For may of us the Holidays begin with Thanksgiving and end with New Years. Our traditions are often tied into many of the holidays that fall between those dates.

My mother's parents started a tradition of making gingerbread men for family holidays... They would work together, preparing for the BIG Christmas Eve celebration that was the culmination of their endeavors... all of us went home with LOADS of gingerbread men which my grandmother AND father had crafted together.... as the grandchildren left home and didnt always make it home for Christmas, we could count on receiving these tasty morsels from our grandparents... Grandpa died in 1969, my grandmother lost a thirteen year battle with cancer in 1973... my mother and aunt kept the family tradition going between themselves... NOW the grandchildren (at least some of us) have picked up the tradition... THIS year, because some of us wont be home on Christmas, but some of us will be at Mom and Dad's for Thanksgiving week, we will spend one day making gingerbread men for ourselves and our loved ones who wont be with us... During the week, we plan to help Mom out by taking specific meals and being the one who prepares it... I love omelettes and make a pretty good lasagna, so I am listed for one breakfast and one dinner for the gang... and we are going to use the Christmas book idea to keep it all straight, but since my mom is a rancher/farmer's wife, she has TONS of these file folders around... usually for the haying and Christmas season, so THIS will be the first thanksgiving folder... a fun recipe for breakfast finger food is called Puffy Pancake:
Omak

Long ago, before my paternal grandmother passed on, we had huge family gatherings with all the aunts, uncles and cousins. It was very noisy. It also gave me a sense of family, of belonging. There were problems, undercurrents of disapproval and disharmony, but overall it was a good time. Everyone brought certain dishes year after year. We had the traditional turkey (cooked at my Grandmother's house). We had stuffing, carrots, squash, peas, creamed onions, sauerkraut(homemade by my aunt with cabbages they grew on their farm) gravy, cranberry sauce (whole and jellied), pickles, olives, crudites, and various pies. We all sat around afterwards groaning that we ate too much and vowing once again to never eat that much again! After Thanksgiving we'd all draw a name and get a Christmas gift for that person. Since I married, we've had family dinners only. No large gatherings. One year I invited a very good friend of mine and her family (husband and daughter). That became a tradition for us. It was not the huge gathering of before, but it was better than just my little family. I now make the creamed onions for our Thanksgiving dinners, no matter what anyone else brings! This year I had my two sisters-in-law and thier families and my dad (who was recovering from having his breastbone rewired...he broke the wires that were holding him together after his bypass in May) over for an early Thanksgiving. Noise, good food, good company...the whole nine yards! I absolutely loved it all!!! The day after Thanksgiving, we always put up our tree (which for many years was a fake tree) and decorated it. Presents went under the tree wrapped as we bought them, except Santa's gifts (which of course he brought on Christmas Eve . Our Christmas dinner has always been moveable, we have no particular date or time, because of hubby's schedule. Although he is senior man this year, it looks like he will still be working. We'll probably do a Christmas dinner the night before, or Christmas day night (if he has no overtime those nights). We open one present Christmas eve. On Christmas morning the kids scramble downstairs and we hear the "ohhh's" and ahhh's" from upstairs. We can take our time waking up if we want, the children know they can have their stockings and that keeps them busy for a while. Then we amble down and make breakfast which usually consists of Kielbasa cut pennystyle and fried with onions and red and green peppers, homefries, and Monkey Bread or Cinnamon Rolls.
After breakfast, we all go into the living room and get comfortable. One of the older children gets to give out the presents (although lately, Joe has passed out the presents and the older children read the names to him). There ensues a flurry of wrapping paper, ribbons and bows. After all the gifts are open, we clean up the wrapping paper and watch tv programs or a Christmas movie.
Some year I'd like to have an open house here on Christmas or New Year's Eve. When New Year rolls around, we usually try to take a nap in the afternoon and then stay up late and ring the bell. We go out to a Chinese restaurant on New Year's Day, or order it to be delivered.