Scenic Sunday

Hmmm... I am not really sure if that is considered scenic. Anyway, I took this photo at my hubby's parents' neighborhood. That's P pulling the sleigh with Izzy and her cousin!

Yummy Sunday

When minii duu (my little sister in Mongolian language), Chuka was with us, she made us my favorite Mongolian food. Oh, the food sure brought a lot of memories to me. I was telling them how I loved Mongolian food on my first year in that country. On my second year, I just couldn't stomach it! The reality of the difference between the Filipino food and Mongolian food struck me that year. I didn't want to eat anything but Filipino food. So I went home and stayed for a year. When I went back to Mongolia my appetite for Mongolian food was resurrected and I have retained that appetite until now. So it was so nice of Chuka to make me my favorite Mongolian food.

"Mutton Soup" It was yummy!!!

The famous "mantoo"

Authentic Mongolian Milk Tea

Mongolian Friends

Last week, we had three Mongolian kids at our house. One flew here all the way from Massachusetts to spend the holidays with us. The other two live closer to us- one goes to school in Duluth and the other one works for an auditing firm in Minneapolis. All three of them are in their early 20's. And all three of them are gifted with extraordinary brains! Each has at least 3.50 GPA! Talking about intelligence! Imagine if Orgil was here too! But we are proud to say... P AND I BEAT THEM ALL IN SCRABBLE! Ha ha ha!

Contemporary Portrait Contest

Isabelle has learned to enjoy posing for the camera. This is one of the photos I took of her recently. To see other photos for Contemporary Portrait Contest, go here!

Busy as a Bee!

We're still busy as a bee! When will all these parties and trips be over? P was off from work over the week but we felt like we haven't really done something not work-related. There's always "work" stuff to do. Parties seem endless! The one we had last night was very fun but I felt like I was "edgy"... not really feeling like I was up for a party. Today, we decided we would relax... we'll go to the fitness gym- exercise and swim with Izzy. She sure is looking forward to it. She has just learned to dive into the water and she loves it! But before that happens, P has to do his food drive volunteer work for the food shelf in our county. You'd be amazed to know that there are so many people in our county who need free food! The food shelf goes empty a few hours after my hubby and his friends fill them. Now, that's fast! I hope that they will collect lots of food today.

Well, off to post some photos...

My Family's New Year Dance!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Happy New Year, Indeed!

One of my closest friends and her family spent the New Year's eve with us. We started the time by arranging babysitters for our little ones so we could go out for a fine dining. I so wanted to go to a fondue restaurant, called, The Melting Pot, in Minneapolis downtown but when I called them for reservation they only had 4:30 and 10:30 pm open for us. Both times didn't fit us... one was too early and the other was too late. I was a little bummed because we had a coupon for one free meal at the said restaurant. Anyway, my friend decided to pick the restaurant and make a reservation for our kind of double-date dinner. We ended up eating at the Lexington Restaurant in an old area in St. Paul. It is located nearby the area of old mansions. It was fascinating to drive through that place! The mansions all looked humongous and beautiful! We were definitely happy about the restaurant. The lights were a little dimmer than usual, which made the ambiance more romantic. The food was great.

Both my friend and I love to wear dresses when we are dining out.

Our friendship has definitely been blessed by the Lord!

The best Calamari I ever had!

My friend's appetizer order! It's so yummy! Grilled Mushroom with steamed spinach!

The Lexington green salad.

The best lamb shank in the whole world!

Filet Mignon for me!

After our double-date dinner, we came home for a little New Year's Eve party with our kiddos. Our babysitters did a great job watching the kids. Isabelle and Cy didn't beat each other that night, according to the girls watching them! Yes, they usually did, which is part of their fun! While waiting for the big ball to drop in NY, we played Bingo. And I'm proud to say I won... too. We had some ice cream and the chocolate fudge that I made. We also had sparkling cider in our champagne glasses because we don't drink any alcoholic stuff. It was fun! The kids stayed up with us until after midnight.