Thanksgiving Traditions

I love to learn the Thanksgiving traditions of my friends and to see how different or the same they are. My Thanksgiving has pretty much been the same my whole life and I loved it. I have continued the tradition to my family.

Every year my mom would do Thanksgiving really early around 12 or 1. She would get up super early to put the turkey in the oven. We always had the traditional Thanksgiving food and we would just eat it through the day. My mom's reasoning for this was because every year she went Black Friday shopping. Back in the day though, the stores actually opened on Friday around 5 but the time got earlier and earlier. My  mom would always take a short nap before she would go because she got up super earlier to start our Thanksgiving feast. Those naps started going away when stores started opening up earlier. Of course we would watch football and hang out with friends and family. We would go visit our grandparents as well.

Now that I have my own family and live out of state I like to do the same as my mom. I cook dinner really early and we eat throughout the day. I also go Black Friday shopping. This is the first year I will not be cooking or going shopping. We will be having dinner/lunch at my sister in law's house and watching the game there. I did not really see anything that was worth taking my 30 week pregnant self Black Friday Shopping for. The only major thing I wanted to get was on sale at Target and it was only 11 dollars more than the Black Friday deal so I figured it would save me the trouble and bought it.

Now I know a lot of people do not believe in Black Friday shopping because it is on a holiday that should be spent with family. The thing is, when my mom did it she was with family. There would be a big group of them. My aunts, sister, and close family friends would all go sit outside the store and drink coffee and hot chocolate and people watch and visit. They always met new friends and had funny stories when they came home. My sister was the only one allowed to go since she was older.

Please let me know what your traditions are and how you like to spend your Thanksgiving.

Keep a look out for the winners to the hair bow giveaway.