Thanksgiving Tradition

At our class at church on Tuesday, the opening question was, " What is your favorite Thanksgiving tradition?" My first thought was, "I don't think we really have any..." I made an effort to think about it more this weekend and realized there are a lot of things we do that could be considered tradition.

Thanksgiving has always been kind of special to Nick and me. It was our first big holiday that we spent together... and it was just the two of us. Nick was living in Florida and I was traveling for Tri Delta, so I spent my break in Ft. Lauderdale and we set out to make a huge turkey dinner in our shorts and flip flops. We had so much fun! We hosted again for my parents and some friends when we lived in Indianapolis and then have consistently had it for the past three years.

A few years ago, Nick and I decided that Thanksgiving would be our "no travel" holiday. We'd made turkeys in the past, so the thought of all the cooking wasn't really intimidating, we love to have our family and friends over, so hosting such an event wasn't a deterrent. Why not?

Nick & his turkey

Nick makes the turkey, everyone brings something to add to the feast, and I usually do the rest of the sides. This was finally the year where I think we have it down to a routine. I wasn't stressed about getting everything ready and it all turned out great.

Maura & Will... just 3 weeks apart!

Grandma Selma & Nick

My parents, Nick's parents, Nick's sister- Kiley, her hubby- Jim, baby Maura and Nick's grandma all made the trip to help us celebrate. It was so awesome to spend the day with family and we were so excited to have Grandma Selma join the festivities this year! It's always an open invitation, so if you find yourself needing a place to go next year, let us know... we'd love to have you!

My grammie's china & great-aunt's silver

It's also the one time of year that I pull out all of my china and silver. My grammie gave me her gorgeous china and it's perfect for Thanksgiving. My great-aunt, Anora, gave me her silver & it brings back lots of memories of visiting her in the nursing home each time I get it out. How awesome to sit at a table with such history! I did forget my chargers this year... less dishes to worry about, I guess:)

My dad & Jim testing their skills at Mario Kart

After we all stuffed ourselves silly, the boys (minus Nick) napped and watched football, while the girls & Nick cleaned up... how did this become a tradition, I ask?!? I think I'll be raising my boys to do dishes!:) We worked off some of the calories by breaking out the Wii and getting a good laugh.

Friday, we continued our "traditions," with my mom & I doing some shopping and then doing something to get in the Christmas spirit as a family. The past two years, we've gone to Jolly Holiday Lights & checked out all of the light displays, but this year it was so nice and warm (almost 50!), that we decided to do something outside. We went to the first annual tree lighting downtown. I think it was a little less-exciting than expected, but still a good time. Not sure Jack would agree, since he kept saying that the fireworks were hurting his ears and scared him (I think he said this each time a firework went off...). Too bad I forgot the camera to commemorate this new tradition!:)

What an awesome weekend spent with family, eating lots of good food, and making more Thanksgiving memories!!