Drawing for Chores
One of the unique things that we do at our Thanksgiving celebration is to draw for chores. Mom and Grandma spend all day cooking so it's only appropriate that others help with setting the table, clearing the...
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The Family Portrait
My parents have been sending out Christmas cards with our family photograph in for as long as I can remember. It's always been a tradition that we pose for the picture after our Thanksgiving meal...
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The Day After Thanksgiving Shopping
A big tradition among the women in our family is to go to bed early on Thanksgiving so we can all work up at the crack of down to hit all the early bird specials that the stores are running the day after...
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Thanksgiving Turkey Trot
Every Thanksgiving I, along with several members of my family, run the local Turkey Trot race. We follow-up the road race with a big family breakfast of cranberry pancakes, sausage and eggs then we start to make...
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Thanksgiving Tablecloth
About five years ago my Mom started a new Thanksgiving tradition. She bought a white tablecloth and fabric markers. Each year everyone in attendance at the Thanksgiving meal signs the tablecloth and writes...
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Thanksgiving Day Parade
Our family has developed a ritual that makes every Thanksgiving Day special. While the turkey bakes, we all gather round the television and tune into the famous Macy's Day Thanksgiving Parade. We wait to see all...
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A Good Old Game of Thanksgiving Football
Our family is ultra-competitive. For the last ten or more years we gather at my Grandma's house for Thanksgiving dinner, but even more importantly, we play the annual Robie Family Thanksgiving Day Football...
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Serving Thanksgiving Dinner
When my kids were teenagers we started a tradition in our family that involves giving back. Every year we help serve dinner at one of our local food pantries. It's a great experience and it's really opened up...
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The Thanksgiving Platter
My Mother inherited a beautiful handpainted turkey platter from my Grandmother and we use the same platter to serve the Thanksgiving turkey each year. The platter is only used once a year, but is a cherished part...
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Thanksgiving Prayer
Our family developed a tradition several years ago where we take turns saying the Thanksgiving prayer. We select the person that will say the prayer at the dinner the year before. We've had everyone from...
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Giving Thanks
Our family takes turns going around the table at Thanksgiving dinner and saying what we are thankful for. We each start our small speech with "I am thankful for...". Some people choose to mention one big thing from...
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Drawing Names for Christmas
It may be a small tradition, but one of the things we do each year when we're gathered for Thanksgiving dinner is draw names for our Christmas gift exchange. We get out a big bowl from the kitchen cupboard...
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Gifts to the Food Pantry
We have a large family gathering each year for Thanksgiving at my In-laws house. To gain entrance to house, each person is expected to bring a donation for the local food pantry. You can choose to bring a...
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Thanksgiving Day Cribbage Tournament
My family is big into playing cribbage. At many family gatherings, you'll see a competitive game of cribbage going on. On Thanksgiving with the entire family gathered we set up an entire cribbage...
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An Open Door Policy
One of the traditions that we have for Thanksgiving is that we've implemented an "Open Door Policy". That means that you can bring any guests (within reason) to our family gathering. Generally we have three...
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