Cody is very much a traditions guy. His parents established many rich and fun traditions in their family, including the recipes and food made during the holidays (if you haven’t tried their shrimp dip—you must!). As such, Cody wants his traditional food for the holidays. One of those is pumpkin pie—made the traditional way. I like pumpkin pie just fine, but it’s not my favorite pie by any means.
I have tried several recipes over the years, trying to find an improvement on the original, but Cody always falls back to wanting the original.
This year I decided to settle it once and for all. My good friend has a fantastic recipe that I’ve made before and really liked, so I thought if I made it side-by-side with the traditional recipe, we may be able to convince Cody to change his mind.
Cody’s response was no big surprise—he stuck with tradition. What we found with everyone else wasn’t what I expected though. You know how most people either love pumpkin pie or hate it, and very few are in between? Well, those who love it, liked the traditional pie better. Those who hate it, liked the new pie better. A couple of us who are in between (myself included), couldn’t really decide but leaned toward the new pie. I seriously had a hard time deciding. I would take a bite of one, “oh, this is really good. This one is better.” Then I would take a bite of the other, “no, this one is really good. It must be better.” Yah, I was pretty indecisive! In conclusion: if you like pumpkin pie, stick with the recipe you like; if you don’t typically like pumpkin pie, give this recipe a try—it really is delicious!
The day before Thanksgiving we went to a neighbor’s house for a play date. They are Indian (as in, from India) and our Australian friends were also there. I was explaining American Thanksgiving to them, and as I was doing so, the holiday started to sound simplistic and almost a little silly. I didn’t delve into the history of the holiday, but told them the basics: we eat a feast centered around turkey, give gratitude, and watch football (or at least we Cody would if we he could). They asked if we gave presents or did anything else… hmmm… no. I reflected on this conversation as I spent two days preparing for the big feast. During which I had a little chat on what’s app with a dear friend. Then I started to reflect on our past Thanksgivings—specifically the past four in Asia—and what makes Thanksgiving so special.
I realized the gathering is what makes Thanksgiving so special. We spend the day together cooking, preparing, talking, laughing, enjoying. We sit down to eat some of the most delicious food, all the while talking, laughing, enjoying, being together. That is what makes Thanksgiving so special.
This time of year could make living away from family extra difficult, but our dear friends over here have always made this holiday feel special. All day yesterday I couldn’t help but reflect on how grateful I am for the relationships we have established in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Friends that bind together and serve one another, build each other up when Asia feels challenging or lonely, and revel together in the wonders and peculiarities of the culture and area.
As my brother-in-law put it so simply: “I am always grateful for my family. Today I’m grateful for pie.” I am always grateful for my husband and children. I am always grateful for our parents and families (and I always miss them). I am always grateful for the gospel. Today, in particular, I am grateful for the pillars of strength and love we have found in good friends in Asia. They have made the world of difference in living here. They have made it bearable; they have made it extraordinary.
On that note, I must also say how grateful I am for family and friends on the other side of the world who put in the time and energy to stay in contact. I’m also grateful for technology for making that easier and possible!
This year we hosted a couple new families who are currently living in hotels. I remember our first Thanksgiving abroad and how it almost didn’t happen. Then a compassionate host invited us over. I will never forget her generosity and kindness and how special she made that day for us. I was so grateful to feel like I could finally repay her by paying it forward.
Our guests were extremely fun and gracious. Caroline and Katie came over early to help me prepare food. They also like to cook, so it was so fun to swap tips, chat and hang out while we got everything ready! All the children played great. Jade and Lincoln hit it off nicely. They made Native American headdresses and palled around all evening. I wasn’t sure if Jade knew anything about American Indians, but she knew how to make Indian noises. I’m pretty certain she learned it from Peter Pan.
I still didn't know how we were going to present all the food until just before it was time to eat. We decided it best to line the food up in the kitchen buffet style and take turns going in to dish up. A little cozy, but it worked out just fine.
We were able to arrange enough seating for all the adults, but the children had to eat on the floor a super fun picnic.
Not the most glamorous Thanksgiving, but it was fun and delicious!
This was Mr. Bubba’s second Thanksgiving, but his first time eating it! He especially liked the sweet potato pie and pumpkin pie.
Last year I didn’t get the chance to make pies; we participated in a potluck at church and Ridge had just been born, so I was kind of laying low. I’ve had an itch to make pies ever since. So I made four. And Katie made two. That makes six pies for seven adults and six small children. Wow, that’s a lot of pie! Jade commented, “Six pies! That’s one for each kid!” We had coconut cream, two types of pumpkin (more on that later), apple, Nutella, and no-bake pumpkin cheesecake. They were all delicious (yes, I had a taste of all of them—wouldn’t you?)!
We had a fantastic Thanksgiving this year, though we do long for the day when we can spend it with family again! Hope you all had a wonderful day too! Happy Thanksgiving!
Our baby boy is 1!! The week leading up to his birthday, I sort of had a realization that technically, he is not a baby anymore and I should probably help him grow up a little. I really think I probably baby him too much. That week he finished weaning from nursing, quit formula and the bottle cold turkey, and moved onto whole milk in a sippy cup. Here he is enjoying one of his last bottles. Kinda sad he’s growing up so fast, actually.
He’s also been working on figuring out how to use a spoon. Still needs a bit of practice, I think.
Ridge loves pressing buttons and he’s figured out an important one: how to call the elevator. The inside ones are a little bit of a problem—he’s made us stop on extra floors before.
Ridge knows when we are going down to pick up Jade from the school bus. And he is excited. This is his waiting and watching face.
The below video shows how he waves his arms excitedly when Jade’s bus appears. The first little bit is him waiting… and watching…
This Little Trouble Bub, as we affectionately refer to him, has unproofed our attempts at baby proofing. Where our apartment is so small, we can’t really have things put away like in a normal house. It’s really frustrating actually. We had our desk and computer in the corner of our living room so we could have the kids’ toys in the third bedroom/storage room. Well, that only lasted so long. In an attempt to keep Ridge away from the computer, printer, and corner garbage can, we slid the rocking chair in front of it. No, he simply moved the office chair over and climbed up, or he crawled under the small space under the chair. We have since moved all of it back into the storage room and brought the toys out into the living room. Not ideal, but Ridge is a lot happier that we don’t keep pulling him away from his exploring.
Ridge continues to put just about everything in his mouth, and he likes to explore with his teeth. Just the other day at his doctor’s appointment, the nurse told me I needed to teach him how to move a toy car instead of merely putting it in his mouth. In reality he does know how to move a car along the ground and make noises, but sometimes he prefers to eat it instead! In example, he took a big bite out of this foam ball and kept trying to get it back for more!
Ridge loves to talk on the phone. Oftentimes he will use about anything—including just his hand—as a phone.
We spotted this “Baby’s First Smartphone” toy and couldn’t resist getting it for his birthday.
Mr. Ridge is babbling all the time; I, as his mom, can’t get enough of it, of course! He can say hi, bye, mama, dada, wow, woa, and ball. He can also fold his arms for prayer, blow kisses, and sign eat, more, and all done.
He is such a happy kid, at least for the most part.
This boy knows what he wants and if he’s not getting it, he will definitely let you know. Separation anxiety is a big huge struggle right now. Ridge is very much a mama’s boy. Which definitely has its perks. Like getting the best hugs in the world and lots of cuddles several times a day. I’m telling ya, this kid is good at hugging. He wraps his left arm around my right arm, his right arm around my neck, lays his head on my shoulder and squeezes. Really. They are the best. Buuuut… separation anxiety. It’s the worst. Not only did he cry five hours straight for a babysitter, but sometimes he even cries when I turn my back to grab something, and quite often when I walk away to go get an item from another room. Forget about peeing in private. Our apartment is about 10’ X 10’. I’m not going very far, Buddy!!
On the upside, Ridge really enjoys being in the middle of all the action when we have friends over. Sometimes to the older children’s dismay. He is also really into picking things up and throwing them down aka “ruining all their stuff,” as they often scream out to inform me.
Most mornings when I hear the kids awake, I enter their room to find Jade has climbed into the crib with Ridge. She has dumped lots of stuffed animals and books in there with them in an attempt to keep Ridge happy until the parents wake up. I think it is quite sweet of her. In more ways than one.
For our dear one’s birthday, we had a nice family dinner followed by cake and ice cream. I looked at several boy cake ideas, but nothing quite fit. We wanted something that reflected who he is.
After some pinterest searching, brainstorming and discussion, we came up with an idea. With the use of Cody’s amazing artistic skills, he sketched out a design which I then used as a guide for the cake. (This is the Hong Kong skyline for anyone that does not know.)
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I loved that it was a collaborative effort between the two of us to come up with something especially unique for our little boy!
Ridge already had a taste of cake two weeks earlier for Cody’s birthday, so as soon as it came out, he wanted that thing!!
After a quick—and much needed—bath, we moved on to presents.
He was more interested in climbing on them than opening them, but with Jade’s help, they were all unwrapped eventually.
One of his gifts was this cute little basketball hoop.
One last thing I want to say about our little bubba is he is so much fun! I absolutely love having him in our family. He has such a fun personality and great sense of humor. Laughing along with us, always quick to give a smile, bouncing to music. Such a fun little guy! Love him so much.
Cody is very much a traditions guy. His parents established many rich and fun traditions in their family, including the recipes and food made during the holidays (if you haven’t tried their shrimp dip—you must!). As such, Cody wants his traditional food for the holidays. One of those is pumpkin pie—made the traditional way. I like pumpkin pie just fine, but it’s not my favorite pie by any means. 
