Happy November 1st!

I'll tell you the truth, I'm glad Halloween is over. Never been a favorite holiday and now we get down to the good stuff! Penny at Lavender Hill is asking about our favorite Thanksgiving traditions so I thought I would share mine. Some of my favorite Thanksgiving memories are from when the girls were little. We still host the holiday at our house every year but when they were little EVERYONE was there, sometimes right down to aunts uncles & cousins and sometimes their guests! Now heres the thing, our dining room is 12x14, not huge. We have had up to 23 people around our humble table on these occasions and it was easier when the children were little because you could squeeze them here and there and at the childrens table. Not so easy now that they are adult size! We are fortunate to have a beautiful antique table that stretches to 104" long, and we put it corner to corner in the room. We always have everyone bring their favorite dish but Earl does the turkey & stuffing (cornbread with pecans and dried cranberries) and his specialty pumpkin/ chocolate swirl cheesecake. We have pumpkin and pecan pie too and his sister Karen brings home baked rolls and we always have too much to eat and tons left over. When the kids were little we did Christmas crafts with them after dinner and then all sat around talking and trying not to fall asleep. it is always a fun family day and we dont care if we are all a little crowded because we love each other and we love our kids:>) Can you see why I love it? It is a great time to be thankful for all we have and our wonderful families and a great kick-off to the best season of all!
On another note, tomorrow Melissa at the Inspired Room is hosting a satellite party for The Blissful and hosting a great surprise give-away! Run over there and check it out because it promises to be a fun and beautiful start to the holidays! I know I'm going:>)