New Year's Day Traditions

On New Year's Day we shuffled over to Granny's to enjoy traditional Japanese New Year's Day cuisine. I really appreciate that every year Granny goes the extra mile to sprinkle a little culture into our lives. This year, each of us even had our own place setting. Here's a picture of my place setting, which says, "Ke-bi-n" there on the right in Hiragana.



Granny and Gunko greeted us when we arrived and we wished them both a Happy New Year. We love you guys.



There was lots of food to go around, and we had all day to eat it. I have to admit that some of the traditional Japanese New Year's Day cuisine isn't my favorite, but it's tradition and that's important... especially since eating it means we'll have a good year.



Baby will be born this year, Ingrid, and I can't wait. It's really going to be the best year of our lives.



After our meal, both Ingrid and I crashed for a restful nap on the couch. Hopefully this is a sign that this new year will be filled with eating and naps -- two of my favorite things to do.



When we woke up, it was time to eat again. And this time, Granny was serving sukiyaki right out of the cooker. Mmmmm. Eating it reminded me of how I used to love when dad would make this for me as a kid. Give me a bowl of rice with it and I'm set.



Unfortunately, Shawn was working and Aunty Kimi couldn't join us, but that didn't stop us from having a wonderful New Year's Day feast.



Of course, no New Year's feast would be complete without a little dessert, and my mom had that covered. I see dad eyeing the selection from over there. I guess that no matter the year, some things never change. Here's to a great 2008!