Thanksgiving 2020: Din Tai Fung!

We had a quieter-than-usual Thanksgiving this year, in an attempt to follow the local recommendations for social distancing. I didn't feel like cooking a huge Thanksgiving feast if it was only going to be the four of us, especially since Sam and Lucy don't like traditional Thanksgiving food that much. So we decided to order Din Tai Fung, which is a rare treat for us that we eat only once or twice per year. Everyone was happy and excited with the choice. And, as a result, we were able to go for an outing to Seward Park in the middle of the day, since we didn't have to stay home and prep food.

Lucy wasn't excited about walking around the park, but she was interested in a bike ride. So she rode her bike while I ran alongside her, and the boys and Violet had a leisurely walk at their own pace. I am grateful for this girl, since she motivates me to run faster and longer than I normally would if I were on my own. She would say, "Ready? Runnnnnn!" and then pedal away to get me started. And she even decided that we would go at a "speedy speed" race up a hill, so I definitely got a good workout before our feast with this little personal trainer!

As we were driving home from the park, we got a notification that our food was being delivered about ten minutes early. We rushed home and found the food waiting on our porch - we missed the driver by just one or two minutes. I quickly showered after my workout and everything was still warm when we ate. We had boba smoothies, soup dumplings, chicken dumplings, rice paddies salad, tempered green beans and pork buns. It was delicious!

Lucy is laughing in this picture because her chopstick is stuck in the middle of the bun. She was spearing it in an attempt to pick it up and eat it.

The chocolate dumplings were delicious and most of us said that eating these dumplings were our favorite thing of Thanksgiving. The molten chocolate is so delicious.

After eating our good, we went to RB for a socially-distanced, bring-your-own-dessert gathering with Bop, Gram, Susie and Dave. It was quiet and different, but I'm glad that we got to see some family on this holiday and express our gratitude to each other for all that we have and enjoy.

"School" Pictures for 2020

We didn't get a chance for regular school pictures this year, since schools have been completely online so far. I wanted to make sure that we could send updated pictures in Grandma Judy's birthday card and have new pictures for our 2020 Christmas ornaments, though, so last weekend Jeremy took some pictures with his camera. He did a good job photoshopping them to make sure the lighting was just right. Even Violet got a "school" picture taken, which is well deserved since she attends first grade and seventh grade Zoom classes on a semi-regular basis.

Both Jeremy and I were shocked looking at Sam's picture and realizing how old he looks now. I think he has grown at least eight inches this year; he now wears size 16-18 in clothes. He looks so grown up in his picture! Lucy confided in me that she thinks she looks "like she's eight" with her missing teeth, so she is feeling grown up herself. Her top two teeth have been missing for almost six months, but we are just starting to see one coming through her gums. We'll see if she gets to legitimately sing "All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth" this year.

Zoo Lanterns

We hardly have any holiday events to do this year, due to the pandemic. However, the zoo is still open for outdoor events and it is hosting a "Zoo Lanterns" attraction this holiday season. I was a little apprehensive about going, but it sounded like all the right precautions were in place and I appreciated that masks were required for entry. We chose to go on a day that was slightly rainy, too, which helped to limit the crowd size. It was so nice to be on a family outing and to feel like we were doing something special! Here are some of my favorite pictures:

We liked this frog because his eyelids were both blinking, but at ever-so-slightly different times and speeds

Covid is a Worm Hole

When I was a sophomore in college, some friends took me and my roommates out to go caving in Nutty Putty Cave in Utah Valley. There is a specific area of this cave that is nicknamed the "Worm Hole," which is so tight that one person can barely fit in the hole and you have to crawl through on your belly. This also means you can't turn your body around go backwards at any point - you have to commit to going through the tunnel in one direction. While I explored the other caverns of the cave with my friends, I opted to sit out and not do the Worm Hole. I knew I would feel claustrophobic and didn't want to feel like I might get stuck.

Anyhow, recently I've had a recurring dream in which I'm tunneling through the Worm Hole. I can't go backwards, but I have to keep going forwards if I ever want to get out. It's a stressful dream. Last time I dreamt about it, I had a hard time falling back asleep. (And, in the past few weeks with the stress of the election and work, I haven't always slept that well.)

I think that my brain is processing Covid in the context of this Worm Hole, especially as the weather gets colder and it is apparent that we'll be spending even more time stuck indoors. As is the case with the narrow tunnel in the cave, I can't go back and turn around. I can't reset. I just have to keep crawling forward, even if the context is suffocating and it's difficult to see when the experience will end. And, while some days are better than others, sometimes it really does feel like I'm crawling through the day. 

Lucy's Tap Dance Book

 Lucy's first grade class has been working on writing non-fiction. They get to choose their non-fiction subjects. She's already written a few about flowers and written a page or two about holidays. Lately she's been working on a book about tap dancing. Since she has been doing all of this through online school this year, she's been taking the liberty of making videos on Seesaw to send to her teacher. In fact, she's made so many videos that I told her to stop sending so many to her teacher, to respect Ms. N's time. Sometimes she'll make little audio comments along with the video post that say, "This is Version Two. If you don't remember Version One, then go back and watch the previous video." Ha ha! Hopefully Ms. N is amused by this submissions and not annoyed.

Here is one such video:

And here is the text of her book:

I don't know if she'll keep up with her tap dancing lessons, but I'm glad that she enjoys them and wants to write about them. She will always be my little Shirley Temple.

Evening Run

For the first time possibly in our entire marriage, J and I went on a run (well, jog) in the neighborhood together yesterday. It made me happy and I liked getting to just chat with him. We saw all of these birds flying and swimming by the lake, and I snapped this picture to show to the kids, but now I like looking at it and just thinking about this happy moment that J and I had together.

The Chili Party Recipe

When I was a teenager, my grandparents moved to Utah and they would have our families over for a Christmas chili party each year. Grandma told me once that they chose to serve chili because it would be easy to feed a large group of people. Grandpa would make the chili and Grandma would make plates of Christmas cookies to send home with each family. The cookies that I remember the most are the Peanut Butter Blossoms (with Hershey kisses) and M&M cookies with green and red candies.

I remember Grandma expressing how she wanted to find a way to celebrate with the families in the area, but they were also mindful that Christmas traditions had already been established before she and Grandpa moved to Utah, so this was an event that they hoped wouldn't "step on anyone's toes." But it wasn't difficult to incorporate this into our Christmas traditions at all: now I remember it being a memorable part of the Christmas holiday. The white elephant gift exchange that we held at the party was always memorable, too. There was one year that a Burl Ives CD was a hot ticket item that kept bouncing between the cousins.

 I got a copy of my Grandpa's chili recipe from my aunt this week, and it is even written in Grandpa's own handwriting! Even if we don't have a Christmas chili party, I hope that this can become a fall tradition for my own family. We are having it over Halloween weekend this year, and it seems appropriate to eat it in October as a way to remember Grandpa's birthday month.