Family Traditions...

FAMILY TRADITIONS

(Remembered and shared by the kids)

• Surprise box (white ZCMI box) on top of closet shelf. After all the Saturday jobs were

finished we could look inside for the surprise. Surprises were: Hamburgers at Pace’s Dairy

Ann and ice cream cones at Baskin and Robins.

• 16 gifts, 1 on each of the 16 days before the 16th birthday, with the 16th being their own set of

keys to the car.

• Bear Lake summer vacations while staying in the UP&L Co. quarters building at the Lifton

pumping plant at the North end of the lake.

• Canning peaches and pickles with mother during October General Conference.

• Father’s blessings before school started each year.

• (Mom having a baby about every other year).

• Getting Spaghettio’s and Vienna sausage, in our Christmas stocking every year, and eating

them for breakfast.

• A box of sugar-coated breakfast cereal on the table Christmas morning.

• Birthday sign on the front room window.

• Thanksgiving, Christmas, summer family parties and outings.

• Exchanging Christmas gifts as cousins.

• Kids’ day on the last day of school. Doing something fun or getting something cool. One

year it was the trampoline.

• A family valentine gift on the front porch from who knows where.

• First potato salad of the year on Easter Sunday and then on other family occasions.

• BYU football games with dad and the boys.

• Sitting at the top of the stairs Christmas morning waiting for mom and dad to be ready,

especially dad, before we could go into the family room.

• Birthday presents always included a bottle of Planter’s peanuts.

• Birthday dinners were whatever you wanted and eaten on a special birthday plate (given us

by Grandma Hixson) and not having to help with the dinner dishes. Sometimes we went out

to dinner. Going with mom to Skipper’s for fish and chips every Tuesday during the

summer.

• Boys couldn’t get their driver licenses until they had earned their Eagle Scout Award. Going

to Robintinos for pizza with dad after every General Priesthood meeting. (Later it became

take out so mom, and spouses, also could enjoy).

• Haircuts with dad the first Saturday of every month at Trujillo’s Hair Salon, with a stop at

Van Komens (the Dutch store) for sandwiches.

• Boys getting their first suit at ZCMI for their twelfth birthday, before passing the sacrament.

• Chilidogs and hard cooked eggs downstairs at ZCMI on Saturdays. Shopping for school

clothes before school every year.

• Having own cardboard box (usually and orange box) for our presents Christmas morning, to

keep organized.

• Devotionals and/or family councils, in the kitchen by the fridge on school mornings, to read

the scriptures, have family prayer and check everyone’s calendar for the day. Family home

evenings (lectures) on Monday night’s, including homemade treats, like home canned

pineapple chunks on toothpicks, and ‘wheels’ of fortune for weekly assignments.

• Family Motto, Remember who you are! Family Slogan, “If you can’t say anything nice,

don’t say anything at all”.

• Sometimes paying for the treats for those in the car behind us at a fast food drive through.

• Baking rolls, bread or something to take to someone else on Sunday.

• Leaving the kitchen light on, for those coming in from dates or whatever, to turn off so mom

and dad knew we were home. It also included coming to their bedroom to say good night.

• Mom and dad always supporting kids’ activities and programs by attending them.

• Boys all have ‘Richard’ as their middle name.

• Getting sen-sen (tiny, licorice squares) at church for being quiet.

• Fourth of July at Grantsville with Orgills that included a parade, picnic and fireworks.

(Sometimes Orgills came to Bountiful for the 24th).

• Hixson, Kuepper and Tibbitts cousins’ party at Christmas, with gift exchange and sometimes

Santa Claus.

• Yearly family vacations somewhere - Disneyland to Yellowstone and points in between.

• Extended family reunions and socials.

• Doing Saturday work to music – John Phillip Sousa and Kenny Rogers, etc.

• Family prayers, taking turns in each other’s rooms, and choosing 1 chocolate from the box.

• Mom always saying, “Oh, my stars”, “And this too shall pass”, “Don’t sacrifice tomorrow for

what you want today”, “Land ‘O Goshen”, “Whoa, Nelly”.

• Dad always saying, “Remember who you are”, “Remember what Thumper’s dad told him –

‘If you can’t say anything nice don’t say nothing at all’ ”, “Say your prayers”, Mow, trim and

edge”,

• The front room was the celestial room of the house and anyone could go in there any time but

had to act differently by being more quiet and respectful - no feet on the furniture kind of

thing, as could be done in the family room.

Knowing “Remember Who

You Are” was our family

motto, we received this

‘count a cross stitch’, made

by Grandma Ellen Hixson.

Bambi was one of my favorite movies and we adopted Thumper’s answer to his mom as a family

slogan.