Jaime Hernandez-Goldberg

It’s Thanksgiving and I’m just getting home from my uncle’s yearly Thanksgiving flag football game,as the smell of freshly-cut apples fills the air.

The smell of my grandma’s reminds me of what it’s like to be home while my dad prepares his fruit salad and my uncle makes the filling for the deviled eggs. While this is happening, I sit over the trash and start peeling the potatoes as my dog begs for whatever food he can get.

My favorite part of the day is when my dad starts to prepare the turkey and gets it in the oven. As the turkey cooks and everything is getting their final touches, you can hear loud cheers on the TV as the NFL’s Thanksgiving games play in the background.

Finally, my dad and I set the table with all the food. The smell of all the food lingers in the air and I can’t wait to get my hands on all the food. As we all sit down in the living room and watch the final football game of the night, I realize why I’m so thankful for Thanksgiving.  

This has been how my Thanksgiving tradition since my sophomore year. This holiday always meant something to me because it was the one day a year there is no conflict in my family, and it’s why I wouldn’t trade Thanksgiving day for any other day of the year.

Mariah Perez

I wake up bright and early excited for the long day ahead. I spend most of the day prior to dinner in the kitchen with my mom, surrounded by orange and nutmeg and allspice. We spend hours making turkey, potatoes, rolls, pies and so much more as the room grows warm from the oven.

I can barely contain my excitement when we make cranberry salad. I can almost taste the frozen dish just thinking about it; the tartness from the cranberries balanced with the sweet marshmallows.

After all the cooking it’s finally time for dinner. People have been streaming in all day, mostly family friends whose extended families live far away, like our own. I miss when we lived in Colorado and had Thanksgiving at my grandma’s, but I always enjoy spending the holiday with our own little makeshift family. So many people show up that my brothers have to get another table and more folding chairs from the garage in addition to the the two we already have set up.

My favorite part of the day comes after dinner though. As dinner winds down, my dad starts to grab board games from the shelf and the dinner tables quickly become game tables. Everyone ends up staying over as late into the night, so late that most people get a second and even a third serving of turkey and pie.

Thanksgiving for me is about friends, family, food and fun. I love spending quality time with the important people in my life whether that’s cooking with them, laughing over dinner or beating them all at every game we play.

Jacob Wyatt

Before I can even open my eyes, the smell of potatoes and the sound of kitchen utensils wakes me up.

My mom’s music is playing throughout the house, which nobody in our family even knows who these artists are.

She has made cinnamon buns for breakfast.  

At my house, on this day, everybody has a job: my brother and I have to peel potatoes, my brother’s girlfriend makes banana pie and my mom prepares the mashed potatoes and turkey.

While all this is going on, football is playing on the TV. Once the potatoes are done and the turkey is cooking we defrost our pies for dessert and make the rest of  the side dishes which consist of peas, corn and dinner rolls.

Once everything is ready, besides the turkey, we clean the kitchen and set the table before getting our plates. Everyone gets a glass of apple cider fresh from our fridge then we take the turkey out and everyone makes their own plate.

Before we eat we go around our table and ask what everyone is thankful for at this moment in time. Then we finally begin to eat. Through eating we all talk to each other and laugh and it’s just an amazing experience to bond like that. After dinner we eat pie and watch the football night game.

Thanksgiving is always a fun time of year for me and my family. No matter who’s arguing, we always come together as a family and spend Thanksgiving together. It’s always a time of year to hold your love ones close and be thankful for what you have.