write handwritten notes to the giver. I love this time of year a lot, but honestly, his preparations can get a little exhausting. After we hang the lights and half the ornaments, I start to get really bored.

For July the Fourth, Dad is only about 60% as crazy as at Christmas. He hangs up giant American flags all along the front porch, and I believe that we have 10 of these. When we were younger, we loved going to firework stalls that were advertised on the side of the road and then buying a ton of fireworks. We used to go to our grandpa's lakehouse to set off these fireworks, but due to his death, that is no longer an option. Now, we go to Idle Hour to watch the hour long fireworks display there. It's the best display in town because of how long it is and the quality of fireworks they use.

Our traditions are pretty traditional, and don't vary much from other families, but they are ours all the same.