Browse Category: family

25 Years of Service

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Despite a mild fever, body aches, and an annoying headache, I flew home for my mom’s retirement dinner. My mom retired on Wednesday after 25 years of service. When I got home, my mom couldn’t wait to show off her official certificate signed by the Governator himself.

It was nice to be home again even if it was for just a short time. It was great to see the family again and Katie was a doll. It’s too bad that I was too sick to hold her. Oh well, at least I had a zoom lens.

So, just like my dad did last year when he retired, they’re leaving for Thailand on Wednesday for a month-long trip. Take me with yooooooooou!

Here are photos from dinner.

Happy Be-lated Christmas!

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I just realized that I didn’t have a post on Christmas. So, Merry Christmas, Everyone! Thanks for all the Christmas cards!! I think we got a record number this year!

On Christmas Eve, we took Jia to South Coast Plaza for breakfast and a little shopping. She arrived the night before and it was nice to have everyone together again. The rest of the day was spent hanging out, playing video games, shopping for groceries, and making cookies.

On Christmas morning, I woke up early to go hang out with my parents. They were on their way to their hangout, McDonald’s, so I tagged along. It was fun just sitting there with my coffee (like everyone else) and watching their friends come and go. They’re like a bunch of teenagers again hanging out there every morning until lunchtime. My dad says that retirement life is awesome. I mean, he didn’t actually use the word “awesome” but that’s the gist of it. I want to retire.

Later that morning, the Laos piled into the Mountaineer to go visit Grandma in the nursing home. She’s been there for a couple years now ever since she fell and has been semi-comatose. Surprisingly, she was much more responsive that morning and being the therapist, I checked the tone and range in her arms and hands. I couldn’t help it. I wanted to make sure she was comfortable and positioned correctly. It was so sweet to see Jes’ dad with his mom (our grandma). We all want her to get up so badly but she’s 90-something and had a pretty bad injury to her head.

On Christmas afternoon, the roast was placed in the oven and we all played the “watch the temp rise” game” in hopes that it will be done in time. Everyone just hung out at home and some took naps, making for a pretty relaxed afternoon. That was until people started arriving and it was about one hour before dinner was served. That’s when all the action happens: take out the roast and finish everything else. It always seems to be that way. Watching Jes in the kitchen with so many people hovering and helping him reminded me of Iron Chef…such controlled chaos. Dinner was at Jes’ parents’ house in BP this year with both families gathered for the meal. We had a giant standing rib roast, corn, Yorkshire pudding, smashed potatoes, a Harry & David ham that someone left for his parents on the front porch, and lots of pie. We were all stuffed by the end of the night but still had some energy left for Wii and some family portraits.

Christmas vacation was fun but way too short. On our last night, we slept at my parents’ house in C-Town and it was so cozy since they turn the heater on at night. The next morning, I woke up pretty early to hang out with my Dad and then we started the drive back up to SF by 11 am.

Here are photos from the long weekend.

…and with Beakatude on drums!

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On Sunday afternoon, I tagged along with Johnny and Joy.  They were headed over to Shane’s house where he had the new Rock Band game.  It was pretty entertaining.  I got to sing, play guitar, and play the drums (something I’d always wanted to do).  Some songs were pretty difficult and some were just plain funny.  I always have a good laugh when the dying bird (my brother) sings.

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Later in the evening, I went to dinner with my parents and Marie’s family.  It was at the usual Thai hangout with my parents being the “regulars” along with his other random friends that also showed up for their evening meal.  Marie and Kenji brought the boys and grandparents.  And once again Brandon was so relaxed in Jesse’s lap while Cole cried and pouted when it was his turn with “Uncle Jesse”.  It’s always fun to share a meal with my family.  Good times…

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That same night, we met up with our old pals for some drinks.  There is no annual Christmas party this year so this was pretty much it.  The usuals were there: the Masayas (including Robert), Jimmy, Huy, the Bangs, the Sokol-Juns, Holly, and Roy.  We even got a special appearance by the youngest Fernando who happened to be there with some of her friends.  Unfortunately, we missed Dayantha, the younger Tranandos, Patti/Howard, and Patty/Johnny.  It was still great to see everyone together again.  It finally feels like Christmas is on its way.

Family Fun Day at the Dentist

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Yesterday, I went to see my dentist. He happens to be my cousin. He opened his office on a Sunday for me, Jesse, Johnny, and Jason. It was awesome. Pish brought Debbie and Katie for our entertainment and Joy also come along for kicks. We all got X-Rays taken along with a cleaning and polishing. Johnny and I got some extra special treatment with a filling each. *sigh* Vulnerable teeth seem to run in the family.

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We had a good time just spending time with each other and watching each other get poked and scraped in the mouth. It was also nice to see Katie again after so many months. She’s growing so fast and seems to like Uncle Johnny quite a bit.

Afterwards we had lunch in Irvine. My anesthetic had worn off by then but Johnny was still struggling to chew and not drool all over himself. It was quite a sight. Anyway, thanks again, Dr. Chamkasem!! You rock!

Here are photos from our morning with Katie and the gang.

Oh no…it’s back.

dsc_0119a.jpgI’m finally on Christmas vacation. We drove down last night and the traffic wasn’t horrible. However, the congestion on I-5 was pretty annoying with sudden brake lights every once in a while.

We arrived in BP around 11-ish and Jason was home. Not only was Jesse excited to see his little brother again but also to start playing WoW again. *sigh* I don’t know how I agreed to this but it’s true. The game that stole my husband for over a year is back. Fortunately for me, they both uninstalled the game from their laptops and have been spending the past 24 hours trying to get the game back onto their computers. So the playing hasn’t started yet and we were able to get out of the house today.

nikkor28-200.jpgI also got to play with one of my Christmas gifts from Jes. He got me the Nikkor 18-200 mm lens and it’s pretty fun so far. It’s nice and compact and the range is great. This has pretty much replaced my trusty kit lens (18-70 mm) and the zoom lens (80-200 mm) that I never use. I’m pretty happy with the lens and I think that this was Jes’ way of smoothing over the WoW-playing for the time being. Curse you, Blizz!!

Friends & Family

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. The best part of the holidays is seeing all your friends and family. That is certainly what I did this long weekend. I had just about every meal planned and it was awesome.

On Thursday, we had our Thanksgiving Feast in Buena Park. Johnny and Joy joined us but my parents couldn’t come because my mom was sick in bed with a really bad case of the flu. Poor Mommy. The turkey was super moist and everyone, including Jes’ dad, played Wii.

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On Friday morning, I slept in and then had lunch with the Suminos. We had sushi, which was something I had been craving since moving to SF. Brother and Joy also met up with us. In the afternoon, Jes took a super-long nap while I went to visit Patty and Johnny. I got to finally meet their little girl, Zoe, who is just a happy little doll. For dinner, I went out for Korean food with Patty, Holly, and Patti. That really hit the spot since it was another something that I was craving for a while. Afterwards, Jes and I met up with Huy and Jimmy for drinks. Jimmy and I also planned our Saturday morning, which will involve playing a round of 9-hole golf. Woot!

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On Saturday morning, Jimmy picked me up and we played 9 holes at IronWood. It was Jimmy’s very first golf game and I hadn’t picked up a golf club in about 2-3 years. We had a great time and lucked out with no one paired up with us and no one waiting behind us. Jimmy did great and I think I got him hooked on the game. He was a little worried since we didn’t have time to warm-up at the range first but he jumped right in a made a beautiful shot from the tee, over the lake, and onto the green at the 9th hole. Nice! For lunch, I met up with my old co-workers/friends and was happy to hear that Anahita is now 5 months pregnant! Wow!!

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Saturday’s dinner was the best part of my weekend. My mom was feeling much better and prepared her famous Thai BBQ chicken, Korean Kalbi, and peanut sauce. She taught me how to make sticky rice and I got the secret mango/sticky rice recipe from her. Yes!! It was great to be back in the Magical House with my family. The old peanut jokes came back out and seriously, it never gets old. After dinner, we went to the Cerritos Mall to walk off dinner. I ended up getting a pair of shoes and tried my first Starbucks Peppermint Mocha. Yum! Cerritos Mall still has the same vibe with a few upgrades in their decor and stores. This truly was a homecoming weekend for me.

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On Sunday morning, I woke at 4 am and we left the house by 5 am. The drive was smooth with absolutely no traffic. Koa did a great job just chillin’ in the backseat and we were home by 10:30 am.

What a great weekend. Here are just a few of the photos I took.