a lovely visit

family photo!

and a couple more random photos from the visit. here, boo is illustrating how he is trying to be more helpful these days ... here he is helping grandma peel a ton of garlic for her pasta dish.

during one of the (increasingly rare) naptimes, here is the family pitching in assembly-line style to make A's wedding invitations! i was going to post a picture of the invite itself, then i realized that i'm trying to limit the amount of identifiable information posted on this blog. it really is a lovely invite. on the bottom is a layer of reddish-purple metallic/shimmery cardstock; then a layer of gold scroll opaque-ish vellum; then the text is printed on a slightly sparkly cream colored paper in zapfino and copperplate fonts. a thin moss green ribbon goes around the top left and the bottom right corners. the rehearsal dinner invite is printed in copperplate on the same cream paper, and then mounted on the moss green cardstock. the envelope is the matching moss green, and has a cluster of grapes stamped/embossed in a shimmery reddish purple on the back.

i didn't take as many food photos as i normally do. which is good, because i was more busy eating / living than taking photos. but a shame in that i will probably forget what i/we made and will probably re-invent the wheel next year. i do wish i'd taken a picture of 11 folks sitting down to hotpot with two pots going. this is christmas eve dinner: a honey baked ham, homemade dinner rolls with caramelized onions, sweet potato bread, and wonton soup.

notes to myself:
- christmas day dinner: cod with potatoes, peas, and white sauce; taiwanese ricestick; jello salad; oh my i'm going to have to write the rest later when i remember.
- the day after christmas: hotpot / shabu shabu