In 2019, I didn’t take a lot of photos on my SLR camera.
I fell into the monotonous train of thought that my daily routines wasn’t anything extraordinary. No mount Fuji views, no Tokyo streets, no skyscrapers, no instagram worthy food…just, daily life. Therefore, my camera stayed put in my room collecting dust and I lacked the motivation to brush it off. But, over the holidays, I realized that there is really nothing more extraordinary than freezing a moment in time with my family by the click of a camera shutter. Life moves fast. The years go by in a blink of an eye. And the kids will be grown up before we know it.
And I realized that, these days…the ones where I am living at home with my family doing the most ordinary things… are in fact, the most extraordinary.
Matching PJs on Christmas morning.
My bro and his “coffee” (mostly milk w a lil coffee)
Cam, loves all things nerf guns.
Jordan’s first Christmas. 10.5 mo.
Peter’s first Christmas. 4.5 mo.
Happiest Kindergarteners.
Tay, loves all things dolls and stuffed animals.
Cozy cousin filled Christmas day.
Soaking that mochi rice!
Mochiko, the necessary ingredient.
Mom, the queen mochi maker and head chef.
The magical (ancient) machine! priceless.
I love hanging with all my cousins! We are all grown up now which makes it even more fun when we are all together joking and bantering back and forth. This year was especially fun because my cousins from CO were in town!
MOCHI MOCHI MOCHIIIIIIIIII!! This is gold. And a tradition I am so thankful my mom and aunties have kept up all these years. Steps: wash the rice, soak the rice, cook it in the machine and….viola.
Only my mom can handle the hot mochi right out of the machine. She pulls off equal sized pieces and passes them down the table for us to form into balls.
NOM NOM NOMMM.
Lenny and Ofie…love these girls.
Hey there Petey boy.
All hands on deck.
We pound out a lot of mochi for new years. We fill some with azuki, chocolate (Nutella), or peanut butter. But mostly we keep them plain to use in Ozoni the next day.
Little J man on the piano.
Mom, Lenny and Cam. These two kiddos were having a blast playing in the mochiko.
All set up for New Year’s day.
OZONIIIIII. The coziest, best way to begin the year.
Make your own sushi bar.
A table full of the best food made with love.
Mom’s immaculate prep list of all the food.
GOOD LUCK FOOD!
I love my siblings <3
On New Year’s Day we invite all our family over. A really special guest that always comes is our neighbor Barbara. She has been our neighbor ever since my parents moved into this house 30 years ago and she is a truly wonderful and kind woman of God! Although Japanese New Years is quite a foreign tradition for her, she gladly comes over every year and tells us, “I thank God every day that he blessed me with neighbors like you” *tears!!!!! Having her over our house makes me realize what the holidays are truly all about - quality time with those you love.
The first sunset of 2020.
This year, I hope to shoot more with my camera. More of the every day stuff. I also hope to play around with the film cameras I inherited from my grandpa. I want to capture the big moments and the tiny moments and all the beautiful moments in between. Let’s go 2020.
<3