The Isaac Family Insider

Our Annual Gift Exchange with the Wienses

2012-01-25T23:43:00.000-08:00

We started a rather different type of gift-giving tradition with our friends, Aaron and Christa, a few years ago. Here are this year's "treasures!"

The rules: the whole point is to give something that is unusual- the tackier, the better, has to be less than $10 and it has to be displayed all year! Who do you think won?!

Welcome to 2012

2012-01-21T11:41:00.000-08:00

2012 started three weeks ago and I'm only now blogging... Yikes, I wonder if that's any indication of what this new year will be like- crazy busy!

Ok, first things first... I need to back up and recap our 2011 holiday season (this is for my memory's sake).

Jason and I were so disappointed to find out that our districts' Winter Breaks would not match up this year. We decided to stay close at home this year instead of going out-of-town for vacation like we have in years past. It turned out to be a good choice- it has been so nice to relax and take it easy!

Christmas Eve

Summary: Since I didn't really grow up with Christmas traditions, it was really important to me when Jason and I got married that we created some for our family. I love our Christmas Eve! For the past few years, we've had the same delicious meal (that is only prepared on Christmas Eve), we've gone to our church's candlelight service, we've read the Christmas story together (the kids reenact it with our Fisher Price nativity set), we enjoy cookies and sip hot chocolate while opening gifts, and we give the kids only 3 gifts (something they read, something they'd like, and something they need). It has also been very special to have Jason's mom join us for the past few years.

Special Memory: Every year, Jason and I have intentionally chosen to only give our kids 3 gifts because we don't want the focus to be on receiving gifts- we don't want to overspend and get hooked into all the commercialism. How ironic that this year, the one thing I worried about was whether or not our kids would be completely disappointed when they opened up their gifts. What ended up happening was a lesson I hope I will never forget. In addition to getting us small gifts with her own money, Grace excitedly gave us one final present to open. It was small and flat, but she had still wrapped it. Inside was a sweet, thoughtful letter she had written thanking us for all kinds of things, and she wrote about how much she loved us. I cried as I read it- she clearly understood what Christmas and gift-giving is all about: LOVE. What a gift she gave us! I am so grateful for such a tender-hearted daughter who consistently reminds me of what is important in life.

Christmas Day

Summary: The kids were so excited to see what "Santa" had left them in their stockings (when Santa comes to our house, he only fills stockings). We ate a fantastic breakfast before heading to church, and then we headed up to Jason's mom's home for his family's Christmas. It was a wonderful day- we ate delicious food, the grownups talked, the kids played, we opened up gifts, and even played ping pong (for the record, Jason and I beat Jen and Dan). Jason's family was once again, incredibly generous and we left with many blessings.

Special Memory: It was neat that Christmas was on a Sunday this year and we're glad that we were able to join our church family on this special morning. Jeremy insisted on wearing his superhero cape that Santa left in his stocking (he's been completely fascinated by superheroes in the last few months, learning about them from his friends at daycare). During the service, the children were invited to go to the front for a special children's feature. Grace held Jeremy's hand and they went up. He got a lot of attention for wearing his cape and mask! Our pastor asked the kids what they got for Christmas, and surprisingly, our usually-bashful Jeremy shared into the microphone about his cape and mask. It was so funny... and pretty darn cute!

New Year's Eve/Day

Summary: For years, we've spent New Year's Eve with the same group of friends- the Wiens, Lee, and Co families. The Cos spend every other year in L.A., so this year, it was only our 3 families. Like last year, we headed up to our family's cabin at Shaver Lake and spent the whole weekend there. Unlike last year when we practically got snowed in, there was only a few patches of snow here and there. We found other ways to spend our time- it was fun to hang out, play games, eat, go for a walk, play outside, and watch movies/football... On New Year's Eve, the guys did their usual beer testing (blind taste test this year), and the girls did our usual gabbing. Fun memories!

Special Memory: The whole weekend was enjoyable- we value spending time with good friends! I must say though, that we sure missed the snow!

I wonder what God has in store for our family this year... Hopefully, it'll include many more special memories of valuable time with family and friends!

From Our Family to Yours...

2011-12-25T22:48:00.000-08:00

Christmas is in the Air!

2011-12-22T21:27:00.000-08:00

Earlier this month, we met up with our friends, the Macks and the Cos to walk Christmas Tree Lane. There have been years when we're driven through the lane in our car, but it is always much more memorable to be able to walk it with friends. I'm not sure why the kids wanted a picture in front of the Abominable Snowman when there were sooo many other Christmas-y things along the lane, but when I look back upon this picture in years to come, it'll trigger for me the night of Crazy Gracie (she unleashed her wild side that night!). When we got home later that night, we poured on the praise and rewards for Jeremy (cookie and hot chocolate) and sent Grace to bed with nothing. Talk about a role reversal for those two!

On Dec. 11, our church held our annual Children's Christmas Program. Both kids were as cute as can be.

Grace (back to her regular, sweet self), recited part of a Christmas poem and sang some songs with her Sunday School class.

Jeremy did great with his Sunday School class on stage. We thought he'd be a deer in the headlights, but he surprised us by singing along and proudly ringing his bells.

For reasons we haven't been able to understand, mine and Jason's school districts have different winter breaks this year. I certainly enjoyed getting off school last week and having a few days to myself this week. This change in schedule also allowed for me to finish up Christmas shopping, cleaning house, fitting in doctors' appointments, etc. I even got to volunteer in Grace's classroom for her Winter Party. I was so glad to be able to come and help out. The kids got "sugared up" and then were sent off to vacation!

It's such a busy time of year- now that our whole family is on Christmas break, we look forward to spending some quality time together!

5th Grade Trip to Sacramento

2011-12-21T22:19:00.000-08:00

I don't often blog about my work, but part of the reason why my life has been so hectic as of late is due to my work! My grade level partner, Michelle, and I took our classes to visit Sacramento during the first part of December. We went on Amtrak through their incredible program, Kids N Trains. A lot of work went into planning the trip, but once the day came, everything pretty much went off without a hitch. It was a very long day- I left my house at 5:00am and got back at 8:30pm.

This school year has been without a doubt, one of the hardest I've had in my teaching career. I have had my faith and confidence shaken, many trials, meltdowns, and sleepless nights. It has been hard to hold onto the positive moments... Maybe that's why I had to blog about this particular day- it will certainly be a highlight of our year.

Thanksgiving at the Family Cabin

2011-12-19T20:08:00.000-08:00

I better hurry up and catch up with my blogging before Christmas! The last few weeks have been quite the whirlwind! First up was Thanksgiving. We are lucky that we both got an entire week off during Thanksgiving. We headed up to the Isaac family's cabin at Shaver Lake. Last year was wonderful because there was so much snow on the ground. We all have fond memories of playing in the snow and seeing the beautiful snow-covered trees. This year, not so much! Jason ended up driving to find areas for the kids to go sledding. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to join in the fun this year because I wasn't feeling well. That did mean that I got to rest, relax, and stay cozy at the cabin. Here are a few pictures from our time at Shaver!

Thanksgiving with family... Doesn't get any better than that!

Jeremy's Soccer Season

2011-11-19T15:51:00.000-08:00

We have had such a fun time watching Jeremy play soccer this year. He understood the point of the game, continually went after the ball, learned how to change the direction of the ball, became very good at dribbling, and near the end of his season, he even learned to "share" the ball by passing it to other kids. He scored many goals and despite being very tired in each game, he endured, and was tenacious.

Part of what made the season so fun was being with his friends, Jackson, Luke, and Jacob. At the start, we were ok with the season being only 6 weeks, but honestly, we wouldn't have minded if the season had been a little longer. Fresno's next league sport is basketball and we have opted not to sign him up for that. We definitely can't wait for spring and the start of t-ball again!

Jeremy's adoring fans!

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-19T14:50:00.000-08:00

This year, Grace asked to be an artist (I'm serious- it was her idea), Jeremy asked to be an astronaut, and Jason, well, he decided last minute to add some things to the shirt he was already wearing.

The only thing I wanted at the church carnival was cotton candy, and thanks to Cheryl, I was one of the first ones to get it!

The kids had fun playing some of the carnival games- a carnival favorite was Angry Birds!

We went trick-or-treating with Charlotte and Levi to some houses around the church's neighborhood.

Happy Halloween!

Grace's Artist Birthday Party

2011-11-10T22:31:00.000-08:00

October is definitely a party month for the Isaacs! As soon as Jeremy's birthday party was done with, I switched gears to work on Grace's party. This year, she definitely had her own ideas on what she wanted, so that made it a little easier for me. Grace asked to have a party centered around painting, so we had an artist party. As soon as her friends arrived, they used fabric markers to decorate their own personalized aprons.

We invited our artist friend, Ashley, to come and teach the girls a painting lesson. It was wonderful! She did an amazing job teaching the kids different painting techniques as they painted on canvas.

I had to post this picture- Jeremy didn't get to paint with the girls, but he was completely fascinated and stood completely focused on Ashley as she taught her lesson.

The girls showing off their artwork and aprons

Grace's masterpiece!

Grace was very specific- she wanted a rainbow cake that looked like an artist's palette... I'm so glad she loved her cake! I can't believe it has been 7 years that she has been in our lives. I am so grateful for my sweet, beautiful, intelligent, sensitive, caring, and thoughtful girl! Happy Birthday, Gracie!

Pumpkin Patch

2011-11-10T22:03:00.000-08:00

It's an Isaac family tradition- we go to the pumpkin patch every year on Grace's birthday! Here are a few pictures from our visit.

Jeremy's 4th Birthday was a Blast!

2011-11-04T22:38:00.000-07:00

With every birthday that our kids have had, I have tried to make each one special and memorable. Now that they're older, they definitely have an idea of what they want! Jeremy told me a few months ago that he wanted to have a "space" birthday party. I searched online for all kinds of ideas- thank goodness for the internet! We feel incredibly blessed to have many friends who have boys all around Jeremy's age.

As soon as the boys arrived, they had "Launch Preparation" in which they decorated paper rockets with stickers. Afterwards, they had to "Gear Up" by getting ready with jetpacks that Jason and I made for each boy. We headed towards the empty lot next to our home to the "Rocket Launch." I am lucky that Jason is so handy- he found directions online on how to build a rocket launcher using an air compressor. We had the boys take turns launching their rockets. Unfortunately, since some of the rockets had been made with Scotch tape as opposed to packaging tape, some of them exploded in the air due to the air pressure- some boys were on the verge of tears! Oops! It was very cool and exciting to see some of the rockets launched into the air. Boys young and old enjoyed themselves!

After the rocket launch, the boys played a game called Alien Attack using nerf guns. While waiting for our "Pizza Planets" to arrive, the boys got a chance to play while we sat and chatted with friends.

Here is Jeremy with his rocket cake. He absolutely loved it- in fact, he had gotten up first that morning, and had tried to sneak some of it. When I saw it a while later, parts of the frosting and outline were missing and I had to do some rocket repairs!

We are so thankful to have this amazing little-big boy in our lives! Our Bear is a goofy jokester with a great sense of humor, is passionate, intelligent, caring and endearing. We love him so incredibly much- happy 4th birthday to our Jere-Bear!

Silverbacks' Soccer

2011-11-04T21:29:00.000-07:00

This fall, we decided to sign Jeremy up for the City of Fresno's 3-4 yr. old soccer league. Since we know several boys who are around the same age as him, we invited them to sign up as well. We requested for our boys to be put on the same team, so some of his teammates are his friends, Jackson, Jacob, and Luke. Coach Frank was Jeremy's t-ball coach, and we were thrilled to find out he would also be coaching Jeremy's soccer team. Jeremy has scored several goals and has been playing so well! It has been a lot of fun cheering on the Silverbacks!

Fresno Fair

2011-11-04T21:12:00.000-07:00

It's not a secret- Jason has expressed on many occasions that he is not a fan of fairs. It was somewhat surprising that he agreed to chaperone for Grace's field trip to the Fresno Fair a few weeks ago. I guess it was ok for him since the kids didn't get to go on any rides and it wasn't as crowded as it can be later in the day. Her class ended up having so many parent chaperones that Jason ended up with only Grace and one other classmate, and they walked around with Grace's friend and her dad. The girls got to explore the farm animal and rainforest exhibits, and even did some gold panning. Fun times at the Big Fresno Fair!

Weekend Getaway

2011-10-23T16:11:00.000-07:00

I was just talking to my hairstylist yesterday about the latest weekend getaway that Jason and I took. She commented, "I don't know anyone who gets away as much as you guys do!" To that, I must admit that she's probably right! Jason and I sure haven't let having kids stop us from seeing and doing things we want to do. We are truly, truly lucky that every time we go, Jason's mom has been very willing to be with our kids. I am so grateful for the alone time that Jason and I get to spend together. We continue to have so much fun, and he really is the best travel companion for me!

So, our latest weekend getaway took place the weekend after Labor Day. We went with Jennifer and Dan to the Bay Area for the weekend. On Friday afternoon, we left and headed to Berkeley to see Ray LaMontagne in concert. We had an AMAZING dinner in Berkeley at a restaurant called, "Angeline's Lousiana Kitchen." There was a short wait, but it was totally worth it. The food was so good, I hope we'll get to go back some time. After dinner, we headed to the Greek Theater for the concert. Jennifer and Jason love Ray LaMontagne, but I will confess that I'm not a huge fan of his, and seeing him live didn't make me a fan. I actually started getting sleepy after a while! He has a great voice and his music is easy going and really mellow, but for me, it starts to sound the same after a while. I jokingly told Jason that the next concert we go to is going to be my pick (which is unlikely to happen- I'm definitely a "top 40" fan and I can't see Jason at any of those types of concerts!). After the concert, we drove in San Francisco.

In the morning, we walked towards the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market at the Ferry Building. This was a highlight of our trip and I absolutely recommend the experience!

We've visited the Ferry Building before, but not during the Farmer's Market. The sights, sounds, smells... Fantastic! (I took a ton of pictures, but haven't been able to locate them on my computer- gasp!)

We walked from the Ferry Building to AT&T Park where we went on a guided tour of the ballpark. We had actually gotten tickets to see an afternoon game, but it got moved to an evening game. We still decided to visit the ballpark just for the tour. I am not a baseball fan, and yet I really enjoyed the tour- it was really interesting! Jason was on Cloud 9! Here are Dan and Jason in the visiting team's dugout (the Dodgers were in town that weekend).

Since we were full from sampling foods at the Farmer's Market, we had a late lunch. We took the bus from AT&T Park to North Beach. One of our all-time favorite restaurants is there and we had to visit while we were in town. It's called "Sotto Mare" and I've blogged about it before. If you enjoy seafood, we can't recommend this place enough. Here we are with our oysters!

North Beach isn't that far from where we were staying, so we decided to walk back through Chinatown. It's usually crowded, but more so when we were there. We soon discovered that it was due to the Moon Festival- there was barely any room to walk, though the atmosphere was very festive. By the time we made it back, we only had a few minutes to get ready to head out again for the Giants game. They didn't win, but it was still a lot of fun to be with all those Giants fans!

The next morning, we had breakfast at another wonderful restaurant called, "Honey Honey Cafe & Crepery" before spending some time shopping around Union Square. There was one thing that I had really wanted to do before heading home. Off we went in search of a food truck! We found Kung Fu Tacos using an app on Jason's iPod. They were near Haight-Ashbury, so after we located them, we found a nearby park to sit and enjoy our meal. Yet another wonderful meal!

Gosh, this post has been mostly about food- we sure love to eat, especially when we're on vacation! This was our first trip with Jennifer and Dan- we had such a good time, we're looking forward to the next one! Hmmm... where should we go next?!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

2011-10-22T22:13:00.000-07:00

It is an annual family tradition- we celebrate Jason's dad's birthday together by releasing balloons and having dinner together at Yoshino's. If you'd like to read about the significance of this day, please click here: Dad's Birthday . We had a wonderful time together... It has been 4 years... Some days, it feels like it was long ago, and other days, it feels like it just happened. We still miss Dad so much... Happy Birthday, Dad!

3rd and 4th Tooth

2011-10-22T21:42:00.000-07:00

Grace's third and fourth teeth took forever to come out! It was pretty disturbing to see the teeth hanging on- it looked like she had buck teeth for a while since the teeth seemed to be sticking straight out. One of her teachers at her afterschool program even tried bribing her with candy to get those teeth out. Her new teeth were already coming in but it was like "pulling teeth" to get her to wiggle the loose ones. She freaked out every time Jason asked to see them, for fear that he'd just yank them out. Thankfully, he finally did!

I Hate Goodbyes

2011-10-22T21:19:00.000-07:00

I keep saying that we need to stop becoming friends with people who aren't from this area! J/K, though joking aside, we've had to say a lot of goodbyes over the years! Our very good friends, De and Jed, moved back to Winnipeg a few months ago, and we sure do miss them!

Our Family's New Toy

2011-10-22T21:10:00.000-07:00

We didn't do any major remodeling to our house this year, but we did make a big purchase recently: a diving board! When we bought the house years ago, we noticed that there was already a U-frame installed. This was the first summer in which both of our kids enjoyed being in the pool. We saw them both jump off our friends' diving boards and decided that it'd be a good addition to our backyard. Since the U-frame was already installed, we had no choice but to get a 12 ft. board. It has been so much fun watching Jason and the kids jump off. The weather is much cooler now, but I look forward to a lot of fun times in the pool next summer!

First Days of School

2011-10-22T20:56:00.000-07:00

It was a hard decision, but we decided it was time for Jeremy to start a new daycare this year. We call it "school" just so he can feel like a "big boy." I was extremely nervous about how he'd adjust to this change, and I can confidently say that he LOVES it. He has made friends and really enjoys learning. It is amazing to see and hear the things that he has learned in just a few short months!

Grace started 2nd grade this year. We were a little apprehensive when we found out that she is in a 2/3 combo class, but in the first week alone, we were assured by different people who knew who her teacher was that she was in good hands. Even though she's in a combo class, this is the best start she's had! She has done really well and loves school.

Family

2011-10-08T23:50:00.000-07:00

We often spend 3-4 weeks in Edmonton every summer. It's pretty much the only time we can really see my family since that's when Jason and I have extended vacation time. It's too hard to find time during the rest of the year. Three weeks gives us enough time to do everything we want to do, meet with friends, relax, and spend time with family without feeling rushed. We'll see what happens next year, since we're planning to take our first road trip to Edmonton next summer!

Edmonton Eats

2011-10-06T23:33:00.000-07:00

It has been so long since I've updated our blog... Anyone still reading this out there?! Part of the reason why it has taken me a while is because I couldn't figure out exactly how to document about a very important part of our trip- our eats! There are many things that I absolutely savor during my once-a-year trip to Edmonton. It's not only because it tastes good, but they bring me back to my younger years. I crave them even more since I don't get them in Fresno.

Korean BBQ, Vietnamese Pho Ga (chicken), anything from Oodle Noodle, Vietnamese Pho

Vietnamese Banh Mi (subs), A&W Mozza Burgers (not available at any A&W I've been to in this area), Old Dutch ketchup chips (has to be Old Dutch!), and of course, boba tea!

We love going to A Taste of Edmonton whenever we're in town. This year, we actually tried some Indian food (ok, so it was only butter chicken) and liked it!

Our favorite event in Edmonton during the summer is Heritage Days. Over 65 cultural associations set up huge tents in one of Edmonton's largest parks, Hawrelak Park, to exhibit their cultures through food and performances. We had a great time- in fact, we walked around for 5 hours sampling food and watching dance performances. Oh, the diversity! The most unique dish we tried this year was from Yemen- we had our first camel (tough and chewy)!

Jason and I celebrated our 12th anniversary at The Blue Pear. We treated ourselves to dinner at a gourmet fine dining restaurant. The food was AMAZING! I can't remember the names of everything, but it was certainly a treat!

One of these days, I should blog about my favorite Fresno eats to share with all my out-of-town friends!

Galaxyland

2011-09-03T17:54:00.000-07:00

We had planned to go to Edmonton's annual summer fair, Capital Ex, with my parents, but when the day came, it was pouring outside! It was the only day that my mom was able to join us due to her work schedule, so we decided not to let the weather cancel our plans. Plan B was to go to West Edmonton Mall's indoor amusement park, Galaxyland. Our kids wanted to go on rides, and it didn't matter if it was at the fair or the indoor amusement park (not only that, Jason does not enjoy going to fairs)! This year, Jeremy was able to go on many more rides. We had a wonderful time (and we stayed nice and dry)!

Edmonton Eskimos

2011-09-03T17:33:00.000-07:00

The Edmonton Eskimos are Edmonton's professional football team. They play in the Canadian Football League, and though there are many similarities between the CFL and NFL, there are also several notable differences. Our friend, Binh, gave us her company's tickets to go see the Edmonton Eskimos play at Commonwealth Stadium. The seats were fantastic- we were in row 5 at the 55 yard line! Binh's husband, Neil, came with us, and we invited Sarah to come, too. It was Jason's first professional football game and though it wasn't the NFL, he says he really enjoyed it (I was half-expecting that he'd sit there the whole night and complain about the "stupid" CFL rules). The Eskimos ended up winning their 5th game in a row. What a fun experience it was!

Swimming Lessons

2011-09-03T17:17:00.000-07:00

One thing we've done every summer these past few years is enroll Grace in swimming. It's something for us to do since most people are working while we're up there and our days are always free. This year, we decided to try Edmonton's newest recreation center, Terwillegar. It's a beautiful indoor facility with a huge pool (several pools, actually), full-sized skating rinks, several full-sized gyms, exercising gym, indoor playground, classrooms, etc. This was the first year that Jeremy took lessons. I woke up bright and early in March when online registration opened to register both kids so that the times would coincide and we wouldn't be stuck at the pool all morning. At the time, Jeremy did not enjoy being in the water, so we enrolled him in Parent & Tot lessons. Who would've thought that in just a few short months, Jeremy would overcome his fear of water? He has loved going in the pool with Jason and Grace. Unfortunately though, there was no more room in the other 3-year-old swim classes. It was pretty funny to see this "huge" 3 year old in with the other babies. Grace did wonderfully, and though she is usually shy and reserved around new people, she even made a friend on her first day (it's a small world- as it turns out, my sister actually knows that girl's family). Both kids had an awesome swim experience this past summer!

Jurassic Forest

2011-09-03T16:53:00.000-07:00

Every year that we've visited Edmonton, we've tried to do at least one new thing. It allows us to have something to look forward to in addition to doing the "same old things." This year, we visited one of Edmonton's newest attractions. In the middle of nowhere, about 20 minutes north of Edmonton is a place called Jurassic Forest. It's a forest with walking trails in which you encounter life-sized, realistic-looking dinosaurs. The dinosaurs are sensored so they move and roar when you come up to them. Our kids really enjoyed it.

Di Dao took a week off work while we were there, so she was able to come explore with us.

The kids were excited to finally see the T-Rex (of course, at the very end of the trails).

There was a play area for the kids to play at after we had our picnic lunch.

July 24

2011-08-27T11:49:00.000-07:00

Well, needless to say, we returned from Edmonton weeks ago, but it has been a whirlwind since I immediately threw myself into work to get ready for my new school year. So, I'm now going to attempt to do some backtracking (mostly for my memory's sake)...

My laptop went through a lot and finally had to be reimaged. It is now working as it should, however, I lost all of my web links and several programs in the process. If there's one thing I learned, it is that I need to regularly backup my files. My angst while everything was in limbo was due to the fear that I would lose months and months of valuable family pictures. Thank goodness, the pictures are fine and they have since been backed up!

Okay, let's move on... by looking back! It's going to take quite a few posts to catch up, but I guess I have to start somewhere!

My brother and sis-in-law drove up from Calgary to spend some time with us. Our family went out to dinner at a wonderful restaurant called The Golden Rice Bowl. It was a treat to enjoy Peking Duck! We had to pre-order it to ensure that they would have it- basically, they prepare duck in 3 different ways: mu shu (which is like wrapping the duck meat in a Chinese-style tortilla), duck with rice, and soup. SO GOOD!

On July 24, Jason competed in the Provincial Track Classic in nearby town, Sherwood Park. Of course we went out to cheer him on! This is likely his last track race- he has decided to take a break from it (for awhile?). It wasn't his fastest race, but he came over the finish line first. Unfortunately, this track meet does something called "age grading," which means they adjust times based on your age. So even though Jason crossed the finish line first, he actually ended up in 2nd. He earned 2 silver medals over 2 days of racing! In addition, he broke the 200 m record and walked away with a "record breaker" t-shirt!

Later that same day, we headed to my "nephew's" 2nd birthday party. It was a huge bash- there were a lot of relatives in town due to a wedding the night before. We had so much fun catching up with people who we haven't seen in ages. It was an unexpected reunion!

Even though it was our 12th anniversary, it was such a busy day that we didn't celebrate until a few nights later. My sister watched our kids so we could have an evening to ourselves. Edmonton was in the middle of "Fork Fest," a festival in which local restaurants could showcase their menus at special prices. After going through all of the menus, we decided on a restaurant called, The Blue Pear. We enjoyed a fabulous meal! We were able to reminisce and talk about our goals for the upcoming few years... God has been faithful and has strengthened our marriage in these last few years. I am so grateful for Jason and I love him more and more as each day passes. I look forward to seeing what God has in store for us this upcoming year!

AAAGGH!

2011-07-28T20:14:00.000-07:00

AAAAGGGGH! I have plenty to blog about and yet I haven't been able to because my laptop got a virus! To make a long story short, it has been devastating- it wiped out all my picture files, my school files, my computer programs, my internet links, etc. We took the laptop to the Geek Squad at Best Buy and they told us it'd cost close to $400 to backup the files that are recovered and to remove the virus. My sister's friend kindly agreed to look at it for us and we just found out earlier today that there's not a whole lot he can do unless we had an external hard drive for him to back up the files... Ours is, of course in Fresno. So... nothing can be done to it until we return to Fresno. That means I won't be able to blog or do any school work until next week. AAAAGGGHHHHH! I'm so upset! :(

Kid in a Candy Store

2011-07-23T08:14:00.000-07:00

This is somewhat of a silly post, but I had to share about this place! My sister took us to Bulk Barn this past week and I was like a kid in a candy store! It is a Canadian chain and it sells (over 4,000 products) in bulk form- that includes everything from soup to nuts, candy to snacks, health and natural ingredients, and my favorite section- baking ingredients! My creative juices were freely flowing as I walked down the aisles- "Oooooh, I could make ________ with this...." or "I wish I had these readily available in Fresno..." Love, love, love this place! We left with a ton of candy and snacks! My sister and I hope to do some baking before we head back to Fresno so I'm sure we'll revisit the store for some baking stuff!

THE Mall

2011-07-20T22:28:00.000-07:00

We had the chance to visit my childhood church this past Sunday: the Edmonton Vietnamese Alliance Church. It was great to see so many familiar faces and quickly get a catch up. Afterwards, we went for Vietnamese food at Pho Hoa. It is actually a Vietnamese restaurant chain that started in San Jose! There are locations all over North America- we went to the one in West Edmonton Mall. Of course I loved it- I had my usual bowl of pho and Jason had his usual vermicelli bowl with spring rolls. After lunch, we spent the afternoon at the mall; THE Mall: West Edmonton Mall! I've blogged about this place every year it seems, but that's because it's one of Edmonton's biggest tourist attractions. It still claims to be North America's largest mall (based on square footage, I think). There's so much packed into one space- after all these years, I still think it's pretty neat. After leaving the restaurant, we strolled down a few aisles of T&T SuperMarket... It's this HUGE Asian market that has every possible Asian thing you can imagine! There is just no way for me to put into words or even take enough pictures to give you a good sense of what I'm talking about! If Fresno had a store like this, I'd have no excuses as to why I don't cook Vietnamese food more often! The store leads into the "Chinatown" section of the Mall. We stopped to pick up some bubble teas. Jason tried a new flavor today- blueberry- he really liked it.

Grace & Jeremy sharing their mango slush bubble tea. They love it!

We got the chance to wander around and do a little shopping. In all our years of visiting THE Mall, we've never seen this: the Sea Lions' Show! We just happened to be walking by and saw the crowds forming. It was a pretty cute and decent show (if you don't think too much about the fact that they're animals being kept for entertainment- Jason and I are strangely beginning to have some opinions about that).

The kiddos with Di Dao (pronounced, "yee dow," ow as in ouch)

Fun at the "Lake"

2011-07-17T21:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, my sister's friend, Scott, took our family to Summerside, a recreational lake community in Edmonton. Basically, it's a residential development that centers around a man-made lake. Only residents and their guests have access to the lake. There's a clubhouse there, along with a sandy beach, playground, tennis courts, etc. The developers even stock the lake every year with fish so its residents can go fishing. Residents also have full access to kayaks and paddleboats. The weather was just perfect! Our kids had so much fun playing in the sand and splashing in the water (Jason says it was a little colder than when we were at Shaver last weekend). Later in the afternoon, Scott took our kids to the pier to do some fishing. He found a school of perch off the pier and showed the kids how to fish. Between all of us, we caught 16 perch! The kids loved it (of course, the fact that they caught the fish so easily helped- if we had to really fish and wait patiently for a fish to bite, I doubt they would've enjoyed it as much as they did).

Jeremy wanted to go out on the lake, so along with Scott, Grace, and Jason, they went on a paddleboat. Scott decided to cool off by jumping off the paddleboat, and soon the others followed (they learned later on that's not allowed). After they returned to the shore, Jason and I laid on the beach and read while the kids played in the sand and water. Thanks to Scott for his time with us at Summerside! We had so much fun!

And Here We Are!

2011-07-15T23:54:00.000-07:00

We're here in Edmonton! Our travel day was this past Wednesday. We drove from Sacramento to San Jose and stayed overnight at Darren and Julie's home. They're good friends of ours and it seems like the only time we see them is once a year when we're in town in need of a ride to the airport! Joking aside, we value them so much and we always enjoy hanging out with them. Grace and Jenny reconnected very easily, and Claire was very excited to have a new "best friend," though it took Jeremy quite a while to warm up to everyone.

Darren was able to call up some of Jason's childhood friends to join us for dinner. We got to see Jon and Sarah and their new one-month-old son, Ben, as well as Jason's former roommate, Rob.

The next day, Jason wanted to visit Los Gatos, his hometown. We headed to his favorite park growing up, Vasona Park (Oak Meadow). He has fond memories of the Wildcat Railroad and wanted to let our kids experience riding the train. They loved it (though Jason says it is quite different going there as an adult)! Afterwards, we walked around a little and let the kids roam the play areas. We ate lunch at Armadillo Willy's, one of our favorite places to eat in San Jose before Darren dropped us off at the airport.

Waiting at the airport with a really goofy kid!

For the first time in a long time, it was an uneventful trip to fly from San Jose to Edmonton. The kids did great (no throw-up, no running away from the Immigration line), there were no delays, and we didn't upset travelers for holding up the security check at the airport with all of our stuff (most notably, our 2 laptops and 2 portable DVD players- they all had to be taken out of each of our carryons and checked individually). When we arrived, Jeremy and Grace immediately went up to both of my parents with big hugs (I had been worried that it'd take Jeremy at least 2 weeks to warm up to them). Since then, we've taken it pretty easy, which means I don't have a whole lot to blog about. We've slept in, watched tons of cable TV (we don't have it at home, so we watch a lot of it while we're up here), gone to several nearby playgrounds, eaten a lot (food will have to be a blog post all on its own!)...

On Thursday, we went to the public library here to check out some books. We always do a lot of reading while we're up here. Jeremy wanted to check this book out... but we decided to leave that one behind!

This morning, my dad took the kids out for breakfast (that's a big deal- I was worried they would misbehave, but he said they were great). Earlier, Jason and I were able to have some alone time- we headed to Whyte Avenue, a wonderful little neighborhood with unique businesses. We got a chance to talk, walk around, browse, and even went for our first bubble teas of our trip! A very nice and relaxing start to our trip!

2011 World Masters Track & Field Championships

2011-07-14T22:05:00.000-07:00

The BIG race! Jason has been training since December to participate in the 2011 World Masters Track & Field championships. However, due to injury, Jason had to drop out of his first event, the 100m, on Friday. We didn't head to Sacramento until Monday morning. It was a good choice because he felt pretty good heading into his 200m race. Part of this was due to the extra few days of rest for his recovery, but part of it was also due to the help of our friend, the Yamashitas. These wonderful friends now live in Colorado. In one of my emails to Jessica last week, I had shared about Jason's injury and how that affected our plans for the week. That same night, Brent (who is a physical therapist) called and left Jason a message- he had set up an appointment for Jason with one of his friends who has a private practice in our area for the very next morning. His friend worked with Jason for over an hour and the results were fantastic- Jason felt loose and much more flexible. He wasn't at the top of his game, but he felt good enough to race. The actual championships included athletes from all over the world. For example, just in Jason's event, he ran against athletes from France, Russia, Australia, Grenada, Denmark, South Africa, and Great Britain... How exciting it was to see Jason's race!

I was so nervous for him that I was feeling sick to the stomach. I was so relieved when he crossed the finish line- his time was 23.91 secs, fast enough to qualify for the semifinals. The best part was that he didn't reinjure himself or make it worse! The semifinals took place the next day. His time was 23.51 secs (13th out of 30). Unfortunately, he didn't make it into the finals, but regardless, we are incredibly proud of him! He has worked so hard, has been very dedicated to his training, and determined through injury and all. Great job, Jason!!!

Jelly Belly Factory

2011-07-12T23:24:00.000-07:00

We drove up to Sacramento on Monday morning, but since Jason's race wasn't until later that night, we decided to take advantage of being in the Sacramento-area by heading to the Jelly Belly Factory inFairfield (45 mins. west). We waited in line for a tour and learned all about how jelly beans are made. One funny memory: during the tour, we were given samples of jelly beans in different stages. When our guide came to give us some samples, she accidentally dropped some on the floor. All of us said to Jeremy, "Don't eat those, Jeremy!" He didn't... Instead, he innocently picked them up and... put them back into the guide's basket. She looked at us, and said, "Um... Ok... I guess we can't use those anymore!" She had to go get another basket of Jelly Bellies. It was so funny- I guess he was just trying to be helpful!

There was a gallery of artwork made entirely of Jelly Bellies like this one of President Reagan.

Plan B

2011-07-11T11:59:00.000-07:00

We had been planning to head to Sacramento for Jason's big track meet on Friday this past weekend. Unfortunately, Jason hurt himself during a practice track meet the week before. As the race approached, he agonized over what to do- should he drive up and race even though his body was clearly not at the top of its game? Or should he drop out and give himself as much time as possible to recover? Added to this dilemma was the fact that his whole family and the Wiens family had planned to drive up to watch the race and support him. Sadly (but wisely), he made the decision to drop out of his first race to increase his odds of running faster for his second race and limiting the chances for reinjury. We felt so bad about having to change everyone's plans! Thank goodness everyone had a Plan B for their weekend! The Wiens family ended up going camping with some other families from our church. Jen & Dan and their family, along with Jason's mom were able to spend the weekend at our family's cabin at Shaver Lake. We decided to join them for one day and since it was so nice, we spent quite a bit of time at the lake.

We decided not to stay at the lake over the weekend so that we could rest up, pack, and get our house ready for our departure.

The Greatest Show on Earth

2011-07-11T10:52:00.000-07:00

Can you believe that in all my years, I have never been to the circus? I'm sure that they must've come through our city when I was growing up, but this past Thursday was my first time, as it was for Jeremy and Grace, too. We were very excited! We got there during the pre-show to see some animals and acts up close. I don't know if it was because I had read Water for Elephants last month (I totally recommend that book, by the way), or if it was because of the protestors out front with signs protesting the treatment of circus animals, but Jason and I definitely enjoyed the human acts much more than the animal acts. I loved the tightrope walkers, Jason enjoyed the acrobats, Jeremy liked the elephants, and Grace loved the tigers. It was a very enjoyable evening for our family, though I'd definitely be ok if we didn't go to the circus again for a few more years.

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-06T19:46:00.000-07:00

I'm a person who really likes tradition- it's kind of strange to think that we don't have any 4th of July traditions! In fact, for most years, we're not even in the country. This year, it dawned on us that we'd actually be in town, so we decided to have a get-together!

It was so hot with triple-digit weather, so most people spent their time relaxing in the pool (even I got in- that's a pretty big deal). I think this was the most people we've ever had in our pool at once! The kids had so much fun playing with each other and we enjoyed having some time to visit with friends. Later this week, we'll be heading out-of-town and won't be back until August. This happens every summer, and unfortunately, we miss out on a lot of opportunities to hang out with friends here. This get-together allowed us to see a lot of people all in one night!

After a great dinner (in which everyone brought something to share), we enjoyed cookies, 2 kinds of fresh fruit cobbler, and homemade ice cream before heading to the front yard for fireworks. This was our family's first time doing fireworks. The guys lit the fireworks and placed them in the street to try and give us a show. Jeremy kept saying, "Why aren't the fireworks in the air?" The fun part was when sparklers were handed out.

Hope everyone had a fun and safe 4th of July! We sure did! (Check out our album on the right for many more pictures)!

2011-07-06T16:28:00.000-07:00

Cars 2

2011-07-03T22:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we treated Jeremy to his first movie experience at a theater. He's watched plenty of movies, just never in a theater. In fact, one of his all-time favorite movies is Cars, and since Cars 2 was just released last week, we thought it'd be the perfect movie for his first theater experience. We decided to invite other families who have kids around Jeremy's age to join us. The kids wanted to sit together (or was it that the adults wanted to sit together?), so the kids sat one row in front of us. Jeremy did great during the 2 hr. movie (plus the previews)- he was completely focused, turning back once to give me his empty popcorn bag, and the second time to ask for some water. He loved it... and since our kids did so great, that means we will definitely have more family movie dates throughout this summer!

Dinner for a Canadian on Canada Day

2011-07-02T23:04:00.000-07:00

So much has gone on that Canada Day was actually the first night that the whole family was able to get together to celebrate my birthday (which was 2 weeks ago). I had insisted that it wasn't necessary to celebrate my birthday, but in the end, it ended up being a good excuse to get together. It was such a hot day that the kids (and grandma, Jason, and Uncle Dan) spent much of their time in our pool. Jennifer and I were able to sit and chat, catching up about what's been going on, talking about their wedding, and of course, their recent family honeymoon. For dinner, Jason's sister made an incredible Chicken Carbonara and then for dessert, Jason's mom made a delicious tiramisu cake. It was a fun, relaxing day- thank you to the whole family for making this particular Canada Day so special!

A Picture Truly Says a 1000 Words

2011-06-30T22:03:00.000-07:00

This totally made my day, so I had to share! At Jennifer & Dan's wedding a few weeks ago, we met their photographer, Tracey. It was so nice to meet her- she and Jen have been friends for a long time, so I know that it was very meaningful to Jennifer that she was at the wedding to take pictures. Ever since then, I have been following Tracey's blog. She's amazing! Much to my surprise and delight, her blog post today is extra-special to us... You'll have to click HERE to see what I mean (look for the blog post for June 30, 2011). Not only is the picture significant, but the post that Tracey writes to go with the picture made me tear up. Life really is a gift! Thank you so much for this post, Tracey!

Bear's Goodbye to Bearhugs

2011-06-28T21:38:00.000-07:00

People often wonder where Jeremy goes during the day when we are working. He has been going to a home daycare called, "Bearhugs." It has been a wonderful place for him- it has been very reassuring to know that while we're working and away from him, he has been well-cared for and loved there. We were faced with a tough dilemma regarding what to do with Jeremy for next year. While the home daycare has been a good and nurturing place, we also know that it might be time for Jeremy to move on- he's ready for a new challenge, and pushing him outside of his comfort zone will be good. We registered too late for Shining Star, the same preschool that Grace went to, so we're 3rd on their waiting list. We also found out that despite not being at Bearhugs all summer, we'd have to pay to keep his spot for when he returns in August... So that led me to look around for other options. We were most impressed with Kiddie Kareland, which is also very close to where we live. We brought Jeremy to visit- he's usually very shy, cautious, and reserved, so it was somewhat reassuring to see him immediately at ease. We're still hoping that somehow, he'll end up at Shining Star- if not this year, then maybe next year... In the meantime, we're relieved that there will be a place for him when the school year starts up- he'll be starting "big boy school" at Kiddie Kareland in August! This past Friday was his last day at Bearhugs and they sent him off with gifts and a party. They've been a huge part of Jeremy's life since he's been there for two years of his three! I get emotional thinking of the significant role they've had in the raising of our son during his early years and now having to say goodbye. We will miss them very much and are grateful for all they've done for Jeremy!

Jeremy with Ms. Mona, the owner(Jeremy with his buddies (Jakey, Jeremy, Andrew, Ralfy)

A "Berry" Fun Day!

2011-06-25T22:29:00.000-07:00

Our church's Moms' Group went to a U-Pick berry farm outside of Hanford this past week. I remember going berry picking in and around Edmonton when I was growing up, but that was ages ago! My kids have never gone, and I was excited about this fun and unique opportunity. Unfortunately, Jeremy didn't want to go- this was his last week at his daycare (more on that in a later post) and he wanted to be with his friends. They were having a "dress up day" that he didn't want to miss out on. So, Grace and I got some time to be together just the two of us! It was fun to go with our friends. We ate plenty and picked plenty... I forgot to take a picture of the berries we came home with. We had 3 varieties of blueberries, blackberries, and a handful of raspberries. YUM! Since we were in Hanford, our friends decided they didn't want to pass up the chance to go to Superior Dairy's ice cream shop. We ate lunch on the lawn of Hanford's courthouse across the street, and then headed to the ice cream shop for dessert. Oh... my... goodness! Check out the size of their "one scoop!" I have never been to this ice cream shop before, but I assure you that we will be back! I can see why it's so well-known and why people drive (or take the train from Fresno) all the way to Hanford just to get ice cream. It was a "berry" fun day!

A Gift

2011-06-20T20:36:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to me! Today, I got to relax and do a whole lot of NOTHING- actually, I read, took a nap, blogged... Jason made me an incredible dinner: bacon-wrapped filets topped with gorgonzola cheese and balsamic reduction, steamed asparagus, and rice pilaf. The best part was that he cleaned up the kitchen, too!

I actually received my gift last week! I am thrilled that I now own this:

I received it early because I was counting on it to help me make Jen & Dan's wedding gift. If you read my previous post, Jen & Dan got married this past Saturday. I was pretty busy on Thursday and Friday, working on this:(the bouquet of flowers in the background are not part of the cake topper). There's a story here- it might not look like much, but completing this was quite a feat for me. Baking and cooking are not things that come naturally to me. I didn't grow up knowing how to do anything in the kitchen. I have struggled for many, many years with lack of confidence when it comes to anything related to the kitchen. A lot of it is because my inner circle of friends are immensely talented and I have always been incredibly intimidated by them. I have never "dared" to do anything for fear of complete failure. So... I consider this to be a huge milestone for me. Obviously, as the creator of this cake, I can tell you that plenty of things didn't happen the way they were supposed to, but I think I can lay those to rest because of this one particular incident: At the wedding, we sat with Dan's family. It was our first time meeting them. At one point during the meal, his mom says, "Did you guys see the wedding cake? It is absolutely beautiful. I wonder which bakery it came from." Jason immediately answered, "Actually, Jane made it." Dan's family expressed their surprise and poured on the compliments. His dad said to his wife, "It's a good thing you had good things to say about it!" I made a "first draft" cake a few months ago, and Jason, my family, and several friends gave me many compliments on it. Honestly, I never took their words to heart because I figured they had to be nice. The conversation that took place at the wedding gave me a total boost because it came from people who were essentially, strangers, to me. I am really thankful for so much, but the most significant gift I received this birthday was this amazing feeling of accomplishment- I am so glad to be feeling that today.

Jen & Dan's Wedding

2011-06-19T21:56:00.000-07:00

Two years ago to the day, we met a guy named Dan. You have to figure that the guy must be pretty important that my sis-in-law would bring him to meet the family for the first time at my birthday gathering! Well, he is a rather important guy, seeing as Jennifer married him this past weekend! It was a small gathering of family and close friends at Jason's mom's house. Jen & Dan's wedding was very special and memorable. Obviously, there is a lot I could blog about, but that would be a very long blog! Here are some highlights that I will remember about their wedding:

*Jason officiated the wedding. He got his license online and did a FANTASTIC job!*Jeremy and Grace were absolutely on their best behavior- as a result, we enjoyed an evening with no need to discipline. The kids ran about with the other kids and pretty much kept themselves entertained*Noah first escorted both of his sisters, then his mom... The four of them held hands as they walked to meet Dan and Ashley*Jennifer and Dan made vows to their kids and presented each one with "family" jewelry that Jennifer had made
*Dan got choked up and emotional during his vows (sweet!)*While they presented the jewelry, the women at the wedding were also given a gift. Jennifer had made necklaces for each of us- the necklace had a piece of seaglass and the word "HOPE." A wonderful gift representing her journey and a symbol of the future.*It was an intimate evening, and Jen & Dan were able to spend quality time with everyone there. *What a wonderful celebration of Jen & Dan's love and the joining of their families! Welcome to our family, Dan and Ashley!

There are tons of pictures in the album on the right.

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T10:31:00.001-07:00

I asked the kids, "What makes Daddy the best daddy in the whole world?" Here are their answers:
Grace (6 reasons, since she's 6 yrs. old)
*he goes swimming with me whenever I want
*he's nice
*he plays softball with me and he went to all my games
*he reads to me
*he helps me with my homework
*he loves me

Jeremy (3 reasons, since he's 3 yrs. old)
*he's fun (he actually said "drunk" first, but then Grace said, "Don't you mean "fun?" Fun/drunk- I guess that's pretty much the same, right?! hahaha)
*he wrestles with me
*he plays with me

Happy Father's Day to an amazing, wonderful daddy... We love you so much!

End of School Year Getaway Trip

2011-06-14T11:36:00.000-07:00

With both of us working full-time outside the home, this past year has been incredibly hectic... The end of the school year signifies that we "made it!" Now that we're on summer break, the four of us are pretty much together every single day. It sounds ideal, but for people who are typically headed in 4 different directions, spending every single day together for 2 months can test all of our patience. Gearing up to be with our kids full-time, Jason and I decided to get away for rejuvenation and some time alone. Jason's mom, ever so willing, watched our kids for 2 days so that we could head to the Bay Area. Unfortunately, I caught a cold and was feeling absolutely miserable. I tried to make the most of our time! We went to a Giants game- a treat, since Jason gets to go only once a year or so. Even though we watched Jason's beloved team get clobbered by the Reds, it was very fun being in with all the Giants fans. Upon returning to Oakland, we headed to our hotel in Emeryville to get ready for the evening. We checked out restaurant reviews on Yelp and decided to try the Brazil Cafe. It's a tiny little restaurant near Cal. It was great- probably not authentic Brazilian food, but delicious nonetheless. From there, we walked a mile uphill to get to the Greek Theater. Truly, what a wonderful venue that is! We were there to see Dispatch, a band that split over 10 years ago and has reunited only to put on benefit concerts. Dispatch is a band that Jason has loved over the years. Click here for one of their songs. I've often described their sounds as "Jack Johnson-ish." The acoustic set they performed was awesome. I guess the comparison to Jack Johnson ends there- the second half of the concert had everyone standing, singing, clapping, and dancing... We had so much fun that I even forgot that I was sick! The next day, we slept in, had breakfast, and then headed to IKEA. We got things that we never knew we "needed" before heading back to get our kids. The trip was quick, but definitely served its purpose. We got to spend quality time together, and I am grateful for a husband who I love being with- he is truly my best friend. This week is super busy as we prepare for Jason's sister's wedding... Wish us luck- Jason's officiating the ceremony, and I'm making the wedding cake!

Proud Parents

2011-06-12T23:01:00.000-07:00

I am so glad that I was able to attend Grace's last Awards Assembly during the last week of school. She earned a ton of awards- Character Counts, Perfect Attendance for the 4th Quarter, Perfect Attendance for the Year, a Reading pin (for meeting her reading goal), and a medal for High Achievement in Reading. The assembly went on and on for over an hour. Thank goodness I sat through the whole thing because it wasn't until the end that it was announced that Grace was also the Top Reader for all of first grade. She was given this title for earning the most points (53 points) in her school's Accelerated Reader program. Last August, Jason and I had our reservations about how the year would turn out after a rough start to first grade, but she certainly ended up having an amazing year- she learned a lot, was challenged, enjoys learning, loves to read, and made many friends.
Jeremy's t-ball season ended last week, as well. He is quite reserved and reluctant to try new things, but with t-ball, there was never any hesitation. Jason's thrilled that Jeremy has shown such a love for sports. We had so much fun watching him, and will definitely keep letting him try other ones. Next up will be soccer in the fall!

What a Week!

2011-06-03T20:47:00.000-07:00

I am still amazed that we made it through last week. It was so busy! We had Grace's last softball game on Monday. We were sad to see her season end... It has been so fun watching her, and she has learned many new skills! We hope she'll end up with the same group of girls next year. On Tuesday, Jason got together with his band. I don't think I've blogged about his band before- I'll need to devote an entire post to that some time in the near future. On Wednesday afternoon, Jason's track team had their championship meet. Many of his kids received medals! Grace's school's Spring Performance and Softball Party were both held on Wednesday night. We went to the performance expecting for the 1st graders to sing first, letting us slip out to go to the softball party. Nope, we had to sit through performances by the school's violins, the orchestra, and the school choir- it wasn't until an hour later that the 1st graders came on-stage. Of course Grace was worth the wait- she was cute and fantastic (as always)! The 1st graders sang several patriotic songs, complete with hand motions. After the performance, we rushed off to her Softball Party. She loved playing softball so much that she would've been crushed if we hadn't made it. We went to the party despite getting there at the same time as when she usually goes to bed. We stayed over an hour, long enough for her to spend some time with her friends. On Thursday, I had my school's Open House. My class and I have worked really hard this year, and I am proud of what we were able to showcase. 28 out of 32 families came- it was a wonderful evening! What a week! Jason and I decided to finish it off by going on a much-needed date on Friday night. Luckily for us, we also got to enjoy a 3-day weekend to relax (somewhat). Can't believe how quickly this year is winding down. Just a few more days and the year's over!

California Classic Half Marathon Relay

2011-05-30T10:44:00.000-07:00

Jackson's in place of Greg, Jason's relay partner since he left before this picture was taken

Not too long ago, Jason was asked by our friend, Allen, if he'd be interested in doing a half-marathon relay. Kristen's brother was looking for a partner. The plan was that Kristen and her brother would run the first leg of the relay together, and then Allen and Jason would run the second leg. Jason agreed, mostly for the experience, and also because it'd "only" be half of a half-marathon. Well, last weekend was the California Classic. The draw for this particular event is that it begins and ends at Chukchansi Park (home of Fresno's baseball team), and the route winds through city neighborhoods like the Tower District. The relay exchange actually took place at the zoo! It was a crazy rush for me as I got the kids up and drove downtown to try and see Jason end the race inside of Chukchansi Park. We got there in the nick of time! Jason and Greg ran a time of about 2:10.
Jason sure has been busy- in addition to coaching track for his school, he has been training for the Worlds Masters Track & Field Championships to be held in July, and also running long distances, too. I'm so proud of him- he's setting goals and working hard to reach them! Way to go, Jason!

Daddy-Daughter/Mama-Son Time

2011-05-27T21:02:00.000-07:00

Jason's school took their students on a reward field trip to Great America last Saturday. To get enough teachers to chaperone on a Saturday, they were allowed to bring other family members. Jeremy and I stayed in town since we had other commitments and we ended up with a Daddy-Daughter day, and Jeremy and I got to have Mama-Son time. Grace and Jason were gone from early morning to late evening- they had a wonderful time! She went on many rides and had a blast. I took Jeremy to his t-ball game, we spent time at the library, and went out for lunch. We definitely need to do this daddy-daughter/mama-son time more often!

Grace's Open House

2011-05-22T11:49:00.000-07:00

On Thursday night, we went to Grace's school's Open House. She was proud to show off her classroom and everything she's been working on. One of the major projects was her "desert" diorama. It was assigned to be done at home and it took her a few weeks to complete. The teacher in me insisted that she would make everything- we didn't buy a single thing, though that would've been much easier! She was very proud of how it turned out (as are we). We also visited the second grade classrooms to see what's in store for next year. It's hard to believe that the school year is almost over!

Angel Babies Walk/Run

2011-05-21T23:16:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, our family joined our close friends, the Wiens family to honor the memory of their son, Caleb, who passed away as a newborn. This was our 2nd year participating as members of "Caleb's Cruisers." Jason ran the 5K, and Jason's mom and I walked the 2 mile walk with Grace and Jeremy.After the "grown up" events, there were kids' races, which our kids were excited to participate in, especially since they all earned medals!
We are happy to be able to support our friends by participating in this speical event. For more details, click HERE for Christa's blog.

Carnival Season

2011-05-15T13:59:00.000-07:00

The first Friday of May was my school's carnival, and last Friday was Grace's school's carnival. The thing I enjoy the most about my school carnival is the chance to show off my family. There was a great turn out, so lots of my students got to see my family. We ate, spent time on the inflatables, and played carnival games. For Grace's school's carnival, we spent an hour of time helping in her class' booth. Here's the cake we made for the Cake Walk- both Grace and Jeremy helped to create this. I'm told that it was the first cake won! We had fun walking around, playing carnival games, creating and shooting off rockets.

Happy Mother's Day to Me

2011-05-14T16:06:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day was last week... I went to a Mother's Day Tea hosted by Grace's class. The kids served us some treats like strawberries with whipped cream and pound cake and brownies. Grace insisted on serving me tea even though I asked for lemonade- she said it was a Mother's Day Tea, not a Mother's Day Lemonade. They read us a book they made, gave us necklaces, and even sang a few songs for us. It was really sweet that during one of the songs, Grace started tearing up- that made me tear up... My sweet Grace is so sensitive! It was such a nice time of bonding for us.
For Mother's Day, we went out for lunch at Wahoo's after church. It was nice to spend time with my family. On the occasion of Mother's Day, while it's meant to honor moms, I actually think of it as my day to reflect on my role as a mom. I am thankful everyday for the special privilege of being a mom, especially for having Grace and Jeremy in my life.

Jason's 35th Birthday

2011-05-01T16:54:00.001-07:00

Jason wasn't really looking forward to his birthday this year, mostly because it was on the first day back from Spring Break. I have been teasing him about being closer to 40! Since I was still on Spring Break this week, I was able to bring him his favorite for lunch, In N Out, and I was able to devote time to preparing him a special birthday dinner. He has requested the same thing for several years now- calamari steaks with lemon linguine, steamed artichokes, green salad, and garlic bread. It has also become somewhat of a tradition for our family now, that we go for Coldstone on our birthdays. Hope you enjoyed a great day, Babe! Happy Birthday to you! You are an amazing husband and the best daddy I could ever have hoped for for our kids. We love you so much- may this upcoming year is everything you hope it to be!

Spring Break

2011-04-27T21:06:00.000-07:00

Spring Break flew by! I actually told Jason that it didn't seem like a "break" at all since we were so busy! Don't get me wrong- it was a "good" busy. We got a chance to spend time with a lot of friends, went to the park quite a few days, I did quite a bit of baking, attended our church's Easter Eggstravanza, celebrated Jason's birthday, celebrated Easter with family on Good Friday and with church family on Sunday... The week flew by- thankfully, I get an extra week! My district gets 2 weeks of Spring Break so I've been off this past week. YAY!

Anyway, I took many pictures of our week, way too many for the blog so check out the album on the right hand side of this blog.

Jeremy Loves Books

2011-04-25T23:02:00.000-07:00

This post is mostly for my own memory's sake... Jeremy had a major meltdown/tantrum last Friday. He hasn't had one in a while, so this caught me by surprise. It lasted about a half hour and involved him stomping his feet, screaming, and crying. It was triggered when I told him that I wouldn't have enough time in our day to take him to the library!
Well, after his t-ball game on Saturday, we made a trip to the library, so here he is! I hope he'll always have a love for books!

Jeremy and T-Ball

2011-04-19T21:13:00.000-07:00

This is the first year that Grace has played softball. We never would've considered having her try at an earlier age. Yet here we are, letting Jeremy try and he's 3! I found out from our friends, the Bergs, that the City of Fresno holds sports leagues for kids as young as 3 years old. They signed up their boys and we decided to join them. Our boys are on the same team- the Athletics. Their first game was this past Saturday- I have to share that I had so much fun watching my sweet Bear out on the field! I am definitely a pessimist- I wasn't expecting for it to be a good morning. Jeremy has become very reserved and shy in the last little while, so in the back of my mind, I was worried that we'd end up having to coax him to go out on the field. To my complete surprise, when the coach called for the boys to join him, Jeremy did not hesitate- he ran right out! My 3 year old, still my baby and yet a big boy! He had such a great time and it showed- he spoke about baseball for most of the day, and insisted on wearing his hat and team shirt until bedtime. Even though it was only the first day, the coaches did a wonderful job already teaching important baseball skills. Jeremy is so excited about his next game and so am I!

Jason's Babies

2011-04-16T18:34:00.000-07:00

We admit that we don't have green thumbs... But, Jason has certainly become very invested in his "babies" in our yard! He is very determined to not let them die! This is a picture of our "fruit salad" tree. It features 2 kinds of peaches, plums, and nectarines. It was beautiful when it was blooming- there were different shades of flowers on it. I forgot to take pictures of it. The nursery we got it from said that since it's a young tree, for this first year, we are supposed to pluck off all of the fruits. This forces the tree to focus on its roots as opposed to bearing fruit. So... we actually won't know if this pays off until next year!

Two more of Jason's babies are our blueberry bushes. We got two because of their need for cross-pollination. Last year, we actually did get some berries, but they got eaten by the birds. Jason is trying to figure out a way to scare away the birds!

We planted more plants and will be planting a few more this spring... Let's hope they all make it!

3rd Quarter Awards

2011-04-10T18:30:00.000-07:00

Grace's 3rd Quarter Awards Assembly was this past Friday. She earned 3 more awards: Perfect Attendance, Character Counts, and the Math Award. Great job, Gracie!

Busy Weekend!

2011-04-09T16:59:00.000-07:00

The first weekend of April was busy! The annual MCC sale (I think of it as a yearly Mennonite reunion) was held on Friday and Saturday. The Mennonite Central Committee is an organization whose focus is to "share God's love and compassion for all in the name of Christ by responding to basic human needs and working for peace and injustice." Money raised goes towards this mission. There are a lot of things about the MCC sale that is Mennonite, which is of course very important to us since Jason is Mennonite! They sell Mennonite foods such as German sausage, zwiebach, fritters, verenika... and of course the biggest fundraiser is the quilt auction! As with every year, we go on Friday night to meet up with friends and have the delicious German sausage sandwich dinners. One of the things we love about this sale is how it brings people together- it's so great to catch up with people! This year, Jason ran the Run for Relief on Saturday morning. He did the 10k in 48 mins., a personal record! It was enough for him to win 3rd place in his age category (he earned a medal for that!). Later that morning, our whole family returned to the sale. We were able to catch up with more friends, and spent time with Jason's mom, aunt, and uncle.

Later that afternoon, Grace's coach invited the team to go watch Fresno State's softball team. We sat in the outfield- it was a great chance for the girls to watch the softball team, and it was nice to get to know some parents. It was our first time watching Fresno State softball and it was

a great experience!

The Blue Crew

2011-04-09T15:14:00.000-07:00

Last year, we came to the conclusion that Grace was probably not going to be very athletic. We signed her up for soccer and she mostly complained about how sweaty it made her. This past fall, we suggested that she sign up for karate and she immediately asked if it was going to make her sweat. We definitely weren't expecting for her to want to play softball! She played a little last summer in our backyard after getting jealous of Jeremy and all the play time he was getting with Jason. We figured that the only reason why she played with them was just to get in on the action. A few months ago, she came home with a flyer about the Northwest Girls Softball league. I casually brought it up and without any persuasion, she decided to give it a try. We are so thrilled that she did- it has been so much fun watching her! She absolutely LOVES it! We haven't had to motivate her to do anything, she is excited on game days, has learned a lot about the game and is actually pretty good at it, and it's great that she quickly became friends with the other girls on her team. (It's kind of funny actually, that somehow she ended up on a team where most of the girls attend Catholic private school. She has asked us several times if she can go to their school next year. Um... Yeah, that's not happening). With the addition of Grace's softball to the schedule, our weekdays have become immensely hectic. Her games are every Monday and Wednesday and her league runs until the end of the school year. The busyness is worth seeing Grace do something that she genuinely loves! The next addition to our schedule? Jeremy is starting t-ball! More on that soon!

The Little Mermaid

2011-04-02T21:33:00.000-07:00

For Jason's mom's birthday gift, we got her tickets for a "Girls Date." We went to lunch at Panera (well, the boys joined us for that), and then we headed to the Fresno Memorial Auditorium for the Children's Musical Theaterworks' production of The Little Mermaid. It was our first time seeing a show by this theater group, and we really enjoyed it. After the show, the girls got to meet the actors/actresses. It was a lot of fun and since we had such a good experience, we're disappointed that we'll be in Edmonton during their next show, Cinderella. We will definitely make sure to catch their Annie show in December!

Firetruck

2011-04-02T21:19:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, we went to a very cool birthday party. How cool is it that Levi got to have a firetruck at his birthday party?! Our close friend, Christa, did an amazing job organizing Levi's birthday, but inviting the firetruck to make an appearance made this an unforgettable event for our kids. I don't usually take pictures at other kids' birthday parties, but I did for this one because I knew how much Jeremy and Grace would love exploring this firetruck. Happy Birthday, Levi- thanks for letting us share in your special day!

Small Group Reunion

2011-03-26T21:01:00.000-07:00

It is so significant to have people in your life who stand by you through all of life's up and downs. They are there for you, share their wisdom, help you discern, listen with care, love on you... and most importantly, they pray for you. We used to belong to a Small Group at church that met every week! Jason and I are so grateful to have had this wonderful group of friends to depend on: the Sieberts, the Cos, the Lees, and the McCrearys. The Sieberts moved to Edmonton a few years ago (yup, my beloved hometown!) and it just got tougher for our group to meet together because of our growing families and their needs. Well, last Saturday, our group had a reunion! The Sieberts were visiting California and our group had a chance to share an afternoon together. It was fun to reminisce and just talk! Our house was crowded with all of our families! It was nice to "pick up where we left off" and we marveled at how easy it was for our kids to do the same even though they were just babies when our group was meeting. I feel like it's impossible to put into words how thankful I am for these people and how I miss seeing them on a regular basis!

(the above picture is missing Caleb and Joshua McCreary)

St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-19T15:23:00.000-07:00

Last year, our friends, the Pozzis, posted pictures on Facebook about a leprechaun trap they had created with their daughters. It was the first time I had ever heard of such a thing and I thought it was hilarious. Last week, Grace came home and shared that for homework, she had to create a leprechaun trap. I immediately began asking her questions about what she wanted to do- she drew a sketch and even gave me a list of things to go buy. After asking her the logistics of how her idea would work, she realized she couldn't figure out how to make it all work, so she decided to take a different approach. The end result was so cute! Part of the assignment was that she had to explain to her class how everything worked. For practice, I recorded her explanation (for the video, look under the section called "Our Videos" on the right side of the blog).

Even though the trap didn't catch any leprechauns, March 17 was a fun day- Grace ate green snacks at her school party, a leprechaun visited Jeremy at daycare (surprisingly, he wasn't scared), he got to eat green cake, we all wore something green, had Irish Stew for dinner, visited some friends after dinner, and Jason happily drank his stout & watched the beginning of March Madness. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

2011-03-18T22:57:00.000-07:00

The first weekend of March, our family came together to celebrate Jason's mom's birthday. We wanted to do something really special for her- Jason decided it would be the best time to try out the new pasta maker he got for Christmas. Jennifer and Jason worked together to make an amazing dinner- homemade pasta noodles were topped with a creamy sauce that had shrimp, asparagus, and sun-dried tomatoes. YUM! It was nice to spend time together- with such busy lives, we really value the times when we're able to get together. Of course it was made even more special since we were celebrating such a wonderful person- hope you had a great birthday, Mom!

Last Winter Storm

2011-03-12T22:19:00.000-08:00

The last time I was in SoCal was during our horrific trip to San Diego during Winter Break. That was when we were stuck in the car for 15 hours because of road closures! Well, on the weekend of Feb. 25, I had to head down that way again. A major storm passed through the state that same weekend, so I was very nervous about heading to Palm Springs to attend a GATE conference. There was word that the major mountain passes were going to be shut down again. Not only that, it was my first time being away from my family for longer than a night since Jeremy was born. Thank goodness, our rides there and back were uneventful and we didn't get caught up in any traffic. It was rather strange that it rained in Palm Springs and it was rare that the weather was as cold as it was for that area. I had a great time at the conference- I learned a lot, got rejuvenated & re-inspired about my role as a teacher, got to know a lot of people, and most importantly, enjoyed some time to myself in a fabulous hotel room.

Meanwhile, the storm dumped quite a bit of snow in the mountain areas near here. Jason took the kids up to Oakhurst to spend the day with his family. In addition to seeing where Mr. Dan (soon-to-be Uncle) works and riding in Dan's cool fire truck (Jeremy was in heaven), they also went sledding near Calvin Crest. Jason said it was very cold, but that didn't stop the kids from enjoying the snow! Afterwards, everyone went back to Grandma's to enjoy the rest of the day.

Love

2011-03-01T22:33:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day is a day to celebrate "love." Jason and I don't really "celebrate" it with expensive flowers, chocolates and jewelry- we think of it as a cheesy "Hallmark" holiday, but at the root of it, it's a day for us to intentionally reflect about love and about the people in our lives who love and care for us, who we are truly grateful for.

One particular person who always goes out of her way to make us feel loved and special is Jason's mom. I really don't know anyone who is as selfless as her. She is the most giving person and so incredibly generous. She is always there for us... We are truly grateful for the amazing relationship she has with our kids. They light up and get excited when they see her and love to spend time with her. She does so much to express her love for them, and spends valuable time with them doing things they enjoy. Thank you for everything you do for us, Mom/Grandma. We love you so much!

Another couple that we are grateful for are Darrell and Karen. We met them through church when I was expecting with Grace. We just kind of "clicked" and they have been a part of our lives ever since. They've watched our family grow and change through the years and they have always been extremely supportive. They've become like "adopted grandparents," particularly since my parents are so far away. Thank you Darrell and Karen, for loving our family like you do!

Obviously, there's no possible way we could ever showcase all the people who we are grateful for- just know that we feel so blessed to have such an amazing circle of people around us! May you always feel loved, not just on Valentine's Day!

Children of God

2011-02-27T18:20:00.000-08:00

As part of our church's worship on Feb. 13, children were invited to join a Praise Chorus. Grace was very excited to get to be a part of something so special. She finished her weekly homework early in the week, and went with Jason to worship practice on the previous Thursday night to practice (she got to stay up past her bedtime of 7:30pm, which was in itself a pretty big deal). The children were included for Third Day's "Children of God." I grew up regularly singing in church, but it's not something our church does very often (have children at the front). I hope that changes- what a gift, to see our children praising our Lord!

Verenika

2011-02-19T11:21:00.000-08:00

So a few weeks ago, we tried to help our kids experience Vietnamese culture through Lunar New Year. Last weekend, it was their turn to experience Mennonite culture. Like Jason, my close friend, Jill, is also Mennonite and I'm glad that she knows a lot about the culture, especially the cuisine. Last week, we were treated to a special verenika dinner. The best way that I can describe these, are that they're kind of like dumplings that are supposed to be filled with a hard-to-find hoop cheese (Jill ended up using farmer's cheese). They're eaten with a special sauce and often served with German sausage and zwiebach (Mennonite rolls). I was almost done eating before I remembered to take a picture- oops. They're also quite time consuming to make, so it's not something we get to eat very often. Needless to say, we ate until we were stuffed- it was delicious!!! In addition to a wonderful meal, we got to spend quality time with good friends!

Superbowl

2011-02-16T18:03:00.000-08:00

We've gone to the Cos' home these last few years for the Superbowl. As always, it was fun to watch the game, eat, and hang out with good friends! (Jason makes fun of me for taking pictures of people watching T.V., so I didn't this time). It was a beautiful day outside, and so the kids spent most of the afternoon playing outside (for memories' sake, we were all cheering for the Packers, and they won 31-25 against the Steelers).

Lunar New Year

2011-02-12T09:45:00.000-08:00

Now that our kids are a little older, I realize that I need to be more intentional about teaching them about my Vietnamese culture. In years past, I've thrown Vietnamese New Year's parties with Asian cuisine for our friends (no kids), but now that we have kids, I feel like we need to include them! Feb. 3 was Lunar New Year, and I definitely didn't want to pass up on this teachable moment. We invited some of our friends to join us on Saturday in ringing in the new lunar year. Most people refer to this as Chinese New Year, but there are many other cultures that celebrate it. That's why I refer to it as Lunar New Year. We were originally just going to go for Vietnamese food as a way of celebrating, but some of our friends found out that there was going to be a lion dance at Shanghai, a local Chinese restaurant. Many Chinese customs have been incorporated into Vietnamese culture, so even if we were part of a Vietnamese circle here (we're not), it's likely we still would've gone to see lion dances. The dancers weaved throughout the restaurant, and they came right to our table. Grace loved it, while Jeremy held onto Jason quite tightly. Jackson was brave enough to "feed" the lion as it came to our table.

It was a neat experience with our kids. We enjoyed the Chinese meal (it was hard to talk though since we were spread over 2 tables), and then headed to our house afterwards to hang out. In Vietnamese traditions, every lunar new year, children are given li xi envelopes (red envelopes with money inside). The children wish their parents and elders wishes for the New Year, and then are given the li xi. We decided to keep that tradition, and presented all of the kids with li xi. It's the Year of the Rabbit, which means that it's supposed to be a peaceful, easygoing year. From what I've read, the Year of the Rabbit signals a year devoted to family, and so I look forward to an amazing year for our family! Chuc Mung Nam Moi- Happy New Year!

Jeremy's ABCs

2011-02-05T22:12:00.000-08:00

Jeremy's so cute, I can't barely stand it! This post is mostly for me (and him, since he keeps begging me to replay it so he can watch himself).

1st Semester Awards Assembly

2011-02-02T20:12:00.000-08:00

Grace's school held their 1st semester Awards Assembly last Friday. Jason was able to find coverage for a few of his classes so that he could attend, and Grandma was also able to come. We are so proud of Grace- she earned 3 awards! Jason left as soon as her class' awards were presented. It wasn't until the next day when we saw Grandma that we found out that Grace had actually received a 4th honor. After the 1st grade awards were handed out, Grace was recognized for being the top A.R. reader in all of the first grade. She didn't say anything to us about this when we saw her later that day (and she hadn't received any certificates because her teacher had been absent). As avid readers, Jason and I are thrilled that our daughter has such a love of reading! We are so thankful that she is excelling in school and absolutely loves learning!

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

2011-01-22T11:17:00.000-08:00

Last Monday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day. In honor of MLK, Jason's school has participated in a school service project on this day for the last several years. This year, his school, Wawona, teamed up with Dailey Elementary and Fresno High to beautify Storyland and Playland. The three schools regularly work together since they are all International Baccalaureate (I.B.) schools. One of the draws of this global program is that it is very community-minded. Over 300 people gave up their "day off of school" to help clean and paint both parks. Jason decided to bring Grace with him and his team was in charge of painting fences and the lion drinking fountain. They had a great day together! Since Jeremy and I stayed home, the only picture I got of Jason and Grace was this one.
Later in the day, I had the chance to watch Oprah (I only watch a handful times a year since I'm usually working when her show airs). The show was dedicated to MLK and she recapped shows related to MLK and racism that she has done in the last 25 years. Grace wandered in and as she sat there, she began asking questions- I found myself stumbling in my words as I tried to explain to her in age-appropriate terms what the show was about. I ended up getting choked up and started crying when I told her that there was time when people who had different skin colors couldn't be together. It suddenly dawned on me as I was looking at my intelligent, sweet, innocent, beautiful "bi-racial" daughter that if it hadn't been for people like MLK and the difficult lives of many who came before us, it's likely Jason and I never would've been able to be together. Grace and Jeremy wouldn't be in my life... "There was a time when it wasn't ok for people with white skin to marry people who didn't have white skin. It would have been very, very hard for Daddy and Mama to get married back then." Grace said, "But Mama, you're white, too." Her comment made me realize that we really are just at the beginning of Grace's journey (of cultural awareness and self-identity) to understanding all it is that makes her unique. What a moment of revelation! I will never look at Martin Luther King Jr. Day as just a day off of school ever again.

Winter Break

2011-01-08T11:00:00.000-08:00

Since starting off the school year in August, I have been working non-stop. When I devote so much of myself to working, there is a tendency for me to get burned out. I have always struggled with this, and even though I was doing ok for the first few months of the school year, my life began feeling out-of-balance right around Thanksgiving Break. I definitely felt myself getting burned out and I began counting down the days until Winter Break. With school starting up again on Monday, I can say that my Winter Break rejuvenated me- I was intentional about spending time doing things that I enjoy and spending time with family and friends. Here's what we've been up to!

Christmas
-The first week of Winter Break was spent getting ready for Christmas. I usually don't Christmas shop until school gets out. Some might think I'm crazy, but honestly, Christmas wouldn't feel the same to me without the lines and hustle-bustle!

New Year's Eve

-For several years now, we've wanted to celebrate New Year's at Jason's family's cabin at Shaver Lake. We finally got our chance this year! We have typically spent New Year's Eve with the same group of friends. This year, we went to the cabin with the Wiens, Lee, and Co families. It was a packed house with all of our families, but everything turned out great! On New Year's Eve, we helped the kids ring in the new year before putting them to bed. Then, the girls sat around, snacked, and chatted (Jill & Christa made our annual batch of New Year's Cookies). The guys did their annual beer tasting. This year's judging included 11 beers- the contest was North America vs. Europe. For the most part, North America's beers came out on top.New Year's Day

-When we arrived the night before, there was already a lot of snow at Shaver. However, on New Year's Day, it snowed non-stop. We were determined to head outside to enjoy it. The first run the guys created for sledding was fun for the adults, but the kids didn't enjoy it because it was too fast. They kept getting snow in their faces, and it took a while to climb from the bottom back to the top. After lunch, the kids made a snowman and played in the snow. Then we headed to a sloped street nearby. It was perfect for sledding since the road was completely snow-covered ice. It was a ton of fun!

Apparently, it snowed throughout the night because everything was completely covered by snow when we got up the next morning. The guys spent several hours digging out the cars. To make things even more interesting, the power went out right during breakfast!

We had a lot of fun ringing in the New Year with our good friends at the cabin- we hope this year is the first of many to come!

San Diego

-We left the cabin and headed straight home to get our bags for San Diego. After some time on the freeway, we learned that the Grapevine had been shut down due to snow. For those of you who don't know why snow could cause a major freeway to be shut down, it's because the Grapevine is extremely steep. Many cars and drivers down here aren't equipped to drive in snow and ice. Anyway, we took an alternate route through Tehachapi, as did everyone else it seems. What was supposed to take 5-6 hours ended up being the worst car ride EVER. Due to all the snow (obviously not normal for Southern California), other roads and mountain passes were shut down. Police shut down northbound traffic on Cajon Pass but escorted limited groups of vehicles southbound. Due to this, traffic was at a complete standstill for hours. Cars would start up, we'd move a mile, and then stop until the next hour. There was absolutely no where to go. Traffic started moving slowly as Cajon Pass was opened up to more traffic. By the time we got to our condo in San Diego, it was past 5am. The car ride took us 15 hours! We are still amazed at how well the kids were- simply amazing! They slept through the night so they woke up at their regular time once we were settled at the condo, but they played well together so that Jason and I could sleep in.

After we got up, we decided we didn't want to waste our day, so we headed out. For lunch, we got some burgers from Hodad's (featured on Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives) and headed to the beach. It would've been perfect if it weren't for how cold it was outside and how we were completely circled by birds that waited to swoop in on our meal. The kids were treated to Hodad's chocolate milkshakes (delish) for being so good on our trip down. Then we let them run around on the beach for a bit before we headed to Balboa Park. While there, we decided to go to San Diego's Air & Space Museum. This was a big hit with Jeremy. I loved seeing his excitement as he pointed out all of the different planes. We spent the rest of our day relaxing at the condoSeaWorld

-We went to SeaWorld on Tuesday. It seemed as if we had the park to ourselves- there was barely anyone there! We got great seats to see Shamu, and we loved seeing all of the amazing sea animals. Jeremy's favorite was the "whale show," Grace's was the "dolphin show," Jason's was the "pet show" (at SeaWorld, of all places), and mine was seeing the kids excitement over everything. We enjoyed SeaWorld, and since we got to fully enjoy the park without lines and crowds, we maximized our day there. I don't think we'd return- one visit enabled us to enjoy everything.

Old Town San Diego

-Jason's mom took Amtrak down to join us on Tuesday night. On Wednesday, we woke up bright and early to try out The Mission, a highly recommended place for breakfast. It was delicious! Next, we visited Old Town San Diego. What a great area! We learned a lot and got to visit some unique shops (eg. the kids got to dip their own candles, and we also visited a candy store).

Point Loma

-Jason checked the tides and we headed out to Point Loma in the afternoon at the perfect time. We had a blast climbing along rocks and finding sealife in the tidepools. We saw a lot of anemones and hermit crabs, but we also saw several sea stars and even a sea snail. We eventually made our way to the visitor center and lighthouse before heading back to the condo.

-Jason's mom offered to watch the kids so Jason and I could go out to dinner. Based on reviews, Jason decided on Blue Water, a seafood restaurant. It was a long wait, but definitely worth it. The food was fantastic!

Legoland
-This was highly anticpated by our kids. The next day, we left San Diego and headed north to Carlsbad for Legoland. Again, it seemed like we had the park to ourselves. The kids enjoyed this park immensely. We highly recommend this park for younger kids (ages 4-10)! Thrill-seekers would be definitely disappointed with this park. At age 6, Grace was able to enjoy almost every single ride, and there is tons to do if you're a young kid! We bought our passes at Costco, so for the price of a regular admission, we actually got a 3 month pass. This allowed us to return the next day. It was nice to take our time exploring the park, and since it was so empty, the kids got to go on the rides many times over. I imagine that it's probably very busy in the summer- it would be hard to wait in long lines for short rides. Go during non-peak season for the best experience! Later that night, we found a bbq place that we'd definitely visit again. It's called Felix's BBQ and it was wonderful!

Despite the crazy ride it took for us to get down here, we had a great family vacation. We are now headed back to Fresno and plan to do absolutely nothing tomorrow (Sunday) to prepare for our regular day-to-day to begin on Monday. Good bye, Winter Break! (I took way too many pictures to post here- check out the photo album for tons more!)

Christmas 2010

2011-01-06T21:49:00.000-08:00

Some highlights of our holiday season:

Children's Program at church

-Grace is in the 1st/2nd grade group this year, so for their performance, she had to say one verse of a poem by herself into the microphone (she says she was very nervous). She did a wonderful job!

-This was Jeremy's first time on the stage with his 3-5 yr. old group. We practiced the songs with him every night for two weeks leading up to his performance. He knew most of the songs, but he was like a deer in the headlights while on stage. Maybe next year, he'll actually perform.

Cookie Exchange

-I feel incredibly special that I still get to participate in my friend Nancy's annual cookie exchange. It is a gathering of teachers I used to work with at my former school. I always look forward to it- we eat, chat, fill each other in on what has been happening in our lives. This year, I made 10 dozen Chocolate Mint cookies!

Christmas Eve
-We invited Jason's mom to join us for our annual Christmas Eve dinner- beef tenderloin with a port sauce, roasted potatoes, and holiday salad. Before our meal, we read Luke 2 (the Christmas story from the Bible) together as a family. This year, the kids followed the story using one of our nativity sets.

-We attended our church's Christmas Eve candlelight service. I grew up going to church every Christmas Eve, so I can't possibly imagine celebrating Christ's birth without going to church!

-We opened up gifts after having hot chocolate and cookies. I got the best gift- Jason went way overbudget and got me my very first laptop!

Christmas Day
-After a special breakfast, we did stockings. Stockings were the only things that Santa left for our family this year (and every year from now on). Even though we didn't give Santa very much attention this year, our kids are old enough that influences from school and friends (and family) still left a huge impression. However, I feel like we did a better job of focusing on Christ. We used the advent calendar I got last year from my friend, Christa. This past month, we read through one symbol related to Christ during dinner (I posted about the advent calendar last year. Click here for more information). -Our friends, De and Jed, came over for most of the day to hang out. We feel privileged that we got to spend such a special day with great friends!

Boxing Day
-No shopping for me (in Canada, Boxing Day is like Black Friday here in the US). We had dinner with our friends, Aaron and Christa, and exchanged our 2nd annual White Elephant gift. The rules are: the gift must be less than $10, and it must be on display all year. The gift we got them came from Goodwill- it came in waaaaay under budget and was the 1st thing that caught both mine and Jason's eyes (it's an UGLY bright colored clown piggy bank, except that it's missing the rubber stopper).

Here's what they gave us:

Isaac Christmas

-On the Tuesday following Christmas, Jason's family got together at his mom's house for the Isaac's family Christmas. As usual, Jason's family was extremely generous- we are so blessed!

-All day long, we exchanged presents, ate, hung out- it was a wonderful, laid-back day together! Later in the evening, family friends, Bob and Dot dropped by. We enjoyed spending time with them, catching up.

Hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful time with their family this Christmas! There are more pictures in our photo album on the right hand side.

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-12-21T16:22:00.000-08:00

Oh my goodness, I am so behind with my blogging! I need to catch up so I can blog about Christmas in a few days! Let's get on with it...

Thanksgiving:

We spent Thanksgiving at Jason's family's cabin at Shaver Lake. The weather was just perfect- there were several feet of snow, but for the first two days we were there, the sun was out and shining so we were able to play in it for hours. In fact, we ended up taking off our jackets because it got so warm! We went to a nearby hill and went sledding. Grace couldn't get enough of it, and Jeremy wanted nothing to do with it. He was content sitting in the snow and watching everyone else go down the hill. We have much to be thankful for, and spending time with Jason's family at the cabin affirmed how blessed we feel!

Big Boy Bed

2010-11-27T21:06:00.001-08:00

I forgot to post that Jeremy is now in a big boy bed! Most people we know move their kids out of their cribs because 1) their kid tried or has climbed out, 2) they need the crib for a new sibling. Well, neither of those reasons apply, so that's why we've taken our time moving him into a new bed.

We set up his bed the day after Veteran's Day. He was very excited- he kept talking about his friend, Levi's, big boy bed. I set up the rail but he insisted that he didn't need it. He was so insistent that we decided to let him try sleeping without it. He went to bed as usual (which means him jibber jabbering to his stuffed animals for an hour before falling asleep). Unfortunately, he woke up early the next morning (5am is early for us) and came in to wake us up. This pattern continued for quite a few days. We've been trying to get him to just play in his room until we come in to get him. He was right about not needing the rail! This is yet another example of our son doing things his way, in his timing.

I know that some people get emotional with this particular milestone of putting the crib away. Ours is now in the garage... I admit that I did find myself reflecting quite a bit that weekend, and it did hit me- I no longer have a "baby!" (And just to confirm- we don't plan on having any more babies). I am amazed at how fast time has flown by... I was a complete mess watching Toy Story 3 (we highly recommend it)...

Visit to L.A.

2010-11-20T16:21:00.000-08:00

At the Olympics last year, we visited several venues called "Livecity" where people could go during the day to watch Olympic events broadcast on huge screens, and to visit different promotional booths. It was really neat to sit and watch events with tons of people all around you. In the evenings, these Livecity venues hosted different music groups from all over. On one particular day, we were watching snowboarding when this guy came out to start the soundcheck for his concert later that night. This is what he looks like:What type of music would you expect from a guy that looks like this? We were shocked when he started reggae-rapping. Jason wanted to stick around to hear him in concert, but we were with other friends who wanted to do other things. As soon as we got home, Jason immediately began researching about this guy. Both of us have come to love his music- his name is Matisyahu (Hebrew for Matthew), and he is a Hasidic Jew from New York who "sings reggae songs about his religious devotion." We found out months ago that he was going to be in L.A. for a concert. Jason bought our tickets on impulse, without even looking into childcare! We have been really looking forward to this concert and went last week!

Jason's mom kindly watched our kids overnight so that we could spend some time alone together. We're so thankful that she is always willing to do that! We drove down to L.A. on Saturday afternoon. We had a few hours to kill, so we looked up "free things to do in L.A." Have you ever been to the La Brea Tar Pits? There's a museum there, but since we didn't want to pay, we decided just to walk around the park. Apparently, these tar pits are the "home to over 3 million fossils from the last Ice Age. It was here that huge mammoths, fierce sabertoothed cats, and giant ground sloths became trapped and entombed in the asphalt that has been seeping out of the ground for the past 40,000 years." No dinosaurs- dinosaurs died millions of years before this happened. Who knows if we'll be back with the kids some day!

For dinner, we wanted to experience something unique to L.A. We definitely found it with a Peruvian restaurant called Mo-Chica. Surprisingly, it is in an indoor market/food court. You wouldn't think that a place like that would be so good- the presentation was excellent, and the food was amazing! Hands down, our favorite was the starter, Ceviche Del Dia. Jason had the Seco De Cordero (lamb shanks in beer stew sauce), and I had the Arroz Con Mariscos (Peruvian paella with seafood). If it weren't for the fact that L.A. has so many eateries, we would go back on our next visit!

After dinner, we headed to the Luckman Fine Arts Complex for the concert. When it started, we saw 3 guys on the stage- the drummer, bassist, and guitar player. They began playing what I would consider death metal. We kept waiting for Matisyahu to come out, but it got to the point (20 minutes later) that I couldn't take the "noise" any longer. I walked out, as did many, many other people. It wasn't until I was in the lobby that I heard other people saying that these guys were starting for Matisyahu and he wouldn't start for another hour. When he finally came on stage (the 3 guys were actually his band), with certainty, it was worth the wait! He was awesome! We enjoyed the show from our seats in the 3rd row! Loved it- I wouldn't hesitate to go watch him again.Sleeping-in the next morning, we awoke to discover that there was no hot water in our hotel. Jason complained about it when we checked out and the hotel gave us complimentary breakfast and free parking (it has been a really long time since we stayed in a place that doesn't automatically give you complimentary breakfast, and that you have to pay to park in their lot). We decided to take advantage of being kid-less and did something we've wanted to do for years. We visited The Getty Museum. We joined an Architecture Tour before going through the museum on our own. It was very interesting and we're glad we were able to do it without kids. They probably wouldn't have allowed us to take in all of the art exhibits! Our favorite and most memorable exhibit was called "Documentary Photos from the Sixties." The images were eye-opening...

Before heading back to the smoggy valley, we decided to seek out some Vietnamese food. We found a place called, Bun Me for Vietnamese sandwiches. It definitely satisfied my craving! (The words "bun me" actually sound like "sandwich" in Vietnamese). A good ending to a wonderful trip to L.A.!

3:31

2010-11-14T20:59:00.000-08:00

I did it! I completed a half marathon last weekend! I walked 13.1 miles in 3 hours, 31 minutes. I first heard of the Two Cities Marathon/Half Marathon last year, when many of our friends participated in it. In particular, I was inspired by my good friend, Christa. She walked it last year, and I was so proud of her for challenging herself that way and fulfilling her goal. I decided to give myself the same challenge this year. I knew with my schedule that I couldn't commit to training to run the half marathon, but I knew that I had the ability to walk it. My sister was going to be in town and so I asked her to do the walk with me. I have walked every week for a few months to get ready. Unfortunately, by the day of the race, the most I had walked was 10.5 miles. I was counting on adrenaline to carry me through the race.

On Nov. 7, we arrived early in the morning. I was very, very nervous! I started to feel a little more relaxed when we met up with people I knew, like the teachers from my school who were also walking the half marathon.

The atmosphere was full of anticipation and excitement! We started in a huge group and it was pretty crowded for the first 2 miles. We were able to pick up our pace when the crowd began to thin out. Mentally, I really had to push myself after Mile 10 and the last mile seemed to drag on forever. Luckily, Jason brought the kids out to cheer us on and I spotted them during the last mile.Sarah and I were so relieved to finish! Immediately, we received our Finisher's sweatshirts and medallions, and were herded off to enjoy breakfast. With all the excitement, I didn't take the time to stretch out and cool off. Unfortunately, I paid for this because I pulled/strained something in my right leg and limped for the next four days. I still consider this to be such a positive experience that I think I'm going to try to run/walk it next year. Ask me again in a few months!

Halloween

2010-11-11T20:23:00.000-08:00

The day after Grace's birthday party was Halloween. Grace knew months beforehand that she wanted to be a kitty cat, and since I made Lightning McQueen for Jeremy for his birthday earlier in the month, he got to wear his car for Halloween. My sister had an awesome costume- she made Mr. Potato Head (with interchangeable parts for Mrs. Potato Head). In my 13 years of knowing Jason, this was the first year he decided to get dressed up. In honor of his beloved Giants, he went as Brian Wilson (Fear the Beard!), complete with mohawk.

Our church holds an annual community carnival, so that's where we headed first. We ate dinner and let the kids play some carnival games. Before heading out to go trick-or-treating, Sarah, Jason, and Jeremy entered the costume contests. Sarah won for the adult category, and Jeremy won for the kids' category! YAY!
Right around the corner from our church, we went trick-or-treating with Micah and his parents, our good friends, Jill and Adam. It was really cute watching our kids go from house to house, particularly, Micah, whose excitement was truly contagious!

Grace is 6!

2010-11-07T18:26:00.000-08:00

It has become a tradition- our family visits the pumpkin patch on Grace's birthday. Here are a few pictures from our visit:After the pumpkin patch, Grace's request for her birthday dinner was for us to go to "the place where you get rainbow icecream for dessert" (aka the Old Spaghetti Factory). Yum! We were the only family that were seated in the trolley, and Grace and Jeremy were very excited about that.

To celebrate her 6th birthday, Grace has known for months that she wanted a kitty cat themed party. I love putting on parties, so it was fun getting ready for it. This year was extra special because my sister, Sarah (the kids call her Di Dao), came to visit us for a week. It was wonderful to have her help!

As each girl arrived, they received cat ears and their faces were painted with a nose and whiskers. Next, the girls made cat collars out of ribbon & rhinestones. Before eating, we headed outside to play a few games: Pooper Scooper (using cat litter scoops, the girls took turns scooping up "poop," aka tootsie rolls), and the Yarn Game (the girls untangled yarn that had been woven all around our yard). I had Jason go to Papa Murphy's Pizza to see if they could help make some "cat-shaped" pizzas, and we were so thrilled that they did!

For the next game, each girl got a cat food dish with a scoop of ice cream. It was a race to see who could lick their ice cream the fastest! Finally, it was time for cake (I made the cake, but many thanks to Sarah for making the cupcakes).

To end off the evening, we played our final game. The girls passed around a ball of yarn while we had some cat-themed songs playing. Grace opened up her gift from whoever was holding the ball of yarn whenever the music stopped.To thank everyone who came to Grace's party, each girl got a picture frame (we'll be sending each friend a picture of them with Grace), and a bag of cat chow (goldfish crackers). Thank you so much to our family and friends who helped us celebrate Grace's birthday. She loved every moment and said that she felt very special. We can't believe that she's SIX already! (We took many more pictures, all of which can viewed in the photo album on the right).

Chef Grace

2010-10-21T21:04:00.000-07:00

I love GROUPON! We have been able to get some really cool deals through that website (click on the link if you want more info). One of the deals we bought was a cooking class at Young Chefs Academy. Last year, Grace and I had a weekly baking day and she often helped me make dinner. She definitely loves being in the kitchen! Unfortunately, our schedule this year doesn't really allow her to create in the kitchen, and I know she really misses it.

Our friend, Christa, picked Grace up from school and brought Grace, Charlotte, and Violet to the Academy. I came later on with Jeremy. The girls learned how to make peanut butter from scratch (which they ate with celery) and coleslaw. Here are a few pictures from their special time together.

Jeremy's 3rd Birthday

2010-10-17T16:59:00.000-07:00

Jeremy's birthday was October 11 and he turned 3! As opposed to previous birthdays in which he was clueless, this year, he was definitely involved in a lot of the planning of his party. He insisted on having a Cars-themed party, he knew which friends he wanted to invite, and what he wanted for his birthday gifts (anything with wheels).

I love parties, so despite working full-time this year and not having a lot of free time, I still found time to plan and prepare for this special event. Here are some details (a lot of these ideas came from the Internet):We set up a mini racetrack in our backyard. The kids took turns racing each other in Lightning McQueen and The King cardboard box cars (I ran out of time to do The King's spoiler on the back of his car). I got the idea from this website and am so proud of how these turned out!

We also had a pinata, the first one we've ever had! It was a pull-string one, so we didn't have to experience toddlers waving a bat around. Jeremy was the first to go, and the string he picked was actually "the" one. He didn't pull it hard enough for everything to come out, and the kids didn't realize what had happened. So Jason loosely tied the string to the top, and all of the kids got to pull strings until there were only a few left. All of the adults knew what had happened, so we got a pretty good laugh over that.
For dinner, the main menu consisted of food you might get at a racetrack: burgers and hotdogs. In addition, we had Doc's Guac and Chips, Mack-a-roni Salad, Sally's Fruit Salad, Chick's Dipsticks (celery/carrot sticks), Mater's Motor Oil (chocolate milk), Fillmore's Organic Fuel (bottled water), and Antifreeze (bottles of blue colored sugarfree fruit punch).

Here is Jeremy and his birthday cake! This is the best picture I got of him all evening!

I think the cake turned out really well. I can't take credit for it. Realizing how much time I didn't have, I cheated this year- the actual cake was store-bought, and I decorated the top. I made the racetrack in the form of a "3," rocks, and cacti out of marshmallow fondant, and I added the three (new) cars. Jeremy loved it, and that's what matters!

On the actual day of Jeremy's birthday, his daycare threw him a party in which he got another Cars cake. Even his daycare knows about his love of Cars! We asked what he wanted for his special birthday dinner and he said, "Peanut budder" (that's his way of saying peanut butter & jelly sandwiches- he can't get enough of those). Well, after some convincing, he agreed that we could have pizza. It seems that it has become a tradition for us to go to Coldstone for ice cream on our "actual" birthdays. After singing Happy Birthday and letting him blow out his candle, our family of four sat and enjoyed some family time together.

Happy 3rd Birthday to my sweet "big" boy, Jeremy! Thank you to everyone who came to his party, and thank you to everyone who has been a significant part of Jeremy's life! (more pictures in the photo album on the right).

A Getaway Trip to Murphys

2010-09-20T20:16:00.001-07:00

This past weekend, Jason and I were able to take a quick overnight trip to Murphys. A lot of people have never heard of this gem in Calaveras County- some nearby towns are Jamestown, Sonora, Angels Camp, etc. We love this town and the area- we've made several trips in the past and were really looking forward to this recent trip. On our way to Tahoe this past June for Jason's family reunion, we noticed a billboard on the side of the freeway advertising that Sheryl Crow was going to play at Ironstone Vineyards (located in Murphys). We shared this with some of Jason's cousins at the reunion and it was decided that we would try to get together for that. On Friday, we drove with Jennifer (Jason's sister) to meet Cheryl and Terri (who live in the Santa Cruz area) at Ironstone Vineyard. Stand-still traffic on Highway 99 threw us for a loop and we ended up getting to the vineyard after the opening act began. Have you heard of G-Love and Special Sauce? I hadn't, but Jason had! Sheryl Crow started her set at about 9:30pm. It was chilly outside, but with our general admission, we were allowed to bring in blankets and lawn chairs, so we were pretty cozy. The concert was fantastic! Sheryl Crow was a wonderful entertainer, and we loved the easygoing atmosphere in the vineyard's amphitheatre- we weren't confined to our seats. People danced, drank wine, etc. We had so much fun! She played for almost 2 hours and her encore included a beautiful acoustic rendition of "I Shall Believe." It gave me goosebumps!

That night, we stayed at Jason's uncle & aunt's home. It was great to visit with them. After a wonderful breakfast on Saturday, we said goodbye to our cousins, and then headed into Murphys for some shopping. There are a few cute little shops on the main street. We enjoyed lunch at Firewood before heading to some places to wine taste (Calaveras County is full of vineyards and wineries). First up was Black Sheep Winery, where Jason and Jennifer got a case of their award-winning 2008 California Chardonnay. Next was Milliaire Winery. The host was so informative and easy to talk to. I am not a drinker- I told her that I wouldn't be able to appreciate anything that I tried. She convinced me to try a Gerwurztraminer- which to my surprise, I really liked! She continued to give me suggestions as to which she thought I would enjoy and steered me clear from ones she thought I wouldn't enjoy. I learned that I like syrahs! I left this tasting room with my very first wine purchase- a bottle of 2009 Gerwurtraminer. Our last stop was at Chatom Vineyard. Here, I enjoyed sips of Semillion and of two kinds of syrahs. It's not like I'm all of a sudden going to become a wine drinker, but hey, I might actually be able to enjoy a few sips here and there... Ahhh, it was such a nice getaway... When's our next one?! (actually, it's Veteran's Day weekend, when Jason and I go to see Matisyahu in concert in L.A.). Soooo looking forward to that concert!

Dad/Grandpa's Birthday

2010-09-10T20:06:00.001-07:00

With me back to working full-time, it feels like we are always going at full speed! However, there hasn't really been a whole lot to share. One particular event that was significant for our family was last weekend. We celebrated Jason's dad's birthday by going to teppanyaki on Labor Day. It has been almost 4 years since his passing, and to honor his memory, we have done this each year on his birthday. While in the hospital during his final days, he had told Jason that he wished he could've gone to "the place where they cook in front of you" for dinner. He never got to go again... Before heading to dinner, we met at a local playground to release balloons (sending balloons to Grandpa for his party in heaven). Each grandchild wrote a letter or drew a picture to attach to the ballooon. We truly value this special time with family. We continue to feel the void that his absence has brought- we love him and miss him so much.

First Tooth on the First Day of First Grade

2010-09-01T20:50:00.001-07:00

I don't know how I totally neglected to blog about such an important milestone... Grace lost her first tooth on her first day of first grade! It had actually been loose for quite some time- in fact, Jeremy was the one that "started" it. He was going crazy with his toy drum, and Grace approached him, wanting to have a turn. He didn't realize she was there and ended up hitting her in the mouth with a drumstick. It loosened immediately. We really thought the tooth would fall out soon afterwards, but it actually stayed loose in her mouth for almost a month! We were starting to get concerned because in that time, her grown up tooth poked through. Jason asked to see the tooth on that first day of school, and he said it was just dangling. He gave it a little tug and it came out easily! Unfortunately, with the excitement of the day, the tooth ended up getting misplaced (I know, that's pretty gross to think that her tooth could be somewhere in our house still). We had her write a letter to the tooth fairy explaining what happened. The tooth fairy was so nice to still visit and leave her a treat! Grace is now working on a second loose tooth! Hopefully, it won't take as long as it did her first one.

Fairytale Pumpkin

2010-08-24T19:57:00.000-07:00

This past year, I made it one of my goals to finish Jeremy's "1st Year" scrapbook. I can't even begin to tell you how much time I devoted to it. Now that it's finished, it is something that I cherish deeply. The pictures, the little journaling notes, the memories... I'm so glad to have it!

Do you have tons of pictures in boxes or on your computer that you've been meaning to scrapbook? Do you love the idea of keeping special memories through scrapbooks but lack the time to sit down and actually create them? Do you lack the creativity to design different layouts/pages? Do you like the idea of digital scrapbooking but have been avoiding it because it might take too much to learn how to do it?

I know just the solution for you! My close friend, Christa, recently started a new business called Fairytale Pumpkin to help people who would love to have deeply meaningful scrapbooks but lack the time or creativity to complete them. Using digital scrapbooking, she customizes layouts and creates pages to your liking, using your pictures, your journaling, your memories! The options and possibilities are endless... The perk is that she will do all the work and the end result is a wonderful scrapbook for you and your family to treasure! Please visit her website for more information and samples of things she has created. Make sure you check out her Etsy page, too!

Our First Days of School!

2010-08-21T23:17:00.001-07:00

Ah, truly the end of summer has arrived! Our whole family has started the new school year!

Jane:

When I took my leave of absence, I was told that there would be no guarantees as to which school or grade I'd return to. In June, I was happy to find out that not only did I get to return to the school I left prior to taking my year off, but that I'd also get the grade I left, too. So, this year I am back at Harvest Elementary School, teaching 5th grade. A major change though, is my grade level partner David has been moved to middle school. I will miss working with him immensely! Luckily for me, my new grade level partner is someone that I've worked with before. Michelle and I taught first grade together many years ago! We have another grade level partner, Hien, who we just met a few weeks ago. Our school has a new principal this year so I have no idea what to expect. It has only been a week and a half, but I am very content- I really enjoy my class! I haven't had any internal battles about being a working mom vs. being a stay-at-home mom. Aside from now having very busy days, it has been a pretty smooth transition!

Jeremy:

Jeremy spends his day at an in-home daycare down the street from Grace's school. It is the same one he went to before I took my year off work. They loved him so much that they reserved a spot for him! We decided to start him a week before we had to be back at work, just to give him time to adjust. He cried for about a half hour on his first day, but once they started their "school" hour, he immediately stopped crying and was hooked. He loves it and has had no problems since then! We love it because even though he's only 2, they do arts & crafts with him, music, dancing, "school-learning (alphabet & numbers), and "exploration" play. We call it "school" just to make him feel grown up like Grace!

Jason:

This is a big year for Jason! His middle school is 6th-8th grade and he decided to change grade levels this year, moving from 8th grade History to 6th grade History. He is extremely excited because unlike a self-contained 6th grade classroom, he only teaches 6th grade History. The curriculum is fun, consisting of Ancient Rome, Ancient China, Ancient Greece, etc. The nicest thing about this switch is that 6th grade does not have California State Testing for History... Ah, no pressure of testing! His program is I.B. (International Baccalaureate), and so the majority of his students are bright, having tested "Proficient or Advanced" last year on the CSTs. There are so many things he'll be able to do with his classes this year and after meeting them this past week, he's very optimistic that it's going to be a great year!

Grace:

Grace's first day of first grade was this past Monday. She was extremely anxious! The night before school started, I explained to her that I'd walk her to class, help her find her desk, and then I'd have to leave because I had to go to work. Teary-eyed, she said, "When you leave, I'm going to cry because I'll miss you so much. I won't see you for a whole day!" For weeks now, she has also made comments like, "I'm not ready for first grade," or "I'm not smart enough to be in first grade," or "What if I can't stay awake for the entire day?" We have never put pressure on her, but somehow, she has gotten the impression that she has to know everything in order to be in first grade. Another teacher at my school was able to take my class so that I could drop Grace off at school on her first morning. Grace didn't cry, though she clearly looked nervous. I on the other hand, got very emotional. Last year, she was only gone for a half-day. It really hit me that she was going to be in school for an entire day... and that I had to "let go." Remember when she started school as a kindergartner!?

Here is our little first grader! Without getting into specifics, we were extremely let-down by her school and teacher on her first day of school. Furthermore, after a disappointing Back-to-School Night, and Grace's many comments about how she doesn't think her teacher likes her, I am genuinely concerned about how this year is going to affect her personality, her spirit, her love of school, and her desire to learn. I have a feeling that this is going to be a trying year- God is going to teach us a lot through it!

End of Our Summer

2010-08-14T11:53:00.000-07:00

Just like that.... it's gone... Our summer! After getting back from Edmonton, and then from Sacramento, it feels like these last few weeks of summer vacation flew by! I haven't posted anything in a while because 1) I've been so busy, but 2) I don't have a whole lot to share.

One important event that did take place over these last few weeks was the wedding of our very good friends, Deanna and Jed. What a special privilege it was for us to be included in so many events during their wedding week. We are grateful for their friendship and are excited to see this next chapter in their lives as husband and wife!
My first day back at work was this past Tuesday, but actually, I went back to work on July 26, the Monday after we got back from Sacramento. I had to move my boxes from our garage (that we haven't used all year because it stored my teacher stuff) back to school, and then of course set up my classroom. Jason is starting a new grade level this year, so he's also been busy getting prepared for that. Our whole family is gearing up for a major change in our daily and weekly schedule- it's going to be quite busy this upcoming year!

Grace and Jason both start school on Monday, so hopefully I'll be able to post some time next week about all of our "first days of school!"

USA Masters Track & Field Championships

2010-07-27T22:20:00.001-07:00

On Friday, we loaded up the car again and drove to Sacramento. After many months of anticipation, the day had finally arrived- the USA Masters Track & Field Championships were held there this past weekend. Jason has been training for months for this huge event. It's basically a track & field competition for athletes who are out-of-college. It is inspiring to watch some of the older athletes- the oldest competitor this year was 96! With the wide range of ages, there are many different age brackets. This event was significant because it was the Nationals, with athletes from many all over the USA competing. Jason had lots of support in addition to me, Grace, and Jeremy- Jason's mom, his sister, his nephew and nieces, his sister's boyfriend and his daughter, Jason's uncle and aunt all made the trip to come watch him. His first race was the M30 (athletes aged 30-34) 100 m preliminary. It was incredibly hot and we were dripping with sweat while we sat in the stands! Before long, we learned that since some athletes had scratched, Jason automatically advanced to the finals (we had hurried to get there so it was a bummer he didn't even race).

On Saturday, since Jason's first race wasn't until after lunch, we were able to squeeze in a visit to Sutter's Fort. Unfortunately, it wasn't too interesting for Grace and Jeremy. We'll definitely have to return when they're older.
Jason's first race was the M30, 100 m final. It was so exciting to watch Jason finish in 3rd place, earning a bronze medal!

His next race was the M30, 200 m preliminary. There were two heats, and Jason's time qualified for the final. Unfortunately, that race left him feeling rather sore. For dinner later that evening, we were able to visit Old Town Sacramento.

On Sunday, we decided to head to IKEA before Jason's race. I love that place! Of course we left with plenty! Jason's race was in the afternoon, and he had a hard time warming up. When it came time for the 200 m finals, he did great coming out of the blocks, but injured his achilles tendon coming around the bend. It has bothered him in the past, but not in the past few months. Needless to say, that forced him to stop and he ended up hobbling over the finish line. He was so disappointed, and we were disappointed for him. It's one of those things- an athlete devotes to training for months, and it all comes down to a few seconds... We are already looking ahead to next year. The World Masters Track & Field Championships will be held in July at the same venue in Sacramento. Despite having to hobble around, after we left the meet, Jason still wanted to take our kids to the California State Railroad Museum. I am so glad we did- Jeremy LOVED it. I loved seeing his excitement as he ran from train to train. He couldn't get enough! After getting some treats in Old Town, we finally headed for home. Jeremy threw one of the longest tantrums ever, and he kept saying, "I don't want to go home!"

I am so proud of Jason and not just because he earned a bronze medal at this meet. I am inspired by his commitment, determination, discipline, and drive. What an amazing example he has shown our kids of how to live an active lifestyle, how to strive towards a goal, and to not give up when it really would be easier to quit. Way to go, Babe- we love you so much!

There's No Place Like Home

2010-07-27T21:52:00.000-07:00

What an ordeal we went through to return to Fresno! Our flight was scheduled to leave Edmonton last Tuesday evening at 6pm. We got there at about 4:30pm to make sure we'd have enough time to go through customs. Upon checking in, we discovered that our flight was delayed 2 hours because our plane had mechanical problems. Once checked in, you can't turn back- we had to proceed to customs. That meant we had to stay at the airport until 8pm. We found a section to claim as our own and let the kids run around. Thankfully, they sent a different plane instead of the one that had mechanical problems! Due to our delay, we missed our connection from Seattle to San Jose. Immediately upon landing in Seattle, we had to line up to get a hotel voucher to stay overnight. Of course it wasn't until we were getting our luggage that we noticed an error- we had to go get back in line. This caused us to miss our shuttle to the hotel, which only ran every half hour. We were relieved when we finally got into our hotel room, but then we had to wait some more for a crib for Jeremy, and extra sheets and blankets for Grace. Our kids didn't go to bed until 11pm! They were still on "mountain time," so it was actually more like midnight. It was such a crazy evening!

The next morning, we woke up plenty early to return to the airport. This time, there were no problems and we flew back to San Jose. Our friend, Julie, picked us up. We left our car at their home while we were gone, and after going to get it, we finally headed for Fresno!

It was sooooooooo nice to be home! We unloaded our luggage, checked our plants, looked for our cat, and went through our mail. The kids pulled out every toy they owned, so glad to see them again. It was nice to relax in our own space. Of course that didn't last!

Our Last Weekend

2010-07-19T10:09:00.000-07:00

Our last weekend here was a busy one! On Friday night, I was able to go out for dinner with my sister, Sarah, and our close friends, Thao and Binh. We had so much fun- I laughed so hard!We grew up together and I am grateful that despite the distance, we're all still close. We spent Saturday with my brother, Peter (aka PT), and sis-in-law, Teresa (who came up from Calgary), Thao and her husband, Peter, and their daughter, Sam. Jason went golfing with PT and Peter and the rest of us went to watch Sam play soccer. After some shopping in the afternoon, and a visit to a new bubble tea cafe, PT and Teresa prepared dinner for all of us at Peter and Thao's house.
After church on Sunday, we went out for a family lunch before heading to Galaxyland, the indoor amusement park at West Edmonton Mall. My parents get a lot of joy from watching the kids go on the rides. Actually, they enjoy taking the kids to the annual fair here, but it doesn't start until later this week. Grace was old enough to try going on some bigger rides- she definitely inherited her "guts" from Jason!
Tomorrow, we leave Edmonton... It's hard to believe that we've been here for 3 weeks! Despite the crazy weather not allowing us to do as much as we wanted, it has still been a good visit. We were able to spend some quality time with family and close friends. This past Saturday evening was particuarly meaningful for me. My whole life, I have never known the whole story of how my parents met, how they escaped Vietnam during the war, and how they ended up in Canada. I have heard bits and pieces over the years, but I have never heard it from them. They finally opened up and shared about things from their past. I finally know more about my family's history! That evening is one of the highlights of this trip for me. Often times, I tell people that I keep this blog as a way to journal things that I consider important. I will most definitely be writing everything down that they shared with me in the weeks to come.

Tomorrow, we'll be flying from Edmonton to San Jose where we'll spend the evening with our friends, Darren and Julie, before driving back to hot hot Fresno! To our Edmonton friends- see you next year, and to our Fresnan friends- see you all really soon!

Auntie Sarah, aka Di Dao

2010-07-18T20:30:00.000-07:00

I love my sister! We're really close and have been able to remain close friends despite the distance. When we're in Edmonton, I'm glad that I get to spend a lot of time with her. She's one of the most giving, kind hearted people I know. The kids warmed up to her immediately. She really wanted to have special "dates" with Grace and Jeremy this year, some time to bond with them individually. Last week, she took Grace to Crankpots, a ceramic painting studio. Afterwards, they went out for dinner together.For her special time with Jeremy, Sarah decided to bake cookies with Jeremy. I am certain that he felt important, particularly since he got to be the only helper. Luckily for us, we got to reap the benefits of their hard work! Thanks, Di Dao, for being such a fun, amazing auntie! We love you!

Thursday

2010-07-17T08:02:00.000-07:00

With the constant rain here during our visit, it was such a welcome break when the sun appeared for most of Thursday. We were able to have lunch with our friends, James and Ann, and their children. James and Ann used to live in Fresno, but moved to Edmonton several years ago. Every time I think of it, I am still amazed that someone I knew in Fresno moved to my beloved Edmonton... Anyway, we always look forward to our annual visit with them! It was wonderful to be able to talk and share about each others' lives. Our children are also very close in age, so it's nice for them to have friends to play with. Later in the evening, my sister offered to watch our kids for us so we could have an early anniversary dinner. Our actual anniversary is July 24, but we're going to be in Sacramento that day for Jason's track races (he'll need to focus on that). The weather cooperated long enough for her to take the kids to the Millwoods Farmer's Market. Being the good aunt she is, of course she let them get all kinds of sweet treats!Jason and I are celebrating 11 years of marriage this year! To celebrate, we went out for a special dinner. For years, I have wanted to try The Melting Pot. It is a fondue restaurant chain, and oddly enough, its first and only Canadian location is in Edmonton. There are tables for various sized groups, including cozy booths for parties of 2. We'd love to go with a group some time- it'd be a fun "group experience." Aside from the loud people in the booth next to us, it was a wonderful evening- the food was fantastic, and the ambience was romantic. We highly recommend it, but if you go, be prepared- it was the most expensive meal we have ever had! There have been many ups and downs over the years. I don't ever want to take for granted how God has really protected and strengthened our marriage over these past few years. I have seen first hand how God has moved in and through both of us- I feel incredibly blessed.

Week 2 of Edmonton Visit

2010-07-13T10:16:00.000-07:00

Sorry for not posting regularly about our visit to Edmonton! It's because we have been up to nothing- seriously! We haven't done a whole lot. We've had such a low-key visit so far- I've been able to do plenty of reading, napping, and watching TV (we don't have dish or cable at home, so I've loved having access to HGTV, TLC, Food Network, etc. I've watched A LOT of t.v. this trip). Part of the reason why we haven't done very much is because Edmonton has had a very wet summer. Last year, it was really warm, so for this year, I packed a lot of shorts and t-shirts. Instead, we've been wearing mostly our jeans! The weather has been a good excuse to lounge around and be lazy.

A few days ago, we spent some time at West Edmonton Mall, just walking around. If you recall from previous years' posts, it's one of Edmonton's biggest tourist attractions. It's not that big a deal for Edmontonians, but for others, it's pretty amazing for a mall to have so many stores (about 800), an indoor water park, an indoor amusement park, a casino, a rooftop driving range, an indoor skating rink, movie theaters, sea lion shows, etc. We'll be returning there on Sunday when my parents take the kids to the amusement park.

This past weekend, Jason signed up to run in the Alberta Provincial Track and Field Championships. One race was on Saturday, and the other race was on Sunday. I actually got to watch it- the kids were great spectators for this meet, despite the wind and sprinkling of rain.It was interesting how the meet divided up the age brackets. At age 34, Jason was in the 20-34 age bracket. In fact, in that age bracket, there were only 2 people who weren't currently in college. That means that he had to run against athletes that are currently competing at the collegiate level. Well, for his 100 m race, his time was 11.60 secs. He came in 13th out of 14 runners. For his 200 m race, his time was 23.4 secs. He came in 7th out of 10 runners. Jason was really disappointed, but the upside is that he was able to compete in 2 events without getting injured. His next meet is the "biggie!" It's what he's been training for all year: the 2010 USA Masters Outdoor Track & Field Championships taking place July 22-25 in Sacramento.

Anyway, that's what we've been up to. With only a week left here, this week is shaping up to be quite busy as I try to meet up with as many friends as possible. Hopefully, I'll be able to post again really soon!

Weekend Visit to Calgary

2010-07-06T20:29:00.000-07:00

It has been a few years since we've visited the city of Calgary. It is located south of Edmonton and takes almost 3 hours to get there by car. My brother, Peter, and sister-in-law, Teresa live there, but they usually come up to Edmonton when we're here so we haven't visited Calgary in a while. Last Saturday, we made the drive down. In addition to visiting with friends, I wanted to take the kids to the Calgary Zoo. It is well-known and definitely a memorable zoo to visit. If you're ever in the area, I highly recommend it. Grace's favorite part of the zoo was the Dinosaurs Alive Park. The dinosaur park has always been a part of the zoo, but its new exhibit showcases 20 animatronic dinosaurs- think huge, loud, and scary! Some of the gigantic dinosaurs have motion detectors that will activate the dinosaur, causing it to roar and move. Every few seconds, you can hear screams from little kids. Our kids didn't scream but they held onto our hands very tightly as we walked by. This exhibit was very, very cool! Part of the reason why I love this zoo is because of how everything is organized. There are different sections/pavilions representing the continents of the world. For example, in the African Savannah, some of the animals we got to see were the hippos (my favorite), giraffes, lions, ostriches, and zebras. I also love this zoo because the habitats are incredible- they're roomy and look "authentic."

We were all tired after walking around for 3.5 hours. There were some exhibits that we didn't even get to- maybe next time!

We got in the car and drove another 30 minutes to get to a town called Okotoks to see my dear friends, Jenny and Huy. I haven't seen them for 14 years! They used to live in Vancouver and we lost touch over the years. Thank goodness for Facebook! Jenny and Huy moved to Calgary last year, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to reconnect with them. My brother and sister-in-law were also able to come and join us for dinner. Jenny made a delicious authentic Vietnamese hot pot for us. While the guys watched UFC, Jenny did my sister-in-law's and Grace's nails! Boy, did Grace get spoiled! We stayed up late sharing and reminiscing... Next morning, we shared breakfast before heading on.

It was July 4, and who better to spend Independence Day in Canada with than dear friends who we originally met in Fresno!? We still consider Don and Lavonne to be close friends, despite the fact that it has been four years since we've seen them. They are from Winnipeg and we became close friends when they lived in Fresno for several years when Don was going to seminary there. Their trip to Calgary coincided with our trip to Edmonton, and so we made it a priority to make sure to connect with them. We had planned to spend the day at a nearby park, but the weather did not cooperate, so we ended up spending it at their friends' house. Their friends were so gracious, and gave us the place and time to be together. We got to meet their son and they got to meet ours. We have missed them so much over the years, and are so grateful we got to spend time with them!

For dinner, we got the chance to meet up with my friend, Brian, and his girlfriend, Aja. Brian was my best friend during my university years.He was an important part of my life-a great listener, supportive, and incredibly fun to be with. Our life journeys took us on different paths over the years, but I still value him and our friendship. It has also been about four years since I saw Brian last, so it was good to see him and get a chance to catch up. After dinner, we headed back to Edmonton.

It feels like we jammed a lot into one weekend, but I am so incredibly grateful to have had the chance to see these wonderful friends. What a blessing!

Canada Day

2010-07-05T19:16:00.001-07:00

It has been a few years since we've been in Canada for Canada Day. We intentionally sought out things to do as a family for this special occasion. The day started off with the Silly Summer Parade down Edmonton's Whyte Ave. I've never been to it, so we truly didn't know what to expect. We found a perfect spot near the end of the parade route, and Jason walked to Oodle Noodle to get us some lunch to eat while we waited for the parade to start. I LOVE OODLE NOODLE! Yum! The parade itself wasn't very long, and it was "silly" in the sense that there was no rhyme or reason to it- very random. However, because it was silly and random, the kids really enjoyed it. It was also neat to see everyone decked out in Canada gear all day!

Later that afternoon, we went to Louise McKinney Park, located right above the river valley. This Canada Day celebration included midway rides, a craft tent, cultural dancing, and live entertainment. The kids had a blast going on some rides and with all the walking we did, quickly fell asleep as soon as we got in the car.

Around 10pm, we took Grace with us to find a spot in the river valley to watch Edmonton's fireworks show. We decided to leave Jeremy sleeping, since it was so late. Can you believe that by the time 11pm rolled around, it still wasn't really dark outside?! The fireworks would've been more amazing against a dark backdrop... The show was pretty good (definitely better than what they've done in the previous years, but paled in comparison to Buchanan High's in Clovis). We didn't get home until past midnight and Grace was definitely wiped out! It was a fun day- Happy Birthday, Canada!