Kims – thosecoolkims

KimTrippin: Pacific NorthWest — Day 19 (Davis)

Driving to Davis from Klamath was a long haul. We woke up early and were on the road by 6:15am.

The only people awake and on the road were us and a pack of Elk! We caught them crossing the road to graze right in front of us!

It rained a lot as we made the trek through the mountains on Highway 299. The clouds hung low and it made for a mystical experience. We got stopped for almost 30 minutes on the highway because they were doing major construction and could only have one lane of traffic pass through. It was pretty tedious, but we made it.

We pulled into Davis in the late afternoon and headed straight to the flower shop to get some arrangements for Ed’s grandparents. Visiting the cemetery was the main reason for our stop. We had a really great visit – Ed told lots of stories about his Halmoni and “Sacramento Harabuji & Halmoni”. It meant a lot that Ruby seemed to understand the visit this time. (Our last visit was when she was 2)

It’s been a wonderful trip and our little family has made so many memories! We had a blast, but are looking forward to getting home tomorrow. We have one more fun kitschy stop tomorrow morning, and we hope to be back in Lakewood by tomorrow evening.

Christmas 2013 Highlights

As usual – we had a great Christmas! We feel so fortunate to have wonderful family to celebrate the holidays with. We hosted Christmas Eve at our house for Ed’s side of the family, and we were especially thrilled that Auntie Shannon could join us! It was a cozy evening of good food, great company, cookie decorating, and of course – a few presents. :) We kept things casual this year and went with paper plates! But I still made special place-setting favors like I do every year — it’s tradition!

An 80 degree Christmas Eve at The Kims

All ready for dinner!

Mommy made a trifle!

Love for Halmoni!

Cookie decorating time – everybody got into it!

On Christmas Morning, Grandma + Papaw arrived early to watch Ruby open presents. Looks like Santa made it to our house this year – thank goodness for that key!

She asked Santa for a Sofia the First Doll for 2 months straight, grateful he came through .

Ruby gave a few gifts, too…

After a bit of relaxing, we headed to Grandma + Papaw’s to spend the day. Unfortunately, not too many pics captured there, but lots of memories were made for sure! Dad made his mini sugar fest cakes (!) and Mom made the traditional family favorite, Ribbon Salad. A sweet way to end an epic day!

This is my favorite pic with the best gift of all …

Merry Christmas 2013! More pics here.

Ruby’s 3rd Birthday!

At long last, here are a few pics of Ruby’s birthday celebration last Saturday. We did a small lunch with just the Grandparents at Goofy’s Kitchen, and boy did the grandparents all have a blast watching the birthday girl interact with all the characters. Then we went back to the house for some cake and ice cream, and Uncle Eric, Auntie Shirley, all the cousins, and Grand-Uncle and Auntie Luke & Grace joined us. It was a super fun day!

Elizabeth and Violet stopped by early to kick off the birthday celebration, and surprised Ruby with her very own princess dress. Our little Snow White couldn’t have been happier.

The crew at Goofy’s Kitchen

Harabuji, Grace, Ed, Ruby, Goofy, Carrie, Papaw, Grandma, Halmoni, Wonil

Special cupcake!

Hi Baloo! (Or is that Briar Bear?)

Ruby’s two birthday cake requests were “Pink” and “Ballerina”. I’m happy to say that I made the birthday girl happy with my creation! More on that (and more pics!) on my Four-Eyed Girlie blog.

Presents! (Yes – you will see Miss Ballerina rocking TWO new ballet outfits!)

Elder Yang (Ed’s Grandma’s best friend) sent this cool Learn-to-Speak-Korean set for ALL of us!

Time with cousins always makes this girl shine!

AND … on Monday, Ruby even got her own special celebration at school!

We just can’t believe that this girl is THREE!

Family Road Trip, Day 2 – Petaluma

It’s a miracle – we are actually relaxing on our vacation. If there was ever a place to relax, it’s Shannon and Mani’s place in Petaluma. Not only is Petaluma a charming little town, but Shannon and Mani’s place is so comforting that we kinda haven’t needed to leave. Shannon is an amazing cook, Ruby loves their dog, Kiwi, and there are fun things to play with like ukelele’s from Hawaii and tiny tea sets!

Ruby is a huge fan of her Auntie Shannon and we’re enjoying watching the love fest:

Our 1st Family Road Trip: Day 1, Visiting Davis, CA

We have been itching and yearning for a road trip since before Ruby was even born, and we knew one destination we’d definitely plan on would be Northern California. There is some serious Kim family history in Davis, Ed’s sister Shannon lives in Petaluma, and Ed + I both love San Francisco — so there were many reasons to make the trip. Now that Ruby is a little older (and much happier in the car), we decided to go for it. We are proud to report that Ruby did very well the whole way — that’s our cool Kim in training! :)

The destination for Day One was Davis. Aside from the fact that Davis is where Ed’s aunt + uncle lived for many years and where he would come as a kid to visit often, all three of his grandparents are buried here. Before we were married, Ed’s mom planned a special trip for me to go up to Davis to visit these gravesites and be introduced to his Halmoni and his “Sacramento Grandpa and Grandma”. Now that Ruby is here, Ed has been anxious to take her up and do the same. It was a very special visit, and very moving for all of us.

Ruby did a great job with the flowers, and then drew a special picture for each great-grandparent.

We took our time there and Ed told Ruby + I some special stories about each of his grandparents. It was a beautiful day and the 1st of many trips to come (A few more pics here). We’re off to Petaluma first thing in the morning!