Merced, California: David and I spent the day with family, visiting and - of course - eating. We picked up our niece, Aleria (Kira's sister) from school at one o'clock, had our semi-annual burger (and just a burger - no fries, no drink - I have so much will power) at the local In-N-Out and then took Aleria to the Merced Mall to buy jeans. Buying jeans with Aleria (17) is an adventure. The child is simply as thin as a stick - with the longest legs you can imagine. (No need to mention here... Aleria is obviously not related to me by blood.) Who wears a size 1-long jean?
Aleria.
Five shops later, we finally found a pair of jeans that were small enough around and long enough to reach past her teeny ankles. Luckily, the shop had the tiny pants in two colors, so we snagged them both!
Aleria with a (deceptively) massive bowl of steamynoodle soup at Thai Cuisine II
We all gathered for a relaxing meal at Thai Cuisine II. We were nine for dinner and ordered eight dishes. Penang curry, Pad Thai noodles, soup, Thai beef salad, crispy tofu, larb and another fried noodle with chicken. Everything was just delicious - we highly recommend Thai Cuisine II (not to be confused with Thai Cuisine I) if you are ever in Merced.
It was a great two days in Merced, but we leave in the morning to visit Brother Steve near Sacramento... we will roll back this way in just a few short weeks.
Aleria will probably have grown out of her jeans by then.
Tonight, I only have one more fun thing to share. Mary & Steve's #3, Chris (of Provo window-covering delivery fame) obviously has too much time on his hands. He created this Photoshop montage of a few of his posse with Steve and Woody and "placed" his creation on the scoreboard at Autzen Stadium - via Google Earth.
Steve, Chris, Alex, Woody, Jake & Brandon - with The Duck
Hey, isn't that Brandon (our house sitter) on the far right?
Until my next update, I remain your "I still need to shorten my petite-length pants" correspondent.