Thanksgiving Traditions

This is a personal post about my family and our holiday traditions. I think Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday, I love the anticipation of Christmas and the decorating. I love the delicious food, making winter vacation plans, and anticipating holiday parties. I love officially being in the middle of baking season and that you haven't gone broke (yet) buying gifts. It's all about family (and great shopping deals). Some years we don't have Thanksgiving dinner with the entire family because they are visiting and eating with their inlaws. But our after dinner Thanksgiving routine is always the same. This year I am hosting a small dinner with 4 family members on Thanksgiving Day and my mom will be preparing for the large group on Saturday afternoon. The men do the typical napping / sports routine while the women and children plan to see an evening movie. It's always a Christmas film, this year we'll be seeing Scrooge with Jim Carrey. My town is known for some pretty amazing Christmas lights which are lit on Thanksgiving night. We take the kids for the train ride through the lights, a ride on the carousel, and a look through the Old Fashioned Candy Store - I must get my hands on a bag of chocolate covered peanuts. Then we rush home and dress in some comfortable clothes so we can shop the midnight sales at the local outlet mall. From there we usually go directly to wait in line for the department stores at the mall to open for their early bird specials (5 or 6 am). Shopping is usually over by noon on Black Friday and we can finally go home and get some sleep. If you're reading this and you have any family holiday traditions please comment, I'd love to know how everyone else celebrates!