Saturday, November 29, 2008

Classic Thanksgiving...

Since it’s two days after Thanksgiving, I of course have to post about it!

We went down to San Diego on Thursday to meet most of my family at my Aunt Christie’s house. It took twice as long to get there as it usually does, which wasn’t surprising, but annoying just the same. You can definitely tell that gas prices are down because everyone is on the road again!

When we finally got there, of course everyone else had already arrived. The funny thing was, I barely recognized my cousins! The have all gotten so old and have changed so much, it’s scary. Tommy and Kevin are just great looking young men who are both so smart and have really matured. Kevin has always been an attention whore, but instead of crying and being kind of a pain like he was when he was younger, now he’s the center of attention for being entertaining and funny. Tommy has always been very outgoing and talkative, but in just two days I saw that instead of trying to compete with his brother, he was quiet, but not necessarily shy. He seemed like he was in his own world and would talk to you easily and for as long as you were talking to him, but when no one was talking to him, he seemed perfectly content to just sit back and watch.

Maddy and Davis I think have changed the most, but that’s probably because I haven’t seen them in forever and since I can’t keep up with them on Facebook. I haven’t really gotten to see them change. Maddy is just gorgeous. She’s almost as tall as me and thin, although not in a scary, anorexic, Lindsay Lohan kind of way. She is still kind of shy, but she’s also a lot of fun and she and I, as usual, ended up sitting on the couch talking and taking bad pictures with Grandma’s camera that she’ll be mad about when she goes through and sees them. Me sticking my tongue out has never been a favorite. Davis is HUGE! He’s like 6’5” and is a stick, just like his dad. When I walked in the door, I almost had to ask who he was. He was also really funny and entertaining and is a great kid. He insisted that the whole family play Catch Phrase, which I wasn’t all that excited about because I don’t share the love of board games that the rest of my family does, but it ended up being a lot of fun, and Davis was the one who encouraged it.

The food was awesome! Aunt Christie made a “fresh” turkey, meaning it was one that was never frozen, and it ended up being AMAZING! It was super moist and had a great flavor. There was also cranberry stuffing and cream corn casserole and green bean casserole and spice sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce and gravy (that my mom and Aunt Stacey made from scratch, a first for both of them) and these homemade croissant roll things. It was so good! I think it was one of the best Thanksgiving feasts I’ve ever had!

And guess who was still at the kid's table?! Oh yeah, that would be 23 year old me. Although, I have to say I had way more fun there. I like to complain about being at the kid's table because it is pretty funny that I’ve graduated from college and can legally drink (only 2 glasses of wine, I was so proud of myself) but I can’t sit with the “adults” in the dining room. But we had a lot of fun, especially when Tommy dared Kevin to take a bite out of a decorative pear from the centerpiece. Classic.

After dinner, I played Guitar Hero for the first, and probably last time. The boys were so good at it, especially Tommy. Davis kept talking about how he was better at Rock Band and I think that was mostly because he was losing to Tommy. I made Maddy play with me on “easy,” and even though she beat me, I didn’t do too badly for someone who has never played before. Even still, I don’t think I’ll have anyone shaking in his Guitar Hero boots.

We had dessert and I, of course, made coffee for everyone, with Uncle Greg heckling me to make him a mocha. Typical. After dessert, Davis convinced everyone to play Catch Phrase because it’s kind of a tradition in our family to play board games, which I usually suck at and therefore abstain from. But, I figured I might as well participate, so away we went.

It was a really good thing we put Grandma and Grandpa on separate teams because between the two of them, they took up almost all the time! Grandpa would come up with things that really didn’t make any sense and everyone would just look at him with blank stares until the timer went off. It was hysterical. Kevin of course kept creating strategies to cheat, like yelling out random shit or not answering until the timer was almost out. It was still a lot of fun, especially to see Grandma and Grandpa try to figure out how the buttons worked and what to say.

Overall, it was a really great Thanksgiving. I got to see a lot of family that I don’t get to see regularly and I got a chance to talk with everyone. I am really happy to see that my cousin’s have grown up and they are slowly becoming the amazing people we all know they will be. Sometimes I do wish we all got together more often and lived closer to each other, but it also makes holidays like this more special.

The best thing that happened that day was finding out my cousin Lisa is pregnant! She wasn’t there but she called and let everyone know and it’s so great. I am so happy for her and I know she’s going to be an amazing mother. What better day to hear this wonderful news than on Thanksgiving?

Even though it’s incredibly cheesy, these holidays are all about family and at the end of it, I am so very thankful for my family.



Now if only I can find a new job before Christmas so I don’t have to spend it at Starbucks! That would definitely be a Christmas miracle!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Kimmi bobimmy!!! I am having so much fun keeping up on your life. I love the thanksgiving one! Totally made me miss the fam. :( Hopefully next year we can try and have Christmas or Thanksgiving with the entire lot! Btw, what are you doing for Christmas. Derek and I will be in Palm Desert for about 7-10 days. Come down and stay and visit! xoxoxoxo