Pond Jump 2010...Brrrrrrr!

So every year my husband's {awesome} family has a tradition the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Have you ever heard of the "Polar Plunge"?Granted, the "Schotter Pond Jump" isn't quite as extreme as the Polar Plunge, however, I can tell you that the water is FREEZING!

So, since I've known my husband {2004}, I've participated every year but one {I had a valid excuse. I was to have my wisdom teeth taken out that next week and didn't' want to reschedule because I was sick!} . The tradition started the year that my MIL and FIL built their cabin and dug their pond {I was not in the picture yet.}. My lovely hubby and his father {for some reason I cannot remember} decided that it would be a good idea to jump into the pond...just for fun...in the freezing cold. Over the years there have been different amounts of family/friends jumping. It is quite the event...lots of picture taking...video...and AWARDS. First let me give you pictures from years past.

Here is a group picture from a few years ago {please pardon my closed eyes and yes, I'm the only girl}.

Here is the picture from the actual jump that year...{did I mention it is REALLY cold? That is me gasping for air as I come out of the water. The cold water literally sucks the air right out of your lungs...again, why do we do this?:0)}

And so...for this year...here is the group {it was a small group this year...however last year's group was huge...can't find the pictures...sorry!}:
AND....the jump. Now, this picture was created by my husband's {super talented} aunt. She creates a family calendar each year with pictures from the jump. Chad and I were featured because...we'll you'll see why. :0)
{If you look closely in the picture above you can see the "dry Mandy" at the right edge of the picture...thinking, "and why am I doing this???"}

Alright...so Chad decided to go with some weird jump {it looks fun right?} and for my jump...well, if you notice in the picture I'm already wet. Why? Because this is my second jump {errr...belly flop}. Yes, we all jumped in twice and let me tell you...the second jump is a LOT colder than the first!

After the jump we all hurry inside my MIL and FIL's house to drink hot chocolate and WATCH THE VIDEO OF COURSE! Once we have watched it...a few times...sometimes in slow-mo...it's time to decided on who gets the awards...yes, you heard right, awards. There is a male and female award. I won the female award by default...AND was told I would have won it anyway for my {oh so lovely} belly flop. Chad won the men's award for his jump shown in the picture above. We will keep these lovely trophies until next year and happily hand them off to the next winners. :0)
So...do ya'll think we're crazy? Maybe we are...but we have oh, so much fun doing it. It's a fun family tradition that I'm super happy to be a part of. Until next year... :0)

So friends, do you and your family have a crazy/wacky/fun family tradition?

XOXO Mandy :0)