Thanksgiving Day with Two New Cousins!
Ellie has two adorable new cousins, Morgan (left) and Reese (right), born two weeks apart this summer. She has visited with them once before, and had a great time getting reacquainted on Thanksgiving Day. Ellie loves babies, so having two to follow around and "help" made for a terrific day! We were trying to capture Christmas pictures for my mom and Rupert's annual card in this series -- lots of cameras flashing and parents waving their arms in the background, especially when we finally got all three girls on the same chair!
Ellie has two adorable new cousins, Morgan (left) and Reese (right), born two weeks apart this summer. She has visited with them once before, and had a great time getting reacquainted on Thanksgiving Day. Ellie loves babies, so having two to follow around and "help" made for a terrific day! We were trying to capture Christmas pictures for my mom and Rupert's annual card in this series -- lots of cameras flashing and parents waving their arms in the background, especially when we finally got all three girls on the same chair!
Baby Ben Laponis
One of my closest friends from both high school and college, Mindy (Shore) Laponis, had her first baby in August. Mindy made the trip to Stockton from San Jose early in the week so that we could meet little Ben for the first time. We had a great time catching up and after 16 years of friendship (high school, Cal, Delta Gamma, bridesmaids...), it was so fun to get to see Min in her new role as a mommy! Ben is super cute! :) Ellie loved getting to spend the day with a baby friend!
Ellie Loves Lep Kuchen!
Our friend Elisa grew up with a wonderful Christmas tradition in her family involving Lep Kuchen (German spice cookies). Two Saturdays before Thanksgiving is "Batterday Saturday" and is the time to make multiple batches of the dough for these cookies. Each batch typically makes between 85 & 100 cookies, and needs to be refrigerated for a minimum of one week. The Saturday before Thanksgiving is "Lep Kuchen Day," the day for baking all of these wonderful treats! Elisa typically makes two batches, while her dad makes four -- the idea is to make enough to last for the season. When we all moved to Hume in 2002, we began to join the Watsons for these two traditional days. Over time, Lep Kuchen Day has come to symbolize the coming of Christmas to us, too. Last year, the Watsons moved back to Arizona :( , but Elisa and her family graciously gave us this recipe that has been in the family for generations, and let us keep the Hume branch of Lep Kuchen Day going! We baked our two batches while in Stockton, and were excited to find out that Ellie Mae loves Lep Kuchen as much as we do! Our hope is that this tradition will feel like her own as she grows up, so that when she is an adult, she can look back like Elisa and remember Lep Kuchen Day as a wonderful part of every Christmas. In these pictures, she has a cookie in one hand, a cup of milk in the other, and a big, happy smile (yes, it is the morning, but at least Lep Kuchen have nuts and dates!)!
1 comment:
Oh, I love this post! I was on the phone with my parents when I saw it so I read it to them. :) I love that you guys have taken on the tradition, and I love that picture of Ellie eating one with that beautiful smile on her face! I miss you guys!
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