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Christmas Party 2013

By beakatude
on Dec 09, 2013
in babies, family, friends, holidays, life, yum

The last time Jes and I threw a Christmas Party was back in 2006 when we lived in Irvine. It was before any of us had kids and some of us weren’t even married yet. On Saturday, we threw a party and it was almost like a reunion for some people. It was just nice to have a lot of the same people all together again under one roof. We reserved the Clubroom and we had a decent showing of 17 adults and 9 kids! My oh my! I remember back when our parties consisted of at least 25 adults and maybe 4 dogs.

Anyway, the day started with a little drama. Jes started the prime rib at 11:30 thinking it would take 7 hours to finish. There was smoke all up in the house because it was turned up to 500 degrees (nothing bad happened) and the roast finished by 2:30!

So, in a panic, we went to Plan B and decided to make prime rib sandwiches with horseradish aioli, onion relish, and arugula instead of serving slices with sides. It turned out just fine and the meat was perfectly medium rare. Yum.

We had a kid-friendly menu and activities also prepared and they had a fun time together.

The adults also had a little game to play – we set up a blind wine tasting of cheap and more expensive red wines.

By the end, everyone was pretty rowdy. Check out the Reese and Jack Team vs. Uncle Jimmy.

Keenan almost stole a kiss from Zoe until Uncle Victor spooked her.

I’m so glad the timing worked out for everyone. It’s rare that we all have a free Saturday to hang out all together nowadays. What a great way to kick off the Christmas season!!

LOL

By beakatude
on Dec 01, 2013
in chuckle, kumquat, outings, yum

I don’t know why but I can’t stop laughing when I see this photo. I think the caption and comments really top it off. Thanks for capturing this pose, Brother!

One Month!

By beakatude
on Nov 30, 2013
in babies, family, kumquat, life, outings

Baby Alice is one month old today! Coincidentally, we planned to have dim sum at Yank Sing this morning, which is where we celebrated Kumquat’s one month! Alice slept through out meal but woke up at the end for her to placed in the baby carrier for the first time.

Happy One Month, Alice!! And congratulations to Brother and Joy for surviving your first month. You’re both doing a wonderful job!!! It gets better from here on out.

It’s still weird to think that Brother and I each have one kid. I can still remember Brother at their ages. I guess we all have to grow up eventually.

Black Friday

By beakatude
on Nov 30, 2013
in family, holidays, kumquat, outings, yum

On Friday morning, Brother and I got up really early to go for another run. It was nice to be out before the sun came up. We finished three miles in time to then hop into the car and head over to Tartine.

This is our version of standing in line for Black Friday.

We got there about 15 minutes before the doors opened and left with a butter crossaint, pan du chocolat, coconut macaroons, 2 morning buns, two slices of ham and cheese quiche, and a chocolate hazelnut tart.

Later that morning, we all packed up for a walk along Embarcadero to Hog Island Oyster Co. There was a bit of a wait but it was just enough for us to to enjoy a glass of wine and to build up an appetite. They gave us a big table for all 8 of us and we feasted on oysters and clam chowder.

What a tasty meal!! Once that was all done, we took a walk to Union Square to do a little shopping.

Brother went back to Uniqlo to exchange something while Jes and I went to the Apple Store to get me a brand new Macbook Pro, which came with a $150 Apple Store gift card!! Woot! Merry Christmas to me!

The afternoon was then spent at home resting and cleaning up. Kumquat enjoyed hanging out with Cousin Alice and it was so cute to see how curious she is around her.

For dinner, we all piled into the SUV that Brother rented and went to R&G Lounge for some salt and pepper crab. Daddy really enjoyed the crab and we were all wondering why we hadn’t yet taken him there after all these years.

Thanksgiving Day

By beakatude
on Nov 29, 2013
in family, holidays, kumquat, outings, yum

Thanksgiving Day was filled with family and food. In the morning, we took a drive down to San Jose to visit my uncle and aunt. It was fun to see the two little girls in their carseats side-by-side.

While we were there, Pa Peed (my aunt) took out some old photos for us and it was fun to see us all as little kids.

This is a photo of the cousins while we were visiting them in Thailand. From left to right: Pish (5), me (5), Ishya (3), John (3), Johnny (1).

This is a photo of me when I was about 2 months old. It was on a Christmas card that my aunt received the year I was born. I guess I my very own set of chubby cheeks.This is a photo of me and Pish when during my first visit to Thailand. We were both almost a year old. My mom and uncle were so cute as first-time parents.

After our drive back up to SF, we stopped in Chinatown for our favorite breakfast – porridge and fried dough. Yum. Kumquat thoroughly enjoyed the porridge and some of uncle’s noodles too.

Meanwhile, Jes was home preparing our giant turkey feast. We had a 23-lb turkey and all the fixings – my favorite meal of the year!

The only piece of the meal that was missing were Susie and Victor. We’ve had Thanksgiving with the for the past 6 years and this year they’re out of town. Oh well.

Happy Thanksgiving!

By beakatude
on Nov 28, 2013
in babies, dog, family, holidays

We took another family photo about 18 months later and I put them together to give us a comparison. Poor Koa is missing from the photo but we have a new little family member added to the mix! I’m having a really fun Thanksgiving weekend so far and it’s been so good to have the family in town this year for the holiday.