Ratatouille's Comin' to Town

I had to take the kids downtown for shots yesterday, so afterwards we decided to grab dinner at a dumpling restaurant. Sophie calls the dumplings "witch noses" and she loves to spear them with a chopstick and then nibble them while the juicy insides drip down her shirt. MMMM good! The food was yummy and we were all enjoying our dinner when Sophie exclaimed "Hey, where's that grey Ratatouille running to?" "What?" "Ratatouille's going to the kitchen to make our dinner!" "What? Sophie, did you really see a mouse?" "Yea! That little grey mousie's cute, he's a little Ratatouille." So that pretty much curbed our appetites and ended the witch nose feast. This, combined with the previous cockroach highchair experience and a Dooby who can't grasp restaurant etiquette keeps us home most nights for dinner.

We've been gearing up for Christmas and finally put up the tree and decorations last week. It's a pity to do all that work and then only enjoy it for a couple weeks, but there just wasn't time before. Our ward has been doing a Nativity pageant for the community for the past 7 years, and each year it grows and becomes more of a production, with thousands of Chinese attending. This year I was incharge of putting together 100 costumes for the pageant. It consumed my time (although somehow I was able to read "Twilight" and "New Moon" before having to remove myself totally from my book addiction to focus.) Shaun was signed up to build/take down the set and be a wiseman, but unfortunately hurt his back and wasn't able to move at all. Somehow our little family survived this crazy time, even dealing with sickness and injury, and we were able to finally breathe again last week.

We attended Shaun's work party last week, where the kids got to see Santa and eat all the chicken nuggets they could fit into their small bellies. The highlight of our holiday festivities thus far has been Sophie's school Christmas program. I don't think they could have done this in the states, but because we don't have to deal with so much "politically correct" garbage here, we were able to enjoy a little Christmas concert by 3 yr-olds singing all the traditional carols, even "Silent Night." I was surprised that the Indian and Chinese kids participated, but I guess their parents didn't mind Christian-based songs because they want to integrate them into American language and culture. Like all good parents, we got the whole thing on tape! Sophie was dressed like a little Christmas elf with jingle bell wrists and did such a good job singing and dancing! She was thrilled when Santa showed up with a Christmas present just for her.

Just a week left to go until Christmas! We miss our family and friends and wish we could spend this special time with you. Enjoy snow, fires in the fireplace, holiday goodies, and Christmas lights for us!