Do you always go to Aunt Susie's house on the Sunday before Thanksgiving? Does your family get into a big Monopoly tournament after dinner?
For us we have two big Thanksgiving dinners on Thursday. My Dad's family always has a big traditional dinner at 1:00PM. All my aunts and grandmother (and my mom too) all pitch in to make various Thanksgiving dishes in abundance for us all to enjoy.
The only problem with that is that at 4:00PM Matt's family has a dinner too. So we spend a little time at my grandmothers, then go straight to Matt's aunt's house.
We usually try to pace ourselves with the eating. Both sides have traditional foods- turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, dinner rolls, sweet potatoes, stuffing, pumpkin pie, etc. They are each prepared a little differently. For instance I always eat green bean casserole at my grandma's and the stuffing at Matt's aunt's. But I definitely have a bit of turkey at both places.
My family doesn't really have any interested traditions. It's all about the food and visiting with the large family (my dad's the oldest of 7, plus spouses, children, their spouses, and now our children).
Matt's family used to get to his aunt's early and play board games with their cousins. And after the meal is done and everything is cleared away they break out the UNO deck (or two depending on how many play). We've had a huge table full of people playing one giant game of UNO. It's a lot of fun.
My mom's family also has a traditional Thanksgiving meal, but they usually have it the Sunday before Thanksgiving (today). But we often have our own obligations here with our church and things. So we don't often make it to share Thanksgiving with them.
It's a little different, since we are one of the farthest away from everyone who comes to these dinners. Sometimes it's an inconvenience (my grandmother's today) for us to go. And it's hard for me to help bring food to the dinners (like there's any chance there won't be enough...ha!). I feel guilty about that, but I usually bring a plate of cookies or something like that. They travel easier, and I prefer baking anyway. So, that's my contribution.
How about you? Will you go away for Thanksgiving? Stay home and cook yourself? Help with a family meal?
Any fun Thanksgiving day traditions? I'd love to hear them.
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4 comments:
We usually just get together for a big meal and family time. This year it's just us. We're 8+ hrs from the nearest relative so...
We don't have any set traditions, and we usually do our own thing and invite anyone from the family who wants to join us. This year my brother and his family are coming in and my folks, grandparents,and my brother's family are joining us at our land for a camping (RV) Thanksgiving. We have done this several times and it is really great. I guess the only real tradition I have is with my mom. No matter if we are together or not, the day after Thanksgiving we watch "A Christmas Carol" starring Alistair Sim. We will be lucky enough this year to watch it together :)
We visit our kin in Indiana when we can--but, like Devan, it's an 8 hour drive to the closest family, so we don't do it every year.
The years we don't go, we have our own dinner at home and just hang out. Last year, we had dinner with the neighbors which was nice.
I begged to go to Indiana this year as my brother will be in town, and I haven't seen him in two years. However, we can't leave until Thursday since I have to work Wed. And we're going to my Dad's house which is actually 10 hours away. And...my husband is insisting we head back on Saturday. And...now all the fun is GONE out of this trip, and I'm wishing I'd never said anything about wanting to see my brother in the first place! Right now a quiet dinner at home (or with the neighbors) is sounding much more appealing!
Since both of our parents live in the same town, we do half the day with my parents and then half the day with his. We are stuffed by the end of the day, that's for sure!
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