Ranch Wife's Slant

Tag: family traditions

  • Family Reading

    Reading to my kids is something that I still haven’t outgrown, even though they have. As my kids got older and started school, I couldn’t give up the reading time I shared with them. When they were small, I read a lot of illustrated children’s books to them. Once they learned to read and began…

  • The Supper Table: Nourishing a Family Tradition

    The one thing I have fought hard to keep as a tradition in my household is having meals together as a family; most especially supper. In today’s busy world, I am shocked that sitting down together as a family is not a priority with a lot of families. Many allow busy schedules to infringe on…

  • Our Family Gin Tournament Tradition

      Having a “Gin Tournament” on holiday family get-togethers has become a family tradition in the last decade. When my brother Clay was dating his now wife Sue, he was introduced to the card game gin while visiting her family on their ranch near Enning, South Dakota. Her folks play a lot of gin and…

  • Cucumber Salad: A Summertime Family Tradition

      For as long as I can remember, cucumber salad has been a part of every Studt family (on my paternal side) summertime potluck and gathering. I don’t know if any of my cousins, aunts, or uncles think of it as a tradition but I’ve always considered the side dish a family tradition whenever my…

  • Our Annual Family Picnic

    When we move our cows to summer range every June, I pack a picnic lunch for our family to enjoy afterwards. It’s made the annual cow-moving trek a family tradition. Sadly, we rarely have picnics, which I need to change. When our kids were younger, the thought of food (mostly a can of pop and…

  • Imperfect Christmas Trees

    A big part of our Christmas traditions is getting the tree, which always creates unique memories. We’re fortunate enough to harvest our own in the woods of the Black Hills. Most years we’ve gathered a pine tree right off our property. A few times I insisted on a spruce, which entailed getting a tree permit…

  • Our Summer Tradition

    For most of the summer, my kids have slept outside. It’s become a tradition my son started a loooong time ago. Once the nighttime temperatures in the Black Hills hovers around 50Ëš or higher—that’d generally be around the end of June—I join my kids. Luckily, the mosquitoes haven’t been a major problem this year considering…

  • Storm Mountain Christmas

       Merry Christmas! For the past five years my siblings, their kids and spouses, our mom and my family, have celebrated Christmas at Storm Mountain Center. Storm Mountain is a Methodist church camp for youth and reunions in the summer, but hosts retreats, meetings and gatherings of all sorts in the wintertime. SMC is situated…

  • The Kirk Family Christmas Tree

    Living in the Black Hills has drawbacks because it’s a vacation destination but one of perks I love the most about living here is being able to go into the woods and pick out our own Christmas tree. The Forest Service sells Christmas tree permits that are a third of the cost of buying one,…