Texas Trip

I just got back from our week long trip to my brother's house for Christmas. My dad and Isaac went with me and we spent the entire week of Christmas with Bernie, Becky and the kids. The drive down was pretty good and it was actually warm (for us anyway). We arrived about 5:30pm on Sunday night. Bernie had the entire week off with the exception of Monday so we were all able to spend a lot of time together. After the first couple of days it got kinda cold and rainy so we didn't spend a lot of time outside but we still had a lot of fun.

I think it was Wednesday night that we took the kids to Santaland in Tyler, TX which is a large field with a pretty impressive Christmas lights show. I bet it took 45 minutes to drive through all of the Christmas lights and there were cars lined up for probably a mile or two to get in.

We had lunch with Becky's parents and older sister two or three times. It was nice to get to see them again. We also spent a lot of time playing games. Dad fell in love with a card game they taught us called "Hand and Foot." It's a variation on Canasta and actually was a lot of fun.

On Christmas morning the kids were pretty anxious to open their presents (of course) and I think they made out pretty well. They ended up with a lot of gifts from everyone so I think they were pretty happy. Then Becky made Christmas dinner for everyone which was really good. That night we went back to her parent's house for one last time and had dinner with them and watched a little football. Well I guess they watched football and I spent time chatting with my girlfriend, Phung. And of course Bernie was teasing me the whole time. :)

We drove back early the next morning, left about 5a.m. It was a long drive because of all of the snow but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The roads in Oklahoma were probably the worst even though they didn't seem to have as much snow. I just don't think they have the equipment to clear the roads as well. There was a lot of snow back home but the State did a pretty good job of keeping the roads clean. The return trip home took us about 13.5 hours. When I got home Phung came to see me so I was able to spend some time with her which was really nice. Now on Monday I get to head back to work and see how many emergencies there are. :)

Cassie, Eli, and Nathan with presents...

Bernie, Becky, Cassie, and Nathan...

Cassie with her presents...

Eli playing in a tree...

Bernie & Becky...

Me holding Nathan...

Isaac holding Nathan...

Isaac & Cassie playing ball...

Dad & Becky's Dad...

And of course I had to put up a picture of my beautiful girlfriend. This wasn't from Christmas but when we were making dinner together one night...


 

Bún chả

I'm really looking forward to trying a recipe I found for Bún chả. It's a Vietnamese grilled pork recipe and it actually looks pretty good. My girlfriend and I are trying to find food that we both like so I thought I'd give this a try. I'm not sure if it's a traditional Vietnamese recipe.

Here are the ingredients:

*Light Muscovado Sugar
*Vietnamese Fish Sauce
*Garlic
*Shallot
*Palm or Golden Caster Sugar
*Salt
*Minced Pork
*Rice Noodles
*Bean Sprouts
*Cilantro leaves, basil leaves, mint leaves, and chives
*Lettuce leaves

Here are the instructions:

Gently melt the light muscovado sugar with two-thirds of the fish sauce in a heavy based saucepan,
stirring all the time.
• Allow to cool a little then transfer it to a bowl and combine it with the garlic, shallot, palm or caster
sugar, the remaining fish sauce and salt.
• Add the minced pork, mix thoroughly, then cover and leave to stand for 3 hours.
• Shape the minced pork into 20-24 flat little patties, about 1 inch in diameter, place them under a
preheated grill and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side, until cooked through. The patties are also very
good cooked on the barbecue.
• To serve, divide the noodles between 4 warmed bowls, add the pork, torn lettuce leaves, bean sprouts
and herbs.
• Spoon the dipping sauce over the whole lot.

Impressive Snow Storm

According to the NWS Red Oak, IA has received almost 11.5 inches of snow in the last 24 hours. That amount of snowfall along with 40mph winds created one of the most impressive snow storms we've had in this area for a long time. I think it will be spring before all of this snow finally melts. I really don't mind the snow but I can't believe how cold it is! Hopefully everyone has somebody warm to cuddle up to.

Here are a couple of pictures including one that shows the snow up to the windows on my house.