Turkey Day Overview...
Over the past 2 to 3 weeks, I've been to the DPS and back three times. The first time, I didn't have my insurance card and I had to go back to the house to get it; the second time, I got there and they informed me that until I turn 18, I would need a TEA form every year as proof of school enrollment; and the third time, I got all the way to the back where we began processing my license when they told me that I had to have an adult present. Ridiculous! I don't need an adult present to get my driver's license renewed! She forgot to mention that it was because I had checked the box that indicated that I have experienced a loss of consciousness at some point in my life. When my parents finally arrived, it turned out that since they were isolated incidents which had stopped happening, I didn't need them there after all! Excuse me for telling the truth to my government... they just have to make things so much more complicated than they actually are. On top of all this, I have been sick for the last several weeks with allergies and colds, which has kept me at appropriate levels of miserable.
I spent my first Thanksgiving without my immediate family this year. Despite missing them all a lot and having a stressful week prior to it, I still had an amazing time. Matthew and I visited his dad's side of the family in California. On arrival, American Airlines informed 90-95% of the passengers on our flight that our bags weren't on that flight. (They had sent a practically empty plane from Dallas to California and only bothered to tell us NOW). We ended up getting our bags out on the next flight and received them late that evening, but I think we'll go to Southwest with our business from now on, thank you.
For the first couple of days, including Thanksgiving, we stayed at his grandparents' house and his aunts, uncles, and cousins that live nearby came to visit. The first night we talked and got acquainted with each other. We played games like Charades and Sardines basically Hide & Seek in the dark with most of his cousins. On Thanksgiving day, Matthew and I, Alex, Charlotte, Matthew's mom, grandfather, and a few adult friends went on a hike in the morning through a forest of redwoods. We then had a family trip to the park where we ate lunch and played Frisbee. After that, we returned to the house for some lively basketball, hockey, and soccer games. While everyone played, I had to sit out because of my leg, so Sydney, one of Matthew's younger cousins, came over to play with me. We played Patty Cake, then Isabelle and Julia joined us to play Simon Says, and then Charlotte joined us to play Hide & Seek.
I'm the youngest in my entire family so I've never really had an experience like this: being surrounded by a bunch of little kids who want to get to know you and have you entertain/play with them. I felt a lot better after Julia, Matthew's sister, came over and helped me get Simon Says going. She made me feel a lot more comfortable and then after that she told me that she thought I was really good with kids.
A bunch of the kids went home to get ready for the big dinner while we got ready and got everything set up. When they got back, Isabelle formed an adorable attachment to me. She saw Sydney performing card tricks and decided that the coasters on the coffee table would be her cards. She'd ask me, "Which one's yours?" I'd point one out and she would then cover them up. Then she'd turn around and proudly exclaim, "This one's yours!" as if she'd performed something amazing. Next, she played a game where she would toss a coaster into my hands. She then wanted me to toss it back so that she could mess up the coasters and do it all again she continued this game for 7 or 10 minutes. When Julia asked her what she was doing, she said we were playing "tug of war." After that game, she asked me to sit on the floor. She "washed" my hair with a napkin and did my "makeup." She put "makeup" on my eyebrows, cheeks, lips and ears... not the most conventional method, but I looked gorgeous nonetheless. Then, of course, she decided she had put too much on me and proceeded to "wipe it off."
The whole meal was so well put together and delicious... turkey, cranberries, mashed potatoes, rolls, homemade stuffing, etc. Before we formed a buffet line, Matthew's grandfather gathered everyone together, gave a speech, and then we went around saying what we were thankful for.
The following day, Matthew, his parents, his siblings, one of his uncles, his family, their nanny and I went down to Pebble Beach but stopped at one very pretty beach along the way where "M+A" was carved into a sand cliff. We stayed in a beautiful resort on the beach and were able to see the ocean from our rooms. On our excursions to the beaches surrounding us, we saw otters, seals, and many varieties of seagulls. On the last day, Matthew and I went on a scenic drive and Matthew had a parking lot incident that he'd rather I not mention... yet all in all, it was a good visit... and now for the pics:
My Matty!
"Ancient" Rock Art
Just something I picked up on the beach.
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Random Poll: What do you think of the name Irene?
(Please answer honestly and with no bias but your own... Matthew, don't answer!)