Browse Category: holidays

Sparklers are cool.

dayantha

July 4th was spent at the Agustins’ and we had a grip of BBQ’d meat to make up for Friday night’s vegetarian dinner.  Jes made chili lime wings and ribs while Susie brought her mom’s Kalbi.  Mm…. We also had KFC corn on the cob complete with butter packets along with more gourmet grilled white corn.  Eleen made some tasty salads and mashed potato and the Fernandos brought over beer and desserts.

Elise

I also got to play with Elise, Ti and Thilan’s little girl, who warmed up to me fairly quickly once I offered her some food to taste.  She was dolled up in a festive July 4th dress and I got to take some portraits of her too.

naptime

She also semi-bonded with Jes that afternoon.  She was getting sleepy and Jes gave it a try with getting her to calm down and fall asleep.  She cried for a minute or so before settling down and taking a good 20-minute nap on his belly.  Of course as soon as she woke up, she cried and forgot who Jes was an hour later.  Eh, so much for that.

Alia

Agnes and Tim also stopped by and brought little Alia with them.  Check out those cheeks and the cutest bib ever!

Masayas

The weather was nice that afternoon and perfect for chillin’ in the backyard.  Koa got to chow down on Kalbi bones and hang out with all his buddies.  There were five dogs out there by the end of the day!

walking

Once the sun went down, Dayantha’s parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandmas showed up for a little walk down the street to see the fireworks.  I think we made a mini parade down the street with about 20-something of us and that’s not counting the 4 dogs and 2 babies!

Bay Bridge

We stood at the edge of the water overlooking the bay and could see fireworks near the Bay Bridge, San Mateo Bridge, and at Jack London Square.  They were all very far away but it was cool to be out there anyway.  It’s too bad I didn’t bring my tripod.  I got a bunch of blurry photos but this one managed to come out somehow.

sparklers

At the end of the night, we busted out the sparklers and snakes that the Masayas had brought up from Artesia.  We had 10 boxes of sparklers and it was fun going through them all.  By the end of night, the boys were lighting up whole boxes of sparklers for a more “spectacular” effect.  Luckily there was a metal fire pit in the back for us to dump all the ashes and burning paper.

Anyway, thanks for hosting another awesome BBQ, Agustins!  I hope we didn’t make you too nervous with all the fire last night. 🙂

Here are the photos.

Sunday Fobby Supper

Father's Day

Happy Father’s Day to all you dads out there. Once again I was not home for this holiday and it kinda bummed me out. Fortunately, I have good friends around and one of them happens to be a dad now. So the Bangs and Sokol-Juns came over for dinner and had a Sunday Fobby Supper.

window

Jack had a good time hanging out by the window pointing to the pool and saying “agua agua” over and over again.  The dog also had a good time sharing his toys with everyone and humping his bed because of all the excitement.

beef noodle soup

Dinner was complete with Spicy Beef Noodle Soup and Mango with Coconut Sticky Rice. Jes followed a bunch of different recipes and it turned out great. There was just the right amount of kick in the soup, the beef from super tender, and the noodles were tasty.

mango and sticky rice

For the coconut sticky rice, I followed my mom’s secret recipe and made it the night before just in case I had to start over. Lucky for me I got it right the first time and it was oh so yummy…a little sweet, a little salty, and perfect with the manila mangoes that I bought at the store. Yay! By the end of the night, we were all so stuffed. What a satisfying way to finish the weekend.

Triple Celebration

big screen

This weekend was chockful of celebrations.  On Saturday, we attended Susie’s graduation, which took place on the USS Hornet.  It’s a retired aircraft carrier that has been turned into a museum and it was HUGE!  The ceremony lasted a whoppin’ 3 hours with lots of boring (and bad) speeches followed by a long procession of graduates whose names were called one by one.  The stage was so far from us that we had to watch everything from the giant screens overhead.

the girls

the masayas

Afterward, we explored the ship and got to go up to the flight deck.  That was pretty neato.

pacquiao

In the evening, we had dinner at Tsunami and then walked down to Carmen’s (a filipino restaurant) located across from where we live to watch the pay-per-view fight.  It only lasted 2 rounds and I got back from walking Koa just in time to see the knock out.  Lucky me!  Pacquiao was crazy fast!  So in celebration of the win, the rest of the evening was spent drinking beer, singing karaoke, and entertaining Koa who was tied up outside the restaurant.

koa and armando

All the workers at the restaurant loved coming out to greet Koa and some were determined to make friends with him.  He finally gave in and reluctantly let one of them pet him.

birthday cake

shots

On Sunday, we went to the Agustins’ for Jimmy’s Bday BBQ.  There was a lot of Cinco de Mayo-themed food and beverages and it was an eating and drinking marathon for everyone.  The party was also filled with physical challenges from push-ups to pull-ups to taking shots.  It was truly a typical Jimmy Bday.

alia

I also got to meet Agnes and Tim’s little 3-month-old girl who had the cutest hair-do.  It reminded me of Patti’s Katelyn’s hair back when she was a baby.  I reassured Agnes that her hair was come down eventually.

Easter Sunday Supper

spring tulips

Happy Easter!  Check out these spring tulips I found at TJ’s.  They make me happy.

I was a little under the weather so I stayed in and cleaned all weekend.  The dog also got a bath in the bathtub this afternoon, which he didn’t appreciate as much as I did.

deviled eggs

We also had friends over for Sunday Supper.  Jes make some pot roast, I made deviled eggs for the first time, and Michelle brought over some strawberry shortcake.  Yum.

Sunday Supper

giving free air

Jack’s growing fast and walking around the house now.  Koa also had a fun time following him around to lick up all his crumbs.  Jack’s newest thing is to give out free air.  It’s silly but really funny.  Here are the rest of the photos.

Oxtail for the Year of the Ox

vyl_cny09

It’s the Year of the Ox, which brings us a hard-working year and will require diligence and patience.  I guess it’s appropriate considering the crappy economy and that Vyl spent these past two days preparing a Chinese New Year feast for us.  Ryan counted nine dishes today: braised oxtail, roasted duck, turnip cake, lotus root salad, Chinese broccoli, steamed fish, Chinese sticky rice, pork-stuffed bittermelon, and chive boxes.  They were all so yummy and Vyl really outdid herself this year.  Michelle also made a mochi cake with red bean so we all went home totally stuffed.

jack2

jack

Jack is walking around independently now and had a great time at the dinner table too.  I think he ate about 4 or 5 lotus root slices! So, Happy New Year and I hope all the hard work this year pays off!!  :)  And thanks for cooking, Vyl!!

Here are photos from our dinner.