Introduction

First, I want to thank all of you for helping with this project. I know that it has taken a lot of time, and it stretched many of your brains further than they have been stretched in a long while. I really appreciated your help, this project couldn’t have been done without you and your input. And besides it made it a whole lot more enjoyable for me to have an excuse to pick at all your minds and get to know you all a little bit better. Now it is time for me to share the knowledge I have gained with everyone else. This book is intended to be a type of book of remembrance for you to have on your shelves at home so that some day when you have children they can flip through it and laugh. And maybe see why some of the things in their life are the way they are.
Why did I decide to do this project? Well because I had to write a paper about my family traditions for a class, the professor suggested that we give our paper to our family as a Christmas gift. I thought to myself, “How ridiculous is that!?! My family doesn’t want a copy of my homework assignment as a present!” But then I got thinking, “They may not want my homework as a present, but they might enjoy a book to flip through and remember some of the good times.” So that is one reason I have decided to write this book. The other reason is because of guidance we have been given from apostles and prophets.

President Ezra Taft Benson instructed families to “go on camp outs and picnics, to ball games and recitals, to school programs. . . build traditions of family vacations and trips and outings. These memories will never be forgotten by your children.” Elder L. Tom Perry said, “If we will build righteous traditions in our families, the light of the gospel can grow ever brighter in the lives of our children from generation to generation. . . Our family activities and traditions can be a beacon to the rest of the world as an example of how we should live to merit His choice blessings and live in peace and harmony until the day that He returns to rule and reign over us.” And Elder Bruce R. McConkie said that, “recreation is an essential and vital part of the gospel of salvation.”

Furthermore, we have been instructed to “continue on in this important work of recording the things we do, the things we say, the things we think, to be in accordance with the instructions of the Lord. For those of you who may not have already started your books of remembrance and your records, we would suggest that this very day you begin to write your records quite fully and completely” (President Spencer W. Kimball, 1982).

So that is what this is: My attempt to record the Strong Family Traditions as celebrated when we were young or not so young. I hope you enjoy it. I love you all and have a Very Merry Christmas!