Are You Having a Big or Small Thanksgiving Dinner? JFF

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We have 20+ depending on who shows up. Most of us are single parents, but almost all of us (not me...another story) get along with their ex's so it's not unusual for ex spouses to both show up, sometimes with boyfriends or girlfriends and blended family's. The rules are you need to bring a food dish and you need to be open minded. We have some great get together's and not once have we had any negative drama. People really can get along if they try.

It's a small one. But my youngest is home from college. My oldest, home from work. We worked out, played ping pong, and they are watching Doctor Who and drinking hot chocolate and alls right in my world!

There are 3 of us and I cook all of our favorites.
WAY too much food and we would love guests but all family is out of town. So we made our own traditions.
I prepare smaller portions of our favorites and roast a large turkey.

I love prepping and cooking all day!

Small , but like u I grew up with big gatherings always. However since I've moved away from Home and gotten married in the last 5-6 years it's just the 2 of us our 3 kids and my mil. Dh sister lives away too. So it's small. I miss the big gatherings , the foods, the talks, cards etc. but I cook all my favorites and dhs and we make it nice.

Our dear friends (Kiddo's godparents) have invited us to a gathering of 14. They like to serve courses, so it will be long meal. :)

A good portion of my family live about 5 hours away (one way, not round trip) and as my husband is the critical IT guy at his job and is usually putting out one fire or another, being that far away this year isn't an option for us. So, it was very nice for our friends to invite us.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

I grew up with bigger family holidays, but since we've moved away (5 years ago) it is now just the four of us for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. We came up with some new traditions after moving here to try to make it easier without family.

If it was only my family it would be less than ten, but since we'll be with the in laws it will be 40 plus.
Potluck of course, and thankfully not at our house (though we have hosted in the past.)
Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Well last minute changes here. My grandmother fell last night and so all of our family is going in and out of the Hospital to be with her.

So my mom and her sisters have all been invited to their children's homes for dinners, my mom will go to my sisters home.. But we decided to stay home and our daughter is going to prepare her first Thanks giving Meal!

She is very excited..

Fun question. Ours are always big. Even the "low-key" years are fairly large for us. 16 people for a small year, if we go to my husband's mom's house. If we go to his dad's side, 30-40 people and it is very crowded! You can't even get up to go to the bathroom because the seating is so crammed. On my mom's side, 60-70 people, and thank goodness my aunt has a gym in her house and about 20 fold up tables and a zillion folding chairs. This year is medium year.
I like it best when it is on the "small" side because it feels...more meaningful. I get to talk to the people I know and love best instead of fleeting "how ya doin" conversations with 50 people that I see once a year. Plus it is nice to not have to yell to be heard, wait 20 minutes for cold gravy to make its way down the line to you, or be stuck behind a table between two large people with no hope of finding a way to the bathroom unless you crawl under the table. ha ha!

Our Thanksgivings have never had more than 8-9 people in any given year from the time I was little. I like it that way because with that many we can all still fit around any dining room table we have. We need to bring in a few extra chairs and every once in a while the kids have to sit at the coffee table but we like it.

Since my husband and I have started hosting Thanksgiving we have been trying to host one Thanksgiving for both sides instead of going back and forth so one year it did get up to 11 guests but that's about as big as it gets.

Ours is very small as there's only my family of four and if/when added my MIL. This year there will be 5 of us including MIL. I grew up with a huge celebration so to change things for the past 10 years it has been interesting. However, I still cook and this year I'll even be working tomorrow so for me I'm keeping the menu really low-key. I wish we had the ability to do a large celebration but our small one that is often just us 4 makes me happy.

Very excited! This year it keeps getting a little bigger and bigger. Now we've got 11, possibly 12 coming. It'll be a great day.
When I was a child, we had big dinners. But as a teen and into the adult years, I've gone from just myself to 2-4 of us. So I'm happy to share a great day with great friends.

We had our in October (Canadian Thanksgiving). We get together with my brothers family, and there are 10 of us in total. When my parents (and my other brother) were still alive there were usually about 15.

I guess big is relative - we're a family of 6 so that's just a weeknight dinner for us. Our "small" holiday dinner is 16 - the 6 of us, my parents, sisters, brothers-in-law, nieces and my brother.

Our "big" Thanksgiving is on my husband's side of the family. His (now deceased) grandmother, her two sisters and their entire families have been gathering for 50+ years. The headcount for tomorrow is around 45 people. It's a coordinated potluck and we have it at a function hall.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

This year it is small...only 4 of seven kiddos able to make it home. Now christmas...a different story! No grands yet...but several significant others, so our count will jump a bit to 12.

If they do ever start having kiddos, we will have to rent a hall!!

happy thanksgiving to all that celebrate....large or small!

I do all the holidays at my house (because I have the only house that comfortable holds everyone) so I cook for 15-21 depending on who comes. Our motto is 'the more the merrier' so I just cook and I wait to see who shows up. lol

It was supposed to be 12 adults, but ended up being 10, plus a toddler and a baby. Wonderful time, lots of fun, and the toddler was cute beyond measure! We did buffet style this time just for a change, and I actually liked that.

Glad you had a nice time. What's important is that you spread the love!! (As well as sharing the food!!)

We went to my younger sister's house. My parents, grandparents, three siblings, their spouses, and our 15 kids made for a pleasantly full and noisy dinner.

My mom cooked most of the food, and my grandma brought the favorite lefse. It was a great day. Happy Thanksgiving!

Very small---only 6 other people. Warm and cozy !!
I have a kidney stone and a sprained back/neck, so, I am thankful to have a nice quiet day and see friends and family !

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

just the 4 of us here....... 75 degrees, cant beat that. :0)

We don't have Thanksgiving.

We have Thanksgiving at my oldest sister's house. This year, we will be 17 people - too many to sit down at the table. We don't love buffet style and sitting scattered around, but are excited that all the niece/nephews and their spouses and the two littles are coming, it's nobody's in-law year :)
Growing up, we had it at my aunt's, so my mom, aunt and uncle, my sisters and eventually their husbands and little kids, my cousins and their husbands and kids - in a little four room apartment. Maybe not everyone came each year, and eventually it became to big of a gathering, hence splitting it into two separate events for my aunt's clan, and my sisters/families

All 4 of my siblings came over and my parents. My one sister brought her 4 year old, but her husband stayed home - just as well! So there were 14 people here for the majority of the day. It's normally big for us and I love it!!

Seafood gumbo, potato salad, cornbread, pumpkin pie, and apple pie for about twelve people. Plus whatever other people decide to bring.

We always invite over friends and their kids...all our good friends who are in town and want to come. We usually have about 15 to 20 people. Everyone brings a specific dish...whatever they want to make or one of their own family traditions.

There should be about 14 of us tomorrow. Growing up I had a ton of aunts and uncles and cousins, so our Thanksgivings were usually about 35-45 people. It was so much fun. The adults would chat, cook and watch football and the kids ran around playing all day. 14 seems pretty small to me!!