Our Team’s Thanksgiving Traditions

THANKSGIVING TRADITIONS COME in all shapes and sizes. From the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade to breaking the wishbone to getting together with those wacky yet lovable relatives, traditions vary from family to family, and that includes the families of our practice’s team members!

Unusual Thanksgiving Traditions
Bri – My mom and I always divide our Thanksgiving between three different houses so we can spend time with all sides of the family. Everyone around us always has huge plates of food, but we eat small portions of everything so we can save room for the next house! We don’t love the “being stuffed” part of Thanksgiving, but the variety it brings!!

Cassie – We don’t really have any unusual traditions. One thing my family does, that my mom started doing when we were young is bring/ invite people over who have babies in the hospital. My mom has been a NIVU nurse for 15+ years and gets very close with a lot of the families. This is my favorite because it just reminds me of how sharing a meal with someone can sometimes make all the difference in their day and it’s always great to show kids that kindness goes a long way.

Wendy – While our turkey is cooking we all sit at the table and make an ornament for the Christmas tree. Every year we make new ornaments. We like our tree to be homemade.

Brooke – Our family has a few Thanksgiving Traditions, but the one that comes to mind that is the most unusual is we rotate each year so everyone has a chance to host the dinner at their home. Then after dinner everyone gets together and helps that house put up all their lights (Christmas), their Christmas décor inside and out. All the ladies clean up getting ready for the tree while the men watch football. The kids play outside, running around playing flag football and the little ones rake up leaves so they can jump in them. It’s the best holiday our family celebrates!

Meshell – I guess you could say the most unusual tradition my family has, would be, not having Thanksgiving on the set day/date. Because my brother has same mom, different dad, and us having jobs as we got older we’d wait until we all could be there. Sometimes it’d be a week or couple days before, sometimes it’d be a week or couple days after. We’ve never done it unless we all could be together.

Theresa – Our most unusual family tradition is our auction. My parents decided years ago to share their Christmas through an auction. There is an adult auction as well as a kid auction. Every child, and every couple get their own plastic disks (to use as their money) to bid on whatever items they are interested in. In the kids auction there are toys, stuffed animals, blankets, flashlights (kids can never have too many of those), games, and any other fun items my parents found throughout the year. I love this tradition because it teaches the kids a lot of great lessons while they are bidding on things they want (shh, don’t tell them they are learning while having fun). The adult auction usually has useful things like emergency preparedness items, complete dinners (you know, steak and potatoes for example, so you don’t have to shop for the ingredients), date night baskets, cleaning supplies, and there are usually some fun things mixed in there as well. The auction is always a highlight for my kids. It’s a great time to stare down the competition for that coveted item in the auction, and to share precious time with loved ones!

Dr. Fife – As far as unusual traditions, I have to agree with Theresa with respect to the auction. Our kids will not allow us to miss Thanksgiving with her side of the family, largely because of the auction.

Favorite Thanksgiving Memories

Bri – My favorite Thanksgiving memory happens EVERY Thanksgiving! I get reminded how warm and happy I feel when everyone I love gets together to hang out, bond and eat extremely yummy food ALL DAY LONG! It almost makes me as tingly as Christmas Day!!

Cassie – My favorite Thanksgiving memories are the ones that we got to spend at my grandmas B&B. Not for any particular reason, just one of my favorite places to be.

Wendy – My most favorite memory when we took our Thanksgiving dinner to the park and ate it there. We got together with a group of friends and all brought our dinner to the park.

Brooke – The weekend of Thanksgiving every one of our family members get together Friday morning at 9:00 a.m. We all follow each other up to Kolob Mountain where our aunt and uncle have property. We all get together that Friday and each family cuts down their own Christmas tree. After the trees are cut, we have a Sloppy Joe dinner, play board games, just visit with family, laugh, let cousins play, just be crazy and have it be normal and acceptable.

Meshell – No crazy memories, but my favorite part is waking up early with my family opening up all the windows and doors, turning on some good music and cooking as a family. Prepping everything, talking, laughing and enjoying one another. My parents put quarters of fresh jalopenos and fresh whole cloves of garlic into the turkey before it gets put in the oven. I’ve never enjoyed anyone else’s turkey. I will forever make my dinner how my parents do it. Everyone else’s I’ve tried has always been too dry and absolutely no flavor!! Drives me crazy!

Theresa – My favorite Thanksgiving memory was shooting guns with my family. I had never shot a gun before, so why not start with a military sniper rifle? It was a fun new experience for me! My husband has talked about memories of shooting with his dad and his sisters as a child, and this helped me appreciate his memories more. It also gave me a greater appreciation for our military (a lot of family members are in the military) and the sacrifices they make so I can enjoy my freedoms and truly enjoy those happy times in peace and safety with my family.

Dr. Fife – My favorite memories surrounding Thanksgiving go way back to when I was a child and we would get together as an extended family in my Grandmother’s small pioneer home in Ivins. It was a crowded family room, but it was filled with love.

Traditions In Our Practice
This year we hope to begin a couple of new traditions as an office.

We are participating in the Basket Brigade the Saturday prior to Thanksgiving. With the Basket Brigade people donate online and nominate families who are struggling in some way. The money is used to purchase a Thanksgiving dinner for them. Our office has signed up to put care packages together and then deliver the packages and dinner to those who were nominated. It is done anonymously so that the beneficiary does not know who nominated them.

We also started Thankful Tuesday. On the Tuesday prior to Thanksgiving our office is having a Patient Appreciation day to say “THANK YOU!” On this day only, for anybody who comes in and purchases glasses, we are offering 50% off any frame with the exception of Maui Jim and Oakley. (We already offer these frames at the lowest price the manufacturer will allow us.) Also, for the first 100 people, we are giving away a free taco.
 

Tell Us About Your Favorite Thanksgiving Traditions!
Now that we’ve shared some of our favorite traditions and memories, we want to hear how your family celebrates Thanksgiving! Share a comment below or on Facebook to let us know about your unique traditions, or else tell us about them when you come in for your next appointment!

Our patients are what we’re most thankful for this year and every year!

Top image by Flickr user Chad Miller used under Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 4.0 license. Image cropped and modified from original.

The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions

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