Well, it turns out all of Ellie’s whining during the plane ride was for a very good reason. When we put Ellie to bed that first night, she had a mild fever. And by morning it had blossomed into a full-fledged cold complete with runny nose, sore throat, and a cough. I guess all that excitement finally caught up with her.
To complicate matters, Chloe also had a fever and a cold started by morning. Oh boy, our 2014 Japan Christmas Extravaganza was off to a rough start!
I love shyabu shyabu! It’s like Japanese fondue. This was one of my first meals that Aya’s mom cooked when I visited and met her parents for the first time 12 years ago. Other than sushi two or three times and some miso soup, I had never really had much Japanese food before I visited them, and I loved everything!
We are very grateful and excited to be spending the holidays with Aya’s family in Japan this year. However, a long (did I say long? Because I mean long) international flight can bring about a certain level of anxiety. And based on our experience during our last visit just over three years ago, complete with strangers asking to pray for us, we had every reason to be nervous making this journey again, especially since we would be traveling with not one child, but two this time.
Our Thanksgiving last year did not go as planned at all. Our family Thanksgiving dinner is always on Saturday, leaving the actual day of Thanksgiving open for us. It was supposed to be my first time to host some friends, but because of the plague running through our house we had to pull the plug. But this year, plans for us to host Thanksgiving was back on the table. We were going to have Thanksgiving dinner with some of Aya’s Japanese co-workers, some of which had never experienced Thanksgiving before. And this time it would be completely legit with a roasted turkey, not a chicken, and a kids table. I always saw cooking Thanksgiving dinner to be a crowning achievement in the culinary world. With eight adults and five kids, I had my work cut out for me.
Well, it’s that time again for a house project. It seems I always have a project of some sort going, but our last major one was our bedroom renovation three years ago. And since it was three years ago, it’s just enough time to forget how disruptive a house project can be to your daily routine. That project was major though. We had gutted it down to the studs and did an overhaul on it complete with custom shoe shelves for Aya. This project was going to be a simple repainting of the living room and dining room. Well, at least that’s how it started out.
