okay, i’ll admit, this has nothing to do with the house. well, maybe a little bit, at the very end.
my mom’s chan family christmas is always held at my aunt and uncle’s house in hercules. (left) uncle jay, popo, uncle winston, uncle mike. (right) my mom, aunt linda, aunt jackie.
uncle jay and aunt jackie stayed downstairs in popo’s unit on christmas eve and had lunch with my immediate family on christmas morning. unfortunately i forgot to take photos. 🙁
(left to right) catching up: najia, tanya, ronny, justin.
(left) me and mathew. mathew actually looks relaxed! (right) cousins playing “apples to apples.” i want that game!
our christmas traditions have been streamlined quite a bit over the years. my immediate family no longer has a gift exchange, so christmas morning we come together, talk and enjoy each other’s company free of gifts and waste. and with my cousins on my mom’s side we have a big white elephant game instead of a pile of presents. some of the gifts made special repeat appearances from last year. the most popular items in the game were movie tickets and chocolate.
aunt laura, popo, aunt jackie, my mom, aunt em (hostess), aunt linda.
my dad and uncles playing along with me. (left to right) my dad, uncle jay, uncle winston, uncle joel.
my cousin larry loves visiting our neighborhood and often would donate his time to help us with the house. he’s recently become quite a chocolate and chocolate cake connoisseur, and although i was intimidated by his high chocolate standards, as a gift i decided to bake him a vegan chocolate cake. to my surprise, he awarded me with his 2009 “perfect” chocolate cake award! (click to read more)
you probably wouldn’t guess it, but it was a small gathering this year. my cousins with little kids alternate attending thanksgiving and christmas so there were no little ones running around. it was a relaxing and rather peaceful day with lots of interesting conversations and laughter. if everyone had attended there would be 19 more people in this photo!
and the day after christmas? mathew was up early and working on those stairs!
hope everyone had a peaceful and relaxing christmas.
have a safe and festive new year’s eve!
turtle + mole wishes everyone a happy and healthy 2010.
see you online,
janeen
