December 25, 2011

I got up, turned the coffee pot on for David, and started the biscuits right away. A little girl of four eased her way in and asked to help. Of course!

We were going to eat a special breakfast in honor of Jesus' birthday, and celebrate his coming by singing and reading and retelling the story!

David blasted Handel's Messiah and we put the biscuits in the oven. While we waited we let the girls dig into their stockings. They actually had forgotten about them, so they were quite surprised when we told them to go take a look. And actually to our surprise, Sophia wanted us to get into our stockings first!


chocolate for daddy


Big chocolate bar for mommy


The cars were spread between all the kids stockings, even Tobins


This was what was in their stockings before I stuffed it in. David had gotten some cool stuff from Vietnam, puppets and little purses and handmade jeweled mirrors. I found some of the other stuff here, silly bands were from a team, and little cute notepads that Aunt Melissa gave the girls, that also included cool stickers. Oh yes, and 'wands' for 1 yuan each, I found. They loved all of it!





She has her apron on because she was helping me cut out biscuits!

They enjoyed their little gifts while Daddy fried the bacon and eggs. We enjoyed a really good meal and then celebrated by singing some carols and acting out the nativity.


we are wise men following the star to where Jesus was.


worshiping the newborn king.


Getting to the last page together. He has come! The Messiah is here.
We prayed together and thanked God for His amazing plan in sending his son to redeem us!

Recipes: pies and rolls

Over seven years ago, when we lived in the States, I made Pecan Pie a few times and people always asked which recipe I used. 'The back of the Karo Syrup bottle' recipe, was my reply. I have stuck with that, except I chop the pecans (or buy them that way, or get a team to bring them to me that way). Here it is:


Pecan Pie

1 cup Karo Light corn syrup

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

2 TBS butter, melted

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups (6 oz) pecans (I used chopped)

1 unbaked 9-inch deep dish pie crust

Stir the first 5 ingredients thoroughly using a spoon. Mix in pecans.

Pour into pie crust. Bake on center rack of oven for 55-60 minutes. Cool for 2 hours. Pie is done when center reaches 200 F. tap center surface of pie lightly; it should spring back when done.

Erica P made this awesome pie last Thanksgiving and I loved it (I get lots of recipes from her). It is quite rich, and not David's favorite, but for a chocolate lover it hits the spot.

Chocolate Chip Pie
(I used a Betty Crocker Pie crust recipe that I had made last month)

Pie crust:

1 1/3 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup oil

3 TBS water

For crust:

1. Mix flour, salt, and oil in pie plate (8")
2. Add water, 1 TBS at a time
3. Press dough into pie plate
4. Do not bake crust

Filling:

1 cup semi sweet morsels

1 stick butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

For filling:

1. Spread chips over bottom of unbaked pie crust
2. Beat remaining ingredients until smooth
3. Pour mixture over choc chips
4. Bake at 350 (180) for 40-50 minutes
5. Serve warm with vanilla icecream

Another EP recipe, Crescent rolls, she also made these last Thanksgiving, I thought they would be labor intensive, but not at all! Here is her recipe:

Crescent Dinner rolls

1 cup milk

2 beaten eggs

4.5 cups flour

1/3 cup sugar

3/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup butter

2 1/4 tsp yeast

Put milk and eggs in bread pan. Sprinkle over the flour. Add sugar in one corner and salt in another corner. Cut the 1/3 cup butter (5 TBS + 1tsp) in to pieces and put in remaining corners of pan. Make a small indent in the flour (not all the way down to the liquid) and add the yeast in the indent. Set bread machine on dough cycle press start. When finished, remove from pan and place on lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half. And roll each portion into a 12" circle. Brush each circle with melted butter. Cut each circle into 12 wedges. Roll them up starting from the wide end and roll loosely to the point. Place point side down (really doesn't matter) and place 2" apart on lightly greased cookie sheet. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about 30-40 min). Bake at 375 F (190C) for 12-15 minutes or until golden.

Christmas Eve

early in the day family photo attempt.

The pecan pie and chocolate chip pie were made yesterday evening (recipes coming). The rolls were made before lunch. All that was left was putting the chicken in the oven (our friends were bringing side dishes) and clean up!

We always try to get a Christmas Eve family photo. I was thinking, 'what should Tobin wear?' Then I dug through his drawer and sure enough there was a little reindeer outfit provided by the JACK family (now JJACK family :)). Of course they had festive wear!



we enjoyed a great time with another American family, they have two daughters pretty close in age to ours.


love this pic

He is.

We were struggling a little the past two weeks with balance and joy in our Christmas festivities, what really were we celebrating, and were we doing it justice? We were plain hurried too. And then we just settled on a few good things and went with that, instead of trying to 'do it all'.

We finally buckled down and got into really good rhythms at night. The girls always said: 'let's do Advent, let's do Advent' and they did not mean gifts (though sometimes they did ask), they meant the reading, the story, the build up, the anticipation. Some nights they got gifts, other nights not, but always, every night, they got more of the story. More of the incarnation.

And now, after Christmas, we still must live in light of Christmas. This is why, as I told Sophia today, Christmas is everyday. God with us in Christ. Daily. The incarnation is worth celebrating every day because Christ became humility for us in a manger, he became perfect substitution by His perfect life lived, he became death for us on a cross, hope for us in the resurrection, joy eternal for us because He reigns even now. Yes. He is. with us. Our Immanuel.

Our friend's wedding

12.24.2011

Xiao Wang, a friend who used to work at the factory where David and J are affiliated, got married at lunch time on Christmas Eve day. This really worked out perfect for our whole family to attend. Most Chinese weddings, depending on how well you know the person, go something like this: you arrive, get seated, eat your meal, wait for them to come around and toast and then leave. It doesn't go on for hours like some receptions in the States.


The restaurant where the wedding was held. We were seated on the second floor. It was a big wedding!


they carry the food in on trays like this.

Sweet rice with bean paste in the middle.




David loves this stuff, it is xidoufen, a powdered tofu stuff that becomes a gel like substance with hot pepper, soy sauce, and cilantro on top. sounds gross, really not bad. I, of course, was only eating rice that day. Too bad because the food looked pretty good.



standard raw pork dipping sauce to the left, with a very HOT pepper in it


shrimp, steered clear of this!

The couple goes to every table for a toast with wine, but always always, people slip in the hard liquor and make the couple drink.


pretty toasted by the time they got to us, one of the last tables. I don't know how these women can handle the booze. I told David I would be dead on the floor if I drank that much rice liquor. It is seriously strong stuff.


This was not all the dishes, they also brought chicken and duck, which the girls ate up!
we were very glad we were able to go to the wedding.

Preparations and plans...

My week was going as planned. Checking off my lists, planning for friends on Thursday, making pies on Friday, a wedding on Saturday, and hosting Christmas Eve dinner on Saturday. David's week was super busy at the office working on experiments with seeds (crazy stuff), temperature adjusting, soaking, etc. He was back and forth all week and even at night some. By Thursday night after my friends had left I was not feeling well. Sure enough, Friday morning I was incapacitated. We had already planned for Sophia to go to school in the morning, (where apparently the PE teacher dressed up as Santa and went to every class. She thought this hilarious and was glad to participate, especially since she got some light up bunny ears out of the deal.)

By mid day I was doing a little better, but had to rethink my ability to host the following day, or go to a wedding that was pretty important. Not to mention that David spent all week in and out of government offices getting our visas renewed and the last part had to involve every family member in person. My pies were not made, this was important because with a little oven and hosting, you have to plan that thing out. Two pies, rolls, and a chicken, it needed planning and we were behind!

I carried my roll of toilet paper with me to the visa office, though this place had perhaps the nicest bathrooms in town (now I know), and got my picture taken for the visa. Whew. I returned home with Tobin and, still feeling a bit down, I forced myself to wash up and roll out my pie crusts. I also called the family we were hosting and filled her in. Could we post-pone to Christmas day meal if I was not feeling well in the morning? Yes, of course.

By 7:30 p.m. my pies were made. And because I had not done any of my shopping on Friday, I would need to do it on Saturday (day of), if we were still on. Thankfully, Saturday morning I felt like a new person. I took Sophia with me to the market where we picked up our chicken (the lady forgot to cut the feet off, oh well), and the other things we needed. The dough was in the bread maker and we were enjoying all the prep.

Sophia helped me roll up the crescent rolls and they came out of the oven just in time for us to go to our friends wedding! We were back on track and really enjoying family time together, busy as it was.


a few more small gifts. This one from Uncle Herschel: The whole set of 'Anne of Green Gables', we have read a shortened version of the first book and Sophia loved it, she is excited about this! Can you tell our theme: books, books, books. So thankful.


we were very blessed with a package from Uncle Henry and Aunt Sara. It included clothes for the kids, the softest PJs ever, and lots of fun edibles, like chocolate covered ritz peanut butter crackers that David's Grandma used to make. This was a nice surprise! (thanks guys!)


the girls modeled for us, and looked quite sharp

the way Tobin likes to get at anything these days.



look at that look. This girl is silly, jokester, diva.



pre-wedding photo with mom, don't think we have taken one of these, ever.


Tobin enjoys a new book too.



Doing what he does well: chillin'.


And the kids received a very special book being read to them by Poppy, CC, Laura, and Lee. So sweet!

Loving the little things...

12.19.2011

Tea party with their dolls:



glow in the dark bracelets from Poppy and CC



The Early Readers Bible was a great gift from the Williams' kids to our kids. Sophia loves it and read the first three chapters right away. This is a great confidence builder in her reading!




Granddaddy Johnson gave the entire "Little House" series. The girls are so excited about this!



And David staying true to his alma mater: go Pack, He loves the new hat.

Christmas week thus far was filled with fun, gift giving, receiving, and lots of reflection on the newborn king.

Fun gifts

We have continued to open gifts throughout this week, here were some fun ones from Poppy and CC:



she refused to wear it the proper way, that's our girl. Fun and nonconformist.





Tobin is just plain fun.



crazy Christmas fun.





I liked the Immanuel in the background. A friend saw the 6 stockings and boldly asked if I was pregnant. Uhm. No. Number six is Ayi's stocking!


A really nice fleece jacket for moi! love it and have really not taken it off since I got it.


David got a very nice 'wrinkle free' shirt. They always send wrinkle free, this is an awesome feature. My in-laws know I don't iron. So thoughtful. It really is a nice shirt on handsome hubby too.