Traditions.

Thanksgiving is a big deal in my family. We are a family of tradition... so much in fact, that years ago we started a list of traditions. Each Thanksgiving weekend, we make it a point to continue the traditions. Some are obvious (e.g. eat turkey, give thanks) and some are more obscure. Some are from when we used to have Thanksgiving at Grandma's and some are new now that it's at our house. Some traditions are retired after they are no longer in effect and new traditions are considered an official tradition after taking place three years in a row. These are what make Thanksgiving special. Here is the list:

1. Going to the park and playing tennis, football and using the playground.

2. Giving thanks.

3. Using the ping pong table for the Thanksgiving dinner table (retired Nov. 1999).

4. Going to Rancho Grande on Friday night (it used to be Grandma pays, now is it Cindy pays?)

5. Fireballs after Rancho Grande.

6. Going to some kind of rec center and playing knock-out, half court competition, and swimming.

7. Playing electronic games.

8. Chili dinner on Wednesday night.

9. Mary bringing salsa or anything hot from Texas.

10. Swinging on the rope in the backyard (retired Nov. 2001).

11. Brother-in-laws and boys washing dishes and cleaning up at least one meal during the weekend.

12. Plugged up toilet.

13. Playing Nertz.

14. Sleeping in the pit or dungeon.

15. Playing Hearts.

16. Playing football in the backyard.

17. Dave reads the tradition list at Rancho Grande.

18. Going to the movies.

19. Shopping.

20. Exchanging Christmas lists.

21. Ladell carving the turkey.

22. Turkey dinner with ALL the family (34 people this year!)

23. Eating Chex Mix.

24. Celebrating Mary, Ladell, and Dave's birthdays.

25. Doing a piñata provided by Mary.

26. Doing puzzles.

27. Giving out Christmas tree ornaments.

28. Coffeecake and cinnamon rolls.

29. Being with a wonderful, loving family.

I'm sure we have some more... but these are the ones that were on the list as of 5 years ago which is the most update version I have. Good times... I'm pretty lucky.