Xmas Traditions

Well, only one tradition really.  Every year, when I lived here at Yokota as a little girl, the base would erect giant Christmas cards representing all the different groups/organizations on the base.  The cards were painted on giant 4 x 6 foot pieces of plywood and each group designed and created their own unique card.  I have very vivid memories of driving around looking at these cards every Christmas, choosing which ones were our favorites, ooo-ing and aaah-ing over the really elaborate ones, laughing at the really horrible ones.

Imagine my absolute shock and unbelievable happiness when I discovered, during my first Xmas back in Japan, that the base has continued this tradition for the last 35 years (probably longer, don't know how long it was going on before my memories!).  I was so happy to be able to share this tradition with my own kids!

In the pic above, you can see the cards stretching all the way down the road.  There are usually about 35 cards in total.

To add another layer of joy to the tradition, last year Gabi painted a giant Xmas card as her end-of-the-year project for her art class at school.  We had no idea it was going to be one of THE Xmas cards.  Turns out is was the card to be used in the base display to represent the schools' District Superintendent's Office!

These cards are such a happy part of my childhood Christmas memories, and I'm so glad that now my kids have the same happy memories.