The day after Christmas we loaded the car and hit the road for Connecticut to visit Rob's family. We enjoyed the short 5 or so hours in the car this year as compared with 18+ hours in past years. We arrived at Grandma's house in time for presents before dinner. We all gathered around and took turns opening presents. Rob got another Wii controller and remote to up our set to 3 each now. I received some pretty cool quilting books that used to be his grandmother's.
After presents, we sat down for dinner and then we did the grab bag. The grab bag is always an interesting mix of random gifts that can be pretty cool OR can be pretty terrible. This year I think we made out 50/50. I got a cool purse and Rob got a Lobster statue, which I am not sure we know what to do with. For now, it hangs out on an end table to attract strange looks.
After words we cleared the table and played Cranium which was a gift from Bill's girlfriend Ellie. It provided hours of fun. I was on a team with Danielle and Steve (aka Gorgonzola). We didn't win, but we had a pretty good time. This year was Gorgonzola's first year with the family and I think he survived quite well. I could sympathize with him and was also happy to see another person's reaction to the fun chaos.
We called it a night and we left to stay with Rob's parents for the night. We usually stay at Grandma's house, but it was quite full. It was probably just as well (and probably planned that way). The next morning we came back to the house and got a welcome from Grandma singing Doo-doot-do-doo (wedding march) through wrapping paper tubes. I figure this is just par for the course and I was ushered into the living room where the entire family had gathered sitting all around with turkey feathers in the hair. I was like, umm, ok, that's cool and went back into the kitchen to remove the shoes and jacket I came in with. This was when Rob's mother filled me in as to what was happening. "This your surprise bridal shower!" OOHHH!!!!
She had planned out the whole thing and the table was decorated and everyone had known about this for a while. It was a fantastic surprise. We played wedding bingo, then did "how well do you know your significant other" interviews. Turns out Rob and I don't know each other's eye color and some other silly facts. His family came up with some great questions and that was hilarious. I think the favorite was, when privately interviewed and asked, "Who would you say your biggest celebrity crush is?" I responded, "OH! Definitely Heath Ledger, I would do him in a second, well, not anymore." It got quite a laugh when shared with the crowd. The best part of the party was the TP wedding dresses the family made for Becky and Danielle. They had a ball designing them and the girls looked fabulous. :)
I am so excited to be joining this family. They know how to have fun, the embrace silliness, and truly care about all members of the family. To show how much they have accepted me into the family, I was given an extremely treasured gift. When I opened it, I didn't think much of the gift inside, but the entire family went, "oooooooo". Apparently, they all knew what it was that I opened because it's a family tradition that they are given from time to time to only female blood relatives within the family. As I am not a member of the family yet or a blood relative, it spoke a great deal of how his family feels about me joining it. I was really honored to be given such a present. It's a set of 3 change purses linked together on a chain. Every now and again the purses get filled with treasures as they are passed along. Sometimes they are passed for significant events (like now) and sometimes, just because.
It really was a great party and while I didn't expect it at all, I really appreciated it. The wedding is just around the corner now!
Of course then there were presents. She even wrapped all the ones that came to her house so I was able to "open" them all. :)
After they were all opened, my friend Kara presented me with a "hat" of bows. It was quite silly, but fun at the same time.
