This is part of a sponsored collaboration with Latina Mom Bloggers and JCPenney.
However, all opinions expressed are my own.
Thanksgiving is almost here.
And I can’t help but think about what Thanksgiving was like last year and the year before that and when I was a kid. Memories flood my mind, and they’re good memories filled with recollections of happy times that I shared with my family when I was a kid and that I share with my own kids now.
What was Thanksgiving Like When You Were Growing Up?
I thought that today we could reminisce and talk about some of our favorite holiday family traditions growing up – the good ones and even the embarrassing ones, if you have any. π
I’ll go first.
As many of you know, I’m Mexican, and I remember my mom and dad always keeping Thanksgiving very traditional. We ate turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie.
Christmas, on the other hand, that’s when my parents would make loads of tamales, and we’d visit my cousins’ house for their yearly Christmas party. That was so much fun!
Going back to Thanksgiving growing up, I remember that after eating until we could no longer breathe without pain, we’d stay home (no shopping!) and play games, watch TV, or simply talk to each other.
Those were the days…
What Thanksgiving Traditions Do You Keep Now?
Now that I have my own family, I’ve tried to be more intentional each year about keeping Thanksgiving simple yet meaningful.
Here are 3 of our current Thanksgiving Traditions:
- We intentionally talk about what and whom we’re thankful for, and we have the kids write their thoughts down ahead of time.
- We make a craft or two.
- We choose one or two new recipes to try for Thanksgiving dinner.
I’m looking forward to keeping these traditions and building upon them for many, many years to come.
Real Latino Holidays
To give you an idea of what a Real Latino Holiday is like, watch this video. It definitely reminds me of what Christmas was like growing up! π
And now for the Giveaway!
Because JCPenney understands latinos and wants others to get a peek into what holidays are like for latino families, they’ve generously offered to give ONE of my readers a $50 JCPenney Gift Card!
How to Enter the Giveaway
Simply enter this giveaway using the Rafflecopter below. Iβve included options for extra entries, too!
This giveaway will run from now until β December 7th at 12:00am. The giveaway is open to US Residents only, ages 18 years old and above. The winner will be randomly chosen. I will promptly send the winner an email notifying them that theyβve won, and the winner must respond within 48hrs. of the giveawayβs end, otherwise I will have to draw a new winner.
Enter Below
a Rafflecopter giveaway
What’s one of your current or past favorite holiday traditions?
Every year my mom and I would take out a stuffed animal turkey from the cabinet where it was stored and put it as a centerpiece on the dining room table.
Our tradition is to put up the Christmas tree right after we’ve eaten our Thanksgiving meal.
Our family tradition for holidays is adding unique foods to the table. I usually bring a British dish, and my hubby brings an Asian/Mexican dish!
we each go around the table and say what we are thankful for
thanks for the giveaway! π
we don’t have family traditions but have a nice dinner at christmas
We had family game night every Christmas Eve and still do
We always have family get together dinners and serve sweet potato casserole from family recipe.
Each year we ride around and look at Christmas lights and decorations with my son!
putting up the tree the day after thanksgiving
Our tradition is to take holiday pictures of our family and make a photo calendar every year
One of my favorite traditions was eating Thanksgiving meal and watching cartoons and playing board games with the family.
One of my favorite traditions is playing games with my family.
When my kids were young we went to a turkey farm every Thanksgiving. We would see the turkeys, take a picture for our photo album and pick up a fresh turkey. We did this until they were too old to want to go.
My favorite tradition is the Thanksgiving Day Parade.
We always started decorating for the holidays together on Thanksgiving weekend.
One of our traditions is to go around the table saying one thing we are thankful for!
Eating tamales because making tamales would be a lie lol
Favorite Thanksgiving traditions are Family Gathering and the moment we say are prayers and why we are thankful at the dinner table, everyone cries tears of joy! Love it <3
Right after Thanksgiving dinner I’d take my trio to Santa’s Enchanted Forest. Beautiful Memories.
We go to Rockefeller center and ice skate, look at holiday windows, and spend time with relatives and eat a lot. Also love baking with my kids.
I can remember everyone at grandma’s and everyone bringing something to share π
Decorating the Xmas tree the day after Thanksgiving–we did it growing up, and I do it now with my kids!
My favorite tradition is: Posadas!
we go around the table at Thanksgiving and everyone makes a list of what they are thankful for!
Our traditional Thanksgiving meal is probably the most memorable to me.
pumpkin pie for breakfast on black Friday morning
christmas eve tradition– appetizers and classic christmas movies before going to a candlelight church service.
we love to bake cookies as a family
Like most families we are scattered across the country, so the extent of celebrating with many of our relatives is not much more than mailing them a present or card and maybe a phone call on Christmas day. For the members of the family that live in the area we all celebrate individually with out our households and then get together at one of our homes later in the day for a traditional family meal.
Whiele sitting at the table, each of us tell about something we are grateful for
thanks
Every year for Christmas Eve, my mom used to get pajamas for me and my sister. I am carrying on that tradition with my family π
We always get together as an extended family at my sis in laws house on Christmas eve for dinner and a gift exchange.
We have an ice cream sundae table for dessert
We wait for a snowy night around the holidays and ride around looking at the lights, so beautiful in the snow! π