Family – Page 3 – thosecoolkims

Saebae 2013: Happy New Year!

In Korea, the new year is celebrated with some very special rituals and customs, and naturally we want Ruby to grow up with them. Called “Saebae”, it involves bowing in front of your elders as a sign of respect and appreciation. The new year is also brought in with some great food!

We first brought Ruby down to my mom’s place, dressed to the nines in full Korean regalia. The dress, called a hanbok, was a hit with Ruby. She kept admiring herself in the mirror, and explaining over and over to us that she was wearing a “Korean dress”. We tried teaching her the traditional saebae saying to say to her halmoni (Grandma in Korean), “Sae hae bok manee badusaeyo”, as well.

She never quite got the Korean words right, at least not in their entirety, but she delighted in saying parts of it, like “BOK MANEE!!!” or “BADUSAEYO!!!!”

As you can see in the first photo, though, she got the bow just right. It’s such a beautiful picture, undoubtedly one that will be an iconic image in our family for years to come.

Ruby also learned that saebae involves considerable financial reward too!

In Korea, the New Year is rung in with ddukgook, a hearty, delicious, and nourishing soup with rice cakes and other tasty ingredients. I might be biased, but my mom’s is the bomb. A couple of obligatory food shots!

And a couple pics of Ruby with Halmoni and Wonil!

After a wonderful time at my mom’s, we headed to see my dad and his wife, Grace. In addition to the festivities celebrating the new year, January 1 is also my dad’s birthday so there was double reason to celebrate. I regret we have no picture of Ruby bowing to my dad and Grace, but it was late in the day and Ruby was tired, cranky, and not really in the mood for photos. Let’s just say that it happened!

And here’s the birthday boy blowing out his candles on his cake, incidentally from one of our favorite bakeries in our area, Paris Baguette. Don’t let the name fool you; it’s not a French baker but rather a Korean one. Korean cakes and pastries are a delight, with less overt sweetness than most other cakes and a subtler, sophisticated taste. We love them! Happy Birthday, Dad!

Best wishes for a wonderful 2013 from the Kims!

Christmas 2012 Highlights

As usual, it was a big year for Christmas in the Kim household. We love Christmas, and now that Ruby’s two years old (!) she is really starting to get into the spirit.

One thing Ruby wasn’t so into? Santa Claus. :(

(See past Santa visits here)

On the other hand, we’ve got a full-blown Frosty the Snowman obsession going on over here.

This was the last year that Christmas Eve services would be held at the Crystal Cathedral. We’ve been going to Christmas Eve services there since I was three years old, so this was a big deal for my family. I’ve missed the past 7 or so since I’ve been married (instead, we’ve shared lovely Christmas Eves with Ed’s family), and this was the 1st time we got to take Ruby. She was very excited to take it all in, sitting in her very own seat next to her cousins.

Then it was back to our house to host Christmas Eve dinner! No dishwasher this year, so it was paper plates and recyclables for all!

Fun times with Grand Uncle Luke

Ruby got very spoiled by her Halmoni, Grand-aunt Grace, Grand-uncle Luke and “Great Uncle” Wonil. Grace and Luke even got Ruby a special new hanbok made custom for her!

After Ruby went to bed, it was time for Santa to get to work …

Santa made it to our house!

Grandma + Papaw came over in the morning to watch Ruby open her presents. She loved her wagon!

Mommy, Daddy — look! Alice got me some Minnie Mouse puzzles! Thanks, Alice. :)

Grandma + Papaw got a special book from Ruby

Mommy got a special present, too!

Time for Christmas Morning Brunch with Harabuji and Grace!

Test drivin’ the new wheels!

After a nap and a little down time, it was off to Grandma and Papaw’s house for Christmas Dinner and time with the Facey cousins!

Dad went all out and made mini 3-tier cakes for EVERYONE! An epic way to end an epic holiday!

Merry Christmas! We hope yours was wonderful, too!

Ruby turns TWO

We seriously can’t believe that Ruby is TWO! She had a very busy day to bring on her brand-new year. To start things off, she awoke that morning to find she had her very own kitchen — in red, of course!

Then, we headed off to the park for a playdate with the regular crew. I couldn’t resist making some cupcakes for the gang in honor of her birthday.

Then we came home and prepared to celebrate with our families that evening. After last year’s shindig (which rivaled the size of our wedding reception!), we decided to scale back a little and enjoy an old school party with finger foods and a great big birthday cake. I really wanted to make it this year, and with the help of my mom, I did it!

I knew that I wanted to make a cookie for the top of the cake, so I purchased a special cookie cutter. And, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity for my dad to teach me how to do royal icing. He and my mom made 150 bride cookies and 150 groom cookies for my wedding, so I consider my dad a pro! I had fun working on them with him.

All in all, I think the birthday girl enjoyed her day! We love our girl more than words could ever say.

Christmas 2011 Highlights

Oh, Christmas – sometimes its just so hard to recap after such epic events! And epic they were this year … we hosted our 1st annual Christmas Eve Open House (which was super fun by the way), and then we spent an awesome time with all of the Faceys on Christmas Day.

Here are a few highlights!

Because I am a perfectionist, I had to manually apply my fancy holly leaf sprinkles with tweezers to impress my guests at the Open House.

The effort was totally worth it, I think they turned out darling!

Christmas Eve wouldn’t be the same without my mother-in-law’s fabulous salad. I’ve tried to replicate it many times, but it’s just not the same. Spinach, red onions, craisins, blackberries, toasted almond slices, pomegranate arils and a very special vinaigrette are all part of the magic. I must’ve had atleast 3 plates of it!

Great friends showed up to share the evening with us!

Ed’s dad and new Stepmother arrived to celebrate

And even Ruby’s future boyfriend Ollie was there!

Ruby got a new baby doll from Halmoni and lots of other very special gifts from her and Grand-Uncle Wonil

And Uncle Lewis & Aunt Mary got some serious quality time in with Miss Ruby

Finally, it was time for Santa’s newest Elf to get started on gift assembly after the party was over …

Nice work, Daddy!

And here she is … awake on Christmas morning!

I love my chair!

Obsessed with her new toy puppy from Santa Alice at AutoPacific!

Grandma + Papaw even came over in the morning to watch Ruby open her presents. Here she is helping Papaw with one of his

After all of the excitement, Ruby took a morning nap … and Mommy + Daddy got to enjoy a Christmas Morning Mimosa.

That afternoon, we headed over to Grandma + Papaw’s for more food and fun. At my baby shower, my parents gave me a few of my baby dresses that they had been saving over the years for my own daughter to wear one day. One of the dresses was a red velvet one that I had worn on my very 1st Christmas when I was 10 months old. (I need to scan a picture!). Here is Ruby wearing that very same dress 35 years later:

We scored an awesome red Cuisinart dutch oven! Can’t wait to use it!

Ruby with Grandma + Papaw

Eric’s family arrived and we all shared a scrumptious dinner. Mom cooked TWO geese and a ham this year … not to mention all the other traditional family sides!

It was a fantastic year – I love Christmas!

Thanksgiving Day 2011

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving this year. It was cause for major reflection, as last year, Thanksgiving was the 1st holiday that there were three of us cool Kims, instead of just two! It’s pretty amazing that we’re now officially done with all of Ruby’s “1st” Holidays … last year, she was just 3 weeks old on Thanksgiving, and this year – we have a toddler!

What a difference a year makes!

This year, we decided to set a new family tradition … Ed, Ruby & I participated in the Long Beach Turkey Trot 5K! It was awesome … and just so much fun. We definitely want to keep this tradition up and do it every year! Ed & I ran it in about 35 minutes … not bad for dodging in & out through major crowds with a stroller!
Here I am, ready to take it on … and here’s Ruby, carb-loading before the big race … :)

After the race, it was time to get home and get cookin’. We were responsible for the vegetable sides this year, so we decided on roasted vegetables and a yummy, healthy take on a green bean casserole. Everybody liked my green beans so much that we decided to put them in the annual rotation! Here are my loves keeping me company in the kitchen:

After getting to my parents house, we had our proper feast (Mom never disappoints) and Ruby even tasted her first bite of Pumpkin Pie!

We couldn’t be more thankful for an amazing daughter, our lovely families, our fabulous friends and our happy little home! Happy Thanksgiving!