Browse Category: family

Thank you, Mr. Turkey.

Thanksgiving Menu

It’s Thanksgiving, my 2nd most favorite holiday of the year!!!

Things I’m thankful for:

  • my health – no H1N1 yet!!
  • my job – hooray for regular paychecks in a down economy!
  • my family’s health – parents are thriving, husband is exercising again, and brother/joy are super happy and in love
  • plenty of friends around me at home and at work – they keep me sane
  • my dog – keeps me entertained and gets me out the door at least twice per day

The turkey is in the oven and all the ingredients for the sides are waiting their turn for a trip to the stove.  We’re making dinner for the Masayas and Yuans this year and the menu is complete with all the regular fixings.

Just in case you can’t read the chef’s writing, the menu is as follows:

Roasted Turkey

Shiitake Mushroom Gravy

Haricot Verts

Mashed Potatoes

Baked Sweet Potatoes

Spinach Salad

Cranberry Compote

Baked Ham

Creamed Corn

Crescent Rolls

Stuffing

**************************

Happy Thanksgiving!

Belated Birthday Pictures

Jes' birthday

Back in September we all went out for Jes’ 34th birthday.  We celebrated it in Italy on our own but I thought I would be fun to have our friends together a week later.  We all met up at Hi-Dive for some burgers and beer.

Ta Da!

Gerard also did his bottle-stacking trick for us and although it could have been a really bad scene if they came crashing down, it didn’t.  Pretty impressive.

I’m not sure how these photos slipped out of the rotation but I JUST went through them this weekend.  Here are the rest of the photos.

Didneelan with da Fam

tickets

Last Sunday I went to Disneyland with Brother, Joy, and Jes.  Since it wasn’t the exact date of my birthday, I couldn’t get in free.  Bummer.  So, I managed to dig out a pair of complimentary tickets that I got back in 1993 when I worked there.  They never expired so it looked like the perfect time to use them.  Unfortunately the tickets were so old that no one really knew what to do with them.  After a couple managers took at look at them, we scored a pair of Park-Hopper tickets worth $97 each!  Can you believe how expensive it is to go to Dland nowadays?!

Sleeping Beauty's Castle

Spam and Cole

Once we got in, we grabbed a little ice cream on Main Street, got a FastPass for Space Mountain, and rode the Nemo ride before lunch.  Jes got to eat some yummy fried chicken and then the Suminos arrived!  They met up with us in front of the castle and brought two boxes of spam musubi – wooo!!

Matterhorn

Brandon

Astro Blasters

It was so much fun hanging out with the cousins and the boys.  Cole is four now and big enough to ride Matterhorn!!  Brandon is two and does a pretty good job keeping up with his big brother.  Cole was brave enough to ride in the front bobsled with me and I let him steer the car on the Autopia ride.  We also rode the Astro Blasters ride, which Cole missed out on last time he went because it broke down.  Unfortunately my score was really low since I was too busy taking photos.

the boys

group photo

After hanging out with the family, it reminded me of how time passes so quickly.  Marie and I used to go to Disneyland all the time as kids and it was really something to be taking her two boys around our old stomping grounds.

Toy Story

3D glasses

In the evening, Jes had to make a conference call so we all hung out at Disney’s California Adventure for a while.  I rode the new Toy Story ride that was in 3D and was super fun.  Unfortunately Cole wasn’t tall enough to ride the roller coaster.  Too bad.  The Suminos went home once the sun went down and we ran over to Space Mountain for their special haunted house version.  Thank goodness for the FastPass because the line was super long.

Nighttime on Main Street

The evening ended with the fireworks show that actually wasn’t as cool as I had hoped.  It was a Halloween/Villains themed show and the music was terrible.  We ended up leaving halfway through the show…that’s how bad it was.  It was such a fun day with the family and a wonderful way to celebrate my Birthday Eve.

Here are the photos from the magical day.

Back to Downtown for another 30th

Surprise!

Last weekend I flew down to LA to surprise Brother for his 30th birthday.  He was a little bummed out during the week leading up to it and I was lucky enough to find $39 fares on Southwest just the Sunday before.  On Friday night, we flew down and Johnny got home around 11 pm and was speechless when he walked in and saw me just hanging out in the kitchen.  He just had this dumbfounded look on his face so I made him redo his reaction for a photo.

Copa d'Oro

On Saturday night, we went to Josie Restaurant (in Santa Monica) for dinner with his two friends Ben and Tiffany.  We got there kinda early so we stopped for Happy Hour at Copa d’ Oro, which had a tasty cocktail menu of drinks for only $5 each.  Score!  At Josie’s, we had a yummy meal that was easily shared by all 6 of us.  Earlier that day, we were talking about going out for drinks after dinner and Joy jumped in and said “We should take them to Golden Gopher.”  She had planned a suprise party for Johnny the week before and we gave her a good excuse to head out there.

At Golden Gopher, we got settled in the patio and slowly Brother’s friends started to trickle in.  He was a little confused but so happy to see that there was more planned for his birthday afterall. They also made me take a jager bomb, which was nasty nasty nasty.

jagermeister

Cousins

The cousins, Pish and Debbie, also happened to be at a wedding around the corner and stopped by too.

Danger Dog

The night would not be complete without a late-night “Danger Dog”.  We walked down the street and found a cart parked just outside.  I got a tasty bacon-wrapped dog topped with onions, ketchup, mustard, AND MAYO?!  Soooooooo tasty tasty.

It’s crazy to think that just 4 years ago we were at Broadway Bar (around the corner from Golden Gopher) celebrating my 30th and Brother’s 26th.  It turned out to be pretty cool to be coincidentally celebrating Brother’s 30th just around the corner.  Funny how things work out like that sometimes.  Happy Birthday, Brother!

30thBirthday

September 2005

Johnny's 30th

September 2009

Here are photos from that evening.

Dirty Dirty Dirty

riding in the car

We just got back from our annual camping trip on Sunday afternoon and this year it was in Tahoe at Emerald Bay State Park.  We brought Koa along and the Sokol-Juns had Jack so it was a little different from past trips but just as fun.

emerald bay

It was a gorgeous weekend with warm, sunny days and cool nights.  I came home without a single mosquito bite but there were plenty of huge ants and pesky bees.  The lake was a sparkly blue and there were chipmunks everywhere.

lookout rock

Koa seemed to enjoy the great outdoors and even found himself a rock to sit on.  He got pretty comfy at the campsite and greeted each person as they entered by frantically searching for Fabian and bringing him to them.  I guess he’s made himself at home.  He also got to dig in the dirt, slept in the dirt, and was filthy.  I made sure to take him straight to the bathhouse on our way home.

jack in the dirt

jack and his lamp

Jack also made himself at home by plopping himself down on the dirt and playing with his trucks.  We even made him a garage for the trucks out of an empty Coors Light box.  For some reason I felt like the campground was extra dusty and dirty this year.  I couldn’t seem to keep my hands clean and came home with raw fingers and soot under my nails.

breakfast

As usual, each couple was in charge of taking care of one meal and we ate very well this past weekend.  Check out this breakfast burrito just prior to folding.  Unfortunately for us, the bees were also interested in our food and we we often chased over to the campfire for shelter from them.  Jes and I prepared corned beef hash and eggs on the final morning accompanied by the leftover veggies and pastries from the day before.

dishes

We also took turns cleaning up the pots and utensils.  Luckily we had a very good helper with the water faucet.  It doesn’t stay on so I usually had to hold the water on with one hand while attempting to wash and scrub with the other.  With Jack helping out, it made the chore less difficult.  He loved the water and we were getting the dishes done faster.

vyl on a rock

On Saturday afternoon we all walked down to the beach for a little rinse off of the feet in the ice cold water.  Vyl wished she had brought her swimsuit and decided to take a short nap on a rock.  Most of the boys actually jumped in and had a brief swim in the water.

beach

We snuck Koa down the trail and had him close-by on the beach.  At one point a 5-year-old girl came by to take away Jack’s pail and Koa went nutty.  The barking made Jack scowl but it made the girl go away.  Hah!

group photo

It was another fun camping trip for us and it looked like the boy and dog also had a good time.  Thanks for planning, Ryan!  Where are we going next year?!

Here are the photos: Day One |  Day Two |  Day Three

Brother & Joy in SF

Ferry Plaza

I’m a little behind on my postings but I guess it’s better late than never.  Last weekend Brother and Joy came up and we had a good time eating, drinking, exploring, and drinking some more.  On Saturday morning we went to the Ferry Plaza to check out the Farmers’ Market.  We got to taste lots of yummy fruits and samples and checked out the cute stores inside.  Unfortunately the peanut monster attacked the Brother again and he ended up having to yak in a quiet corner into a plastic bag.  Poor guy.

red carpet

Later that morning we headed up to Napa.  We stopped for lunch at Genova and then headed to Nickel & Nickel for their Cabernet Release Party.  They served 11 wines along with a spread of cheese and appetizers.

Jes & Brother

It was set in one of their underground cellars and even had valet service and a red carpet entrance.

Wine in a Box

We went home with a pretty wooden box filled with our favorite wines and a good buzz that lasted the rest of the afternoon.

Ad Hoc

We tried to stop at Mumm for a champagne tasting before dinner but they were running so behind that we decided to head out before the waitress was able to say hello to our table.  For dinner we went to Ad Hoc, which is another one of Thomas Keller’s creations.

Lamb and Potatoes

It’s a casual restaurant offering a different menu each day and serves everything family style.  It was complete with a salad straight from The French Laundry garden, succulent lamb and potatoes, savory cheese with honey, and two different desserts!  The Bangs joined us but they had to get a separate table across the walkway.

Chinatown Breakfast

On Sunday, we ventured out to Chinatown for jook and fried dough at Washington Bakery & Restaurant.  Mmmm…that really hit the spot.

Fortune Cookie Factory

We also walked around looking for cheap t-shirts and visited the Fortune Cookie Factory.

Bi-Rite Creamery

Afterward, I took them to Bi-Rite Creamery and then Fisherman’s Wharf for some snacks before their flight back to LA.

Here are more photos from the weekend (including Debbie’s birthday dinner).  And here are photos from our day in Napa.  It was fun seeing you two again!!!  Come back soon!