Thanksgiving is just around the corner

I'm really excited that we'll be able to spend Thanksgiving with family this year. Last year we opted to stay home vs paying outrageous ticket prices. So we had our Thanksgiving dinner together, just us. But it was a good spread! This is the first year our immediate family has kind of broken off from the extended family. I'm a little saddened by it, because any other time I haven't spent Thanksgiving with the whole family was due to not being able to go out of town period. I'm also looking forward to spending more individual time with my parents and sister. But I will miss seeing the cousins and aunts, uncles and my grandma. Ticket prices were cheaper this year to fly into Boise, which is unusual, and we're staying in Boise the whole trip. Also unusual. We typically try to drive up to Poky to visit friends and tie in seeing them with seeing family. But we won't be doing that this year, either. We just didn't have as many days on this trip, and want to spend more immediate time with my parents and sister.

I'll still be able to see some cousins and aunt and uncle that live in the Boise area, and I'm very excited about that, too. Last time I saw these cousins was one in 08, one in 07 and probably the other not since 05. And two of them have new babies, so it will be fun to see them all.

I'm also just excited to have a few days off work again. I'll probably be hating it when I get back, but I'll put that off and deal with that next Monday.

My sister and I are doing the Thanksgiving dinner, which is kind of a first for us. She does a similar Christmas Eve dinner, and she's pretty much a pro with that, but for me it will be the first real time. I'm going to try to make my mother-in-law's awesome homemade mac 'n cheese, we'll see if I come anywhere close to her culinary skill with that. But since my parents and sis haven't had it, they won't know if it's not as good. Just my husband will be able to tell :) But he loves me anyway and will probably let it slide. We're also changing up the tradition just a little bit by having Thanksgiving at my sister's place. Normally my parents house would be the hosting home, but this year it will be at her place. I think it's sweet she offered. And she's giving up her house key and room so we can stay there and have full run of the place while she's at work.

We fly out tonight, and I'm excited. I've always really liked Thanksgiving, and am looking forward to this time off work and time with family.