As you know, I had my homesickness debut this week. I miss my family. And making that ridiculous Christmas Disco Video is the closest I’ve gotten to feeling the Christmas spirit with them. Watching my brother twirl around like a little disco fairy and my dad doing the splits makes me cry tears of laughter every single time!
The best part of that video for me is seeing all our faces together in one place. It’s been two years since we’ve been together as a family. Although I had a wonderful visit from my parents and brother here in Vietnam last month, my sister (aka my best friend) couldn’t make it 
Our last Christmas together was an especially memorable one.
It was 2008, and our parents had insisted we not spend our money flying home to Olympia from LA that year because we had just spent three weeks together in Vietnam. Plus, there was a massive snowstorm in the Pacific Northwest, causing all sorts of holiday travel madness.
Oh, and my car had just been stolen.
Oh, and I had also just been victimized by credit card fraud – twice.
‘Twas a really bad year for Thy! It didn’t seem reasonable to go home, and my sister and I agreed we would spend Christmas in LA. At least we had each other! We’re best friends and roommates, so it could be a lot worse.
But as it got closer to Christmas time, I couldn’t stand to be away from home. I had just suffered a really unfortunate series of events and had way too much stress – all I wanted was to be with the people I loved most in the world. I decided we would go.
First I thought we’d do a roadtrip to Olympia – it would only take a day or two. But the roads up north were icy and dangerous.
Oh yeah, and then I remembered I no longer had a car. FML.
So I decided we would fly. By this time, flights were stuuupid expensive, but I bought the tickets anyway. I surprised my sister with them, we found a turtle-sitter for our kids, and we were on our way. Our parents had no idea we were coming, so the travel drama that awaited us ended up being well worth it.
Our three-hour flight turned into an 18-hour journey that involved delays, an overnight stay in San Francisco, a mix-up regarding our tickets, and some personal drama. An absolute nightmare.
But we landed in about 10 inches of snow and with a reminder of why we love Washington so much – it’s beautiful! Not only because of the powdery white goodness that just fell over the land, but all the Evergreen trees that line the streets. And having gotten used to the layer of smog that blankets us in LA, the crisp fresh Washington air was a real treat. It was good to be home.
So good, I hardly flinched when the Hollywood Police Department called to tell me they found my stolen car. Abandoned on a roadside in Compton.
COMPTON! How cliché.
Our cousin picked us up at the airport and dropped us off at home where we were welcomed by a very surprised and giddy little brother.
Our parents were still at work and would be coming home at different times. So we laid out a master plan of attack for mom as she came into the master bedroom to unload her bags, and then for dad when he walked into the living room – both attacks concluding with the obligatory jumping-out-from-nowhere and screaming “SURPRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISE!!!”
Operation Christmas surprise was a success! Our parents were totally shocked to see our faces. My mom’s yelpy jump-back reaction was especially cute. Beyond words! It felt so good to be home, to be together, to laugh together.
I could’ve left that day and been wholly satisfied if those moments were all I had for Christmas. It was so much fun!
We went to church, we sang Christmas carols, we played in the snow, we got together with our cousins, we ate amazing food. Speaking of food, we do ours international buffet-style. Half of it’s traditional turkey/ham/stuffing, etc. and the other half is Vietnamese food. And it’s even more delicious for the sheer fact that’s it’s cooked by my culinarily talented cousins and my Aunt Hai, aka master chef extraordinaire to the Governer. Ohh, the gluttony!
The fun continued with gorgeous snowfall.
And we met our cousin’s baby for the first time & fell completely in love – just look at this FACE!
If I’m looking forward to anything about coming home to the States, it would be to see these lovely people and celebrate Christmas in good old-fashioned family style.
What a fabulous Christmas surprise!