He Lives He Lives!

Praise the Lord for He is good, His mercy endures forever!

It's Easter Sunday and we have good cause to celebrate because of what Christ has done in our lives. We were blessed to be able to come together as friends and cell group members to have lovely afternoon of fun and festivities.

It was wet and a little chilly today but God is good! The children were able to do their Easter egg hunt and even managed to do the puzzle with the hidden Easter verses in them. The ones who got empty eggs were reminded of the good news that Jesus rose from the dead for us all and we should rejoice.

May we always remember Christ' work on the cross.

Games Night!

Five families got together one night after the kids had gone to bed for the first ever games night at our place! Len wasn't able to join us this time unfortunately because he had a ton of work to do in preparation for the SEA games in June. The name of the games was Sushi Go!, Rummikub, and one more mind-boggling game that I can't recall at the moment. It was excellent fun and I hope we get to do this again really soon!

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Happy Chinese New Year everyone!

Laura and the Gotandas came over for reunion dinner. The womenfolk did the cooking so there was plenty of recipe swopping and delicious food to go around. The menu:

Lotus root soup
Grilled orada with ginger and scallions
Stir-fried bean sprouts with salted fish
Pork and jiu cai
Sweet and savoury sesame chicken
Minced pork dumplings
Lotus root stuffed with glutinous rice in honey syrp (dessert)

Pity we didn't have a lo hei kit otherwise it would have been added fun. Still, I think our potluck reunion dinner was a success and a much better alternative to shelling out oodles of dinero on a restaurant set meal.

L: Zac's picture of Auntie Laura and Uncle Moto
R: Zac and Katsuki having dessert. Notice how Zac's is much smaller than Ka-chans?

Boys in boxes.

All You Need For A Good Time...

We were at Len's friend Thomas' place for dinner the other day. He cooked some lovely pasta and there was plenty of wine to go around. Zac really enjoyed all the extra attention since he was (as usual) the only one under 3 feet. He particlarly loved it when Patricia (one of Thomas' room mates and my shopping buddy) brought out a giant box she wasn't using along with a bunch of markers. Once he was done drawing up a storm, he decided the box would make a good playhouse too. More pictures courtesy of Zac's Auntie Vicky to follow.

Update: Here are the pictures (I'll put the rest on my picasa). THANK YOU VICKY!

Happy Halloween!

Our pumpkins - one for carving, the other for roasting.

Len, Zac and I were invited to our first ever Halloween party here in Spain. Zac's friend Miles' parents Michelle and Paul opened their home to 18 kids with their parents in tow for an awesome time complete with ghoulish candy, spooky decor and a surprised appearance by a masked marauder!


Zac went as Superman (it was a pyjama onesie from H&M) since we had to avoid any costume that required headgear or a mask - he's not a fan. Len and I went as Average Joe and Average Jane since costumes were too pricey. We did love some of the costumes the adults came in including a lovely Frida Kahlo, a groovey disco couple and a vampy vampire.

The video got cut short cos Zac freaked and I couldn't continue filming. We all had a good time but once the masked marauder came out, we had to call it a night since Zac would not have us go back into the main hall. He wasn't the only one. Most of the under 3s were spooked too but they seemed to relax once Michael Jackson's Thriller came on and everyone was bouncing to the beat. Fun stuff and an unforgettable way to spend a Fall evening.

More pictures here.

Happy Birthday Auntie Vicky!

Zac trying to blow out Auntie Vicky's candles while she's not looking.

One of Zachary's favourite aunties celebrates yet another birthday in Barcelona!

This time with rendang and prata (a gift from the Pattiselannos) plus a blackforest cake from Paul that was SO good (moist, light spongey cake with rummy cherries) and yet SO bad (a more than generous spread of cream that'll make its home on all our butts). Zac, needless to say, got his cake and ate it too.

Christmas Eve Dinner

Mushroom & Leek Stuffing, Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Pumpkin with Rosemary,
and Roasted Chicken with Apple & Celery Stuffing.

We've been really busy entertaining at our house this festive season. I don't know if it's because we've overdone it this time or if we've just grown older but we're pretty partied out. Just this past month, we've eaten enough ham and turkey to last us at least until next year!

Even though the actual prep-work that goes into each of these dos is enough to knock the socks off any hostess with the mostest, the joy of spending time with the people you love most is well worth the effort!

In the foreground from L to R: Mel, Kenneth, Twa Koh, Ama, Debbie, Denise and Len.

House Party

The best thing about being in the college frame of mind again has to be the house parties. The Pattis were invited (all 3 of us as opposed to just Len who's gone for way more gatherings) to our 2nd house party at Saurabh, Nitin and Ruchir's place. Saurabh, chef extraordinaire, and his capable assistants put together an Indian spread fit for a king. Yes, this is the 2nd evening in a row that we're eating Indian food but I'm certainly not complaining. Actually, neither is Zac who ditched his pasta dinner for the yummy chickpeas and lentils on my plate!

Zachary meets Uncle Saurabh (left) and Uncle Chetan.

I was so distracted by trying to get Zac to eat his dinner and that intoxicating smell from the food, I forgot to take pictures of the dishes. You'll have to take my word for it that the food was delish.

Now if I could only get that mango chutney recipe off Saurabh...