Last week I posted about my Christmas Traditions since growing up. Today, I thought I would tell a little bit about how they were growing up.
Thanksgiving
As a child, we always rotated going to my grandmothers' houses. My mom is one of 9 children and her parent's house was tiny. There was always a table for the food and then a table for the desserts. There was never enough room at the table to eat so you just ate where you could find a spot. Then the kids would go outside and play and as we got older they would take us to Hill Top to climb - a small hill in the area and we would climb it and work off some of the food so we could go and eat more. Most of the men would go hunting early Thanksgiving morning and early evening. My Dad's family was quite smaller. He is one of 4 with there being a 12 yr age difference between he and his oldest sister(who passed away this August). My dad is the only living survivor of his immediate family and is having a very hard time with it. The holidays mean more to him than ever this year. We would go to my Granny Snead's and she would have everything cooked and it was always so good. We would play Rummy and marbles and just have a great time.

For the last two years, I cooked Thanksgiving and my exhusband's family would come in from Illinois and we would have a feast. His house was big enough that we could all fit around the dining room table. This year is going to be odd, but for once my mom will have my brother and I both home for Thanksgiving. My brother and I have both went through divorces this year and he's back home from Oklahoma. My mom is going to have all 4 of her grandchildren at her house for Thanksgiving and I'm sure it will be a lot of fun with the little ones around.

My daughter and I always try to find a new game to play for Thanksgiving and this year we have two - chicken foot with dominoes and pass the pig. We are excited about getting everyone to play it with us. We also go and see a movie every Thanksgiving night. We have done this for the last 7 yrs and it's a great way to end the day.

Christmas
Christmas was the same at my mom's family as Thanksgiving. It was crazy and crowded but so much fun. Sometimes we went late Christmas eve night and sometimes we went early Christmas morning. When I was little, I always had a pretty Christmas dress for Christmas. We spent Christmas eve with Granny Snead and the Snead family. My Granny Snead would always have a ham cooked and dressing and all the fixing with it. It was just always a great relaxing time. Now on my dad's side of the family we have a dinner at a local restaurant and all get together before Christmas. When we would be leaving my Granny's house we would stop by some friends of my parents (Buster and Opal) and visit with them. They would always have the news on for me so that I could see where Santa was at.

We will probably spend Christmas at my parent's house this year, but my mom's family is hoping to find a place that is big enough for all of them to get together for Christmas next year.