Birthday Party for Nicole.

This Sunday we held a small Birthday party for Nicole. After Church, with the kids sent over to Mah Mah's place, Becky and I went to pick up the birthday cake and some burgers for our lunch. While Chris went to Costco to get the food for the party, we decorated the living room nicely. Becky prepared Dora games, party favors and set up the pinata for the kids. Nicole had a great time and was thrilled with all the birthday presents that she got.

Nicole helping Mommy to make star cookies for her Dora game.

Becky chose Dora as the theme for Nicole's birthday party.
Isn't our decoration for the room pretty? 

A group picture of Nicole's Birthday party. 

Hey, guys. It is time to open my presents.

Nicole planting a big, big kiss on her little boyfriend.





























What a pretty Dora birthday cake!














Nicole seemed to enjoy it very much.

Nicole got two pairs of beautiful new shoes for her birthday.

Wow, a Dora backpack!





















Hurray, more Dora toys! This great big box is from Mommy and Daddy.

Sleepy, sleepy, sleepy!

The days went by in a blur. The first night Becky told me to sleep with her to avoid waking up Jason. As I had rested a little on the plane, I had trouble falling asleep. Before long, I heard Jason waking up and crying. They usually allow him to cry himself back to sleep. So I tried to ignore his crying till I could not bear it any longer. It was so wonderful to see his smile again. I picked him up to change his diaper. Then I walked and rocked him for a long, long time, he still refused to go back to sleep. Ah, now I realized I was really asking for trouble getting him out of bed. When Becky peeped in I asked her if I should feed him. Finally the bottle of milk helped to settle him down. I was getting real sleepy and achy for having worked in the yard for hours, stuck in the plane seat for the three hour flight and holding Jason for such a long time. I could hardly open my eyes when Jason woke me up around 5am. I was so tired the whole day that I hardly had the energy to think about cooking for dinner. Luckily, Becky had cooked a pot of stew. At first I thought that would do for dinner. Then I realized that Chris aleady had that for lunch. So I quickily made a fast dish of tomato with egg.

Jason usually woke up two or three times a night. I have no trouble rocking him back to sleep. The hardest part is to put him in the crib without waking him up. Sometimes I had to try again and again. That bothered him so much he might end up refusing to go back to sleep. I tried changing his diaper. I tried feeding him. I tried everything. The pill I have to take before going to bed is supposed to help me sleep. Struggling with a crying and unco-operative baby in my drowsiness makes it rather difficult for me . My muscle ached terribly all over my body, so sometimes I could not go back to sleep after I succeded putting Jason to bed.

Jason having a good time playing big sister Nicole.
Jason cheerfully waiting for his dinner. 

Rush, rush and rush

Christine and Patrick came to Houston for a few days to attend the Bo Oi School Appreciation Dinner and to solicit support for the school. Response was great. I was busy with their visit and did not have time to pack for my trip to LA. Christine and I were supposed to leave Houston on the same. I in the morning and she in the evening. I felt I was completely not ready and there was not enough time for me to weed the lawn before leaving, so I asked Amy to change my flight schedule, hoping with a few extra days I might be able to get rid of all the weeds. Unfortunately, weather was bad the whole week, it was raining most of the time. There was nothing I could do outside. I tried tidying up the inside of the house, doing all the laundry, and finishing to read all the Chinese newspaper, besides packing ahead.

The sun finally came out on the day of my departure. It was a Thursday, that means I had to take Kung Kung , Po Po to the Senior meeting. I kept ringing the bell but I got no answer. So I went back to the car to fetch my cell phone. Po Po then opened the door in her pyjama. They were still in bed because they thought today was Wednesday. So I asked them to stay home since they were not ready, that way I could rush home to do some yard work once I finished recording a sermon for Pastor Hung. It took me two whole hour to get that done. Po Po called and wanted me to go over to their place again for lunch. I told them I had a lot to do with the yard, but they insisted and I did not have the heart to refuse them. Lunch, of course, was not ready when I got there. So I wasted another hour waiting there.

I rushed home as soon as I finished swallowing the big bowl of potstickers. Quickly I started working and I kept working in the front yard the whole afternoon. I had to rush, rush, rush, because I knew Daniel would keep telling me to stop and get ready to go to dinner before heading for the airport. We picked up Kung Kung, Po Po and met with Amy in a Chinatown restaurant. Dinner was nice but traffic was bad unexpectedly. Daniel kept saying we might not have enough time. I kept quiet because I was afraid he got mad at me working too long in the yard. Luckily, traffic was back to normal once we passed the downtown area. We managed to get to the airport about 45 minutes before departure time. I had no problem checking in, but I had to rush because it was a long way to get to Terminal E from Terminal C. The plane ride was smooth, however, a baby behind me kept crying all the time. I couldn't help but thank God allowing me to catch the flight and not having Jason with me. Imaging all that rushing with a baby, it would truly be mission impossible for me.

Arrival of Becky with Nicole and Jason on 12/11.


First we had dinner at Souper Salad.

Kung Kung tried his hand feeding Baby Jason.

Jason getting to know Auntie Amy.

Jason was quite happy exploring his new environment in Kung Kung's house.

Meeting with Great Grandma and Grand Uncle John.

Nicole having a good time playing with Auntie Amy.

Kung Kung enjoying Baby Jason.

Nicole working hard at her puzzles during the day.

Baby Jason couldn't stop laughing playing peep-a -boo with Kung Kung.

Celebrating Tai Kung's birthday at the Jade Garden Restaurant.

Showing off Jason at the dinner.

Tai Kung happily cutting his birthday cake.

The Chinese birthday buns looked quite pretty too.

Nicole enjoying her favorite snack - applesauce and big blueberries.

Jason loved to play with the toy Grand Auntie Ivy sent him.

Nicole fell in love with Mulan. She watched this movie over and over again. Now she calls herself Kulan Kwan.

Meeting with a new friend- Jean Wong's granddaughter Mimi. Nicole was very friendly with her, she kept calling her honey.

Nicole getting all clean from head to toe in th new bathtub.

On 12/23 Alvin's family arrived with Mark and Helen.

Baby Jason couldn't keep his eye off his cousin Daniel.

Jason getting to meet with Uncle Mark.

Next he came over to say Hello to Auntie Helen.

Great Grandma came to see Baby Daniel.

Dinner was ready! It looked pretty good to me.

First we gathered around to have a prayer of thanksgiving.

Our Christmas family portrait of 2006.

Here was a present for Baby Daniel from cousin Nicole.

This present was for Grandma from Grand Auntie Debbie.

Auntie Jenny, this big one is for you.

Ah, I finnally got one for myself. Ha, ha!

Nicole delivering a present for Auntie Helen.

Cousin Daniel wanted to see what Jason got from Grandma.

Dinner on Christmas Day at the restaurant.

Jason sharing his toy with cousin Daniel.

Buffet dinner at China Bear Restaurant to meet with Melvin, Rebecca and Edwin.

Jason with Uncle Edwin.

Nicole having fun with Uncle Melvin.

What a great family reunion, though we were sad it was time to say good-bye to Alvin's family.