Dallas

Rob's parents (Nanna & Poppa) came up to Boston last week so that I could travel to Dallas for our nephew, Christian's, first birthday. The first birthday in Korean culture is a huge celebration, complete with special decorations, traditions and foods. So it was wonderful to be able to celebrate with family, even though Rob and the boys were not able to make the trip.

Friday, we went to Alexandra's preschool performance (called a Hootenanny - only in Texas!!) Here she is hugging her best friend.

Mrs. Kim (Mi Jung's mom) is a phenomenal cook - known as one of the best in their large Korean community. So it was a joy to get to feast on her creations. For the party, she made about 100 rolls of Korean sushi, seafood & cucumber salad, seafood pancakes, miso soup, etc. It was amazing! To give you a sense of the quantities in which she cooks, here she is making the cucumber salad.

The decorations

Christian in his hanbok

Mi Jung, Alex, Christian and Jim

There is a tradition where the birthday child is placed in front of items to symbolize their future. If I can remember correctly, it is money (prosperity), string (longevity), paint brushes (creativity), pencil and book (intelligence). Christian did this a few times and first selected string, then the paint brushes, then the pencil, then the paint brushes. Since Mi Jung and Alexandra both picked money when they did this at 1, so for fun, Mi Jung took everything away but the money. And instead of picking it, Christian reached for the cake!

My beautiful God-daughter Alexandra and birthday boy Christian

The whole crew: Poppy, Grammy, me, Mrs. Kim, Kathy (Mi Jung's dear friend and Godmother to Christian), Alexandra, Mr. Kim and Jennifer (of Maine/Green Pond fame)

For such a great trip, the biggest downside was that both Nanna and Poppa got the stomach flu while here taking care of the boys! I am so thankful for their help - there is no way I would have been able to make the trip.