Let The Holiday Traditions Begin!!

We have a LOT of holiday traditions, and they start with Thanksgiving. We are traveling to our family vacation home (not NEARLY as ritzy as it sounds, but fun) to meet up with my sister's family, my brother, and my parents. We have been spending Thanksgiving there for about five years now. My dad BBQ's a turkey, and my hubby cooks one in the outside "pit" - and they are both delicious. Our girls are old enough to help in the kitchen with making pies, and all the other preparations. Kaity actually LOVES to peel potatoes. It's all just great fun. I am blessed with a great family.

Another great Thanksgiving tradition is when my husband so eloquently announces "everyone with hangy-down parts in the kitchen!" - the boys do the dishes Thanksgiving night! Yep - we're a class act, my family.

Our newest tradition is Thanksgiving weekend "spa night." We save a cucumber and get it cold in the fridge and cut slices for our eyes, and lay around the TINY living room, all the girls with cukes on their eyes, my youngest niece giving hand massages, and we even get my dad in on the action, cutting fresh slices and keeping 'em coming. Man, I can't wait.

We play all the board games, read, hang out by the fire pit at night, and KNIT! We knit while the boys go off into the cold, riding mini bikes or target shooting in the desert, or whatever else they find to do. This year we're gonna teach my sister to knit. I met up with her today at my not-so-local yarn store and we picked out some yarn for her to start a scarf. While I was there I bought some Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino to make my Branching Out scarf. I thought I'd better save my lace weight until I know what I'm doing. Besides, there is so much of that stuff I have enough for a shawl, which is what I'd really like to save it for. This Debbie Bliss stuff is nice and soft!! I also picked up some Baby Alpaca, bulky weight, in black for D#2, who is gonna give knitting another try and wanted something "super soft." Yah - those baby alpacas are the softest!

Here's my knitting getting ready to be packed for the trip. Get me - three projects! I plan on finishing my Wendy/Heather Essential Stripe tub sweater, and I HAVE to get some work done on my "secret Christmas project," and I thought I might work on my Branching Out scarf. Three projects - what am I thinking!

Also packed will be all our Christmas music for the ride home (actually, I loaded it all on my iPod today). Our rule is no Christmas music or movies until the day after Thanksgiving. So, for the entire 4-hour ride home, Christmas music will be blasting in the VW Beetle. Everything from Il Divo's new Christmas album to Brian Setzer's swing Christmas, along with the classics, you know, Burl Ives, Perry Como, etc. We have a LOT of Christmas music - more than enough to fill a 4-hour trip.

So, this will be my last post for a few days. Hopefully I'll have some knitting to show you when I get back. I pray you all have a blessed and wonderful Thanksgiving with your families!