Flashback Friday.... Halloween 1984 (I think?)
Since tomorrow is Halloween, I thought it was appropriate that I dig up an old Halloween picture. Here I am somewhere in the mid eighties... I think it was '84. This year I was a My Little Pony... the only thing I remember about this Halloween was that my mom thought I was too old to be a My Little Pony, but I didn't care...she bought me the costume anyways. It was one of those scratchy plastic suits and cheap masks that were everywhere back in the day. The other girls were Ragedy Ann, Princess and I'm not sure what Becca was in the front but I think she might have been a cheerleader. I'll have to ask her when I see her next.

These were the good times... the times of running around the streets with your friends filling your bag with candies, and if you lived at my house and never got chips or pop you prayed for the houses that gave you those items at Halloween time. With my dad being Swiss we always had a sufficient amount of great quality Swiss chocolate floating around, so those were still great but not as exciting.

And... I was one of those kids that LOVED getting raisins!!!

Friends are the best gifts.

On October 8th this year I turned 33 years old. With each and every passing year I find myself not wanting or needing presents and find myself cherishing my moments with my friends and family more. Last year was the first year in what I hope to be a new birthday tradition. I have decided that in lieu of gifts I asked my friends to spend the day with me for a birthday hike. I also stated that I wanted it to be without children and without husbands so that we could all have a break and relax without having to deal with feedings, diapers or filling sippy cups. Fall has always been my favorite time of year, and the colours that the Canadian forests produce is some of the most beautiful I've ever seen.

This year we had a pretty good turnout. At 1pm 13 ladies met at my place and all 14 of us car pooled off to a near by trail where we walked and talked for just over an hour (next year will be longer)...we then headed back to my place and all crammed in my tiny little house for a cozy pot luck dinner and drinks all around. There are few things that money can't buy...one of those things are good friends and family...I have been blessed to have both of those.

I love traditions, and hope to pass these on to my children. What kind of traditions do you have?

Flashback Friday... 1982

Traditions are big in our family....and the biggest of all is the Smartie birthday breakfasts. Mmmm what more can you ask for then waking up to a breakfast of presents and smarties. As a child it was almost better then Christmas. Each and every year on my birthday (October 8th) I would wake up with the anticipation of eating smarties for breakfast... no other day could I eat chocolate for breakfast, so I usually ate them all up in a hurry :) This tradition was passed down by my dad who grew up with the same tradition. The picture above was a picture of my "special" birthday... it was special because I was turning 8.. the number of my birthday day October 8th. Because this was my special day we invited my family from overseas. Grandma and Grandpa from Switzerland and my Aunt/Uncle and cousin from Japan. Having grown up with two immigrant parents I wasn't fortunate like most of my friends to visit grandparents every weekend. Although it did mean I visited Switzerland and Ireland quite a bit...so I was very fortunate in that way.

Yesterday was my 33rd birthday and I woke up to smarties on the table just as usual... I still love it as much today as I did back in 1982. I have passed this tradition down to my girls now...I hope they continue it with their children.