For as long as I can remember, my parents have hosted Thanksgiving at their house. My grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins were always there. Either before or after the meal, we go around the table for people to say what they're thankful for. There is always so much delicious food that everyone leaves completely stuffed. When we were little, all of the kids ("the cousins") would have an entertainment time where we would show off our latest talents or school projects; believe me, it was all very impressive. ;)
Through the years, the cousins have grown and now some of us have families of our own. But for the most part, everyone still tries to come together for Thanksgiving at my parents' house each year. We have added people to the guest list as our families have grown; my in-laws have been a part of the celebration for close to 10 years, although they had to miss this year because of work schedules. Usually we're able to Skype or Facetime with some of our family who live too far away to be there in person.
One relatively new tradition added to the Thanksgiving-day schedule is the Turkey Trot 5k race that the Waynesboro YMCA puts on in the morning. We have done it for a few years now, and most years I have run it while pushing a stroller. This year, Josh and I didn't run; instead, we passed that joy on to Mason, who ran his first race: the one-mile Gobbler Trot. My parents ran the 5k together after that. Mason won a prize for being the youngest runner, and my mom won 5th place in her age group.
I knew that, because this holiday tradition has always been so special to my family, I wanted to document the day. Instead of focusing on photography this year, I decided to try to document with video. I am so glad that I did, because I was able to make a family film that we'll always be able to look back on to remember what our Thanksgiving was like at this point in our lives. I hope that, when watching this, you can feel what it's like to be a part of the Mancini family Thanksgiving day tradition.