Tag: parents

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!

Happy Fathers Day

The shirt is true - Ruby is a Daddy's Girl!

 

Today was Ed’s 1st Fathers Day! I could hardly wait to celebrate this – he is such a great dad and does so much for us that I wanted to make it special. I think I was more excited about Father’s Day than Mother’s Day! Ed wanted to keep things low-key, so I honored his wishes. :)

We started off the morning by presenting Daddy with a few gifts. Ruby made him a picture storybook called “Daddy & Me” with some of the best photos of the two of them so far. Want to see the book?
Click here to see the book
(You’ll see the book on the right, and use the “Next” arrow below to flip pages of the book)

After presents, we headed out to the beach for an early morning run (we had a delicious lunch planned, so we had to get our exercise in early!) Both of us enjoy running together and its always a kick to watch Ruby enjoy herself while she’s a long for the ride. We did about 2 1/2 miles from Bluff Park to Belmont Shore and back.

Finally, the part Ed was really looking forward to – lunch at Porto’s Bakery in Downey to enjoy empanadas, potato balls and ropa vieja sandwiches! We love Cuban food and Porto’s is simply amazing. The place was packed! Lots of families were in to pick up pastries for their own Father’s Day celebrations. It looks like our Foodie-in-Training is learning quickly – here she is making an attempt to steal our empanadas and potato balls! :)

We also had dates with both my dad and Ed’s dad to celebrate the day as well. We took my dad out on Saturday to Schooner or Later. It’s kind of a Long Beach institution and it was featured on one of my dad’s favorite shows, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on the Food Network, so it was a fitting location! We enjoyed a beautiful breakfast by the water…

On Sunday, we took Ed’s dad out to the new Gaucho Grill in Downtown Long Beach for some Argentinean cuisine. Basically, that means meat! It was delicious, and Ruby was in a really great mood and hammed things up for her Harabuji at the house before went out.

All in all, it was a great Father’s Day. I’m so lucky to have all these great dads around me to celebrate with!

Ruby Turns 100 Days Old!

In Korea, babies get a big celebratory party when they turn 100 days old. Back in the old days, it really was a big deal if a baby made it to the first 100 days. Today, of course, most babies here reach that milestone with few problems, but it remains an important custom for Koreans.

Ruby being half-Korean, of course, we wanted to make sure she got her 100 day celebration (called “Chook Baegil”) but with our own unique twist representing both sides of her heritage.

So, we invited all of the grandparents and my uncle and aunt for the big day. Carrie, of course, did plenty to make sure the atmosphere was stylish and inviting.

Dad arrived…Ruby felt a little tentative…

We didn’t manage to get photos, but our meal idea was to offer Korean and American versions of the traditional long life noodles served at this occasion. So, I made jajangmyun, a Chinese-Korean noodle dish with a black bean sauce (trust me, it tastes way better than it sounds) while Carrie made spaghetti using her mom’s renowned sauce recipe. Both turned out awesome.

And then, my mom brought the traditional Korean rice cake! Everyone, including the uninitiated, really enjoyed it! The cake is sweet, almost tasting like a really dense angel food cake.

Afterwards, it was time for presents!

My dad had a silver cup engraved for her – very special!

My mom couldn’t resist more cute clothes!

My aunt and uncle got all kinds of neat things, including Ruby’s first chopsticks.

And though we didn’t get a picture of it, Grandma and Papaw gave Ruby some VERY useful funds that will be put to very good use.

It’s amazing how quickly time has passed; I can’t believe she has been with us for 100 days already. Before I know it, she’ll be turning a year old! My little girl is growing up so fast!

Ruby’s First New Year!

Entering 2011 is very exciting on many levels. We are entering the new year as a family rather than as a couple. As such, we want to make sure Ruby gets to know her family traditions. New Years Day has some special rituals in Korean families, so we started off 2011 doing these with Ruby for the first time.

We started off heading down to my mom’s place, where she had prepared the traditional New Year breakfast of duk-kook, which is a very tasty and nourishing soup. It was delicious! It was Carrie’s first time eating this dish – she liked it a lot!

Afterwards, it was time for Ruby to do “sae-beh”, where children wish their grandparents a happy new year with a bow. Of course, I had to help Ruby out with this as she can’t talk or bow on her own just yet!

Halmoni (the Korean word for Grandmother) gave Ruby the cutest card and a gift!

Three generations!

Ruby loves her Halmoni!

Afterwards, we went to celebrate my dad’s birthday (which is January 1!) where Ruby got to meet her cousins Jeffrey and Luke, and their Uncle Danny and Aunt Janet for the first time.

Ruby did “sae-beh” to her Harabuji (Korean for Grandfather) too!

Three generations!

It was especially sweet just how much Jeffrey and Luke took to Ruby. And vice versa! Ruby kept smiling at them and trying to suck their fingers.

It was a wonderful and very special New Year’s Day, and we can’t wait to see what this year will have in store for us! It’s going to be a very fast year, I suspect, as babies do grow up fast. By this time next year, Ruby will be walking and maybe even uttering a word or two. It’s going to be an amazing year, so watch this space!

Click below to see the whole album.

New Years Day 2011

Christmas Day 2010


After a wonderful Christmas Eve celebration with the Kim family, Christmas Day started out with just the three of us at home in the morning. Ruby had a few presents under the tree that she opened up with Daddy. Maybe she didn’t quite know what was going on, but that’s okay … we had fun watching her!


Since she loves being in her crib so much, we decided to get her a mobile. She is really into it! She loves the little animals and the soothing songs it plays …


She got lots of nice presents … including an awesome retro milk truck from The Shriers, Kitty Cat pajamas from Ed’s co-worker, Alice … and this super cute hat from Kristen!


This year, Ed and I set a $25 limit for ourselves. I got him a t-shirt from the LBC local spot, Joe Jost’s. They have Shiner Bock on tap there and Ed likes to order “The Special”. I figured I couldn’t go wrong with a t-shirt so he could represent! :)


Ed surprised me with a gift card to Golden Spoon … my favorite frozen yogurt ever!

After we unwrapped our gifts, it was time to head over to my parents house for the festivities at The Facey’s. We all have handmade stockings made by my dad, and this year – Ruby got hers, too! It turned out amazing. I love the poinsettias …

Ruby was happy to see her Grandma & Papaw …

And the three Kims got a rare photo all together in front of their Christmas Tree!

After the presents were unwrapped, Ruby modeled her special Christmas dress sent to her all the way from England from Joanne!

It was a beautiful day spent with family. Check out Dad’s blog for more pics of The Facey’s on Christmas Day!