Thanksgiving Traditions?

So I feel like Thanksgiving kinda gets skipped over. There is a long break between big holidays before Halloween. Everyone gets super excited about that. Then it turns into Christmas. I happen to really like Thanksgiving. The weather, the football, the mashed potatoes, the pumpkin pie, etc.

So this year I am not going to overlook Thanksgiving! I still have all of my fall decorations up around the house. I took down a few Halloween specific things but the house is still very festive :-).

This year for Thanksgiving we are going to my parents house for a delicious meal with some relatives! I love when other people come into town for Thanksgiving makes it all the more special to me!

Then "Black Friday" Tim's family will be celebrating thanksgiving...... at our house! We have done this a few times now and it is so much fun. Tim is the oldest of 7 so there is a lot of people to cook for. However, they each bring so much with them! This year I am preparing the mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing dish of some sort (anyone have a good recipe), and the ham. Turkey is to stressful for me. Is it cooked enough, is it to dry, who is going to carve it, did the stuffing get cooked, etc.? So I am keeping it low key :-)

Since I am keeping that part very low key I thought I would spruce up the tables with some fun place settings and decorations. Anyone have some good ideas? I am also going to spruce up the walls with some turkey/pilgrim/"Indian" projects with Sammy. Are there any good kids books on Thanksgiving anyone recommends?

What are your Thanksgiving plans and traditions? My favorite thing to do is watch the parade, eat to many mash potatoes, and fall asleep watching football :-)