This is a phrase I heard a lot growing up. If ever my brother and I would complain about having to participate in anything remotely resembling a family activity, my parents would sternly remind us that “We’re making memories!”. These “memories” usually encompassed family drives in the country, vacations, pumpkin carving, Christmas tree decorating, Christmas light hanging, and in my later years quickly became anytime the 4 of us were in the same room together. My favorite memory making time was around Christmas. This usually included an over anxious youngster telling her father we should put lights here, here, here, and here, a stick in the mud brother who rolled his eyes at his sister and not looking forward to getting on the roof, a terrified of heights and less than enthusiastic father feeling overwhelmed at the thought of having to go back to the store to get more lights, and a make sure everyone is happy mother who is trying to keep her daughter from bothering her father while assuring her son that she will get on the roof for him and offering to go back to the store for more lights for her husband. Aw…the memories! Now that both us kids have left home, my parents usually will call us and ask if we would like to come over and “make memories”.

Even though Jonathan and I do not have our own kids to force “memory making” on yet, we are still making them. We went to our local pumpkin patch to pick our pumpkins. It was complete with a pumpkin launcher…

Fields of pumpkins…

and corn maze.

We continued the memories by laying newspaper down on the kitchen table and carving away. I printed patterns from the internet. Jonathan’s is batpumpkin…

and mine is a smiley boo face.