The Legend of Hullabaloo

As always, we gathered at Adam and Eva's house this year for the annual Hullabaloo. For those of you unfamiliar with the traditions surrounding Hullabaloo, let me fill you in on the "Legend of Hullabaloo". You see, we've gone there for years on Thanksgiving. One year, someone mentioned that due to the large quantities of food we consumed, their dressy clothing had become uncomfortable. It was then mentioned that it might be more comfortable if we all wore comfortable clothes the next year, such as pajamas.

Ever the competitive family, we decided to include prizes for the best pajamas that people could find, as voted on by the other Hullabaloo attendees. My most fantastic pair was the red footie pajamas from several years ago. While extremely hot, they nosed me ahead to win the prize. Keep in mind that we live two and a half hours away from the Bay Area, so we end up driving in our pjs. This morning I pumped gas at Safeway in them. We're a bold people. This year, Aunt Sandi won the contest - amazing since she has not attended before and jumped right in with this adorable ensemble:

Aunt Sandi's Prize Winning Pajamas

Adam and Eva have added a few more games as well. They normally have some sort of jar filled with candy that we have to guess the number of pieces (the winner gets the jar). We also play a great game before dinner... there are several words (this year's were Thanksgiving, turkey, bird, delicious, yummy and love) that you can't say. Each person is given a bunch of clothespins and if you catch someone saying one of the forbidden words, you get to take one of their clothespins. The person with the most when we sit down to eat wins. Kati or Jared win this one every year - this year it was Kati.

The food was absolutely amazing as always. Adam brined the turkey and it was deliciously juicy (notice I'm using all the forbidden words - they're all pent up). It's a fine art, and this man has mastered it:

The Turkeymaster

Oma was feeling a little out of sorts today, so she didn't join us at Adam and Eva's... instead, we headed over to her place on the way home. She looks wonderful as ever!

Kati, Oma & I - Thanksgiving 2011

There are more pictures at my Facebook page - head on over to check them out!

I did want to take a moment to reflect on the things that I'm really thankful for this year. First of all, my fantastic husband. I'm so thankful that he met me at the alter and said yes! We've had a wonderful first month of marriage and I can't wait for more!

Secondly, my family. They're the best. Ever. Nothing more needs to be said.

Thirdly, my friends. The help, love and support we got from our friends leading up to our wedding was absolutely amazing. I could not ask for a better group of people to be standing by my side.

Finally, my dog. He really is the best dog we could ask for.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Sick?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. The reason you had to wait for 7 days is that I'm formulating the best blog ever! Actually, probably not since I'm feeling poopy today. I woke up with a really sore throat that was followed by major sinus pressure and a headache. Things are not looking good on the sinus front. It's like the immaculate conception of sore throats though, because it doesn't feel like anything is dripping. It's just sore. Very weird.

Anyways, Thanksgiving was wonderful! Kati and Derrek flew in Wednesday afternoon. I was so happy to finally see her again and to get to spend some time together! We hung out and relaxed after a brief trip to the mall (you know Kati). On Thursday, we drove to Adam and Eva's house for the Third Annual Thanksgiving Hullabaloo. As always, it was amazing. Dinner was delicious and "elimination pictionary" was totally a blast! I won a Starbucks card! That's right, my family's Thanksgiving has prizes! Neener neener neener.

Here's the yearly "kids" picture... we decided this year it should be a dog pile:


It was so good to see Jake, Emy and Jared again! The King and Queen of the Hullabaloo (ie. Adam and Eva) put together a wonderful spread!


Here's the whole family gathered around the chocolate fountain:


And, of course, what holiday is complete without Onyx in costume? This year she made a brief appearance in a turkey sweater that was so tight it would make Britney Spears proud:

Can you tell she loved every minute of it?

After all of that yumminess we stopped by Grandma's house to see Grandma, Aunt Sandi and Geoff. We then drove back home.

Friday we hung around the house and watched movies - much needed rest! Friday night we decided to hit the town and go dancing... here's our pre-dancing picture:


We had a great night out on the town and tried a new club that was actually pretty cool!

Saturday morning we got up at the crack of dawn to go to San Francisco (can you tell we tried to cram all kinds of fun into 4 days?). Derrek had never been, so we hit all of the "cool" places.

The Golden Gate:





Pier 39:




And Union Square:



We also went to Lombard Street and did some shopping at Union Square. Then, all of the sudden, it was all over and Kati and Derrek were heading home. Boo! Now I'm home sick. Double boo!

Lights

Got ya with that title, didn't I?

No, you can't have the final light count OR any pictures. For two reasons:

1. We aren't finished. We have some more "out-doing" to do.
2. It's raining. I am not standing in the rain in the middle of the street to take pictures.

I'm going to keep you in suspense. :) But yes, you will eventually get both pictures and a final count. We had a little "situation" tonight. Below a fuse on the front porch and took out 1/4 of the house. Fortunately "Big Elf" was able to perform some fuse maintenance and we're up and running again. Gotta be careful with the electricity and these rain storms...

HOWEVER, you MAY see pictures of Thanksgiving:


And of us in SF (yes, I know I suck at getting the red eye out):




I'm so hot in a beanie.

So kidding. I was totally sick and thought my head was going to fall off.

Anyways, off to watch "ER". :)

Yeah for the Hullabaloo!

Wow, the past few days have been awesome!

Kati came home on Tuesday night... I was so happy to see her again! I hadn't seen her since July, which was the longest ever! Wednesday was a short day at work, so I got to come home early and relax a little.

Thursday we went to Adam and Eva's for the 2nd annual Hullabaloo! It was amazing! The chocolate fountain was the best! I'm fully convinced that they haven't turned it off and are still dipping strawberries and bananas! It was great to see the family again! Adam and Eva did a wonderful job - DELICIOUS TURKEY, YUMMY food, and a beautiful set up. We played fun games and just had a fantastic time.

We came home on Friday and went out to a club with some Brig, Amber, Kati and a bunch of friends from high school. It was a lot of fun, but in hindsight, probably not the best idea with the little cold I've been brewing.

Saturday the family went to San Francisco. It almost killed me, but I went. Once I got hopped up on Benadryl D it was a little more bearable, but I was fully convinced I would cough until I died and that my head would roll off my neck. However, we did have a ton of fun doing some shopping. Mom and Dad got me some awesome makeup and I got the coolest purse ever. I've been wanting a big slouchy hobo bag and found the cutest one at the big Macy's. It's a Kathy van Zeeland and Kati came home with a really cute purse by her. Here's mine:

http://www.kathyvanzeeland.com/detail.aspx?ID=255&PCode=H13110

I have the one pictures (in wheat) and it's so adorable! :) Yeah!

So today I am resting. It's much needed. I think I need to get into the doctor tomorrow (probably should have gone on Friday). If I had to place bets, I have a sinus infection and something going on in my left ear. Just a guess though.