There is something quintessentially American about being Chinese-American, and ordering out for Chinese food on Christmas eve. Back when my parents used to have a restaurant, this happened all the time. But it still feels like the thing to do, especially around the holidays.
On Friday evening, Liz and I arrived (a little late) and joined my family at my parents’ house. Several family members came back to celebrate my grandma’s 104th (that’s right, 104) birthday.
Interestingly enough, though Jenny and I both call her grandma – Jenny uses the term “Po-Po” as Grandma Phoebe is her mother’s mother. But I refer to Grandma Phoebe as “Ma-Ma,” referencing her as my father’s mother. It’s nuanced, and the whole Chinese naming thing gets complicated at times.
One interesting thing about this place is the ordering process. Instead of roving carts that you’d call over to the table, there were mostly roving waitstaff. Your table gets a large menu with images of all the items, along with blank box in the corner of each. Fill out the quantities you want, and someone takes your order.
Did I mention they both had a fairly large cookie, prior to this segment of the evening?
The calm before the storm…
Jasmine and Jahnu, focused on their electronic devices. What is with kids these days, and how they seem to be so obsessed with technology and gadgets? Incidentally, that would be my Amazon Echo in the middle of the table.
Our original plan was to take Uncle Danny and Auntie Karen out for a meal. But the timing of everything worked out to where we spent the day at their house. At 2PM, with glasses of champagne filled and two bottles of wine opened, our Thanksgiving meal was on in full force.
I’m afraid of falling down, and afraid of getting pulled up. I guess I’m just incredibly happy with things as they are.
It was all fairly climbable, as some parts were steep… but still allowed enough traction so it was more like an aggressive stair step.
We trekked in to Sedona, and headed to a spot near Cathedral Rock (to a spot where Shane and Stacey got married).
This is quite possibly my favorite image from the holidays.
Later in the evening, my parents came over and stopped off at (where else) a nearby Chinese restaurant for some take-out. The dining room table was covered with a lot of stuff, so we set up shop at the kids’ table. Is there anything more quintessentially American than Chinese food at Christmastime?
I realized I took way fewer pictures than normal this weekend, which I guess is a good sign that I was enjoying hanging out more than I was documenting. We had a fun late-night excursion to Oink’s Ice Cream and Yogurt on Saturday night, which I’ll try to get photos of next time we’re there. Given how often we’ve hit up Michigan this year… I see it fast being our favorite family vacation spot.
It was a bit of an impromptu idea, but my family decided that we were going to do a quick weekend vacation out to Michigan this weekend. We enjoyed ourselves a lot last year, when we hung out in Sawyer, and Liz and I have come back several times since. With SW Michigan only being maybe an hour or so from the city, it’s a surprising and remarkably fast drive (barring any serious traffic).