Thursday, December 9, 2010

Happy Birthday, Happy Thanksgiving and Festivous for the Rest of Us!

Time is flying so fast!! I can't believe how quickly the holidays have come! Before we dive into our Christmas happenings here in Penang, I wanted to post about our exciting November! As you must all know, by far and away my favorite holiday is my own birthday (Nov. 14th and my favorite color is pink, in case you're wondering for next year!) This year Brent had to fly back to the US for work, so my friends, Nina Wilson and Sarah Kelly worked really hard to make sure I had a great day! Here we are in front of the Suffolk House, an old English Manor that has been turned into a restaurant here in Penang. Craig decided to join us for the afternoon, he was feeling a little nervous without his daddy around.
The Suffolk House serves traditional English High Tea on the weekends, it was such a treat! Here is Nina and myself sitting on the beautiful terrace with a view of the garden. Craig was busy chasing invisible aliens in the garden, so it was a very relaxing teatime for me!
Here are Nina and Sarah with the beautiful tea service, I was served my favorite herbal tea, peppermint. Many of the English customs are followed here because Penang is a former British colony. I always say that living in Penang is really like cheating. That's because we get to live in Southeast Asia, but since Penang was a British colony English is a very commonly spoken language here so it's easy to get around. Best of both worlds!
After our High Tea I was treated to a much needed pedicure! Craig came along for that as well, and was quite insistent that he wanted me to have Shrek blue toes as a birthday treat. To my suprise, I loved the color! I even asked my sister to send me the color for Christmas, but she wasn't so sure about it. Look, Elizabeth!! It's really pretty!
My friends really took care of me!! After our pedicure we headed back to Nina's house and had a wonderful dinner (a post needs to be dedicated to the delicousness of the food!) and cake! I really lucked out that the Kelly and Wilson families both moved to Penang at the same time that we did. Our children all play so well together and I am with Sarah and Nina almost every day exploring this great place! It's made the adjustment so much easier on everyone!
Brent was such a sweetheart! He felt bad that he had to miss my birthday and made sure I got a great present! Because of an early anniversary present that he gave me before we came to Penang I told him he didn't need to get me anything else for quite a while. But look what he got me!! An iphone! I read once that iphone users would rate it a tragedy if something happened to their iphone. I thought that was ridiculous at the time. Now, I agree! Thanks, sweetheart!!Now this is why I am so shocked at how time flies! As soon as Brent got back into town it was time to celebrate Thanksgiving! Brent brought back all the essentials for Thanksgiving dinner in his suitcase, so I guess it was a good thing he got to go back to the States for a bit (plus I got my iphone!) My mom made sure that the children had feathers to make Native American headresses, a tradition at my house growing up. Here we are, back at the Wilson home with all the kids!
The children were extra lucky, because they got their own table with McDonald's chicken nuggets and juice boxes! Katie Wilson said to her mom, "Thanks for not making us eat vegtables today!" I guess we all need to be thankful for something on Thanksgiving Day!
Here's our buffet dinner! Nina, Sarah and I cooked all day! I must say it's a little easier to cook Thanksgiving dinner in a country that doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving. Why? Because all the kids were in school and weren't running around while we were cooking! We had a Turkey (don't get me stared on how hard that was to find!), mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, creamed vegtables, corn bread muffins, cranberry sauce and pumpkin and apple pie!
And here is the adult table! We gathered around the table to celebrate Thanksgiving with all the finance expats here in Penang. It was a wonderful day! We were all thankful to be living here for a small time, and happy to be spending the American holiday together! Around the table are Kelly and Wade, Sarah and Shawn, Dan and Nina, Beau and Mandy (with their cute baby!) and last, Brent and myself.
Thanksgiving day is a double holiday for Brent and I! We got engaged Thanksgiving night. This was the 10th anniversary of our engagement! (as a side note, Brent wanted to ask my father for my hand immediately after he asked me. My father had already gone to bed and was reading a book, but that didn't stop my sweetheart! He knocked on the door and asked to speak to him. My dad, who is a bit eccentric in a very endearing way, said that he could talk to him, made room for him on the bed, opened the covers and said, "come on in!" So I snuck a peak at Brent and my dad lounging on the bed discussing our future. Very funny!) For the occasion, after 10 years of telling him I make a good apple pie, I decided to actually make one for him!
Not to dwell on any holiday too long, the next night we got all dressed up to attend the Finance Annual Dinner held at the E & O. You may remember this historic British hotel from the Fabulous Ladies (or was it Luscious?) of Penang pink event. Here it is all decked out for Christmas! And here Brent and I are, 10 years after our engagment and still as happy as ever!
And here are our friends again, the Wilson and Kelly couples! How fun to get all dressed up and leave the kids with a sitter for a change! Really - this was the first night since we've been in Penang that we have gone out without Craig. And he did just fine!
We had a great time at the Annual Dinner! Here are some of Brent's co-workers. Right after the entire room danced the chicken dance. I guess you never know what will happen at these events!
As for Festivus for the Rest of Us (if you don't know what that is, find some Seinfeld reruns!!) I really don't have any grievances except that time is going by so quickly!! There is never a dull moment around here!

2 comments:

  1. I love looking at your blog. You look so pretty in your holiday pictures. I am so glad that you are having a good time there. I miss you a lot. My boys asked if it was almost time for Craig to come home.

    Love,
    Melissa

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  2. So glad you still were able to have pie for Thanksgiving, and thank you for sharing the cute story about Brent and your father. Warm holiday wishes! Rita

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