california pictures and movies update

Finally, a little time to update the world...so, we had a short getaway to San Jose, CA two weekends ago for a wedding..Dan was asked to be the officiant, which was really neat and an honor to be part of Tram and Tom's big day...it was a traditional Vietnamese wedding with a western twist--Dan as the minister..hahaha..we had a lot of fun and had tons of great food!
The other highlight, for me especially, I got to hang out with my childhood friend, Jessica Yang now Stone and her family. I think last time I saw her, Sofia was just one...and now she is four. It was really nice to catch up..i felt like we never lost touch and was able to just chat and chat..oh, and eat! Yummy Dim Sum, even though Charles says it wasn't the best. Dan and I can't imagine what good dim sum would be then...then, Jess and I ventured to the local bubble tea joint with taiwanese fried chicken...I was heaven..i mean, you get these stuff on the streets of taiwan and here I am having it melt in my mouth!

Isaac and Jed are both good travelers..Isaac slept on a queen size bed all by himself without falling off..and Jed is getting so much more interactive. At one point during the reception, Isaac scoped out a dance partner, ran straight to her and brought her to the dance floor, by himself. It was hilarious for Dan and I to watch! He was very persistent in asking "where's the girl?"
Isaac hit it off with Sofia and Sarah pretty well. They would watch a princess movies together, while Isaac keeps asking Sofia "what happened?" I miss good friends:(

New York, New York

Within hours of the Solverson leaving, Dan and I were going through some traveling withdrawn. I know, we are diseased with traveling. We had just finished up picking up the house and Isaac was sleeping...we looked at each other and were like, do you want to go to NYC? We figure our ME adventure is coming to an end, why not pull another trip out of it, besides, who knows when we'll be back here again....so after two hours of going back and forth, we packed up and drove down to NY.

Thank God for friends, we called up Michelle on our way and was able to stay with her at her new apartment in East Village and hook up with Matt and Vander. Once again, we ate our way thru nyc with Japanese, chinese breakfast everyday while we were there, and Italian. We went paid ms. Liberty a visit. Isaac has been a great traveler...he'll sleep in the stroller when he is tired and play hard when he is awake. We took him to a park by Greenwich village, since the weather was so hot and humid, he joined the other kids and played in the water. It was fun watching him go nuts. We got to visit Michelle at her work in HBO and eat at their dining room, that is like a bistro!

All in all, our trips were great!

Boston and Bar Harbor with the Solversons

It was nice to have visitors...we went to Boston to meet the Solverson clan and was able to meet up with some old friends...some whom, I haven't even seen since college!

We loved Boston with its rich history and yummy food. Dan and I ate went to chinatown two day straight for our chinese fix before the solversons showed up. Every time we walk by something, we are like, you wanna it? it was horrible. It was as if we haven't eaten for days.

After a great weekend in Boston, we head back to ME to Bar Harbor, for a bit more active visit. I was even able to sea kayak while we were there. Steve and Mo were literally eating Isaac for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Dave and Keri was great to hang out with and get to know better. Its funny how we can be in one family, but never had to chance to sit down and chat. I'm glad we were able to hanging out with them. Isaac loves his Uncle Dave, when he first saw him, he actually called him "Daddy"

Quebec, Canada 7/13- 7/15

The weekend after my parents visited, we took a 5 hour car ride up to Quebec city, Canada. Since it was so last minute Dan quickly booked us a hotel online. He first came home and was like, the hotel is really expensive so I booked us a 2 star, which I didn't mind, but the cost was still kinda pricey. I figured we were staying inside the old Quebec city wall, which is a major tourist area so I didn't mind paying for the location. Little did we know when we got there, Dan had booked us the second best hotel in Old Quebec next the the Fairmont, no wonder it was so expensive. But, hey, who doesn't like to be pampered a little.

Quebec was like being in a foreign country. People spoke french and city maintained its old ancient charm. We went on a city walk tour and a night tour, it was great way of giving us a broad view of what it was like back then. Every building had its history.

I was surprise that I would keep with being almost 8 months pregnant and Isaac was great to travel with! We had breakfast at an our door cafe, shop for antiques while Isaac slept the WHOLE TIME. At our last stop we went to the oldest house in town dating back to the 1600s, which is now a restaurant. Once again, mommy and daddy were able to sit down and have a great meal as Isaac slept.

Before we left, we went to the city's old Citadel and watched the changing of the guards. I think the one person that really enjoyed it was Isaac. He marched with the soldiers and saluted as they marched by. Oh, there there was a royal goat that Isaac couldn't keep his eyes off of.

Grandparents Yang visit

My parents visited us in ME over July 4th weekend. We started out with a bang, by going to Freeport, ME for a shopping excursion at Coach outlet. Don't worry, those bags are not mine, mainly my mom's! We then ventured down to Bar Harbor, Acadia National park for a few days.

We went on a land and sea tour to look at the historic sites for the park, and boy, did Rockefeller build a lot around there. When you are in ME one thing you have to do is eat lobster. While we were in Bar Harbor, we had lobster for lunch in Chinese style and dinner the good old traditional way.

Isaac was doing great on the trip, except, I think he was going on a growth spurt, he kept sleeping and didn't want to eat. Everything we offer was "no." I was literally begging for him to eat, but finally gave up, Thankfully after a week of lack of appetite, he started eating like a pig.

Isaac had a lot of fun with my parents, even after they left, he would wake up and run into the room they were staying at calling "gon gon and po po" It was really sweet.

Pool

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Johnson's Here to visit

So the Johnson family ventured to the great Northwest this past week. We had a great time visiting with them. Isaac also had fun being the center of attention, center of all gift giving, and constantly having 4-5 other people willing to hold him at all times, which gave Dan and I a break as well. Thanks guys for coming out to visit and taking me shopping! One interesting thing, while we were in Victoria, we all got an ice cream cone and kids cone is free with an regular purchase. After the girls had met up with the guys, I see my son chowing down an ice cream cone and looking content. So, Aunt Kathy, Missy, and I went on in to get our ice cream, next thing I hear running in the store is Dan. He as like "he's done!" I was like, "so?" Then I hear the cry outside the store...Isaac wanted MORE...so for the first time in his life, he had ice cream and two cones at ones!

Honduras

We are back from our Roatan trip with Lester, Judy, and Courtney. Courtney is still down there volunteering. It was a great trip! We literally did nothing! We hang out at the beach, snorkeled, dan and lester went diving couple of times, and Isaac really enjoyed his first experience with the big blue. We stayed at the Las Rocas hotel and had oceanfront breakfast daily. Amazingly, the sun rises so early that we are all up by 7am and leaving for the beach by 9. The down side is that the sun goes down around 5pm and by 6pm everything is pitch black! Its nice to be away from cellphones, computer, and TV for a change.
Clinica Esperanza- we had the opportunity to visit the clinic that Courtney was volunteering at. It a small clinic started by Ms. Peggy, a Christian nurse with a heart for the locals of Roatan. She is in the process of building a hospital for the community. Hopefully, Dan and I will also have the opportunity to go back and voluneer as well. It was a good reality check from vacationing and seeing the needs of people. Through Peggy, we were invited to a pig roast the was held at the Bay Island resort once a week to help raise funds for local schools. Other than the yummy food, they had a band, crab races, and free tequilla shots. Isaac was the dancing king that night. He was clapping with the band and going up to people just dancing. On our way back in Houston, we had a guy come up to us and told us how he was also at the roast and had recongnized our dancing king and wanted to come over and say "hi".
Isaac had a lot of fun overall. He suddenly seemed so much older to me. He is talking a bunch and definitely vocalizing his needs and wants. The whole week he was the typical beach bum--other than sun screen, all he had was a diaper.
all in all...great trip...can't wait to be back again.

"The land"

Down the easiest green run on Blackcomb.

Weekend at Whistler, Canada B.C

It has been a great long weekend at Whistler. May and Michael came to visit and also to take part in the ski trip, while Maureen at the very last minute generously decided to come to help babysit Isaac. What a dedicated grandma! She flew all the way from Chicago for the long weekend to spend with Isaac in Canada. We stayed at the Aspen condo; we had a full kitchen, a fireplace, and one bedroom. Overall, we enjoyed skiing down the two mountains, Blackbomb and Whistler. Lets just say, it's definitely not the the Midwest. Taking the gondola up the mountain, you really realized that it is literally a mountain you are ascending. The scenery was amazing and the skiing was actually a bit frightful for me. I think the first green we went down was probably 8 miles long from the middle of the Blackcomb all the way down. Dan, Michael, and May patiently waited for me to move each ski along. I was about to have a panic attack up there. Just looking down to see how far I have to go literally freaked me out! But praise God for downlifts and moral support! The second day was much better for me. Whistler had a family zone area that was nice and challenging, but not scary to go down. We had lunch on top of the mountain, while Dan tackled a couple of the black diamonds by himself. Sorry honey, no one else could go with you.
As for Isaac, he spent a good couple quality time fun days with Grandma. Maureen took him shopping and sledding. And I can't forget her homemade chicken noodle soup to top the day off after a long day of skiing! By the end of the weekend, Isaac could say "May" and "Grandma" pretty well. For Michael, he would point to and always loved to play with him. He's always been partial to men.
I can't believe he is only 14 months old! His latest new "tricks," which he seems to be adding to daily, are pointing to his toes and hands. Signaling for "more" has never a problem, but now he can say it.

Happy NEW YEAR!!!

I know this is a bit late, but Happy NEW YEAR everyone! We had a wonderful visit with family and friends over Christmas and New Years. I don't even know where to start. We split up time between my parents, the solversons, and Kat and Jake's. It was nice to visit with everyone as well as our friends. It's moments like these that make me miss home and even more gracious for the friendship and blessings in our lives.
Isaac had a horrible ride to Chicago. We were two hours delayed and then a lady he was playing with offered him a doubt chocolate chip cookie. He sure loved it, but couldn't sleep for the WHOLE RIDE. Even Dan was starting to get annoyed with him. One the way back, he was a lot better and able to sleep for 2 hours of the ride. Isaac is walking to much more now. I can't keep my eye on him close enough. I feel like everytime we turn around he is somehwere else! It was really funny to watch him play with our friend's kid, Nathan. By the way, thank you for the awesome breakfast and financial advice. Isaac LOVES Nathan. He keeps going back to him to give him kisses and hugs, while Nathan just stands and laughing not really understanding what Isaac was trying to do! Isaac also goth is first haircut. The poor kid was getting mullet! Thank God we finally got to cut it!
We are back now for a few days and still slowly adjusting to the time change and putting things away. It has been really rainy around here. I think the weather is finally getting to me. The best way Dan describes it is that it's like a blanket of cloub just sits on top of you and dosen't let up....please spring, please come soon!
So Sunday, we went to Kat and Jake's church and had talked about goals for the new years. Dan and I have this tradition of always brainstorming and re-evaluating our lives, walk with God, and future...I'm not quit sure how to put it all into words, but for one, to be obedient to what God has called us...