I am very excited to be going to my oldest DD's boyfriend's parents' house this year. Although we have met the dad, it will be the first time meeting the rest of the family. Each of DD's boyfriend's siblings has also invited parents and siblings. Twenty plus people!

I am happy to be a guest this year. Happy to make a few desserts to bring. Happy that I don't have to fret about all the other details.

From what I understand, this family likes to cook and entertain.

I have to be honest. I never really enjoyed making big holiday meals. But, I am the only one who can do it on both sides of my family so it was always my responsibility. I am so looking forward to meeting the family that is so important to my daughter all of these years.

We generally join several couples and their children in a nearby city, but this year, we will be joining a different friend in a nearby state. She will be alone this year for various reasons and I don't get to see her as often as I would like, so I think we have a pleasant visit.

Our first Thanksgiving without Dad. My mom’s sister was invited to her DIL’s parents for dinner, but she also wants to have Thanksgiving with my mom, so I think we will bring a hot tray and turkey luncheon to mom’s suite at memory care. My brother and my son will come up from the city, and I suppose we should find something to do late in the afternoon. If it’s nice I’d love for us to go for a walk in one of the forest preserves, but I’m not sure the rest will want to.

Bpath, I'm sorry about your dad and I hope this TG when you think about him it gives you a lot of smiles.

We're going next door to DSs house. He loves to cook and makes the best fried turkey, even though I silently freak out every time he lowers that thing in the oil. lol

We stay home. Just us, MIL, and the cats, so kind of quiet but still a lot of work! I am under the weather this weekend but I should be fine by Wed-Thurs.

We were supposed to host DH's twin sister, her BFF and father and our niece but just found out late last night they will not be making the drive. The upside is I hadn't shopped yet. So..... I really don't know what we're doing!

Me, my daughter, her dog, and my cats at my house. Very simple, very us.

My DH is traveling a few hours away to help his mother move into her new home and DD is staying in NY so I will be home alone. Blissfully home alone. It will certainly be different but I am okay with that this year. December will be very busy with travel to NY, parties, and hosting a holiday brunch for our family so I am thankful for a little down time just for me :).

We will be in Maine and have a good sized group. Maine is more convenient for several of our guests, and I love being up there. I wish it would snow there like it has in the past at ThxG but right now it is saying 50 and rain, boo hoo.

But ... my kitchen in Connecticut is just so wonderful and incredibly spacious. It is a whopping 30 feet by 14 feet, not including the adjoining breakfast room and the pantry. It has two islands, a marble one for baking and a metal topped one that is impervious to everything. I have 3 ovens and 5 burners. (I am already missing my kitchen in advance of downsizing!) It is a vastly superior place to make a large meal for a group, so I wish we were hosting here and next year I will prob switch back.

In addition, we will be in Phila next Mon and Tues w DD1, and we cannot leave for Maine until Wed. afternoon. Good thing we eat ThxG the same time as any other dinner; 6pm+

In that vein, I have ordered three things from a local caterer in Maine. An organic brined sliced cook turkey, gravy, AND mashed potatoes. That should free up my kitchen some. I am also making ham, stuffing, baked sweet potatoes, crudite and salad, pumpkin custards and deep dish apple cobbler. Starting my shopping list today; I have a color coded spreadsheet I've used for a few years now!

We're going to Cathedral City, and we will go on Thursday, to avoid the Wednesday traffic. Kevin is taking Monday and Tuesday off, and so we will have plenty of time to hang the paintings we took there last week. I have already made and frozen some food that I want to take there, but I will also make some dressing before we go. Mostly we will be eating out, as we do not do that very often. There is an Egyptian restaurant near our house that we like and a Greek restaurant in downtown CC next to Revivals Thrift Store, where we plan to buy additional bathing suits. The thrift store will be picking up some excess furniture that we have the Monday after Thanksgiving, and we will drive back on Tuesday.

Our group is getting smaller. It's us, my sister and brother-in-law and my dear dad and hubby's mother. Each of us has one parent left, no grandparents. My brother and his wife will not be here with us. It's a bit sad sometimes to remember the large family get-togethers, but on the bright sad, I'm happy to share another Thanksgiving with my dad (who is not in the best of health). He turns 90 in March!

Bpath, in my experience, the first year without a loved one is so very hard. The "first" everything. I could not attend church the first Mother's Day without my mom. I promise you that after that first year, things do become somewhat easier. I think just getting through those "firsts" is a major hurdle. Sending you a hug. Gsciencechick - feel better soon!

This year my family is celebrating Thanksgiving at a resort in Blowing Rock, NC. No cooking- Thanksgiving dinner has been ordered. Everyone is looking forward to hiking, Christmas lights, shopping, eating out, and snow activities.

We are having some good friends over. There will be about 10 people. I am cooking! I enjoy making the food. I will have a smoked turkey, sweet potato casserole with praline top, Cajun rice dressing (dirty rice), gravy, green beans, broccoli salad, Cranberry salad, potato salad, and my mother's shrimp dip. Friends are bringing a strawberry jello layered dish, pecan and pumpkin homemade pies. I will have a peach praline pie also. Several of the people attending were neighbors who also lost their homes in the Harvey flood. It's really bonded us. We were friends and neighbors before but we are much closer now.

My youngest sister is hosting this year. There will be 20+ family members, including all of my siblings together (I have 3 sisters, 1 brother, and 1 stepbrother). Many are traveling from out of state, and we have a wide range of ages of nieces and nephews. I'm blessed to have this extended family, one of the things I'm most grateful for.

Happy2b, that sounds like my ideal Thanksgiving.

bpath, you are invited. Meet us there. Bring your crew.

As always we spend Thanksgiving with our longtime best friends and whichever of our combined kids can make it. This year their daughter and DH have a new baby, which makes 5 little ones. Their son, his wife and toddler can’t make it as he is a professor at a university in a different state and has classes too close to Thanksgiving for them to travel easily. Our DD will be driving home from Colorado Springs on Wednesday (yes!) , but our son and his wife need to stay in Augusta for his job. So, there will be 12 of us for dinner. And, dinner is always pretty much the same as we all love it, plus, my friend is a retired home ec teacher and fantastic cook. She makes a roast turkey with oyster stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, yams, her wonderful homemade rolls, and pumpkin pies. I bring my homemade cranberry-orange relish, a Waldorf salad, several appetizers, a veggie tray and dips, and several bottles of wine. Thanksgiving dinner is my favorite meal of the year! And with all the little ones, it’s extra festive and fun.

We will be traveling about 2 hours to our DD's home. We're having a "non-traditional" menu. Her oven isn't big enough to hold a turkey and any side dishes, so we're doing a roast (in the crock pot.)

They live out in the middle of nowhere on a farm. It'll be a nice respite from the city!

Attendees will be hubs & me, DD & her hubby and their 9 month old, and our DS & his wife & the other 2 DKD's. Not so many in number but we'll all be together!!

Pudge, that sounds so sweet!

For those of you not having many people at dinner, do what DH and I did one TG. It was our first and only TG alone because the kids were with their in-law's. I was kind of sad but then a light bulb went off. There's a home style restaurant in the next town who does catering as a side business. I called in the order, picked it up the day before, and we had the same meal for several days.

When I ordered I told them it would just be two of us but cook for about six or eight people so we could have leftovers.

For $50 (I'm not kidding either), we got a half turkey, lots of ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole (a must in OK), cole slaw, stuffing, another veggie, & rolls.

Best meal ever. No clean up. :)

We're having a smaller group this year - my eldest son, his wife and my 7 month old grand daughter, my other son and maybe his GF, my daughter (sans BF) and my DDIL's Mother.

We'll do a ham, a turkey breast and 2 thighs and all the extra side dishes that fill the table.

All in all fairly simple.

I am working. Fun! Lol. I enjoy working holidays bc I get time and a half and I do not have any family except for a cousin who goes to her father's for Thanksgiving (I am not related to him). It makes the day seem like any other day which helps. Luckily I have great friends who always invite me to their homes on holidays. Maybe next year I won't work and actually celebrate it with good friends.

I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!!!

I'll be hosting with just four of us this Thanksgiving. I will be missing my two children who are on the east coast, one working that day(police officer) and the other spending the day with her bf's family.

I'll be making a 13 lb turkey with all the usual sides. Leftovers are the best part of Thanksgiving(other than spending with loved ones of course!).

Going to a friend's house. I'm taking green bean casserole and greens. On standby waiting to hear if mac & cheese is requested.

We take my mother (3 of us) to Thanksgiving Brunch at a local neighborhood diner. Then the evening meal at his Family's (big meal). Black Friday we drive several hours to meet the kids and their families at a BBQ place (wonderful, informal, fun).

Two daughters and son and new wife arrive between snow storms Wednesday night, will be here until Sunday. We will celebrate/go to mass/bake gingerbread cookies/decorate the outside of the house/go see light display in nearby town/cards/board games and make some ornaments.

Everyone has other places to be on Thanksgiving Day, so our family will be celebrating the Friday after at a restaurant, in the evening. I won't be going as I hate to drive at night and it's a fair distance away. I have some chicken to fry, and dressing, gr.beans, noodles, and I'll get a pie. I also have friends and a couple of aunts who live locally that invite me to their dinners, but I prefer to stay home. Thankful that I have those options tho!

Not having TG on the actual day has been a thing for my family for several years. I usually don't mind because my neighbors will stop by with plates of food and goodies from their own dinners. Maybe I told this story before, but last year I decided not to cook myself anything on TG because "my neighbors are so good to me, they'll bring me dinner". Well......I waited all day, and into the evening hours - no neighbors, no food! I didn't want to go fix something in case I had a TG dinner to eat. So I think I ended up with a sandwich of some sort. LOL

Sounds like some of us will have a bit of snow for the holiday travel. Supposed to start snowing here tomorrow night, ending Weds morning - maybe six inches. We won't be heading north to the lake until Weds night so hopefully things will be cleared off for the most part by then. Finished all my grocery and beverage shopping today for the long weekend - now we just need to get the humans, the cats and the provisions safely to the destination.

Schoolhouse, I wish you a lovely, happy Thanksgiving!

As a (doting, loving) mom, I’m already fretting/worrying about our DD getting home here safely for Thanksgiving. She has to work until 7:30pm on this Tuesday evening (she’s a clinical mental health counselor) up in Colorado Springs, so driving home here 5-6 hours that late evening is out of the question, especially with three Winter storms predicted starting tonight. I did all of my holiday food shopping today, so now I will cook and fret and worry and pray until my sweet daughter gets home here sometime on Wednesday. Wishing you all a very safe and wonderful Thanksgiving ❤️

We will go to my brother and sil as we have done since I can’t remember when. For the first time in a few years my three and their spouses will all be there. DD got married in September (small wedding) so her cousins will be meeting her DH for the first time. With our family scattered, it’s rare we are all together so I’m looking forward to it. With us seniors, kids, and grands there will be 24 of us...6 kids ranging in age from 6 mos - 8 yrs.... the 3 1/2 year old is ours and we have on on the way in just a few weeks. It will be a chaotic madhouse but fun!