Happy Monday friends! Yesterday we celebrated our first Thanksgiving with our family. We seriously had such a great time and ate wayyy to much. But it was oh so good and oh so worth it! Today on the blog we wanted to share what Thanksgiving means to us. And on top of that, to add a little fun we wanted to share just a few of our many favorite out takes!

Thoughts On Thanksgiving

November 1st rolls around, the Halloween decorations come down, and decorating for Christmas begins. We love this time of year! Even though our house looks like we have skipped over Thanksgiving, it is the farthest from the truth. Thanksgiving is a big Holiday for our family! In fact it’s so big, we celebrate it twice! Yep, that is right. We get together with 50 + of our family on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, just so we can celebrate it with my 98 year old Grandma; who still wants all of her kids, grandchildren, and great grandchildren together under one roof!! On the actual date, our gathering is MUCH smaller with just our immediate family.

(when you’re trying to get an action shot of your bell sleeves and the picture just turns out looking like I am about to leap)

What Thanksgiving Means to Katie

I have always loved Thanksgiving! As far back as I can remember, I loved getting together with all of my cousins at my Grandma’s house. My mom is the oldest of 6 kids and I was blessed with growing up in the same town with my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Our gatherings have always been big, loud, and super casual. One of the greatest things about my family is they’re always so accepting of just adding one more plate, so friends were always invited! 

As an adult, I still joke that I am not old enough to cook Thanksgiving! My mom is the most amazing cook and I am blessed to have her still cooking for all of us.

(this was right when we first started blogging! I knew this picture would come in handy one day)

What Thanksgiving Means to Lydia

I love this time of year because I get to spend EVEN more time with my family. They truly are some of my greatest friends! I love hanging out with my aunts, uncles, and cousins. I have said it before and I will say it again, my family seriously has the best food on Thanksgiving!! One of my favorites has got to be my mom’s sweet potato casserole. At our huge family get together each family brings a side dish to contribute, and we always bring sweet potatoes. Actually funny story, one year someone else made sweet potatoes and we still talk about how disappointed we were in how they tasted that year, haha! 

(we seriously kept trying and trying to get a profile picture together.. let’s just say it took quite a while)

Time With Family

It seems as everyone gets older, the busier they get. Even though all of our extended family lives in the STL area we don’t all get together except for a few times each year. Thanksgiving time allows us time to gather together, catch up, and spend some quality time with the ones we love!!

Time to Slow Down and Enjoy

The holidays can truly be a hectic time of year. On Thanksgiving Day things just slow down a little and allows us to spend some quality time with our family.

Choosing Gratitude

One of our favorite traditions for the past four years is participating in a Gratitude Celebration. The night before Thanksgiving we gather at a church with loved ones and spend a couple of hours sharing what we are grateful for. We all have trials and tribulations in our lives – nobody has a perfect life. This evening of fellowship reminds us that even in dark times there is so much to be grateful for. This celebration is a perfect way to start the Holiday season with a full heart!

(another out take of trying to get a profile pic!! BUT, this day we actually did end up getting one, yay)

Family Traditions

It is no surprise that we love to shop! For several years, we get up early and hit the stores on Black Friday. We definitely don’t get up at the crack of dawn and hit Target at 4:00 am, but we do head out around 7:00, and hit the malls looking for great deals! And speaking of Target, we do go, but we go on Thanksgiving night with our family! It just has become something fun for us! We usually check out the ads before hand, make a list, then stand in line with everyone else, and wait for the store to open. I don’t know what it is about it, but we have so much fun chatting with people in line, spending time together, and then shopping!

Feeling Blessed

From the bottom of our hearts we want to thank you for all the love and support you have given us! We love this blogging world, it has introduced us to so many amazing people out in the world that in any other circumstances we may have never “met”! We have beautiful relationships with people who we consider great friends now! We wish you a blessed Thanksgiving with whomever you spend your day with! We seriously love you all!

What Does Thanksgiving Mean to You?

Let us know what Thanksgiving means to you! We love hearing from each and every one of you. 

See also: Casual Thanksgiving Day Outfits

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave