As oldsters, Diana and I prefer the tradition of Alpine skiing.  Adam and Noah have been on snowboards in prior years.  Ryan decided to stick with skis, and followed his parents for the first few runs.

Taking the ski lift up is more straightforward for skiiers than snowboarders, who have to release the binding for one foot.  After riding the lift to the top of the hill, Adam and Noah demonstrated the procedure of reattaching snowboard bindings while seated.

Unlike prior trips sunny enough for sunglasses, this day was overcast and cold both in the morning and afternoon.  From a north facing ridge, the clouds were low on the views of Georgian Bay and Collingwood.

On the ride home, we sometimes take a dinner break in Barrie, near the half-way point.  On Christmas eve, we weren’t completely surprised when the Barrie restaurant we had chosen was closed up.  Instead of settling for second-best, we decided to continue the drive directly home, allowing for a change into fresh clothes before having dinner in Toronto.  Korean restaurants are less traditional about holidays, and Mul Rae Bang-a is open 24 hours per day.

This restaurant has grills at the table, and the servers bring plates of raw meat.  Our sons are at a carnivorous stage, whereas their parents are beyond that.  All-you-can-eat at this restaurant means more and more meat, and limited banchan.  Subsequent orders for meat don’t allow picking-and-choosing, so full spreads of chicken, pork and beef are repeated.

December 24 is one day that I plan for family activities, and go almost completely offline.  Alpine skiing requires concentration, so I don’t listen to an MP3 player and dedicate my entire attention towards not falling.

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Don came over with the family. I don’t advocate video games — the boys have funded their own recreation — but it was something for Ryan to do with Anderson and Michaela.

Of course, we wouldn’t let everyone go home without have dinner.

Having Don come over with the family is a good excuse for us to get together. Before kids, we used to live nearby … and used to have more time to do things together.

We set the time, and people gradually showed up. Waiting provided a good time to catch up on news with cousins and uncles.

Active social lives means that at least someone will be tired from a late Saturday night.

The cemetery is well-kept, presenting an opportunity to enjoy sitting on the grass.

A few plants survive from the previous year, and we add a few more to freshen the display.

The incense was lit with matches. Maybe it would be easier if we could remember to bring a lighter.

The meeting time is scheduled according to butchers’ hours, for fresh meat.

After offering some drinks to our ancestors, we bow three times.

Money from the “Bank of Hell” is traditionally burned.

On such a nice day, lunch was a relaxed stand-up buffet.

To escape the sun, the kids preferred a tailgate venue.

After we pack away from the graves on the Ing side of the family, we make a brief stop at the Lee side.

We had a good turnout this year, from better planning and diligent followups on the family e-mail list. Next year, we’ll see if we can get everyone in the Toronto area to come out.

After a few speeches, the roasted meats, baked goods and fresh fruit was served as a picnic lunch.

It’s a tradition to have at least a little snack to honour ancestors. It’s not quite so relaxed when everyone is under umbrellas.

We went home for a few hours, and then for the regular evening banquet. Dinner, in the usual restaurant, was more predictable.

Karaoke is now a regular part of the dinners. An older couple makes regular appearances to sing Chinese opera . This time, Adam stepped up and looked through the catalog to find a tune that he knew. He then proceeded to sing a pop song in Mandarin. This is an irony, because the elders of the society would never have studied Mandarin in school as they were growing up.

We know that we have a large family when everyone shows up, and we take more than one table of ten.

Over the past half century, there’s been a gradual evolution of languages spoken at Lowkong events: Toisan dialect, English, Standard Cantonese, and now Mandarin. The tradition of family dinners has been a constant. Even many of the dishes have stayed in fashion.

Since she always has the dinner well under control, we have time to socialize. Ariel is comfortable with her grandfather Tom.

We were called up for dinner. Mother Tracy brought Ariel up, but she was getting fussy.

There’s always some question about when a person is too old to receive a red envelope, but Rosaline still believes we’re all kids.

Rosaline always serves a wide variety of foods. Some are traditional (e.g. lettuce, noodles), while other are home specialties that you would never see on a Chinese restaurant menu.

After everyone has finished dinner, and the dishes have been cleared away, everyone is back for dessert.

Even with all of the family attending, there’s leftovers to take home and enjoy for a day or two later. Rosaline says that she enjoys cooking for us, because we’re a family — especially with our sons — that really eats.

I haven’t figured out the meaning of the V sign that Asian kids do. It’s common in Asia, and not so common in Toronto.

The dim sum was fine. (It’s really hard to get really great dim sum, when we have have it sufficiently frequently that it’s not worth driving all over the city).

One of Eric’s friends gave him a last-minute gift: a grille as bling for his teeth.

A group of his close friends congregated at the Pearson Airport to see Eric off.

The group posed for a photo of their last moment together.

Less than 24 hours later, Eric was online in Skype, reporting on his airplane trip. Halfway around the world, and modern communications make it seem almost like next door.

After snapping lots of photos, the boys decided that they wanted to show more sides of themselves.

They were more dressed up than usual, but not really dressed up.

The portraits took just a few minutes in our neighbourhood. It’s memorable as an ordinary day in our fortunate lives.

We were so informal that we started dinner before Noah arrived, since he was working a shift at the CNE. After Noah and his friend had dinner, we brought out a cake for Adam.

Since Noah had come up from the CNE, he brought funnel cake for us to enjoy.

The entertainment for the evening was a performance of Facebook of Revelations at Second City Toronto.

Adam hasn’t been home in 23 months. We encouraged him to tour China, rather than spending the money on plane fare back to Toronto.

Ryan has changed so much in two years — extra height, and contact lenses — so that Adam said that he didn’t recognize him.

Adam’s friends came over to the house that evening, but it didn’t stay long. The more formal celebration was the next evening. Adam toasted everyone on welcoming him home.

Adam had requested turkey, because the Chinese don’t normally serve that. With his friends renowned for big appetites, we also put some roast beef and a roast loin of pork into the oven.

Terra has been spending a lot of time in our house, recently, so we took the opportunity to invite her mother and sister over. They had a visitor from Korea, so she joined us for dinner, too.

Adam’s friends were responsible for dessert … and we had not one, but three cakes.

The school term in China runs late, so Adam wrote his last exam just a few days before coming home. He didn’t get a break, because 36 hours after landing in Toronto, he was in prep courses for engineering at University of Toronto.

We ordered enough dishes to feed the table … and then ordered some more for Noah and Eric after everyone else was full. As always, the food was fresh and tasty.

Since both Adam and Eric had spent a few weeks in the summer up in Gravenhurst and Lagoon City with their grandfather and grandmother, it seemed like Noah’s turn this summer. Noah is at that age where he’s a bit too old for summer camp, but not quite old enough for a summer job. His grandfather doesn’t have the store in Gravenhurst like he used to, but there’s always a few odd jobs where he could use a hand.

Later that day, Noah packed up some clothes — and extra food, because he eats more than his grandparents combined — and went up north for two weeks.

Ryan will attend — with many others in our neighbourhood — Riverdale Collegiate Institute in the fall, following in the footsteps of Adam, Eric and Noah.

Since Riverdale Collegiate has a large auditorium, Queen A traditionally has held its graduation ceremonies there.

After the formal ceremonies were completed, refreshments were served. Ryan hung out with his friends.

Mom lost control of the burning money for a moment.

As usual, we had a picnic by the gravesite. It was easier to have conversations, than at the noisy wedding reception the night preceding!

Organizing a date in June at least guaranteed us good weather!

Weddings are rare occasions to get the extended family together. After the crowd had cleared a bit, we got a chance to speak with the bride and groom.

While each of the Ings have not had huge families, we do seem to have a pattern of families with more than the average 1.52 children per woman for Canada. We reminded Eric that in a childhood visit to Palo Alto, we had met with Selene’s older brother Doug, with his newlywed wife Winnie. Winnie’s father must be happy to see his grandkids growing up.

The last to marry in my generation are Pearl’s daughters. They’re all still eligible … so we’re wondering who will be next in line for a wedding.

Some of our sons are technically at marrying age — Adam was still in China at the date of this wedding — but we’re not expecting betrothals in the immediate future.

The reception was held at the Pearl Harbourfront Chinese Restaurant, a more upscale venue than the traditional Chinese restaurant.

It seems that Dennis’ family is big into sweets, so there was a wide selection of desserts after dancing.

I haven’t been to the Chicago area much over the years, so I mostly came over to hang out. This included going out with MaryAnn to walk the dog.

Charlie has been interviewing candidates to work in his dental office, and asked if I could recommend any profiling tests. Since health care is really a calling, I suggested that he might try one of the enneagram tests.

MaryAnn tried it, too.

Reviewing the tour of the nine enneagram types, there was some interesting prescriptions. In development profiles, Charlie needs to learn to look after himself better, and MaryAnn needs to learn to have more fun. The kids are all grown up now, so they’re empty-nesters.

Charlie has been working towards opening a new office in the redeveloped area of the old Glenview Naval Air Station.

Charlie’s office has always been around the Children’s Memorial Hospital site in Lincoln Park, but the hospital is moving downtown. He’ll be hopping between offices, but has partners in his practice who will share the load.

I’m following the “Wear Sunscreen” prescriptions (by Mary Schmich and popularized by Baz Luhrmann):

Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography in lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Life is too short not to remember friends … and those so close to be considered extended family.

Rosaline had invited us over for Chinese New Year. Here she is, preparing a dish.

Of course, not all Chinese families can cook, but it’s nice to be related to family with restaurant experience. Rosaline prepares some dishes more traditional that I can make, so I always enjoy the variety.

The kids hit the buffet first, and retreated to the basement.

There’s always time for Diana to discuss crafts. Here, Tracy and Sharon are looking at knitting patterns.

I always enjoy extended family dinners. It’s a good opportunity to relax, and catch up on what’s happening in everyone’s lives.

There’s always a large variety of choices for dinner at Pearl’s.

Since the families all have histories in restaurants, making dinner is really a group activity. Arthur did the carving (amongst his other duties).

The extended family is now pretty big — there’s still a few people missing — so there’s the elders’ table …

… and there’s the youngers’ table. (We don’t have enough youth to really call it a kids table anymore).

Christmas is also an opportunity for family portraits (which I’m happy to do, with new photo gear.

We rarely get families our our whole family, since I’m usually behind the camera, but Pearl also has a history as a photographer.

Family portraits somehow aren’t complete, with Adam in China. Of course, we’ll probably be missing members of our family for portraits for at least the next decade.

Eric is really the sushi master in the house. The first time we made sushi together, I cut the fish and he did all of the assembly. This time, he did all of the work, and Noah wanted to try it out, too.

As usual, there was lots of salmon, and we struggled to finish the meal. At Bill’s Lobster, they told Eric that the salmon was really good on that day, and we agreed.

Ironically, in Bejing, Adam went snowboarding.

If you can’t pick him out, here’s an enlargement.

Next, he was in the boys’ choir.

Here’s some more help to single him out.

At the conclusion of the program, all of the choirs were joined by the orchestra and band for a finale.

We couldn’t actually find Noah in that photo, and he had to show us where he was.

All of the boys started off with piano lessons. Adam studied drums at school, and Eric learned guitar on the side. Ryan had started on saxophone in middle school, and we’ll see if he will continue in high school. We haven’t traditionally had much singing in the house.

I’m looking forward to the day when I have four sons who all play together … in the same place and the same time!