Saturday, January 2, 2010

New Year Traditions

We have a tradition of going over to Vic & Bebe McElroy's home for New Year's Eve, along with a couple of other families. We enjoy eating finger foods, playing games, having lively conversation, and watching the countdown in TV up to the New Year. Their son, Joe Fox, usually has a fireworks show immediately after midnight, but not this year. It seems that just about everyone has cut back on their fireworks budget. Vic & Bebe make their income conducting safety training classes for offshore oilfield personnel. They have a camp in Cocodrie that they go to regularly. They enjoy Cajun dancing on weekends, and are active in the community.

The following day, we have the tradition (10-years running) of going over to the Ron & Stacy Mangels home, where we have New Year's dinner with them and their family, consisting of black eyed peas, cabbage, and roast pork. A New Year's tradition in the South has it that if black eyed peas, cabbage, and ham/pork are consumed on the 1st day of the year, they bring good luck and prosperity. According to some, this practice dates back to the Civil War period. Ron also works in an oil-related industry, and has more recently spent time on offshore oil platforms. Ron & Stacy have a son, Jon, who is the only missionary serving from our ward at the moment. He is serving in Chili, and has a little over 8 months left on his mission.

Both of these families have gone out of their way to make us feel at home down here in Cajun Country, and we greatly appreciate it. Now it's time to start loosing the weight I picked up over the holidays!

1 comment:

Lori said...

I think the black eyed peas and cabbage tradition sounds cool - J & I will have to try that sometime.

Good luck with your weight goal - I'm going to start working out again tomorrow. :)