Westlake students share family traditions

The holiday season has arrived, a time for rejoicing, connecting with loved ones and creating memories that will last a lifetime. For the Observer's annual last-issue-of-the-year feature, Mrs. Pam DeAnna of Bassett Elementary School in Westlake asked her third-grade students to share favorite family traditions. Their varied responses recall special moments throughout the year, from Christmas to Halloween to Eid to the Fourth of July.

Christmas Morning
by Ben M., Bassett
My favorite holiday is Christmas, because we do fun things to celebrate it. I wake up very early every December 25th morning to see the gifts Santa Claus has brought. After I look, I go back upstairs and go back to sleep. I fall asleep again and the next thing I know, I hear voices saying: “Wake up Ben, it’s Christmas!” I roll out of bed and rush downstairs and we look in our stockings and open our presents. We also have breakfast. After we are all done with that, we play with our new toys and other stuff. We have a lot of fun! That is how my family spends their Christmas morning.

Gingerbread Houses
by Ashley S., Bassett
One of my favorite family traditions is making gingerbread houses. I love to listen to Christmas music and talk with my family as I decorate my gingerbread house. It is fun to sing along with the Christmas carols while decorating my house. I love to decorate my gingerbread house with lots of candy and icing. Candy canes, gumdrops, and Tootsie Rolls are some of my favorites to decorate with. I love the smell of the gingerbread and the candy. It smells so good that sometimes I sneak a little piece of candy and pop it into my mouth. I love decorating gingerbread houses and I think that it is a very fun way to get ready for the holidays!

The Melting Pot
by Harry P., Bassett
My favorite tradition is going to The Melting Pot for dinner on Christmas Eve. It’s my favorite tradition, because the food there is amazing. My favorite food there is the steak. It’s a lot of fun to go there. You get to make the food and I think that’s really exciting. If I was a food critic, I would rate The Melting Pot 5 out of 5 stars! While I’m eating, the calm music reminds me that it is Christmas Eve. The Melting Pot is a fancy restaurant, so I need to use a fork for everything. All the smells are different kinds of meats.

Christmas is My Favorite
by Bella P., Bassett
Christmas is my favorite holiday, because I get to see everyone happy. I also like Christmas because when we go outside to play, the feel of the snow is cold and I like it. When we get inside, I like the sound of the crackling fire. I love the smell of the cooking food. Yum! I love to taste the food too, especially the mashed potatoes. That is why Christmas is my favorite holiday!

Christmas at the Samides'
by Annabelle S., Bassett
Hello, my name is Annabelle and I am going to tell you about my favorite holiday! My favorite holiday is Christmas! We always have a crackling fire. I love to hear the bells ringing and people singing. I smell gingerbread and I smell holly berries and cookies! I feel the wrapping paper. I always taste Christmas cookies and I love cookies! And that is my Christmas!

Trick or Treating
by Sarah L., Bassett
My favorite holiday is Halloween. We do a lot of stuff like go trick or treating. My favorite part of Halloween is that we get a lot of candy. Sometimes we go to so many houses that we go to the same house more than once! I go trick or treating with my neighbors, while my mom and dad take care of my little brother. Every year before we go trick or treating, we always have a party and we play Pin the Tail on the Cat. We play a lot of football and we like to eat a lot of foods. This year it was almost one of my neighbor’s birthdays. It was so close that we got cupcakes. My other neighbor and I were having so much fun that we wanted to eat cupcakes, but we also wanted to keep playing … so we did. This is why I think Halloween is my favorite holiday.

Christmas Morning
by Desiree M., Bassett
On Christmas, I see the presents while our family opens them. We would either scream or yell. I’m always glad we have a Christmas tree, because where would Santa put all the presents that we get? I always smell the warm pancakes and eggs on our plates waiting for us to eat. When I see my presents, I always try to touch them, so then maybe I could try and guess what is inside. That’s why I love Christmas mornings!

Christmas at My Grandma’s House
by Tommy M., Bassett
I love Christmas and I will tell you why. I like Christmas because my family has one tradition every Christmas and it is fun … trust me. My tradition is that my family has Christmas at my Grandma’s house who lives like 200 meters away from my house. We celebrate and play lots of family games. We play long games, competitive games, and really exciting games. I smell the brownies in the kitchen while we eat dinner. I see my family talking and I hear prayers from my family. I feel the love from my family! I also taste the cookies that I am eating.

Crocker Park Tree Lighting
by Antonio A., Bassett
My favorite holiday tradition is to go to Crocker Park and watch the tree lighting. It is bright and colorful. The weather is usually cold, so we dress warm. There are lots of people, about 1,000! This is a great time, because I get to go out and spend time with my Dad, Mom and brothers!

Decorating Our Christmas Tree
by Joe A., Bassett
I love to decorate the tree for Christmas. Our tree is big with no pinecones. We took those out. I put some ornaments on it. My favorite ornaments to put on are the Disney ones! My mom puts the white lights on it, because she loves them. I really wish we put the rainbow colors on it. It still looks pretty and it’s a lot of fun doing it. It’s beautiful to open presents around the tree. We also have a big Christmas party around the tree and sing “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” and “Jingle Bells”.

I like Christmas!
by Andrew T., Bassett
It is fun unwrapping all the presents and all those goodies are so good. I love the breakfast I have with the food that I love. I think Christmas is about spending time with my family and being nice to others. I like the presents. I get Legos, games, video games, and books. I like to give my old stuff to charity, because some things I already have. I like hanging up ornaments and putting up our stockings.

My Favorite is Christmas
by Gabriella C., Bassett
My favorite holiday is Christmas, because there is a lot you do. When it’s Christmas, I see my Elf on the Shelf. When I open my presents, I hear Christmas songs from the TV.  I would smell all kinds of cookies that my parents baked. Sometimes I would feel the ornament on my back, when I open my presents. Once my parents take out the cookies and they are cooled off, my parents say I can have a few!

My Christmas Eve
by Isabella F., Bassett
On Christmas Eve, my family and I have a party. Everyone buys gifts for each other. We open the gift people got us. It’s like having a second Christmas. We also eat … of course! We eat really good foods like: chicken, gravy, Christmas cookies, and more! That is what I do on Christmas Eve!

Easter
by Lina B., Bassett
My favorite holiday is Easter. When I wake up Easter morning, I go into my sister’s room and wake her up. Then we go downstairs and try to find our Easter baskets. Once we find them, we eat all the chocolate. Then we go to church. Once we get home, my Grandma comes over. Then when they leave, we go to bed.

My Birthday is on Flag Day
by Chase M., Bassett
My tradition is that I always have a birthday on Flag Day! It is so funny, because that is my birthday date and it is a coincidence that it is on that day. Sometimes I have pancakes and they taste good. I hear a lot of screaming in my back yard. When I go downstairs with my friends, things get a little crazy. When I opened new toys, I played with them and that was the end.

Spending Time with My Family
by Jack Z., Bassett
My favorite holiday is Christmas. I like this holiday, because I like spending time with my family. I like decorating the tree too! I like getting presents from my family. I love looking for my Elf on the Shelf.

Eid
by Hala M., Bassett
My favorite part of Eid is when I get to taste the food and when I’m on the rides in the festival. I get to wear the thobes and men deals. I hear lots of people doing Salah. When I leave the festival, I go home and put on my dress. Then I go get Starbucks and have fun and celebrate for Eid with my favorite family.

Church on Christmas
by Hailey B., Bassett
My favorite holiday is Christmas when we go to church at 10:00 p.m. When we go to church, we hear the priest and the deacon speak and the church smells like lit candles and I love that smell. We are seated on a bench. Sometimes a person asks us if we want to go to the back of the church and learn about Jesus. I taste smoke in the back of the church.

I Love Christmas
by Arianna O., Bassett
My favorite holiday is Christmas. When I wake up, I see a beautiful tree with lights and colorful presents. My Christmas breakfast tastes wonderful and the Christmas music is joy to my ears. I feel the couch that I am waking up from and my sleep was wonderful. I smell pine from my beautiful Christmas tree. I love Christmas!

The Five Senses of Christmas
by Cooper P., Bassett
I see my cousins laughing with happiness. I hear the sound of cookies crunching. I smell the Christmas dinner and the yummy Christmas cookies. I feel the silverware when I pick it up to eat something. I taste the delicious Christmas ham in my mouth.

Elders Bowing
by Riley R., Bassett
I do a tradition called Elders Bowing. You go to your elders and bow and say some special words and then they give you money. You wear a costume that is called a honbuk. We do not eat anything on this tradition. I like this tradition, because I get to see a lot of my family.

My Christmas Party
by Gabriel R., Bassett
When it was Christmas, I had a party. I was helping my mom bake a cake and gingerbread men when the party was starting. I had my friends over and my mom’s friends were there too. It was time to eat and we ate a lot! Then we ate dessert and we sang Jingle Bells. It was awesome and I liked it. That is all about my Christmas.

My Halloween
by Hamzah G., Bassett
On Halloween, I see costumes almost everywhere. I hear spooky sounds, such as boo! I smell so much candy that I just want to taste it. There are candy wrappers everywhere and I can feel them in my bag. Boo!!!!!

The Fourth of July
by Allan X., Bassett
My favorite holiday is the Fourth of July, because I like watching the fireworks. Also, I get to watch them for 40 minutes. It’s kind of exciting, well actually, it’s very exciting! When it’s over, we pack up our stuff and start to go home. I actually have other exciting holidays, too!

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Volume 7, Issue 24, Posted 9:45 AM, 12.15.2015