I love Thanksgiving. It is the only day of the year that all of my family is together for a meal. I know some people have large extended families, and they may feel the same way...but to me this day is extra meaningful. My family holiday is a small scale. It is only my parents, brothers and sisters and their families, and me and my children. Even though we all live in the same town, (with the exception of my brother) we barely ever see each other. We all live full busy lives, that offer little free time to visit with each other just for fun. The cooking always begins at 6am, because my parents like to eat our feast around 2pm. Us kids all start arriving for "the festivities" around 11am. While the food is cooking we all hang out, watch the Macys parade, and enjoy each others company. Once the delicious food is served, we all over eat to a point near exploding. We all then move to the big comfy living room (the same one we played in as children) and play family games and watch movies. Some of us fall asleep, and of course get harassed by our siblings. None of us ever want to leave, because we know we won't share this time again untill the following year.
I value this family time so much. This year I told my mother that when the time comes that she is no longer able to prepare such a big feast, that I will be happy to carry on the tradition. I will come to our childhood home and do it the way that she has always done, so our family can look forward to "The Thanksgiving Experience" for years to come. I would consider it an honor to my family to be the one who keeps this tradition alive.
I value this family time so much. This year I told my mother that when the time comes that she is no longer able to prepare such a big feast, that I will be happy to carry on the tradition. I will come to our childhood home and do it the way that she has always done, so our family can look forward to "The Thanksgiving Experience" for years to come. I would consider it an honor to my family to be the one who keeps this tradition alive.
I know that most people probably enjoy Christmas, but I swear nobody loves it like I do. I have Christmas traditions that I have started with my own children, that I intend to keep. I hope that they will be carried on for generations to come. About a week before Christmas we start baking cookies. Not just a few cookies, but like 1000 cookies! Christmas Eve is my very favorite day with my family. In the morning we deliver the cookies we baked to all of the special people in our life. We then spend the rest of the day cooking a huge feast, just for us. I do it because my family means the world to me, and the kids love watching and helping me cook. We dress our little kitchen up so fancy, candles and all the other decor you might find in a fine dining restaurant. After are fabulous meal everybody helps clean up the kitchen, and then we all snuggle up on the couch to watch a family movie that we all agree on. After that everybody puts on their new Christmas jammies and I read "Twas' the Night Before Christmas". They all laugh at me because I know it by heart. The kids all go to bed, and Rob and I watch one of the classic Christmas movies. We then fall asleep, anxious to see what Santa may leave us under our Christmas Tree. To me, it is truly "a wonderful life."