Raspberries always bring back special memories of spending the summer at my Grandma Phillips' house and picking fresh raspberries from her backyard. She always had raspberry jam on hand to smother our toast with.

This recipe was a bit consuming as you have to let the dough rest numerous times but I would definitely recommend it for special occasions. You can check out the recipe here.

Merry and Bright

In keeping with tradition, here is our 'decorating the tree' video.  Sadly Leroy didn't make his guest appearance like in years past. 2010. 2011.

Christmas Tree 2012 from Shannon Ng on Vimeo.
This year is proving to be even more exciting than years past.  When Charlotte sees the holiday decor she lights up and shouts "Christmas!"  We have even discussed getting her ears pierced.  We have been invited to a breakfast with Santa along with some other military families at the mall.  Anytime I mention having breakfast with Santa she brings up how we are going to get earring and how it is going to hurt {since I have been trying to warn her that there is  most likely going to be some pain involved}.

Watch out Daddy...there is a new boy in town

Charlotte is a little borderline obsessed with Cooper. She talks about him on a regular basis and every time she gets mad at either Kayu or I, she tells us that she is going to tell Cooper on us {which reminds me of a time when I used to tell my mother I was going to run off to live with Santa Claus}. Abigail and I joked about an arranged marriage, but at this point we might not have to worry about it. 

Charlotte's latest conversation with Kayu... 

 C: "Do you like Cooper, Daddy?" 

Kayu: "Yeah, I like Cooper." 

C: "Okay. That will make me happy." 

Counters

Farewell icky tiled counter tops! Our quartz counter tops have been installed and they look marvelous {and are so much easier to clean}.  We frantically tried getting all the painting done on the cabinets before Thanksgiving but unfortunately time was not on our side.  Currently we are two-thirds of the way done painting.  Now we just need to find the motivation to continue. 
 

Backsplash we picked out {Luckily Kayu and I agreed on one}

And the chaos begins...

The contractors came in and removed the old countertops. So now we are sinkless and stovetopless and dishwasherless. And the dishes piling up.

  

 

Kids say the darnest things

 

One day I asked Charlotte if she wants to be a teacher when she grows up since she pretends she is leading circle time and directs us to do certain things. "Now touch your nose."  She responded "no."  So then I asked her what she wanted to be?  She responded "a bee." Hmm.  I then asked her if there was anything else she wanted to be.  Her new response "a QUEEN bee."

 Today we had a Thanksgiving potluck at work and all the families were invited.  I was on shift so I had Kayu and Charlotte stop by our Ops floor.  Charlotte pointed to one of the computers and said "you have a computer just like at home?"  I told her yes.  Then this evening when I walked in the door she asks "where you playing on the computer again."

Our Casa

Family Room + plump cat

Computer/Craft/Play Room

Kitchen

C's craft corner

Dining room/Living room

Backyard...my favorite place

There are still a lot of projects that we want to do to update the house. I have learned the hard way with our Wyoming house that if you wait until the last minute, you don't really get to enjoy the updates. So with this house I am determined to get as much done right away. Here are some of the things we plan to do...
☐ Quartz countertops
☐ Backsplash
☐ Paint kitchen cabinets
☐ Bamboo flooring