General Conference Tradition –

Some traditions are so embedded that who knows where they started or why we keep them going - we just need too. As a kid our Mom use to make rice pudding every Christmas - no one liked it but Dad. I'm sure there were some deep seeded memories - or it was just a chance for him to have something he liked without ten kids devouring it. That's the reason he bought Maple Nut Ice Cream - it would last longer than the twelve seconds it took us to realize there was Ice Cream in the house. Other times everyone knows when a tradition started - we had so much fun at an event that we're just trying to recreate the memories. Occasionally that's like trying to get lighting to strike in the same place twice. When there's a large difference in ages between the kids, we just want the younger ones to have the sames experiences. Growing up Lori had Easter egg huts - that works great in warm Las Vegas, but in Logan it's still cold and there could still be snow at Easter. So we decided to do it inside. Now the Easter Bunny is great at hiding eggs, so good that we've found some months later. Because there's a thirteen-year difference between the oldest and youngest children it's hard to make it fair and keep the older ones enthused. One of my co-workers gave me the perfect solution. Midst all the eggs, baskets and candy he placed plastic eggs filled with money. Tell a couple of staving college kids that there is money involved and someone could get a bloody nose. Thus began a new tradition. One year one of our daughters decided to bring along a kid that thought he wanted to be part of the family - what in the heck was she thinking? He came from a great family - but apparently they don't believe in candy or treats. He had never had an Easter basket let alone a free-for-all egg hunt. Well if he still wants to be part of the family after this? I guess I shouldn't put it all on one tradition - we have plenty of things that might drive away a possible suitor. He was defiantly hesitant and reserved. It didn't drive him away so the next Easter when he was part of the family, watch out - he was part of a starving college student dual. I have a feeling that our grandchildren will be hunting Easter eggs for years to come. This isn't even the story I wanted to tell. A tradition I've continued from my youth happens at General Conference. After the general Priesthood meeting all of the men would go out for dinner or a treat - this was just about the only time we went out, why wouldn't I be excited about that? Only having one son this would be great and not that expensive. He wasn't invited until he turned twelve - that's old enough to decide where he wanted to eat. Living in a predominantly Mormon community there are a lot of people that go out for dinner after, sometimes the lines at the restaurants are quite long. Well here we go his first opportunity to choose - really Panda Express? Well it didn't cost very much and there was only one other group there so we didn't have to wait very long. Over the years we've never gone to the same place twice - but for some reason the food has gotten better and more expensive with each visit. Panda Express, Fire House Pizzeria, Copper Mill Restaurant - then we went to some Japanese place with my brothers. The last one was a testosterone heaven, now that 's not it's name - but it could be since it's an all-you-can-eat meat fest. Rodizio's is a Brazilian restaurant where they walk around with big skewers of meat to cut off a slice at any table where people haven't passed out yet. I'll admit it was good and expensive. This time one of my son-in-laws decided he wanted to be part of the tradition, this isn't the same guy that never had an Easter basket, it's the other one - oh sure decide to become part of a tradition when we're going for the mother lode! My son has been on a mission the past couple of times and I'm sure we'll start the tradition back up when he gets home. I don't know where we'll go - but I know it will be expensive and worth every penny!