Happy Holidays (Thanksgiving..and now Christmas)

Welcome back! I hope your Thanksgiving was one filled with many blessings.
And I hope your team won this past weekend. Mine didn't....but I can and will congratulate Auburn on their win.
We put our Christmas tree up Sunday evening, decked the halls. I will share more of that in the coming days/weeks, but I did want to share with you today some pictures from our Thanksgiving Day Celebration. It is one of my most favorite days because it is steeped in such wonderful traditions (both new and old). We celebrate in Glencoe, Alabama at my cousins house (Michael & his wife Christie). This is their second year to host, after the reins have been passed down to them by Michael's mother & father (Glenda & Johnny) who has hosted for more years than I can recall.
We have a whole new generation of precious cousins who enjoy one another and look forward to a day of playing and creating memories for a life time. Here is a picture of that younger generation...

















My son, "Bama" came home from his second year at the University of Alabama. With him he brought one of his roommates who hails from Kentucky. Bama and his roommate left Thanksgiving night and made their way back to Tuscaloosa for the Iron Bowl. Here is a picture of my son sharing some laughs with his Uncle Tony.

















The home of my cousins is only a couple years old. They built it themselves. It is a perfect home for entertaining. All of the windows an doors slide open to create an open air home, and the outside living area is just that, an extension of the home. Here my cousin and sister in law enjoy sitting my the outdoor firepit. It was to hot for a fire during the day, but at night, when the temperature cooled we fired it up and roasted marshmallows.





















And of course, there was a lot of eating. I believe my cousin told me that we had fifty four people dining that day. Every family brought a dish or two to share....there was plenty of good southern cooking!

We played dirty Santa, a traditional game each year. This way everyone leaves with a new Christmas decoration for their home. The kids have their own dirty Santa game, separate from the adults. The kids bring snowglobes, decorations, stuffed Christmas toys.
We also have the traditional Turkey Toss Celebration.
Yes....you heard me right, a Turkey Toss. And yes, it is real turkeys we throw. Frozen and packaged, but alas real. The children and senior divisions throw Cornish hens, the adults (men's division and women's divisions, respectively)....a frozen 9 lb bird. It is serious business, for their is a prize money pot and the coveted Turkey Toss Trophy to win. Each throw cost a dollar and there is no limits on throws.
Young and old alike, men, women and children.....The farthest throw wins the pot.

















































What differs from the adults and children divisions is the prize. Children do not have to pay to play. They each get two throws and every child gets a prize. This year prizes were created by my cousins girlfriend, Patricia. She painted small buckets and filled them with goodies. The children also received a bag of trail mix....prize enough for them!
































After every child has their prize and is off to playing...





























Then and only then are adult winners awarded prizes....

There is a marshmallow war, kids vs adults and every man for himself....






















And after all the battle marshmallows have been gathered and thrown away, then we roast some more and enjoy fireside chats and stories the remainder of the evening.


















And we wait feverishly until next Thanksgiving when we can do it all over again. It is a full fun filled day. One that I will always cherish in memory and take pride that my children will do the same and hold those family moments dear.
Here is one last look at some of the memories in a slide show (below), before I go, I want to ask you to join me back here all week! And don't forget the return of Thrifty Thursday this week. All this month, I want to challenge you to Christmas themed Thrifty Thursday!!!!

Thank you for stopping by Bloggeritaville today, my friend!!!
I hope to see you tomorrow!
((HUGS))