Wishing you all the best for 2011 !

Hello !

It's the last day of 2010 and I am trying to beat the clock. I haven't had a chance to update this blog for a long time. My excuse of being so busy is becoming overused but it is unfortunately true.

I continue to take pictures to chronicle the events that have happened to us but just have not had the time to organize the pictures and post it in this blog. For those who have a Facebook account, I am more visible there than here.

Anyway, to make up for the 'long silence', I have decided to give you of a synopsis of 2010 for us.

Highlights of 2010

A. Life in Dugway

We moved to the military housing (Dugway Proving Grounds) on Jan 1, 2010. It is quite remote (nearest big store is Walmart Superstore - 55 minutes away from DPG) so most of our weekends were spent going out to the city (e.g. Salt Lake City, Park City, Ogden, Layton). However, we also spent a lot of time inside the base doing fun stuff like practising baseball, flying Ben's remote control airplane and Angie's kite. We also participated in some of the base-hosted activities like camping and skiing trips. During our stay there, we also tried raising chickens (we're not about to do that again!) and planting veggies (this was a success so we will keep doing it !). 

B. Out of State Trips

2010 was a year of several out of state trips for us. In spring, we flew to San Francisco to go whale watching in Monterey Bay and to visit Papa and participate in the Easter egg hunting party he hosted at his house. Summer, we went to Oregon and Chicago. We attended the reunion of Toukoul Adoptive Families in Portland, Oregon. Then a week after, we went  to Chicago to visit with my relatives. In September, we drove to Denver, Colorado. We spent a few days in Hawaii in the fall. Lastly, we went to Toronto to spend a few days with  Grandma, Aunt Gi, Uncle Jim, Lauren and Jackson.

C. Ben and Angie

It has been a busy year for the kids. We visited the different ski resorts that are within an hour away from Salt Lake City so both of them were able to do a lot of skiing Jan-Mar. They were also able to do a lot of swimming (at the different hotels we stayed at on the weekends that we were out of Dugway). They have not taken formal swimming lessons, though, so that is something to do in 2011. Angie took dance lessons at school and had a recital at end of school. I did a little experiment with Angie's hair (went to a salon and had extensions put on her hair) and I am NOT going to do that again for at least the next 10 years or so !

D. Move to Park City, Utah

We moved out of the military housing and moved to Park City in November. We are currently staying in a partly-furnished condo until we find a permanent place to live (looking for condo or house to buy). Ben and Angie attend a very good school in Park City - Ben is in Jr.-K while Angie is in Preschool and they have adjusted quite well. Matt is keeping himself busy with a full-time winter job at the Deer Valley Ski Resort as he looks for his next job. Am still with Qwest and working from home.



Now, enough of the words, HERE is 2010 in PICTURES ! 

So that's 2010 for us.

We wish you all continued blessings for 2011 ! Have a Happy New Year !

I Heart Faces - Focusing on Angles

This is my entry in this week's I Heart Faces photo challenge.  I was coaching Ben to hug his sister and he did but I guess Angie didn't want to be hugged at this particular moment.  I like the different expression on their faces. Priceless !

Feb 2010 pictures

Hello everybody !

Yes, this blog is still active even if the gaps in between entries are getting wider and wider. Time to blog is a luxury that does not come often nowadays.

I still continue to take pictures but I just don't have that much time to post it.

Anyway, I hope you are all doing good and in the best of health. Ben and Angie are doing very well as you can see in the pictures below.

Both of them are growing fast. Angie celebrated her 3rd birthday (Feb 3) at school. We have brought them 2x to-date this year to go skiing and they like it very much.

Enjoy the pictures and warm regards to all !

Merry Christmas

Hello everyone,

Merry, merry Christmas to all of you!

It's been a long while since I last wrote something on our blog.

Matt moved back to Utah after working on contract in California for close to 5 months. When he came back, he started working at Dugway Proving Grounds in Tooele County. He is currently doing a 2-hour trip each way Mondays to Thursdays.

That is about to change next year. We have found renters for our house in Layton and we will move to housing inside the base as we continue to look for a permanent place to live in.

Things have been quite hectic on our end as we prepare for this move. I'll try to keep you posted but in the meantime, ...

We wish you Peace and Happiness this Christmas!

We miss you all !

"We ♥ Tooshies"

I ♥ Faces Photo Challenge for the week is "We ♥ Tooshies"
Here is my entry.




That's my son Ben, my daughter Angie and their cousin Lily racing towards the opening of the Bouncy Inflatable House in my aunt's yard.

Goodbye Mom/Nana. We love you!

Monday, October 26, 2009 4:05 PM, PDT - Entry at the CaringBridge Site for Mom by my sister-in-law Kelly :

Our loving, caring, beautiful, wonderful mother, nana and friend passed away today at 12:38 p.m. Our grief is great, but we know she is now at peace.

Mom fought a long, hard battle and won in the end. She was surrounded by her loving family and friends in her final days and left us on her terms.



Below are some pictures of Mom. We remember her fondly and we are so grateful for all the love and care she has given us. We will miss you, Mom.

I ♥ Faces - Contemplative

I ♥ Faces Photo Challenge for the week is Contemplative.





This is a picture of my daughter Angela. We were at the park and I had told her that it was time to go home. She wasn't happy about it so she cried and protested. I took this shot after she had calmed down (see dried tears and runny nose). She's a feisty and strong-willed 2 year old so I am sure she was contemplating on what to do next to delay us leaving the park.

I have been a fan of I ♥ Faces for a long time but this is the first time I am entering the weekly contest. Thanks for stopping by.

New Pictures - Angela

New Pictures - Ben

Visit with Nana and Papa

Hello!

It's been too long. Hope all of you are doing well.

Anyway, here are some pictures from our visit with Nana and Papa. The kids and I visited Matt in Sacramento. He's working there on a contract job. We were there for 1 week and mid-week, we drove to Novato to visit with Nana and Papa.

It was a very good visit. Ben and Angela loved visiting with Nana and Papa. We were also able to see Aunt Petey. We're hoping we could do another visit before school starts.

Enjoy the pictures!

Talent Show, Mother's Day, Daddy's Birthday

Still catching up on updating our blog so doing a batch update here of 3 events we've had so far in May.


Talent Show at Ben's school (May 1)

The Talent Show was a school year-end event at Ben's school. Ben's Toddler class sang the 'Continent Song' for this event. They were requested to wear the costume from any of the continents. Ben wore the Chinese shirt and pants that we bought in Taiwan in 2007.

Unlike in the Christmas show, this time Ben went up the stage with the rest of his class. We let Angie join him so she can give moral support to Ben. As you can see from the pictures, Ben did not join in the singing. He decided that it was more fun to jump and stomp his feet on the stage. Pretty soon, his other classmates joined him while a small group continued to sing the Continent song.


Mother's Day and Matt's Birthday (May 10)

It was such a nice sunny spring day so we decided to go for a walk on a trail near where we live. It was a nice way to work up an apetite before we go out for lunch. I brought my camera to take pictures of Ben and Angela.

Here are the pictures from these events. Enjoy and till the next update !

Happy 3rd Birthday Ben (April 15)

I am doing catch up here, updating our blog, so excuse me if this post is out of sequence.

Anyway, we celebrated Ben's 3rd birthday last April 15. It was just a simple celebration at home. We had noodles (of course) for long life and we got an ice cream cake for him. He got to blow his candles and open his cards and gifts. Angie also got to open her gift from Nana and Papa.

A day before his birthday, he went to the potty by himself. He has since been going to the potty either to pee or poo. Way to go Ben. We are so proud of you and we love you! You're really a big boy now.

Here are some pictures of his birthday celebration.

Pictures from Chicago Trip - April 2009

We were in Chicago for 4 days in April. We flew there the day after Ben's birthday. Here are the pictures. It was lots of fun spending time with my mom, sister and her family, my aunts and uncles, my cousins and their families. Wish we could do this more often!

Easter Egg Hunt 2009

Happy Easter everybody!

Here are pictures from the Easter Egg Hunt that was held at our parish church. Since the Education Center is being built, the Knight of Columbus (who sponsors this event), held the hunt at the park across from the church.

It was a cloudy day but attendance was great as usual. Angie was at the 0-2 year olds while Ben was at the 3-4 year olds. Both did very well in getting their bag full of eggs. They even got special gifts.

Hope you enjoy the pictures and till the next update!

Take care always!

Angela's Baptism

Hello everybody!

We had Angela's baptism last Saturday, March 7. Just like Ben's baptism, it was a very small, intimate affair. Nana and Papa were not able to come this time, but Mama flew in from Toronto for this event. Godparents were Matt's Uncle Paul and my cousin Jean. Jean was not able to join us so Mama stood in for her. Uncle Paul's friend Sue was also there to celebrate this special event with us.

Here are some pictures from this very special day.

Happy 2nd Birthday !

February 3, 2009: Angela turned 2 years old today.

It's amazing how fast she has grown over the few months she's been with us. Our little girl is now officially in her 'Terrible Twos'!

She talks a lot, still has a ready smile on her face, has a love/hate relationship with Ben especially during playtime or car rides and her current fave word is 'NO'. (As an aside - Ben's current fave word now is 'WHY')

We celebrated her birthday at the daycare the Friday prior to her birthday. Ben did not have a class then and Matt and I took the afternoon off from work. We had a birthday cake and apple juice. We had the children from the Toddler class and also the 2year old class (she will be moving into this class in the next few days).

The following day - Saturday, we went to watch Disney Playhouse Live at the Energy Solutions center. We were all tired so we essentially took our afternoon nap while watching the show. We paid for 4 seats but as it turned out, Angela slept on Matt's lap and I had Ben on my lap. What an expensive way to have our afternoon nap! We keep telling ourselves that Ben and Angela are still too young for these shows but we get an email promotion with discounted tickets and we go ahead and buy.

On the day of her birthday, we got her from day care and all of us went to the open house of a school we are thinking of sending Ben and Angela next school year. Since it was getting late, we only managed to get a quick bite at Arctic Circle. We did buy her a cake. We didn't get to eat the cake and open the gifts until Wednesday, though.

Here are some pictures from her birthday party at the daycare. Enjoy!

Happy New Year !

2008 has been a good year for us. Last June, we traveled to Ethiopia to bring home Angela. Both Ben and Angela are in good health and growing up fast and doing very well in school. We are very happy and blessed to have them in our lives.




















From our family to yours, we wish you all the best for 2009!