Family Portraits 2007

Family pictures taken right before Halloween 2007. With our first child, we took family portraits religiously about every 3 months. With the second one, once a year is just right. We are just getting too comfortable with the whole parenthood thing.

Samantha's Preschool

This is Samantha's preschool class picture. It's an extreme popular preschool program. Under the supervision of a certified teacher, high school students are being trained to be early childhood teachers. I got Samantha in before the words got out. Parents put infants' names on the waiting list already! The teacher to student ratio is normally 2 to 1. And the best part is the tuition: only $85 for the whole semester. Timothy will automatically get in next year, let's cross finger that he will be potty trained by then.

BYU Won!

Did you watch the Utah vs. BYU game yesterday? It was an awesome roller coaster ride. Just when we thought we were going to lose it with a minute and half left in the fourth quarter (and it was 4th and 18), we had a huge comeback. I was jumping up and down like a monkey along with bunch other BYU alumni. (The similar scene happened back in the year 2001). And this Leslie writing, not Thanh. Many thanks to Thanh who taught me all (ok, almost all) the rules about football. No offense to other ball games fans, Football is the greatest. I am hoping, if not both, at least one of our kids will go to BYU years down the road, so we can go back to visit BYU again. Go cougars!

Wood Sign

My friend, Melissa, asked me to make this wood sign for her sons' room. The colors goes with the room, and the scripture in Matthew 5:16 she picked out was just right for the theme. I have done many wood signs for my friends, and even ebayed some. Maybe it's time for me to make my kids some cool signs, too. Any request and comments?

Wet/Dry Silde

Thanh got this Splash N' Slide inflated pool in mid hot summer and we had really good use of it. Just when I thought I needed to pack it away for the winter, Samantha nicely suggested that we can play it without the water. Ok, why not? It was just as fun. Thanh rarely buys toys (it's mommy's job) for kids, and this impulsive buy of his has really paid itself. We highly recommended it.

Timothy L's Bithday Party

Timothy #1 and Timothy #2 painting the house.


Samantha doesn't have preschool on Mondays, so she gets to come to the party and show the boys how to behave.

Timothy got invited to his first official birthday party, and the birthday boy happened to be Timothy, too. The theme is about "Bob, the builder," and my friend, Michelle, did a great job hosting. It really inspired me to want to have birthday parties next year for my kids.

Playgroup explores the fire station

For playgroup this week, we visited a local fire station, and I think I was more excited than most of the kids. It was just so cool to see all the gear up and close. Samantha was ready for the "real" playgroup after we were done visiting. I just consider my kids to be lucky to have this kind of experience here in the States, when in Taiwan, it's not even allowed to have female firefighters.

Flying the kite

Our newest outdoor obsession is flying the kite. The weather here is just perfect, windy but not cold. If you want to wear out your kids after their nap, before dinner time, I highly recommend this "sport." By the way, the one-dollar- store- kites will do.

Silly Timmy

Timothy is a natural comedian. When he does something silly, Thanhs always says that it's from my side of gene. It was just a simple breakfast--Bao Zi, and Timmy made the scene a little bit more interesting.

Finding Nemo

Thanks to our newly subscribed Houston Chronicles, we found out about the Disney on Ice show-"Finding Nemo" just in time to take the kids to their first disney show. The Reliant Center was packed despite it was a Friday. Samantha was old enough to appreciate the talents on the stage, while Timmy was more concerned about the snack time.

Broccoli Bouquet

As Thanh is getting the lunch ready (yummy steaks and nutritious broccoli), Samantha got hold of the broccoli and pretended to be bride walking down the isle. Don't ask me where she got her idea from. Just don't grow up too fast, baby! Timothy thought it was funny, too.

Truck-or-Treat

It is pretty unusually to celebrate Halloween after the fact. Tonight at church, we have chill (also bread) cookout contests and also truck-or treat activity going on. We didn't cook anything but brought 100 pieces chicken McNuggets to share, and we were kids' #1 choice. I think we really got our money worth on buying the costumes and bags. I lost count on how many Halloween parties we've gone to this year!

Trick-or-Treat

The long anticipated night has finally arrived. Some friends join us for trick-or-treat extravaganza. Almost every house has its porch lights on, and it means welcoming. Timothy's bag gets so full that he has to drag it home. We got pretty popular for giving out Costco size candy bars. This year we also give out glowing sticks. Thanh divides the candies we like in three bags, one for her, one for him, and one for us. The rest will go to the late Halloween trunk-or-treat party this Friday at the Church. Yeah, I can do this every year.

Halloween Party #2

We have playgroup every Wednesday. It's consist of bunch of stay-at-home moms and bunch of playful kids. Today happens to be Halloween, so we have a potluck lunch at the park, and a trick-or-treat rehearse. The weather is just perfect and I seem to forget how hot it was just two weeks ago. Earlier today, Samantha wore her Mulan costume to her preschool, and I didn't take a picture in time. Timothy's little girl friend, Kathryn, loves to hang out with him.