This Family Traditions ...
This Family Traditions contest was a lot more than I bargained for and in more ways than I could have imagined.
Before I get to what is the important news of this Dash I want to express my sincere gratitude for all the support this contest received from numerous folks in the form of up votes and re-blogs.
There were 17 different people that took the time to re-blog the official announcement and some also re-blog the midweek reminder. For the sake of time I’m not going to name each one right now but just know that a little “thank you” token of appreciation has been transferred to your account from me for your support of this contest.
Something else I...
Something else I didn’t bargain for was the fact that I included a prize category that I realized I probably wouldn’t be a good judge of; the appearance prize.
My Dailydose and Dash posts aren’t exactly what one would call “eye catching” and I think those were the exact words I used in describing how that judging would be done.
I'm not a...
I’m not a flashy type of person and my blog reflects that. While I have nothing against pictures, I do have my own reasons for not using very many in my blogs.
So I recruited the assistance of Blondie and Shortie to judge that appearance prize. They have a lot more credibility than me when it comes to judging if something looks good or not.
Personally, I like...
Personally I like the way my Dashes look, but I heard a few knocks on my blogging for being “old school” when it comes to style the other night on the Post Up show.
So the first thing we’ll get out of the way is the best appearing Family Tradition entry and that entry belongs to 
The girls really...
The girls really liked the fact that it was earthy colors, with a very modern style piece of artwork showing a father, mother and child holding hands and the word “traditions” in cursive lettering for the header of the post.
Really, there is no need for me to describe it but they also like the way it was set up in both English and Spanish in side by side columns. The photos she used had matching color background to that of the header. This one was, “just the right amount” according to Shortie on pictures.
While I didn’t use the videos for my portion of the judging the girls liked that it had a video too. Shortie liked the fact the video was just long enough and positioned at the end of the post to drive home something that was very important to the post; the sound effect of a properly played domino.
So congratulations to
Here is the direct link to her post
I'm going to...
I’m going to jump right to the winning Family Tradition Post and this post stood out for me because it embodied the things that I feel are really important.
Respect for the past, honoring the present, and securing the continuation of the future of this family tradition which is the family reunion. This winning entry was submitted by 
She is somewhere up in east Texas so it was no surprise for me to see that where she is a family reunion involves the whole town. East Texas is known for a lot of things, like tall pine trees and folks marrying their cousins.
I don’t know if that second part is true or not, but I do know there are some big old pine trees up there.
They have an annual family reunion that is held on a weekend from Friday thru Sunday. Please do check out this exceptional winning entry. Congratulations
Here is the direct link to her winning entry
Second place belongs...
Second place belongs to 
She gives a really good and interesting background of her family and some of the relationships must have been love at first sight since they didn’t even speak the same languages.
Her pictures are exquisite and so is the text. There is something special about the sea and sea shores, truly great place for a family tradition. Congratulations
Check out Lizelle's second place entry right here
Third place goes...
Third place goes to one who’s been previously mentioned
Not only was her blog very appealing to the eyes, she conveyed the importance of board games to family traditions.
Family traditions don’t necessarily need to be annual events, like birthdays, Christmas & New years. In my opinion those are the easiest family traditions to break unless steps are made to protect them like
With board games it is a tradition that can happen at any time and as frequently as wanted, and if you happen to get off tract it’s easier to get back to it, you don’t have to wait another year in order to do it.
She gave the history of dominoes in her country, the Dominican Republic, and the game came to their shores back in the 1500’s and has been going strong since then. She did an excellent job in her text of explaining the game and the object of it.
It also reminded me...
It also reminded me that Daisy and I need to get back to playing dominoes and bring the kids into the game.
Daisy’s Aunt Mattie and Uncle Herman would have a standing dominoes game at their house every Thursday evening.
They have both passed away and the games actually ended for us about the time our second child was born, Herman’s health was failing then and between his health and two young kids to tend with it just became a weekly social visit.
With the influx of computer games the traditional board games have a tendency to get put away and that a real shame. Board games can be played at a slower pace with time for visiting between turns of play.
I don’t play any video games, except poker and some occasional slots, but I think that most video games don’t tend to much socialization while being played and aren’t meant to be played around a gathering table.
That leaves me...
That leaves me with the “Mystery Prize” left to award and that prize goes to 
I didn’t know what I was going to do with that prize until I read her entry.
Something that has only been going on for six years could hardly be called a “family tradition” but those family traditions have to start somewhere.
Her house rule / family tradition of no cell phones at the dinner table is a good one and I implemented that rule in our house back when the kids got cell phones.
We haven’t gone as far as creating a nice fancy box like she has; but if we had, it probably wouldn’t be used anyways. The kids take that dinner time to charge their phones in most cases.
That rule also extends to where ever we are together eating as a family. The only exception is to take group photos of the table like when celebrating an event at the local Mexican restaurant. You have to document the Mexican sombrero and the whip cream in the face while the wait staff sings “Feliz Cumpleano”.
Please check out the Mystery Prize winner and that fancy box right here
This wouldn't be...
This wouldn’t be one of my contests if I didn’t go over budget and add some additional prizes. So I am going to do that right now.
I think inspiration is worthy of reward and the inspiration for this contest came from 
He too submitted a really good post. If you haven’t read it please take the time to do that. He, like so many others who submitted entries, conveyed the tradition of family love.
Family blood and family love are not synonymous, just to be clear on that, and he does a great job of explaining
and I think our oldest boy T-Bone would second Tom’s take on it.
Tom receives 15.259 HIVE which is what the contest post earned in HIVE and HBD.
Here is Tom's take on Family Traditions
I'm not quite...
I’m not quite finished yet either.
I don’t know exactly what “hallacas” or “halacas” are, or which spelling is correct, but I do know that the dish is quite popular in Venezuela at Christmas time.
There were several entries from VZ and refugees of VZ now in Columbia and I want to thank them for sharing their family traditions.
When I read the following sentence I couldn’t help from tearing up just a little,” I had to leave my country for political reasons but that does not mean that I did not put my customs in the suitcase and brought them with me.” said 
Venezuela is certainly a beautiful country but the people are suffering right now for sure.
I am pretty damn fortunate to be in a position to do some additional prizes so any entry that originated from Venezuela or refugee like
All the rest of the folks that entered will receive 3.00 HIVE for taking the time to share their family traditions, so no one walks away empty handed.
Well, that is not quite right, one will.
I had one person enter correctly but the entry had nothing to do with Family Traditions, they saw “contest” and dropped a link to their latest post. I’m pretty lenient, but not quite there yet.
Again, congratulations to all the winners and thank you to all who entered and supported this contest through up voting and re-blogging.
The complete list of folks and amounts is listed below and transfers made before this is posted. So check your wallets and if I screwed something up please let me know.
Until next time,
Sult
1st Place: 
2nd Place:
3rd Place:
Best Appearing:
Mystery Prize:
Inspiration award:
VZ prize:
VZ prize: 
VZ prize: 
VZ prize: 
VZ prize: 
VZ prize: 
Entry: 
Entry: 
Entry: 
Re-Blogs / 1 each
