Christmas 2010

Ian was very excited about Christmas this year because he loved to receive presents.

This Christmas I wanted to start our family Christmas tradition so I asked others about theirs. I want Ian to know the real meaning of Christmas is to remember the birth of Christ instead of the presents. So I went to bookstore to pick up a book about Nativity for Ian.

Patrick's family always open one gift on the Christmas Eve. And for kids, that gift is the pajama from Aunt Laura. Of course we are doing the same thing for Ian.

I made a nativity flannel board story for Ian. After dinner, we let Ian opened the present then use the flannel board story to tell him about Nativity. It worked great. Ian loved it. Then Ian was off to bed.

After Ian's asleep, we took all the gifts out and placed them under the Christmas tree. I wish Ian would understand more about the real meaning of Christmas next year!

Our Christmas Decoration

Present from Aunt Laura

Opening present

Yay! It's toy story PJ.

Put it on right away!

Time for story

All the presents 

Christmas dinner

Pineapple glazed ham

roll

Sweet potato cheese cake(Forgot to put the whipping cream on)

Family picture 2010

Thanks Susan for these wonderful family pictures.

Trip back to Texas for Thanksgiving

We had the chance to go back to Texas for Thanksgiving this year. It's really funny that I was eagered to go back there. That's something I never thought would happen. It's been a year since we moved out of El Paso. I do miss my family and friends there.
Ian and grandpa became best friends very soon. He followed grandpa everywhere. He even asked for grandpa when he woke up the first night in the middle of the night. It's very funny to see he likes grandpa so much now since he was not like that before.
Grandpa took Ian to water the trees in the back yard, played with Sasha, and racked the leaves. Ian had lots of fun with grandpa and grandma.

We stayed in El Paso for few days then we all headed to Austin for Thanksgiving with the rest of the families. Ian was very excited to see his cousins. He loves his cousins. He loves playing with them.

Thanks for Laura and Catherine for preparing all the meals. My sister-in-laws are amazing cooks. They made delicious meals, especially Thanksgiving dinner.

We had lots of fun with families. 2 weeks is not enough time to do what we want to do or to visit friends we want to visit. But we are glad to have the chance to be with family again.

Ian and grandpa patting Sashy

Ian was waiting for the rest of the families to finish their movie. I took Ian and Ethan to see Mega Mind when the rest of them went to see other movie.

Ian's helping daddy getting the leaves

playing with cousins

playing with daddy,uncles and cousins

Ian and Sashy

Ian and grandpa

Creamy Chicken and Rigatoni

Recently, I started to reduce cooking asian food and tried to cook more american food. One of the reason is asian food needs more ingredients and takes more time to prepare it. The other reason is not easy to get all the ingredients that i used in Germany. So I really have no choice.

So I looked for recipes everywhere. This is one of the recipes that I like from Betty Crocker's website. Pat loves it,too. We cook this once a week. I hope you will like it,too.

This is the recipe:

Creamy Chicken and Rigatoni

1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) Muir Glen® organic diced tomatoes, well drained
2 cups whipping (heavy) cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)
2 1/2 cups rigatoni pasta (8 ounces)
1 package (16 ounces) frozen broccoli, red pepper, onions and mushrooms, thawed and well drained
Shredded Parmesan cheese, if desired

1. Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook chicken, garlic, basil and oregano in oil about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until chicken is no longer pink in center.

2. Stir in tomatoes, whipping cream, salt, pepper and red pepper. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to low. Simmer uncovered about 10 minutes or until slightly thickened.

3. Cook and drain rigatoni as directed on package. Stir rigatoni and vegetables into chicken mixture; cook until hot. Serve with cheese.

Ian is 3 year old!

Ian's 3rd birthday was a day before we flew back to El Paso. So we really did not have time to celebrate with him. The night we arrived El Paso, grandma prepared a cake for Ian and a cake for Pat since his birthday was the same month. Ian was so excited to see all the gifts that were piled on the little table next to us that he can't even concentrate on dinner at all.

Ian's first birthday was when we were back in Taiwan. So Pat did not get the chance to celebrate with him. The 2nd birthday was the day Pat was shipped from boot camp to tech school. So he did not get the chance to celebrate with him either. Poor daddy. He'd been missed so much. The 4th birthday we will definitely have a party for him with all our friends.