parents – thosecoolkims

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.

Michigan/Ohio Trip 2013, Days 2-3

The past two days have been a whirlwind of great times with family. So much in fact that I have neglected to take pics of people! :( Today was a low key day with Mom and Dad, driving through Dexter and Ann Arbor. I got to catch a few views of my beloved red barns, we found an incredible park to play at, and Ruby had her 1st Zingerman’s sandwich!

We even got to have a date night with Rachel + Brian while my parents stayed back to watch the kids! It was so much fun to hang out with them that I forgot to take any pics!

Yesterday was equally as great. Mom, Dad, Ruby + I spent the day in Tecumseh with dear cousin Kay and Dave. It was a wonderful day — Kay made her amazing sausage gravy and biscuits for me and we celebrated Dave’s birthday with cake! We had a blast visiting most of the day and then we headed out to Adrian to place an order at my cousin’s pizza shop so we could bring pizza to the reunion on Saturday. Then, we were off to Deerfield to spend the evening with Wes & Brenda and the family! We had fresh sweet corn that was delivered from the farm that morning, delicious veggies and beef sandwiches and some super scrumptious desserts! We loved seeing everyone and the highlight of the evening was Wes busting out his guitar so Ruby could get her 2nd private concert! Ruby was just as enchanted with the music as she was the 1st time we visited in 2011 and she was just 9 months old.

Smalltown USA (Adrian, MI)

Ruby gets a special concert from Wes …

This was her 1st time seeing Wes play when she was 9 months old!

Loving this time with family … leaving Michigan and off to Ohio tomorrow!

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!

Tennessee Super Kitschfest! Day 2, Roadtrippin’ to Pigeon Forge

Today was another whirlwind of a day, this time we drove 3.5 hrs east of Nashville to Pigeon Forge. The main reason for the trek is to visit Dollywood (which we’re doing tomorrow), but today was full of more fun Southern surprises. We were very grateful for a sticker book during this long drive — it kept Ruby busy!

Since Dolly herself is from Seviersville, which is in the Smoky Mountains, we decided if we really wanted a different experience, we’d rent a cabin in the Smoky Mountains instead of a regular motel on the Parkway. Boy are we glad we did! It’s just too bad that we don’t have more time here … there is an enclosed porch with a swing, a hot tub, a full kitchen, a whirlpool bath tub and a jacuzzi! We could easily stay a week here, it’s very quaint and peaceful.

After getting settled we met up with our Michigan relatives Kay + Dave, and had a Southern style dinner at Huck Finn’s. This place was COUNTRY: the menu lists “fixins” and “vittles”. Dad even ordered Fried Frog Legs, and I saved enough room for Banana Pudding!

Now it’s bath time and off to bed to be ready for a BIG dose of awesome kitsch overload at Dollywood tomorrow!

More pics here:

Tennessee – Day 2