Family matters « BenAnnabel

Last days in Denmark

Dear Big brother,
I’m finally coming home tomorrow! I miss you and Daddy so much! Yesterday we went to Ribe (Ree-bah) which is the oldest city in all of Scandanavia. We saw buildings over 500 years old and even this church from 900 years ago.
today we went to Lego to see where Amy works and to get your presents at the big Lego store. Around town there were some giant Lego bricks. Billund, Denmark is a really cool place! I’m so proud of Aunt Mamie.
Love, Annabel

Ps. when I get home I’ll show you all the pictures these have just been the ones I took on Mamie’s iPhone so I could post them.

07/20/2010 Posted by benbbillings | Family matters, Places I've been | 2 Comments

Oliver’s baptism

To kick the summer off, we had the pleasure of celebrating the baptism of our newest cousin – my god cousin (my mom is the Godmother) Oliver Atchity.

He was just a teeny little fellow at 4 weeks old and didn’t even cry out when that cold water hit him! We were all so proud.

We love you, Oliver!

Oliver with Dad, Vincent.

The Big Moment.

Proud parents: Vincent and Lauren.

Mom’s first effort at quilting: a present for baby:

07/07/2010 Posted by benbbillings | Family matters, My favorite pics of me | 4 Comments

Happy Father’s Day, Dad.

I know you all think you have great dads,

But I have the BEST dad.

We had a great day and surprised dad with a baseball game!

Annabel liked playing peek-a-boo:

And the Mariner’s won!

More love for dad, tomorrow on his birthday…

06/20/2010 Posted by benbbillings | Family matters, Sports | 3 Comments

Weekend in California

We spent a fantastic weekend with all my cousins in Southern California. We got to go to Disneyland and then we had a party for Annabel’s 1st birthday (it was a joint party with Taylor – my cousin who is now 3)!

Click here to see the whole album

(Or check out my cousin Ivette’s photos by clicking here)

From Annabel’s 1st Birthday

05/12/2010 Posted by benbbillings | Family matters, My baby sister, My favorite pics of me, Places I've been | 2 Comments

My Abuelos visit my school

Last week Abuelo and Abuela visited Seattle and came to my school!

They brought wonderful cuban snacks from Portos Bakery in Los Angeles and read to the class.

We tried Refugiados (guava and cheese pastries) and Pastel de Pollo (chicken pie!)

The book El Alfabeto Cubano is one of my favorites!

(Sitting next to my girl Audrey):

I was so proud to show off my grandparents to my amazing friends and to show them my school.

Even Annabel enjoyed herself and didn’t want to leave!

Gracias Abuelo y Abuela!

04/27/2010 Posted by benbbillings | Family matters, Me and my friends, Stuff I'm into | 3 Comments

Dance Party

Everyone was tremendously happy with the fantastic dance party that I hosted! I told everyone all day that I wasn’t actually 4 until I blew out my candles and everyone sang to me.

Click here for the whole album or just check out the highlights below:

We’re anxiously awaiting our guests. The cake was ready:

From Ben turns 4

The favors:

From Ben turns 4

DJ Daddy:

From Ben turns 4

And the main dancers – Breakin’ Benny B and Lil’ A:

From Ben turns 4

We danced the limbo, the conga and everyone had a great time!

From Ben turns 4

I was so proud of my friends for not getting too crazy, we all ate our dinner, colored and enjoyed the cake too!

From Ben turns 4

I’m so lucky to have such good friends (and thanks to the other grown-ups who helped my parents pull it off)

From Ben turns 4

04/10/2010 Posted by benbbillings | Family matters, Holiday, Me and my friends, Milestones, My favorite pics of me, Ridiculous things I say | 7 Comments

Hoppy Easter!

Annabel’s 1st Easter was a lot of fun! Grandma and Jidi were in town and our cousins and friends came over for an Easter Egg hunt.

Here are some of the highlights – if you want the whole lot of pictures, click through to see the whole album:

From Easter 2010

The Easter Bunny put new crocs in my basket:

From Easter 2010

It’s hard to get a good picture of me and my sister. Here she is in her Easter dress – made by our friend, Kay Evans. She ended up matching Audrey in their yellow dresses and white sweaters. CUTE.

From Easter 2010

Here are our cousins – Max, Klara and Leo (they are our 3rd cousins – for those of you Atchitys who want to know the connection: these are Kristen Atchity Fristch’s kids, and she is the daughter of Mike Atchity – my Jidi’s 1st cousin.) We lucked out that they happen to live in Seattle!

From Easter 2010

Say cheese!

From Easter 2010

We had so much fun hunting for the eggs Max hid in the front yard – we hid them all over our house. Mom and Dad are finding eggs in some pretty tricky spots. There are still a few suspected missing eggs. Eventually, they’ll start to smell and then we can find them.

04/05/2010 Posted by benbbillings | Family matters, Holiday, Me and my friends, My baby sister | 3 Comments

Thanksgiving and cousins

We had an excellent Thanksgiving – a week at Grandma and Jidi’s in the sunshine of Palm Desert – and we needed it!

Lots of family joined us, and most of all I had fun wih my cousins Anthony and Katy and Gabe (an honorary cousin).
Life in the desert, is pretty nice.
We swim:

We work out:

We golf:

And Wii golf:

My poor mom tries to get a decent photo:

Finally!

And we give thanks for our family:

We tired poor Grandma out:

So I helped decorate her tree:

Happy Thanksgiving, Turkeys!

12/03/2009 Posted by benbbillings | Family matters, Holiday | 4 Comments

Making Tostones with Abuela

Ingredients:

Ripe plaintains

Vegetable Oil

Cuban Abuela visiting from out of town

Recipe:

It’s so easy, you can do it even if you aren’t cuban (just ask my mom)

1. Peel the ripe, greenish plantain: it doesn’t peel quite like a banana.

2. Cut the plantain into slices, about 2″ to 2 1/2″ wide.

3. Using vegetable oil, fry the pieces on medium-high heat to a temperature of about 300 degrees F. (Oil should cover about halfway up the piece of plaintain) Once the oil is hot, fry the plantain slices for approximately 3 to 5 minutes, turning once, just long enough to make them soft.

4. Place them on a paper towel to soak up the excess oil.

5. Use a “tostonera” or two plates to smash the plantains to half their thickness.

6. Let the oil come back to a higher temperature — this time about 375 degrees F. Fry once again, turning occasionally, until golden brown on both sides.

7. Remove and use paper towels to absorb excess oil. Sprinkle with plenty of salt and serve.

10/29/2009 Posted by benbbillings | Family matters, Stuff I'm into | 1 Comment

Kansas City 09

As usual we had a great visit to mom’s home town in KC. We got to see a lot of my cousins and other family. We didn’t get a lot of pictures – we were too busy having a wonderful visit.

Click on any photo to see the whole album – here are some of my favorites: