New Years Day 2008 "The Polar Bear Plunge"

My Emma loves COLD. When she was little while sitting in the tub, she would sit under the faucet while cold water ran over her head, she never needs a coat, she loves the snow, snow cones, Popsicles, ice cream, anything that is cold. I call her my little polar bear. In fact this year she got a polar bear webkinz for Christmas from Santa--see even he knows my Emma loves the cold.

I have always heard about Polar Bear Plunges that happen throughout the United States including here in Southern Ca.(For all my friends who live outside of So Ca, I know we can't really call our plunge a polar plunge since our sea water is like tepid bath water to you guys, but humor me here, for Emma's sake) These plunges usually occur on New Years Day and usually benefit some sort of charity. So a few years ago, I told Emma that she should take the plunge because she is a polar bear at heart (with out the grouchy disposition). She was all for it, so for a year we would talk about taking the polar bear plunge together on New Years Day.

On New Years Day 2008 at 12:00 noon, we took the plunge.

There were all kinds of people there of all different ages: Swimmers and observers, participators and supporters, The Crazies and The Sane (Notice the pirate to the far right. He was equipped with a pirate flag, pirate hat, sabre and parrot strapped to his shoulder and to top it off, a speedo. Needless to say, he was mentioned in the OC register article.

A line was drawn in the sand, and we all stood behind the line pawing at the ground like race horses. Finally, the countdown, exactly 12 hours after we welcomed the New Year, 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1. . .and a mad dash to the Sea:

Notice Emma and I on the left and the Pirate on the far right.

Running because if your gonna do it, you got to do it fast. Why torture yourself with a slow, deliberate descent. Of course this is a matter of personal opinion, but to me it is only logical. It's like a band aid, you gotta just Rip It Off. When your taking the plunge, you gotta just hit the water, dive in and take the pain. The photo on the right was one I found on the website from last years plunge. Emma and I are on the bottom.

Getting closer, running, approaching

Here we are coming out of the sea. I can't tell if that is a smile on my face or a look of pain. Actually, it isn't that bad. on average the water temp is in the 50's. It is definitely an exhilarating way to welcome the New Year.

again, is that a look of joy or pain, pleasure or torture? sometimes there is a fine line.

However, we did feel triumphant!

A thumbs up to the medics to show I am still breathing and all is okay. Shall we do it again?

Why not! Yes we went out again. So it couldn't have been that bad.

A big thank you for Lily who recorded the event. She wasn't up for the swim last year but she is in for it this year and is recruiting her friends. This year we are doubling our swimmers: Lily and Will are joining us for sure. I tried to recruit my brother Rob but he reminded me that he wears his special seal suit in the summer. . .Oh yeah, I forgot. . . That's why we call him baby Robert. Just Kidding Rob (baby!)

So who is in to welcome 2009 with a dip in the sea? Any takers? Here is a link to the web site if your interested call me we'll caravan down together.

Christmas Booty

I am all about simplifying this year, so we simplified Chritmas. What does that mean--less gifts! Sometimes I feel that my children have too many material things. I feel I am teaching them to be collectors of stuff rather than experiences. When I see them tossing one gift to get to the next, I wondered about what I was teaching them about gratitude. So we bought less, and less is more, right?

I found that the kids were grateful for what they got. There were comments about noticing that there weren't as many gifts but, in the end, they were happy. So here is a snap shot of their Christmas winnings, Christmas booty, stash! You'll see the smiles on their faces.

First is Mitch the Man!

He got himself an HP laptop, w/ a 15 inch screen. Oh yeah baby!

Second, Wills and Os!

Lego theme this year. Star Wars lego 360 game from Mitch.

Now that Mitch is a working man, he found the joy of Christmas giving

Lego Castle and Star Wars Ship

Notice Richard is fatiguing. This is after about 3 hours of lego building.

I believe he had as much fun building as the boys had playing

Here the boys are enjoying the castle.

Third, Lils and Ems

Music theme: Lily I pod, Emma I dog, Mitch got them "Wicked" CD

Jewelry theme: Silver and gold necklaces

For Richard and I, the theme was health:

Nutrimill wheat grinder Yes! Come on over and try it! Cindy, I am ready to learn!!

and heart monitor.

Merry Christmas!

Lily, Will, Dad, Owen, Mitch, Ems

It was my turn to host this year. . . Last year Adrienne hosted, but years previous to this it was ALWAYS at my mom and dads house. The house was always decorated to the nines. When you entered their house the first thing you saw was a 15 foot tree decorated with collection of ornaments that were collected over decades, candles lit, fresh greenery all around. My mom even had my dad plant holly bushes in the back yard just for the season. Sadly, we accept the change, wishing that it wasn't so, wishing that the tradition of Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpas house could continue on, but it is time to build new traditions, while always cherishing the old. So it is my turn to host and I was not in the mood for the traditional:
I mean what are my choices?
Ham. . .had it at the ward party,
Turkey. . .Um, no babe.
Prime Rib. . . yum, but a bit heavy right now. I am still recovering from the one we had last year!

After much consideration, I decided that we would have an international Christmas Eve dinner. We would have a dish representing each of the families cultural traditions and our family is predominately white bread: German(Richard), English (Me), Swedish (Adie) We added dishes from other countries that we felt would be yummy. So we had German bratwurst, sour krout, potatoes, carrots (Richard), Korean BBQ Ribs(just because), Swedish red cabbage(Adie), Japanese teriyaki drummets, rice(my friend Mauri), and for dessert, English Trifle(Me). I was a little nervous about pulling it off! Would all the tastes meld. Would it come together in the end? I wasn't sure until Adie did a little research when attempting to decide what she should bring and she came across the side dish called red cabbage salad which is a traditional Swedish Christmas side dish served with sausage and ribs. Perfect! Once I heard that, I knew it would all come together perfectly, and it did!

The kids made flags representing our cultural family heritage: Germany, England, Japan, Sweden and Philipines (in honor of Robby) and some of their favorites.


Here is a shot of the meal.

Look at that. It is sooooooooooooo multi-cultural, it is like the "United Nations of Food."

When you look at the melding of dishes on this plate, don't you wonder why can't we all just get along in real life. I guess people are a little more complicated than food, huh.

Here we are eating it:

This is Pamela's "If you take one more picture of me. . ." face

Adie and Scott

Will, Love that kiddo

Here is the game we played while eating: Do you know your flags?

Richard is the game emcee. He uses these flags in his class.

Adie paying close attention. She is a fierce competitor, but in a fun way.

Scott is impressed with his knowledge of the flags. What do you expect from "The Big Fish"

And For Dessert:

English Trifle Yummy
with Nancy Murphy's raspberry plum syrup as an added bonus to the flavor.
Thanks Nancy. We so appreciate the gift.

It was a fun event. We missed Rob and Claire and their girls as well as Michael and Candice and Dan and Nicole and their babies. At the end of the evening we went back to the traditional and read the passage in Luke of Jesus' birth and watched a movie called Mary, His Mother created by my dear friend Rachel when we were in Young Women together. It was beautiful and touched my kids so much they wanted to see it again. Thanks Rachel, I love you.

Can you tell that Owen has had enough of Christmas pictures

Merry Christmas!

Atsa Italiano: Pasta Party

We should be Italian the way we love to eat in my family. The only italian thing that I can claim is a rather unimpressive italian mama impression which often unveils itself at various times to the wonderment of my children. However, I should be italian because I am passionate about food. The whole experience of it. I love gathering with my family and preparing a dish and then sharing in the experience of eating. I have mentioned that my sister in laws are the best cooks and that If I could, I would rather eat with them then any restaurant.

We had the pleasure of gathering for a family pasta party at Rob and Claire's house last weekend and it one of those celebratory eating experiences in which the process was as much fun as eating the product.

Here is a step by step photo documentary:

Step one:

create your bowl 3cups of flour to 5 eggs and a table spoon of olive oil

Adie, Nicole, me and Claire

Step 2:
Begin mixing the eggs with in your flour bowl and gradually pull more flour from the sides of the bowl into the egg until it is ready to knead.

Dad is supervising

Step 3:
Begin kneading the rest of the flour into the dough. The consistancy should not be tacky.

Knead and Knead and Knead

Step 3
Begin pressing your pasta. Start at the highest setting

Step 4
gradually lower the setting after each pass through the press

Lily with Auntie Adie

Your pasta ribbon gets longer each time. You'll need many hands

Big Bro Scott pitching in

Nicole and Adie getting the pasta ready to be cut

Emma was my special helper

Step 5:
Cut your ribbons to desired width. The press will cut speghetti and other basic pastas

Dan the Man making precision cuts

Step 6:

Hang pasta to dry about 20 min then cook. It only takes about three min to cook.

Claire and Nicci looking lovely with the pasta

Then EAT.

Avery, Emma, Dan, Presley, Nicci, Adie, Scott

Lily, Dad, Rob, me Richard

Clara as our Santa Lucia bringing us dessert

Atsa pasta party. Thanks for the wonderful memories Claire. Your a treasure. A little Italian just for you-- Buena Suera bella luna signorina, Kapeche? That's all the Italian I know and I learned it all from Moonstruck.

I can't wait to have a pasta party of my own. Anyone want to come?