Although our time staying in the East Bay was short, we were glad we could see some of the faces we have so missed since moving away! There were new babies to be held and kissed, delicious restaurants to be visited (both old and new!), and a lot of catching up to do with dear friends.
Lunch in San Leandro with the Kims! Our two girls + their two boys was a crazy mix! It was great seeing them and how much Jinwoo and Sunwoo have grown!
Can’t contain our excitement over Burma Superstar!
Mio and I while waiting for our table and for Uncle Ted & Auntie Jackie to meet us
We so missed their samosa salad! Just seeing this photo of it makes me salivate…
Garlic noodles and shrimp
After our dinner at Burma Superstar, we drove over to Castro Valley to have some ice cream with Aileen and David!
Mirei behind the wheel at Knudsen’s Creamery in Castro Valley
With Aileen at Knudsen’s Creamery. It was so great seeing her again, and we have to also thank her for bringing us to this delicious ice cream parlor!
We finally got to meet Aileen’s boyfriend, David! He’s the first other Yokoyama I’ve met (beyond my own family and relatives). Yokoyamas are all awesome, naturally.
This wasn’t exactly meeting up with a familiar face, but we have definitely missed our favorite taco truck! We had to make a stop in Oakland to get our fix of those amazing al pastor, chicken, and carne asada tacos (plus lengua for Dan).
Revisiting our favorite taco truck!
While we were shocked to see how much their prices have gone up in the past two years, the tacos definitely hit the spot!
Up there among our top most-anticipated moments of our visit was seeing a couple of our dearest friends, Tarrin and Jason, and their newborn son Theo! He was only two months old when we got to see him, and I was euphoric holding that teeny baby and sniffing his head. That newborn smell is so intoxicating! (Before you write me off as a complete nutcase, I urge you to try sniffing a newborn head sometime — I’m pretty sure you will agree with me.)
Meeting baby Theo for the first time. Tarrin and Jason make a pretty cute baby!
After eating dinner at Mintleaf, they took us to a new (to us, at least) dessert place in Alameda called Cookiebar!
Vietnamese coffee ice cream at Cookiebar. Amazing.
Mirei was loving the ice cream!
Going in for another bite!
We miss you guys so much! You can bet I had a hard time letting that baby go… I almost carried him off with me to our car.
Selfie with Mirei when she refused to go to bed that night.
On our last day, we spent the evening with Dan’s family after we came back from Fairyland in the afternoon. Mio had fun helping Grandma prepare dinner for everyone!
Mirei at the San Lorenzo house, after we came back from Fairyland on our last full day in NorCal.
Mirei thoroughly enjoying her yogurt.
Yogurt-mouthed little lady.
Helping Grandma making California rolls for dinner
Mio and Grandma in the kitchen
Family dinner on our last night. Dan’s mom prepared quite a feast!
Mio saying goodbye to Grandma. She misses her so much!
…as she does Grandpa, too.
Mio messing with Mirei. I think she wanted Grandpa all to herself!
Saying goodbye to the grandparents
Saying goodbye to Uncle Ted the morning we left for Los Angeles. Thank you Ted & Jackie for being such great hosts for us during our stay!
We grabbed an “It’s It” at a rest stop on our drive down. We couldn’t leave Northern California without eating one!
Dan’s cousin Hideaki (on his mother’s side)Â lives in Thailand, and was visiting San Francisco for a couple days, so we had dinner at Dan’s parents’ house the other night. Dan hadn’t seen his cousin since 1999, so it had been 13 years!
Mio eating at the table with everybody.
Hideaki (Dan's cousin) videotaping Mio.
She looks so grown up!
Mio, at almost 11 months old.
Fruit tart for dessert.
Granddaughter with grandmother.
Mio loves Grandma!
Mio showed off more of her walking skills… she’s getting faster and better at it every day!
Yesterday was Mio’s first Thanksgiving, and also our first Thanksgiving as a family of three! We drove over to Dan’s parents’ house in San Lorenzo in the late morning, and helped out in cooking what would become a delicious feast.
We brought the Pack n’ Play with us so that Mio could play in it while we were busy cooking. Dan’s parents’ dog Choco was very curious and kept sticking his nose against the playpen. Mio was almost equally as curious about Choco, but she’d cringe and grimace every time he’d try to lick her on the face.
Mio and Choco, face-to-face.
Mio looking mildly uncomfortable and apprehensive of the arrangement.
"Moooooom!!! Get me out of here!" This picture cracks me up!
Dan and I helped cook the side dishes. This picture is totally cookbook cover-worthy. Watch out Paula Deen!
After everyone’s collaborative hard work, it was time to dig in… everything was amazing. I ate so much that at the meal’s end, I felt as stuffed as the turkey I ate.
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, Mio tried turkey and gravy baby food for the first time. Unfortunately, she was not a fan.
She did, however, love her sweet potato. No surprise there!
Here’s Mio, getting entertained by Grandma.
We were letting Mio play with a bottle of vitamins, and she started making funny sounds with it. She’s quite the musician!
Mio loves Grandma!
Spending some quality time with Grandpa, too!
After all the excitement, Mio was quite tired and fell asleep in Grandpa’s arms…
A sweet moment.
Our little sugarplum sleeps.
This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for family and friends both near and far, for good health, for the freedom and opportunities to do what I love, and for the ability to give, and enrich my life and those of others. I am especially thankful this year for our darling little Mio, whom I have grown to love more unconditionally, selflessly, and boundlessly than I ever have before.
We hope everyone’s Thanksgiving was also full of love, good cheer, delicious food, and lots to be thankful for.
Between working and taking care of Mio, it’s hard to find time to upload all the photos and videos that we take of her. Our precious little girl is 19 weeks old as of last Saturday; here are some pictures and video footage from this past week…
Mio likes to be upright and push her feet against the floor, so we recently got a doorway jumper so she could jump up and down in it. Great exercise for the legs!
Feet firmly planted! Are you ready to stand up on your own soon?
The jumper can turn, but she likes to twist her neck around so she can look at Mommy and Daddy.
When she gets tired, she starts slouching and sucking on the tray... lol.
Mio can keep her head and shoulders off the ground for long periods of time now. Here she is doing pushups in her crib. Not ready to go to bed yet!
I had web conference to attend on Saturday, so Dan and Mio drove over to San Lorenzo to spend the day with the grandparents! Dan took these photos and video:
With Grandpa and Grandma!
Mio with Grandpa and Choco (Dan’s parents’ dog):
Looks like she had a great time, as always, with her grandparents! 🙂
Mio on her playmat back at home.
Licking her lips as she looks up at the animals around her. A carnivore in the making....
Squealing while she watches us eat.
You can see her squeals and laughter in the following video, where we have some fun with Hello Kitty:
Our little Mio is growing up so fast, she’s making our heads spin! We have to remember to stop and cherish each of these moments and hold her close, because before we know it, she won’t want to be held anymore….
This past weekend was our last weekend of the year on this side of the country, as we’ll be leaving to go back East in a couple days. We spent it celebrating Christmas early with friends and family here in California.
On Saturday, we went to Megumi’s in San Francisco for a holiday party for the Nakayoshi core members. Megumi was a great hostess, preparing so many treats and goodies for everyone, and her apartment was sparkling with holiday decor.
Megumi's homemade cookies - too cute to eat!
The party was potluck-style, so everyone brought a dish and everything tasted amazing. It seems like everyone in Nakayoshi (especially the ladies) has such awesome cooking and baking skills! They put me to shame… haha* After eating, we had a white elephant gift exchange (accompanied by the characteristic silly gifts and lots of laughs), gingerbread house building, and board games! 🙂
cozy dinner conversations in Megumi's living room
more people crammed into the kitchen.
With my (almost) birthday twin, Emily! Her birthday is Christmas Eve, mine is Christmas Day.
Megumi starting the white elephant gift exchange.
Me with the lovely Miss Aileen!
Dan won some Jack Daniels... but it quickly got stolen away.
Dan and Aaron were really serious and intense about the building of the gingerbread house. Very exact and diligent...
Cyril, Megumi and I. Thanks for the great party, Megumi!
For more fun photos from the party, see the Flickr set.
On Sunday, Dan and I went to San Lorenzo to his parents’ house to celebrate and early Christmas and gift exchange with the Allens. We’re really grateful that they were flexible and moved Christmas up a little so that we could celebrate with them before we fly over to my family’s to spend actual Christmas Day with them.
Miwa with Choco
Dan's parents opening gifts
Dan and I at his parents' house
We’re leaving for Virginia early morning of the 24th, so we’re currently in a packing frenzy. Hopefully the weather will be kind and we will be able to get there safely and on time, with no complications. To our friends and family on the West Coast, thank you for a wonderful time, and to those on the East Coast… here we come!
