Thanksgiving This Year

Thanksgiving Dinner with Family

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, although only second to Christmas. I like Thanksgiving not only because it gives me a 4-day weekend to spend with family, but also because I think it is such a great tradition that I wish we had also practiced back in the Philippines.

Thanksgiving Day is a harvest festival celebrated primarily in the US and Canada. Traditionally, it is a time to give thanks for the harvest and express gratitude in general. While perhaps religious in origin, Thanksgiving is now primarily identified as a secular holiday. (Source: Wikipedia)

While I think we should all give thanks everyday or every chance we get, I think it is also nice that we have a holiday like this to remind us to step back for a little bit, get our minds off work or day-to-day routine, think about our blessings and celebrate them and be thankful for them!

In the past, I'd spend Thanksgiving traveling--seeing places I have never been to or going back to places that I like. But as the years went by, we've shifted to spending Thanksgiving at home with family, friends and loved ones, and I think we're going to carry on this tradition in the years to come.

This year, I hosted Thanksgiving and I decided to keep it really small and intimate by having just my siblings and their families. It was great! The day was more relaxed and I didn't feel the pressure that I'd normally feel when hosting holiday gatherings. Besides, it was also Lucas' first Thanksgiving and we wanted to focus on making this meaningful for him--whatever that means, since he won't remember this anyway.

Lucas' First Thanksgiving

I marinated my turkey a day in advance so on Thanksgiving morning, I just threw it into the oven and spent the rest of the morning playing with Lucas and Nathan, Facebook-ing and texting some friends.

My table was already set as early as 2 o'clock in the afternoon. By 3 o'clock, the Turkey was done and my brother and his wife arrived shortly after.

I made mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy and green bean casserole while catching up with my brother. By 5:30, dinner was ready!

It was all-in-all a great dinner and a lovely celebration. We spent the rest of the evening just hanging out and catching up while also watching CNN Heroes where our fellow countryman Efren Penaflorida was honored as Hero of the Year! That was a proud moment for us and just another thing to be thankful for!

Surprisingly, we didn't feel tired and didn't want to retire for the night. So we decided to head down to the mall for some midnight shopping and check out what Black Friday sale was like this time of year.

Hope everyone else who celebrated Thanksgiving had a good one!