and not in the warm, fuzzy, happy sort of way...I'll spare you all the gory play-by-play that I had originally postedWhen we got to Cali, we were so surprised to find that my parents had done a little something to the house. They painted and re-carpeted the upstairs (I heart plush carpet!), which was nothing compared to what they did in the family room! There they re-carpeted too, and got a really comfy sectional, gigantic flat screen, Blu-ray player and a Wii! Whoo hoo. All I can say is that they must have been inspired so that we all would have something to do for that week. Sorry there are no pictures for the last 7 days of our trip and you'll soon see why, so sorry, but you probably wouldn't want to see any pictures of us on those days anyway!
Let's just say that we were all sick at some point during the week and all at different times. I will tell you about Thanksgiving though. The plan was to spend the day with My Aunt Ellie and Uncle John in beautiful Santa Barbara with long walks on the beach, delicious food and family time. 'Twas not to be...it was Dad's turn to get the gamboo. The plan was to order out Chinese. 6 pm rolls around and we decide it's about time to order. Apparently the proprietors of Chinese restaurants have learned that Americans do turkey and turkey alone on Thanksgiving Day. Bummer. Ginger ale was needed so Rob, Brian and I head to the only open grocery store in town and decide to find dinner along the way. Everything is closed except McD's and Del Taco so we decide to make our own Chinese Thanksgiving feast. Mom and Dad were too sick to eat so finally at 8 pm we sit down to our semi-homemade Thanksgiving dinner. Turns out I really like turkey and stuffing and pie and all the other traditional deliciousness on Thanksgiving.
So that's our lame Thanksgiving. Because Grace was sick on Sunday we even sent Rob to drive home alone and Grace and I flew to avoid any sickness and/or meltdowns (form any of us!) on a car trip. Highlights: spending time with family, Doris' wedding, family dinner, beating the New Super Mario Bros, getting some shopping done before Thanksgiving with great sales and no crowds. Lowlights: I think you know by now... Thanks Mom and Dad for putting up with us and taking care of us the whole week. I hope you all had a happier Thanksgiving than we did!
This one!!
Cole and Trevor read to and played with Grace
Brooke and Kennedy took such good care of Grace all night. As you can imagine Grace loved all the attention that her sweet cousins gave her. I wish we lived closer so they could play all the time!
My little family and my (beautiful!) fab-o sis, Emily
We went to California this year for Thanksgiving because my Auntie Doris married her college sweetheart the Saturday before. Doris and Clarke were best friends in college then went their separate ways for most of their adult life - Clarke married and had 2 kids (his wife died last year) and Doris remained single doting on her (very lucky!) family and friends. Now in their 60's they are back together and so very in love. Their wedding was beautiful and reception was so much fun!
Sweet moves, Baby Girl!
