It has been five years since we have been to Idaho to spend Thanksgiving with our extended families. My husband and I were both raised on farms in Burley, Idaho.
My husband started a new job a few years ago, and when you are the new guy, you have to work the holidays. Since our family tradition was to spend Thanksgiving in Idaho, we felt bad that we would not be able to go. We soon found out that it was not so bad having Thanksgiving within the walls of our own home.
We discovered that we enjoyed a slower pace instead of hurrying to get the car serviced and packed to go out of town. We found staying home gave us the opportunity to get to know each of our six children on a more intimate basis as we focused on them instead of our siblings and parents. We began a new tradition of eating dinner at 11:00 a.m. so we have more time to play games or to watch family matinee together. Movies are enjoyable for even mom since we don't have to worry about diapers, bottles or screaming babies.
Now five years has past since we have spent Thanksgiving with our extended family, we are looking forward to celebrating with grandmas and grandpas, aunts and uncles, and cousins. We welcome the opportunity to celebrate old Thanksgiving traditions: greater variety of food, sharing but really it's bragging about the accomplishment of each of our children, family basketball games at the church, or watching favorite football teams compete.
Next year we may choose to stay home for Thanksgiving, but it's nice to know that it can be a memorable holiday whether we are at home or away.