Thanksgiving surprise!

Originally, I was planning on staying in Boston for Thanksgiving. I decided that I just had too much going on to fly home to California for a few days and then just come back quickly. However, as my life turned chaotic and I really thought about it, I realized that I wanted to go home. Okay, I really wanted to hug my mom. I figured once I did this and saw her that everything would be okay. So after talking with my dad, I bought my plane ticket, but decided to surprise my mom with my arrival.

To pull this off, we involved my brother Nathan and sister-in-law, Laurel. They picked me up at the airport when I got in the day before Christmas. I was so excited to be back in California where it was warm and see my family. I could not believe how big my little nephew West was. He is so adorably cute and so smiley. I love his smiles and his little babbles and how he always wants to move around.

The morning of Thanksgiving, I called my mom and told her how much I wish I could be there and told her I was sad, but that all would be fine. So we drove over there. I ducked into the house and walked into the kitchen where she was. Her back was turned to me. I just tapped her on the shoulder and said "hi." She was surprised, well more like stunned. I just hugged her and she hugged me. She kept saying I can't believe you're here! It was awesome. She had no clue, but she was so excited I was there.

After the surprise, we sat down to a great dinner. Everything was awesome from the Turkey to the stuffing to Nathan's mashed sweet potatoes to Laurel's rolls, which we both sampled that morning. Then after dinner, we had dessert, which my aunt Julee made. Her cherry pie and pumpkin mousse trifle were divine.

What did I do the rest of the time? I just relaxed and enjoyed being with my family. It was exactly what I needed and now I feel that I can finish the semester strong!