Welcoming Yessi's Family

China becomes our friend.  A country always far, far away and not much in our sights has, because of sweet Yessi's influence, become more and more familiar.  A few years ago I engulfed myself in Cultural Revolution readings, but that's not the China of today and not the China I'm experiencing vicariously through Brad and Yessi's relationship.  I suddenly feel like my world has expanded in a million new ways as our lives expand to include thoughts of traveling to China, walking the Great Wall of China, enjoying meals at Yessi's family home in Xiamen, experiencing the coffee at Pacific Coffee of Mukilteo Coffee fame) in Hong Kong, and so much more.

The holidays have brought us visitors from China making our immersion in the Chinese culture deeper and sweeter.  Yessi's mom, Tan Hong, and aunt, Rosie, arrived a few days ago for a two week stay.  They will be at our home the first week of their stay before going to Seattle for another week.  On these first couple of days everyone has been tentative except for smiling, smiling, smiling!  Yessi is trying to keep us all connected but with six people in the room, and only one bilingual person, she's pretty busy.   

Our first evening together (left to right:  Tan Hong, Brad, Ed, Fran & Rosie)
Photo by Yessi

We're honored to have guests for the holidays and very pleased to get to know Yessi's family.   

"Wherever you go, go with all your heart."

Confucius

Wherever you go, go with all your heart.
Confucius
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Preparing for the Holidays

This year our holiday preparations have been especially fun and exciting as we plan for Yessi's mom, Wu Dan Feng (or Tan Hong for short), and Yessi's aunt, Zeng Ming Ling (or Rosie for short) to arrive from China on the 21st.  We are also seeing our holiday traditions through Yessi's eyes, as this is her first Christmas in the United States, and everything we do is once again new and exciting.  Hearing Yessi say, in her delightful voice, "really?" delights us all.

One of our  first holiday activities was, of course, putting up our Christmas tree.  But first, we unpacked 45 years of collected ornaments.    Brad has received at least one ornament each year of his life, plus Ed and I have a few of our own, so the big trunk holding our ornaments is jammed full.  Unwrapping each ornament brings forth exclamations of, "Was that my first ornament?"  Or, "That's the one Greg brought back from Germany."  Or, "Remember that one?  We got it in Banff."  And then telling Yessi all about Banff or the Pass, or whatever place or memory the ornament unleashed.   

Pinocchio 

The lion of the scarecrow, tin man and lion from The Wizard of Oz

Yessi, Brad & Ed putting on ornaments

Yessi and I spent one day making candy and cookie gift boxes.  We made chocolate chip cookies for eating now.  But then we also made nut balls, peanut brittle and fudge to put into Christmas tins for gifts.  The next day I also made toffee but although following the recipe carefully all we have to show for the effort is burned toffee and a smelly house.

Fran packing Christmas tins

Yessi carefully preparing wax paper lining in the tins

A table full of sweets

With Chinese visitors we needed stockings to hang with their names, and not in English.  吴丹凤 for Yessi's mom; 郑敏玲 for Yessi's aunt; and 哦 和 for Yessi, or at least close.  The translations on Google are slightly different than Yessi's translations.  I'm betting on Yessi being right!  Our stockings this year have a delightful international look.   Good Cheer has been scoured for wonderful little crazy trinkets for stuffing, along with some more useful items for use throughout the year.  

The stocking were hung with care -- no chimney.

We also lit up an outside tree for both beauty and a night light for our house guests.  The path between the  barn's guest room and our main living building, even with our outdoor lights on, is dark.  The tree helps light the path and the steps, plus it's a very beautiful Hinoki so the lights accent its beauty.  

Hinoki lighting the garden 

Most of the shopping is completed, along with the wrapping.  Now we need to focus on meals and cleaning and gardening to be ready for our wonderful Christmas-of-two-worlds.  Right after Christmas Yessi, Brad and Yessi's family will head to Seattle for several days, where they will be house and dog sitting for a friend.  Yessi's mom and aunt return to China on the 3rd.

Our living tree to be planted on Brad and Yessi's property after Christmas

Ed and I depart for Ecuador on the 3rd for our 4 week trial run.

Favorite Holiday -- whenever it happens!

When did it start?  When did we first begin sharing Thanksgivings with Joe and Nancy?  Joe and I met 30 years ago at a party at Island Design in Langley, WA.  We liked one another immediately and stayed in touch over all these years. A year after Joe and I met, I married Ed.  A few years later Joe married Nancy.  On Joe and Nancy's wedding day we were introduced to Nancy for the first time.  Ed's first words to Nancy were, "I'll never forget this day!"  Nancy, taken aback at this strange man's forward comment, was at a lack for words.  Ed then announced, "Today is my birthday."

As Joe and I connected all those years ago, so did Ed, Nancy, Joe and I connect as couples.  To make it even more special, with Joe's age falling between Brad's age and mine, he became a hiking buddy and a good friend with Brad as well.  A family was born, a Thanksgiving family, of very special friendships and connections.

We had our 2013 Thanksgiving dinner yesterday, five days early, on Lopez.  It took a number of years to figure it out, but we finally came up with the plan to "beat" the holiday traffic and long ferry lines.      It was an aha moment when we said to one another, "Let's celebrate on a day other than the actual holiday."   Now we routinely celebrate Thanksgiving on the weekend before Thanksgiving.

It is a wonderful solution.  We casually and comfortably gather one year on Lopez Island and the next on Whidbey Island to enjoy our thanksgiving-of-life with wonderfully good, long time friends, together with their Lopez Island friends when on Lopez and our Whidbey Island friends when on Whidbey. 

So, as the rest of you rush around this week preparing for Thanksgiving, we are resting, exercising and enjoying the sweet peace of an early holiday celebration.  Here are a few photographs of this year's gathering on Lopez Island.  Unfortunately these photographs do not include all the people present, especially the two wonderful children (perhaps they were moving too fast for the camera lens), despite the delight they brought to the gathering.

Yessi & Brad.
 We were blessed this year to share Thanksgiving with Yessi, her first ever Thanksgiving celebration. 

As after each year's Thanksgiving festivities, we end the weekend grateful for cherished friends and delicious food, plus outstanding conversations and a wonderful walk or two in the woods.

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy,

they are the charming gardeners who make our

souls blossom.

Marcel Proust

Happy Thanksgiving!

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.
Marcel Proust
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/grateful.html#9PpjAUv52ZHSIFw6.99

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.
Marcel Proust
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/grateful.html#9PpjAUv52ZHSIFw6.99

Pumpkin Party

It's great fun to share our American traditions with Yessi.  She is so enthusiastic to try almost anything.  When she last visited she wanted to mow lawns, drive tractors, shoot guns, hike new trails, travel vast distances on Brad's motorbike, and eat anything we put in front of her. 

This visit appears to be similar, with Yessi game for anything.  So we planned a mini pumpkin party.  We started our family gathering with pumpkin-curry soup and Screaming Banshee bread.  Our dessert was a pumpkin-rice pudding.

After eating pumpkin, we moved onto carving pumpkins into Jack-o'-lanterns.

Yessi and Brad carving Jack--o'--lanterns

Brad resorted to working in the shop at one point

Brad uses a drill and Fran resorts to the old fashioned knife for pumpkin carving

Ed too resorts to power tools, while Yessi digs into the center of her pumpkin to clean it out with her hands

Our glowing Jack-o'-lanterns
From left to right -- Brad, Yessi, Fran & Ed

 Halloween, Halloween,

Oh what funny things I've seen...

Witches Hats,

Coal Black Cats,

Broom Stick Riders,

Mice and Bats!  

                

New Year's Day 2012

May your new year be filled with peace and happiness.

Don't look further for answers: be the solution.

You were born with everything you need to know. Make a promise to stop

getting in the way of the blessing that you are. Take a deep breath,

remember to have fun, and begin."

- Jonathan H. Ellerby

“No, this is not the beginning of a new chapter in my life; this is the

beginning of a new book! That first book is already closed, ended, and

tossed into the seas; this new book is newly opened, has just begun! Look,

it is the first page! And it is a beautiful one!”

- C. JoyBell C.

Thanksgiving -early

For a few years now we've celebrated Thanksgiving, due to heavy ferry traffic, early to avoid the lines. This year our grand feast was at the Fredley home on Grace Lane

Brad & Joe

Ed, Lee, Fran, Nancy, Harrison, Cheryl and Joe

Cheryl

Lee, Ed, Nancy & Harrison