Christmas at the 'Fun House'
Here are the rest of our Christmas celebration highlights for 2008:
Family
On Christmas Eve we drove down to spend the holiday with my husband's side of the family. We stayed at the "fun house", so labeled because not only do his parents live there, but his eldest brother, sis-in-law and two toddlers (with one more on the way). In addition to us visiting from out of town, another brother, sis-in-law and nephew were staying at the fun house as well. Can you see why it's so fun? And did I mention that all of the four grandchildren are boys between the ages of 1 & 5?
We had a really special time with lots of family to share it with. On Christmas Eve, we went out to dinner with our extended family and got to see lots of aunts, uncles and cousins. It was a rare chance to have four generations together, including my son & his great-grandma (Tai-Ma). Our son went to bed at 11:30pm that night (but still wanting to play).
A New Tradition: Christmas Zhong-zi & Boba drinks
On Christmas Day we had a friend of the family come and help us prepare zhong-zi, a Chinese version of a tamale. Take meat, egg &/or water chestnuts and put that in the middle of glutinous rice (sticky & sweet), and then wrap a large banana leave around the whole thing, tie with string and voila! Needless to say, it was a whole day affair, and it took up most of the kitchen. While the cooking was going on in the kitchen, the rest of us amused ourselves with the Wii. Bowling was the popular sport of the day. In the evening, we wrangled for space around the zhong-zi assembly to cook our Christmas dinner. We prepared turkey, ham, chicken, corn, broccoli, mashed potatoes, and of course, rice! We all ate till we were full! Of course, that didn't stop us from getting boba later on! As we sipped our drinks, we opened our stockings, which we had drawn names and stuffed for each other. Then the kids got to open their goodies. We really appreciated all the family being together...well, almost. Our sister is working in Shanghai, and didn't have any extended vacation for Christmas, so we didn't get to see her, but we did get to chat by phone!
The rest of the time spent with our family was pretty much more eating and shopping. We got our fill on lots of good Chinese food. All the little kids rode bikes one afternoon, and played cars with Di-Pe (2nd Uncle). I really enjoyed watching my son get to know his family better. He now knows the Chinese (Hokkien) names for all of his relatives, and even a few other words too! We are so blessed to have such a loving family environment to bring our child up in.
The Great Crib Escape:
So our son had another "first" while we were staying at the fun house: it was his first time to climb out of his crib. Apparently my husband put him down for a nap, and heard him a few minutes later, crying at the top of the stairs. So not only did he climb out of the crib, but also opened the bedroom door and walked down the hall. We were so surprised! Needless to say, a nap didn't happen that day! We don't think he can pull this trick yet in his own crib at home, which is a little taller, but it's something to watch out for.
Here are some photos to help you visualize our Christmas!
(You can move your mouse over the slideshow to adjust the time)
Family
On Christmas Eve we drove down to spend the holiday with my husband's side of the family. We stayed at the "fun house", so labeled because not only do his parents live there, but his eldest brother, sis-in-law and two toddlers (with one more on the way). In addition to us visiting from out of town, another brother, sis-in-law and nephew were staying at the fun house as well. Can you see why it's so fun? And did I mention that all of the four grandchildren are boys between the ages of 1 & 5?
We had a really special time with lots of family to share it with. On Christmas Eve, we went out to dinner with our extended family and got to see lots of aunts, uncles and cousins. It was a rare chance to have four generations together, including my son & his great-grandma (Tai-Ma). Our son went to bed at 11:30pm that night (but still wanting to play).
A New Tradition: Christmas Zhong-zi & Boba drinks
On Christmas Day we had a friend of the family come and help us prepare zhong-zi, a Chinese version of a tamale. Take meat, egg &/or water chestnuts and put that in the middle of glutinous rice (sticky & sweet), and then wrap a large banana leave around the whole thing, tie with string and voila! Needless to say, it was a whole day affair, and it took up most of the kitchen. While the cooking was going on in the kitchen, the rest of us amused ourselves with the Wii. Bowling was the popular sport of the day. In the evening, we wrangled for space around the zhong-zi assembly to cook our Christmas dinner. We prepared turkey, ham, chicken, corn, broccoli, mashed potatoes, and of course, rice! We all ate till we were full! Of course, that didn't stop us from getting boba later on! As we sipped our drinks, we opened our stockings, which we had drawn names and stuffed for each other. Then the kids got to open their goodies. We really appreciated all the family being together...well, almost. Our sister is working in Shanghai, and didn't have any extended vacation for Christmas, so we didn't get to see her, but we did get to chat by phone!
The rest of the time spent with our family was pretty much more eating and shopping. We got our fill on lots of good Chinese food. All the little kids rode bikes one afternoon, and played cars with Di-Pe (2nd Uncle). I really enjoyed watching my son get to know his family better. He now knows the Chinese (Hokkien) names for all of his relatives, and even a few other words too! We are so blessed to have such a loving family environment to bring our child up in.
The Great Crib Escape:
So our son had another "first" while we were staying at the fun house: it was his first time to climb out of his crib. Apparently my husband put him down for a nap, and heard him a few minutes later, crying at the top of the stairs. So not only did he climb out of the crib, but also opened the bedroom door and walked down the hall. We were so surprised! Needless to say, a nap didn't happen that day! We don't think he can pull this trick yet in his own crib at home, which is a little taller, but it's something to watch out for.
Here are some photos to help you visualize our Christmas!
(You can move your mouse over the slideshow to adjust the time)
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