Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!

First of all, I hope you all had a merry Christmas! Mine was very different this year.

I went to the coast with my mom, dad, and sister and met up with Tom(my dad's twin), Kumi(aunt), Alex(cousin), and Kumi's parents, who are from Korea and speak nearly no English. There was a definite language barier. I felt kind of bad because they would try to tell us something and we wouldn't understand, or the other way around. Although I have to admit, it was a tad amusing when Alex, who is only 3, was trying to call his grandpa in for dinner...in English. He just kept yelling "COME IN FOR DINNER!!" over and over again. But he's a smart kid, even if he does use Korean and English in the same sentences(his teachers will have fun with that later on). Honestly though, how many 3 year olds use the word "awful"? So, anyway, it was pretty cool because I learned some new things about Korean culture, and anything Asian in any way interests me. I learned that when you toast, you go under their glasses to show respect, and if you want to be really respectful you hold your glass with two hands. Alex would bow whenever he said "thank you" to them. I almost learned how to say "thank you" in Korean, I said it once, to Kumi's parents, but couldn't quite retain that bit of info.

So after we ate and exchanged gifts and stuff we went back to our hotel and stayed the night there and then set off in the morning, to grandma's house we went to celebrate Christmas with my mom's side of the family. Of course Raynel, my uncle, teased me about Evan, and Alyssa and Tia were inquiring as to who my boyfriend was, but it was fun. I saw a short video clip of Raynel, trying to go off of a skate ramp(I thought he was going to face-plant into a tree...he came very close), on Tia's cell phone and I was laughing my guts out. And then there were all these pictures where it looked like he was doing some really awesome jump or something, but really he would just jump up and someone would throw the skateboard under his feet and take the picture really quick. They looked pretty convincing, so it was funny. Most of my gifts there were books(Raynel told me not to bother reading them because they would all be movies eventually anyway, but I'm a bookworm) and CD's. My second Christmas was just as good as the first, I love being with family.

So then, *as you all moan and say "my eyes hurt!!"* my mom and dad and sister and I did our own little Christmas on Monday with just the four of us. Nothin beats homemade doughnuts first thing in the morning. My sister and I got my mom a toaster, and she was thrilled. We went picture crazy because my mom got a new camera. My dad was surprised with a tool chest thing(you expect me to know what it's called?) and a table saw. Sarah got a new golf bag, and I got a new bookcase, which is very good. And, although this wasn't a Christmas present, I get to move the big Indonesian fan hanging on our diningroom wall into my room, which is perfect, because it will match perfectly. So I'm excited about that.

And now I want to say HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! Even if I am a few days early...