Lausanne Reunion

We had a Lausanne reunion at our home the Saturday before Thanksgiving. These students lead busy lives, and we're proud to say that many of them have gone on to become service leaders on campus - it's hard to get a date all can make, so 25 was an excellent turnout!
Played "fishbowl" - a word game kinda like charades. Loads of fun. My Swiss chocolate, game prize did not arrive, so I compensated with Lindt and Toblerone bought down the road.
Another dessert to mark dad's 50th. These delicious cakes were from Pastries by Edie - a brilliant Italian bakery we discovered while living in Woodland Hills. One of those "bakes for the stars" places (which she really does do), Edie maintains the Italian tradition of miniature-sized goodies:
that I first discovered at Ferrara's and Veniero's in NYC on cheapo flights from Minneapolis during college. Ferrara's boasts the first espresso bar (1892) in the US, but I think Veniero's has better atmosphere. Highly recommend.
I am attracted to immigrant enclaves in big cities. Visiting Hawaii for my cousin's wedding a few years ago - seeing all the Japanese businesses - I wondered if this is how it felt for an Italian to visit Little Italy way back when. I include an old photo of Fugetsu-Do, a Japanese manju/mochi sweet shop in Little Tokyo established in 1903 - just 10 years after Italians opened their pasticerria on the east coast.
Most of the Japanese-American culture (movie houses, nurseries, ceramic and grocery stores, etc) have disappeared, except for the Sawtelle district off UCLA. Seattle's International District maintains a vestige of the old days, in which families would go in for a Saturday to shop, eat, walk the streets, see a movie maybe.

Back to the reunion.

Brittany, Michael, & Alex. Brittany, Morgan, & JoAnne picked-up M&J from school on Tuesday mornings and Alex could consume an incredible amount of food from morning to evening.

We made subs. Great planning by Laura. Morgan, Alex, & Keith:

Getting physical

Family picture.Thanksgiving post to follow!