Giving thanks in Vancouver.

This was the first holiday that Nancy and I have been married and since I chose to stay in town for Christmas (my brother + fam will be in town), we headed up to Vancouver, Washington to spend Thanksgiving with Nancy’s family.

On Wednesday we woke up way too early and my mom dropped us off at the airport. I figured our plane would be on time because it was early in the day, so the plane hadn’t gotten backed up from previous flights yet. One thing I didn’t factor in was that we were flying U.S. Airways. Although the plane was ready to go on time and it appeared all of us passengers were ready to go, the pilot decided not to come to work that day. So they called another pilot and gave him 2 hours to get to the airport. He took 2 hours. They finally moved us onto the plane.  Oh, and did I mention we were charged $15 per checked bag? And then they charge for drinks (even the juice and pop) and snacks. Needless to say, if I was given the choice of flying U.S. Airways again or swallow hot coal, I’d need a few minutes.

We arrived in the beautiful overcast Northwest. First things first: Nap time. Nancy’s sister flew in from Phoenix later that day. That evening we all went to a delicious Thai restaurant for dinner. There was talk of going to James Bond: Quantom of Solace, but secretly I was glad we didn’t because I knew it would have been hard for me to stay awake. Instead we went home and watched the movie Expelled. Or, I should say, they did. Nancy and I were asleep within 5 minutes. I do want to see the movie though and I have access to it streaming on my Netflix over Xbox 360.

Thanksgiving day. There were a number of Andersen traditions I got to participate in. We made little turkeys filled with M&Ms are made and placed at each place setting. Really cute and REALLY delicious.

A while back Nancy had casually mentioned that they had deep fried a turkey once. I had heard for years from all kinds of people (even some normal ones) that it was the best tasting turkey. I hinted that we should do it again this year so her dad and I were put in charge of it. Her mom had made some marinade the night before that we injected into the turkey with a syringe (He was better at it then me, but he injects people all the time). We heated up the oil and dropped it in.

While the turkey fried, we took turns watching it and spending time with the others. Eating a ton of hors d’oeuvres…

(You see those things in the middle that look like dates stuffed with almonds and cream cheese wrapped in bacon? that’s what they are. Don’t knock it til you try it!)

Setting the tables…

(I mostly just watched Nancy set the tables)

And there’s always time for the Wii…

We had 19 people there including family, friends, and the missionaries (they live at the house). The meal was great and even though we all drew numbers out of a hat to sit at the tables randomly, I happened to end up right next to Nancy

After the meal we relaxed, talked, and played games. Some people went home, and some of us played- DUNT DUNT DUHHHHM- Totally Committed! This is a game they started playing last Thanksgiving after Nancy’s cousin found a clip from a Japanese gameshow online. The show is called Silent Library and here is one of the clips:

Totally Committed is a little less intense but a lot of fun. The fun is that you can go around the table and some people won’t have to do anything and some will have to do multiple things. We had things like getting an egg cracked on your head:

Getting two of your fingers superglued together:

Getting a moustache painted on your face:

Vacuum hickey:

Drink pickle juice:

Blow little pom pom things out your nose:

Eat raw salmon eggs:

Get sprayed in the face with water:

Any many more!

On Friday we went to see Quantom of Solace and I liked it. There were plot holes and some confusing elements and I think they tried a little too hard to shun the old Bond in a mad dash to imitate the Bourne movies (which I love), but it was a fun movie and I’m glad I saw it. Afterward we went to Izzy’s, an old buffet with everyone. It was actually really good food for a buffet. We then went to Nancy’s aunt’s house and played more games. Nothing as humiliating as the day before, just some Twister (I’m not joking), Read My Lips, and Catchphrase. The funniest part was trying to decode Nancy’s little cousin trying to give clues in Catchphrase. It was almost like solving a puzzle, I loved it.

Saturday was very chill. We started the day with an extremely intense Wii tennis doubles tournament.  But everyone got too hungry to play the final game. We had to eat at Panera because Nancy loves it and we don’t have any in Arizona.

It is similar to Paradise Bakery, but I can confidently say after that meal that it IS better. Then we went and walked around Best Buy (one of my favorite pasttimes) before heading out to the airport. We flew Alaska Airlines back and it was much better. Jones soda, pretzels, two drink runs, comfortable seats, etc. It was a really good time and much a needed vacation!

EDIT: I always forget to add the link to all the pictures. If you want to see more pictures, click here. Thanks!