Family Tradition

My family has lots of traditions and they are all very important to me, and I think it's important to pass these traditions on to our kids. This weekend we went to my cousins to make apple butter. My kids are the 6th generation to be a part of this family tradition. We go down on Friday and peel apples all afternoon, and then Saturday morning at 6am the guys get the fire going and we cook the apples for about 5 1/2 hours until they become apple butter. Our family has a big copper kettle that we use to cook the apples. We also have a large wooden paddle to stir the apples with, and the pot has to constantly be stirred or the apples will stick and burn. The kids don't really understand the signifigance of what they are part of yet, but I hope that one day they will enjoy making apple butter as much as I do and pass this on to their kids.