We did it! All twelve of us adopted my suggested vacation mindset and wore our #EasilyPleased sunglasses over the holiday. We had a blast!

We celebrated every milestone we could think of (graduation, new jobs, new cities, new life chapters, birthdays, and an engagement) with a “pull apart” cupcake cake that pleased everyone because it featured funfetti, strawberry, cookies and cream, and red velvet flavors.

Three new traditions helped us learn more about each other.

The Breakout Escape Room: It was the men versus the women in an hour-long problem-solving adventure where we competed to see who could solve the mystery first. There’s nothing like finding clues and agreeing on a course of action to give one a rare peek into how someone thinks! So fun—especially since the women won!

Peak and Pit: We borrowed another family’s tradition and shared our “peak” and “pit” experiences of the day. The new-to-me favs included games of Kan Jam, bananagram, and surviving a “deck of cards” workout. (My favorite “pit” was someone regretting they fell asleep early. So glad they didn’t want to miss anything!)

Three Things: By far the most revealing activity, this exercise had each of us describing three things about ourselves: two truths and a falsehood. We each had to guess which one was false. One of us had a tattoo. Another disliked basketball. And yet another had their front teeth knocked out in a sporting event. Oh, and one of us had their first kiss playing spin the bottle at a bible camp. (Yep, that was me.)

My, how times change—and life goes on.

How about you? Did you adopt any new traditions this holiday that helped you get to know your family? Tell me about it. I’d love to know.

P.S. So excited! Last week, Rethinking Possible was named a finalist in the 12th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards in both the Inspirational and New Non-fiction categories.

P. P. S. Also last week, we have updated my website’s terms of service and privacy policy in compliance with EU’s new privacy law, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).