This was our second Thanksgiving as a family, and the first time in six years that I got to spend it with my family in Virginia. It was all the more enjoyable because I’d missed celebrating with my family so much!
First Thanksgiving in Virginia for our family!
Mio pointing at the turkey. She was excited about the “big bird.”
Already getting a head start on dinner…
Pretty girls! Mio with Auntie Miwa.
Mio and Mama, both excited about Thanksgiving dinner!
My brother Ted jumping into the picture.
Can’t wait to dig in! We all worked together to make such an amazing meal!
The family at dinner.
Dan is a pro at carving the turkey!
Dan made the most delicious skin-on mashed potatoes!
Getting piggy-backed by Uncle Ted, running around the house!
After stuffing ourselves like the turkey that we ate, we spent the rest of the evening playing board games and spending quality time together with the whole family! 🙂
AMio and I stacking blocks together.
Mio was so cautious…
She did such a great job stacking them high!
Clapping at herself for doing a great job building her block tower. 🙂
We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, full of laughter and love shared with family and friends! I love this time of year! 🙂
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.
I’m a little late in posting this, but I’m catching up on uploading pictures. My friend Catherine from Virginia Tech is now getting her Masters degree in Washington, so she decided to come visit San Francisco over Thanksgiving weekend. She stayed with our friend Sue, who has been settling into San Francisco quite nicely after moving here at the end of the summer. We spent a Saturday morning watching the Virginia Tech vs UVA game at The Bus Stop bar in San Francisco, stuffed ourselves with delicious dimsum at City View in the Financial District, indulged in some shopping, and then ended the day with manicures and pedicures in SOMA (compliments of Sue). Thank you Catherine for visiting (we expect many more visits!), and thank you Sue for treating us!
With Catherine and Sue... Hokies in the Pacific Northwest!
Sue enjoying her Prosecco while getting pampered...
Fast forward to this past weekend, we had a really fun time at the Nakayoshi holiday party, and seeing everyone from Nakayoshi again! There was so much good food that everyone brought for the potluck, the White Elephant gift exchange is always fun, and there was such good company. 🙂 Megumi even came all the way up from SoCal to surprise everybody — I was so happy to see her; I missed her so! Thanks to Dan for hosting and Sam for organizing the party!
White Elephant gift exchange!
Hubby got a beer pong pitcher... haha*
With some of the lovely ladies from Nakayoshi!
Yesterday was actually Dan’s birthday, but I wasn’t really able to do very much except muster up enough energy to bake him a German chocolate cake for his party with his boys on Sunday evening. I was feeling pretty crappy about not being able to do more for his birthday, but Dan surprised me with tulips when I got home from work last night to cheer me up! 🙂 It seems a bit backwards to get flowers from your husband on his birthday, but it was very sweet of Dan….
Lovely tulips from Dan
We went out to an Indo-Nepalese restaurant so that Dan could get some of his favorite lamb curry, and I surprised him with the Leatherman tool he’s been wanting for a while. 🙂 Happy birthday, Dan!
