Nut Tree Theme Park

On 12/26, it's a sunny & warm day, so we went to Nut Tree Theme Park with my parents and JF's family.

It's not a big theme park, but it's very good for little kids. Philip got admission deals online: $30 per family of 4. Also, it was a senior free day, so my parents and Philip's Dad were free.

I was scared of rides, and all I could ride was "Merry go around", "Train" and "碰碰車"。 Hee and I were about the same, so he was with me to ride the "Merry go around" and "碰碰車" many many times. He told me that his favorite ride was "碰碰車"。 The good thing about this theme park was that there were only few visitors in the winter time, so we could ride our rides one after another without waiting in the long lines.

Going to Nut Tree Theme Park was Ha's turning point. He used to scared of rides just like Hee and me, and he even didn't want to go on the "碰碰車". Stephen forced him to go, and he liked it, and after that, he started to try the rides one by one. When we saw the roller coaster, Ha said: "I want to try it!" It was a big shock to me because I never thought that he would have the courage to do that. Roro wanted to ride it, too, so Stephen, Ha, JF, Ro, and my Dad went. When they stepped down from the ride, Ha looked normal, but he told me that he didn't like it. Stephen said that he was ok on the ride except asking "When will it stop?"

After the roller coaster, Ha still tried some more rides, and on Sunday and Monday, when we were in the playground near my parents' house and our house, Ha also tried some play structures that he didn't have the courage to go before. He changed a lot after the roller coaster ride.

阿公家

我們正在看郭爺爺製作的Thanksgiving gathering DVD.

Hee問Ha：“為什麼柔柔可以常常到阿公家，我們不行？”
Ｈａ回答：“可是柔柔只可以去玩，可是我們可以住”（ Good answer! Hee was satisfied with it.)
Hee: "因為我們不能常常到阿公家，所以郭爺爺作電視給我們看！”

Thank you, 郭爺爺!

Christmas Vacation Photos

It's 10:52pm. Too late to write the blog entry, so....., let's take a look at the photos that we took during these 5-day Christmas vacation for now, and I will write more later.

12/24 Elk Grove Jennifer's house: Christmas gathering
12/25 Mom's house and Jennifer's house
12/26 Nut Tree Theme Park
12/27 Cisco Grove Snow Trip/Rosevile Mall
12/28 Playground, going back to Bay Area

Here are the photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/happyfamily.huang/ChristmasVacation

Eye Exam

Yesterday, I brought Ha and Hee for their first (actually, it's not the first time for Ha. He had eye allergy when he's 4 years old, and he went to the doctor before) eye exams.

It's not really easy to bring two of them to see the doctor because they started at the same time in different room with different technicians, so I need to run between two rooms whenever the technician needed the help (for example, Hee was too short to be examined, so he needed to sit on my lap; Ha's technician wanted me to be there when she diluted Ha's eyes...).

Anyways, both of them don't need to wear the glasses, but both of them have some minor problems. Ha: minor colorblindness which nobody could do anything to improve it; Hee: few eyelashes grow inwards, so he needs to have lubricant eye drop and ointment daily to protect his eyes. Both of them are not nearsighted, and they are slightly farsighted, but the doctor said that they are possible to change into nearsighted anytime in the future. The doctor gave them small prescription, so they can get sun glasses (transparent, not dark color)covered by the insurance. The main purpose of the glasses is for the protection from the UV (Sun). The doctor recommended that all children should get some protection under the bright Sunlight.

After the eye exam, we went for a short shopping and got ready for the Christmas gathering tomorrow.

周美青猛虧 馬：我娶錯太太

昨天是馬英九總統上任後的第一場總統府音樂會，夫人周美青也出席，總統府敞廳一改平日莊嚴肅穆的氣氛，暫作茶會場地。受邀參加音樂會的貴賓手持茶點，三三兩兩聚在一起聊天，馬周言笑晏晏，穿梭全場，不似總統與第一夫人，倒像「開趴的馬先生與馬太太」。

府方事先規定「輕便服裝」，馬先生與馬太太昨天看來格外輕鬆；一群記者圍著馬夫婦，聊起國慶晚宴馬先生大啖紅豆餅，因為吃相太饞，馬太太忍不住一臉「嫌惡」的經典糗事。

馬太太不斷抱怨自己老公有多貪吃，馬先生急忙辯解，因為平常太忙，一抓到東西，當然要趕快吃；馬太太立刻吐槽，「你們知道他之前（指國慶晚宴那天）已經吃了多少嗎？」她當場扳起手指，記憶清楚地數給記者聽：「他在那之前已經吃了壽司，還吃了生魚片，也該差不多了吧！」
馬先生掩著嘴巴，用氣音小聲笑問記者：「我可以說我娶錯太太了嗎？」

音樂會結束後，演出的台北愛樂室內合唱團等在大禮堂外走廊，要給主人驚喜，馬夫婦走出後，合唱團圍著獻唱「Only you」；馬先生隨著旋律搖擺身體，馬太太彈指伴奏，連戒護的特勤人員，都忍不住腳打拍子。

獻唱完畢後，馬先生還在陶醉，此時馬太太突然發動攻勢：「你們都唱完了，他（馬）是不是也該回唱一曲啊？」
帶頭起鬨的是老婆大人，馬先生只能站在原地，臉紅到耳根子；清了清喉嚨，他唱出的歌竟然是—「妹妹揹著洋娃娃」。

眾人愣了幾秒，爆出一陣大笑，跟著合唱。一曲既畢，馬太太站在老公背後，當著所有隨扈與記者的面前，手指著馬先生後腦勺：「他—歌—唱—得—很—爛！」馬太太超大聲，完全不給老公留面子。（聯合新聞網，更新日期:2008/12/21 07:30 記者 范凌嘉、李光儀）

I really like 馬太太！

Formal Music Recital

Yes, another recital!

It's sponsored by our city's Park and Recreation Department, and it's held in Quinlan Community Center. This time, kids from all the music classes performed together.

Here are some of the video clips:


Interview before the performance:　http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jaf0nuQUt8

Hee's performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltELJPaGmv4 since Hee's teacher wanted me to go up to the stage to help in case of any kids getting out of control, I could only shot the video from the angle behind Hee. (can't see his handsome face)

Ha's Performance: (Ha thought: where can I stand? where can I stand?) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR4WRTuooCU Ha was looking around while he was playing, so at first, I was wondering if he's playing? I looked closely, and the answer was "yes"!

2008 Christmas Program Preview: Hee's version

Since I helped to translate the Christmas musical, I had the privilege to get a copy of the CD, and Ha and Hee loved to listen to it. They were pretty familiar to the main characters: Nathan, Mary and Joseph and most of the songs and scenes. While we were waiting for picking up Ha from school, (usually, there's a long line of parents waiting in the car outside of the classrooms. Kids jump into the car when they see their parents.) Hee liked to sing the songs in the car. Here are some of the songs for our Christmas program.....搞笑版。

#1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuFb3rchaZo

#2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSWYdZWGSw4

#3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkxBc_6JPLs

#4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag08--inwNg

#5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPTZ-C218PI

2008 Christmas Program--Happy Family Preview

This year, the Christmas program is :

超越時空的聖誕:"遇見祂的過去, 改變他的未來"

This is a musical based on "Journey to the Manger" by David T. Clydesdale. It will take audience to a journey through different historical eras such as the Depression, the Renaissance, Victorian England, and old Bethlehem, to discover the true meaning of Christmas.邀請您來參加！

Our family will be participating in 2 scenes: Great Depression and old Bethlehem. In the picture, you can see that Stephen is one of the wise men, Ha and I are the shepherds, and Hee is a cute sheep. (Ha didn't want to be a sheep), and there are more shepherds, sheep, and wise men from our fellowship. We rehearsed our scene on the past two Sunday afternoon and Friday after fellowship, and we also rehearsed tonight from 7:30 to 9:30pm, and I knew that many other people even started practicing their scenes in September or October. May God bless their hard work, and may God bless many people's lives through this musical.

Today, we took some pictures of ourselves. If you want to get a preview of the scenes that we participate in, please go to http://picasaweb.google.com/happyfamily.huang/2008ChristmasProgram

第一場：Saturday, December 20 at 7:00pm　　　　　　
第二場：Sunday, December 21 at 5:00pm
基督之家 第五家, Home of Christ Church in Cupertino, 10340 Bubb Road, Cupertino, CA 95014(408)996-8208
http://hoc5.org

Snowing and icing

Yesterday, when I dropped Hee at school and was going home, I saw snow on the mountain, and I was so excited, and I wished that I could somehow get there. Since I needed to prepare lunch for Hee and prepare fruits for Hee's recital, I went home to do these first, and then, off I go to find the snow land.

I tried two different routes, but both of them ended before I saw any white stuff, so I didn't see the snow.

From the news, I heard that overnight, the temp would be very low, so I wished that I would see ice in our backyard. Around 1:30am, I woke up to check on the kids, and I opened the door to the backyard and checked to see if there's any ice formed; however, the answer was still"NO". I tried again this morning, but we still only had water, not ice. I guessed that we are not cold enough, oh well...

Hee's keyboard Recital

Today was Hee's last keyboard class for this term as well, and he had a recital. He's the youngest one in the class, and he's playing the easiest book, but comparing to Ha, he is more interested in playing the piano, and he already told me that he's going to enroll to the next class. Hee was so cute to bow and so cute to play; anyways, he is so cute. His voice is not as good as Ha, and he sometimes 會走音， but he has better eye-hand coordination, so he can draw and write better than Ha. God is fair!

Ha's first keyboard recital

Yesterday was Ha's first keyboard recital in his keyboard class. He goes to the group keyboard class in the community center since September this year, and yesterday was the last day of his class. 8 kids took turns to play 3 songs each, and Ha did a good job. I thought that he would be shy, but he acted fine. He's not very interested in playing the piano, but he didn't hate it, either. He only practiced about 2 to 3 times a week, and I thought that he might be the worst one in the keyboard class; however, fairly speaking, after listening to all 8 kids, I ranked him number 4 out of 8. He hasn't decided whether he wants to take the next level class yet, and I still encourage him to do so because even though he's not very possible to be a great piano player in the future since he doesn't have too much passion on it, I hope that at least, he can read the notes well because it will help him if he wants to join the choir when he grows up. He has beautiful voice, better than mine and Stephen's, and he has good ears and good sense of music. I don't feel that he will be very good at playing the instruments (he didn't have too good eye-hand coordination and concentration), but he may be good at composition or singing. Anyways, we just want to help him to get a closer taste of the music world, and God will have His plan for him.

Here are Ha's recital videoｓ：不管你覺得好不好，就告訴他很不錯，他才會有動力繼續學。

Calendar Song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kY3Kkz7Bx4
Row, Row, Row your Boat http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKrJK5OhTkQ
Rain, Rain, Go Away http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdgY2pEdnTg

Favorite Gift

Last week, the sharing topic of Ha's class was "my favorite gift". I helped Ha to go through the gifts that he ever received over the years, and he chose this one as his favorite gift. This was his grandpa's handmade "something" . Actually, I had no idea what it is, and I only knew that it's something about "electricity" or "solar power" or "charger".....,but Ha knew very well about how to use it.

Congretulation, Grandpa! You won the first prize!

Bethlehem---We Went!

I was thinking about going to "Bethlehem" show this weekend; however, it was raining on Saturday evening, and I thought that we won't have the opportunity to go this year. Last time when we went two years ago, it was raining, too, and the "Bethlehem street" was all muddy (2000 years ago, they didn't have 柏油路）， so if it's raining, we don't want to go there again (我們是被現代產品寵壞的人）。Last night, our church had a meeting with小敏and 遠志明as speaker. We were late, so we didn't go, but we still wanted to see 小敏's 盧山真面目, so we decided to take turns and went, so kids could stay home (that's a good part of living closer to our church). I went first, and when I open the garage door, I saw a full moon: The rain stopped!!!!! It was almost 8pm, and we still had time to go to Bethlehem. Therefore, we brought thick coats and went immediately (of course, we stopped at our church for 5 minutes to take a look of 小敏).

We were just in time for the 8:30pm show, and we drank Hot Chocolate before we went in (貼心的教會）. I was very excited to be in that "city", but there were too many people there, so it's hard for the kids to see the whole scene, and we needed to hold them, so they could be "taller". It's nice to go through the journey of Jesus' birth again. (per Joshua, he asked me to say that in our church, we also have a show on 12/20 and 12/21/08, and a scene of the show will bring us back to Bethlehem, too). One warning: Soldiers in Bethlehem show will look serious and mean, so be sure that little kids won't get scared. Joshua said that he saw a baby getting scared by a pretend solider. ( In our church, we don't have any soldiers on the show, so you can bring little kids or babies to see the show, Joshua said.)

"Bethlehem" will have 2 more days, Sunday and Monday, and the last show will be on 8:30pm. For more information and video, please see their website: http://www.bethlehemsc.com/

撒嬌

This morning, Hee had a hard time to take off his pants, so he said:＂褲子在撒嬌我。＂

原來他撒嬌的定義就是　“黏住不放”，難怪每天從Ｓｔｅｐｈｅｎ一進門，他就黏著，“爸爸陪我玩這個”，“爸爸陪我玩那個”，一直到睡覺才放手。

Mortgage Rate from the Loan Agent that we know

We just got the email from the loan agent who helped us to loan our current house that the 30 year mortgage rate is going down.

Rate for 30-year fixed conforming (up to $417k) : as of 12/11/08

For primary residence, Loan amount fall within 80% of the property value was at 5.25% for no closing cost refi. This is also required with FICO scores of 720 or better.

For rental properties, you may refinance up to 60% (only) of the property's value.

Sounds good?

我家的有機菜園-轉載

【德芳】先生是眷村長大的孩子，從小到大都居住在寸土寸金的北部，對園藝有濃厚興趣的他，想要擁有一片私人的菜園，可說是一個遙不可及的夢想。居住北美每家都有庭院，自從我們擁有一棟屬於自己的住家，先生欣喜若狂地想著，總算可以大展身手，實現種菜的夢想。

先生於是開始開荒闢土種植蔬菜水果，從原本只是一小塊菜圃，發展到現在十幾塊大小不一的菜園。菜園裡的蔬果琳琅滿目，隨著四季更迭，我們的飯桌從不缺少新鮮的蔬菜，省了不少買菜錢。
每逢蔬果盛產期，還可送去中文學校義賣或饋贈親友，與好朋友分享豐收的成果，廣結善緣。
播種培苗是一個令人愉悅的過程，每日看著整片的園地，一天天抽芽、變綠、茁壯，抽長成莖葉綠蔥的一株株青菜，那分欣喜只能體會，無法言傳。

更令人高興的是自己種的蔬菜，就近摘採，隨即下鍋，吃得安心衛生又新鮮，颱風天也不怕沒菜可買。像上次大颶風侵襲路州，停電了7天，我們全靠自家後院菜園度過非常時期。
其實自己栽種無農藥的蔬果，並沒有想像中的困難，只要肯揮動鋤具、不怕流汗、翻土整地，你也可天天浸潤在菜香果樂之中。

種菜最基本的條件是土壤要鬆、陽光要充足、水份要充沛，植物才可以行光合作用，才有好收成。
首先翻土是一項很吃重的活兒，先生把土壤翻了再翻，經太陽暴曬幾天之後，敲碎結塊狀的泥土，把買來的木屑、沙土跟泥土拌一拌混合。因美國土壤較貧瘠乾硬，不易鬆土，如果省掉了這道過程，只把買來的木屑與沙土直接倒在泥土上，那是無法種出好菜，別指望來年它會準時回報。
一番整地之後，接著就可著手撒種，種子行老闆教我們把要種的種籽先泡上一個晚上，這樣種籽發芽的成功率較高。

種籽接受陽光的照耀和水份的滋潤後，我們就可細細觀賞它的成長，不知不覺中從發芽、生葉片、開出小花，結豆結果，也別有一番情趣。在菜園邊漫步，常常有許多令人驚嘆的發現。
在施肥部分，我們皆利用選剩的果葉、果榖、樹葉枯枝、木屑等做堆肥，適時添加進土壤裡。把草鋪在土壤上，既可防止雜草叢生，兼收堆肥之效，對大地和生態都有益。

在面臨全球金融大風暴，經濟低迷期，市井小民荷包大幅縮水，如果能自己動手開闢一處菜圃，提供了充滿陽光、花香和泥土氣息的休閒活動，和家人一起來耕耘，藉此親近大自然，強化心肺，鍛鍊身體，不僅可以為庭園增添秀色，為餐桌提供新鮮的蔬果，種些東方植物除能解鄉愁外，還有種歸屬感。更可為移民北美老年寂寞的生活，開啟另一扇門，與家人沈浸在有機生活的幸福中，做個健康快樂的「草食族」。http://www.worldjournal.com/wj-books_news.php?nt_seq_id=1816168&ct=88

Before Going to Bed

I hope these clips are not rated R; however, they are so cute, and I really want to put them here so people who love Ha and Hee can see them. Ha and Hee don't need much of our help to take the bath or brush their teeth now, so I want to capture these precious moments before they don't let me come into the bathroom while they are showering. 這是誰家的孩子，怎麼這麼可愛？

Insurance

Yesterday, Stephen went to the optometry for eye exam and to get a new pair of glasses. When he came home at night, he told me that he got the exam but our insurance couldn't cover the glasses, so he had the prescription and will get the glasses from other glasses store.

After Ha and Hee went to bed, I had time to ask him if his eye exam went ok, and he took out his prescription sheet.

S: How can I find a glasses store in the CIGNA network?
Y: CIGNA? That's our health insurance, not vision insurance. Our vision was covered by EYEMED.
S: But I gave optometry the CIGNA card.
Y: No wonder why the glasses are not covered!hahaha....you made my day!!!!!

My husband is a very smart guy, but from time to time, this kind of 烏龍事件 will happen (well, sometimes, I made 烏龍, too, but not as many as he did). It made our daily life more interesting and colorful, so basically, I love it!

New Washer

On Saturday afternoon, our Milpitas tenant called and said that the spin function of the washer was not working, so we went there and checked. It didn't seem to be easy to fix, and the washer was at least 15 years old, so it's easier to replace it with a new one.

We went to Great Mall Sears Outlet and chose one Kenmore Washer. Stephen measured our 4Runner, and it fit ok, so we decided to deliver and install the washer ourselves in order to save few bucks of delivery charges.

When we went to the house, Stephen and I carried the washer in, and it's heavier than holding 2 kids at once, but we managed to get it in place. Stephen is a very handy person, and he unpluged the old washer and pluged the new one. Now, the new machine can spin ok, but the water won't fill. It was late, and we didn't have many tools with us, so we decided to check it again on Sunday morning.

Sunday morning, we checked again and were sure that the washer couldn't work properly, so we carried the washer to the car and returned it. Sears tested it and confirmed that the product was not functioning well, so they replaced it with a better upgrade series ( we bought a 300 series, and they replaced it with a 400 series) to show their apology. This time, Stephen installed it within 5 minutes, and everything worked fine.

2008 Honda Accord 廣告

I'm not Honda's salesperson, and we like Toyota more than Honda; however, I have to post this commercial because the kid (little king) in the commercial looks(or 他的神韻） really like Heehee. We watch the commercial every night when we watch the Chinese news at 10pm, and I always want to take a video clip of that commercial, but I always forget to do so. Finally, I searched the youtube and found it, so here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjOLYdBbr7U

Bethlehem

We went to watch it 2 years ago, and this year, I hope that we will have the chance to watch it again.

December 11 - 15, 2008 (Thursday - Monday)
Open from 6:30PM - 9:00PM, Five 30 minute Performances Nightly
Free Admission & Hot Drinks
Santa Clara First Baptist Church 3111 Benton Street, Santa ClaraPhone: (408) 241-7635

For more information, go to http://www.bethlehemsc.com/

新大廚

Setting: Ha, Hee, and Stephen were eating breakfast in the dinning room.

Ha: "媽媽，妳怎麼還不來吃？”
媽： “我還在切水果讓你們中午帶去吃。”
爸：“媽媽好辛苦每天要弄東西給我們吃。Haha，以後換你煮飯好不好？”
Ha: “那你們需要每天吃 Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches,因為我只會煮那個。”

媽心想：那還是我自己煮比較好。。。

Who is He?

When I was reading Weiming's blog, Hee walked by. He saw Weiming's big photo and asked me who he is. I told him that he is 舅舅。 He asked me how to call him in English, and I told him＂uncle". Then, he asked me :＂他的大名是什麼“？It's so funny to hear that words from a kid. He must think that 舅舅 is Weiming's 小名， like "heehee" is his 小名.

I only have 2 sisters, so Hee never knew any 舅舅 in his life. He only went back to Taiwan once when he's 9 months old, so even though he saw my cousins before, he couldn't remember any 舅舅.

Video is Ready!

Finally, the video clips of my parents' baptism are ready!

It's like a dream because few years ago, I never imagined that one day, my parents would accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior, but when I listened to their testimonies and watched their baptism, I knew that God really touched their hearts, and He led them to walk closer to Him through some big or small things in their daily lives. All we did were to pray for them. I got baptised in December 1991, but my mom was not there to witness it because she didn't want us to be baptised, and she was pretty against it. 17 years later, I was so happy to see that both of my parents enjoy the time in the church, and they believe that Jesus is their Lord. Praise the Lord! My dream came true!

I got too many video clips, so I uploaded them to the Youtube. Their testimonies were not 100% complete because I was afraid that I didn't have enough camera battery power, and I was afraid that if the files were too big, I wouldn't be able to upload them. Ok, Here they are:

爸見證4之1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTIvN0Sof2M
爸見證4之2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldteLJwOjF8
爸見證4之3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-svXiLu0AzA
爸見證4之4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhcR5A8IM4Q
媽見證5之1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23fD9CXpsyw
媽見證5之2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cm3j5GymdBA
媽見證5之3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuJ1OjDzcpg
媽見證5之4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22E0-xcmDEU
媽見證5之5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zOIbcYmvnw
媽受洗 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJX9GILv4U4
爸受洗 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eL0ygNcfU8
接受祝福 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nREsjzpgIY

Photos for Thanksgiving Holiday in Elk Grove

Ok, I uploaded the photos taken in Elk Grove and downloaded some photos from my sister's site, and they are on http://picasaweb.google.com/happyfamily.huang/2008Thanksgiving#. They will be shown on the slide show section on the side bar later, too.

I'm still trying to upload the video clips, but they take time. Stay tuned...

50年奇景雙星襯眉月 天空彷彿在笑

I couldn't believe that we saw it!!!!!!!
Last night, we rushed back from Sacramento because we were in charge of the dinner cleaning, and it's our turn to make a soup for the 3rd Sunday service. On our way to bay area, when we were in highway 580, we saw the moon and 2 shining stars.

We didn't think that it's something very special until I read the article today and knew that it's something only happening in 50 years. Wow!

When we were working for God, He gave us special reward, too.

(NOWnews 12/2/08) http://www.nownews.com/2008/12/02/327-2373931.htm
1日晚上的天空很不一樣，很多民眾發現怎麼天空竟然出現一個大笑臉，因為金星和木星剛好運行靠近月亮，雙星拱月就成了這樣的天文奇觀。 1日天黑前，西方神話中主管愛情和美麗的維納斯女神－－金星與行星之王－－木星，以及眉月相近在西南方低空的星空出現；漆黑的天空中，出現雙星拱月，看起來就讓人心情很好，左邊亮眼的是金星，右邊的是木星，搭配宛如眉毛的眉月，看起來很像一個大大的笑臉。 北市天文協會理事長陶蕃麟表示，「這種狀況比較難遇到，因為3個天體各自在運動的時候，要達到接近在相同的位置上，而且距離不能太遠，我們才能看到這種現象，那今天看到成為笑臉，是因為月球的相位，剛好也在眉月的狀況之下。」不過，到了2日，由於月亮位置改變，會逐漸挪移到金星和木星的上方，原本大笑臉就成了一張包公臉，看起來會相當有趣。

http://udn.com/NEWS/NATIONAL/NAT5/4625875.shtml
「趕快看，夜空在微笑耶！」昨晚全台許多民眾都注意到，清朗的穹蒼有著雙星伴月的「笑臉」，大家互傳手機簡訊或通知好友，一起分享這個讓人看了就有好心情的天文景象。
嘉義市天文協會總幹事黃傅俊、高雄市天文學會理事蔡元生都興奮地說：「這是我第一次看到。」雲林縣斗六國小校長黃昭景、教務主任曾智豐則說，四天前就目睹了。
蔡元生說，昨晚伴月的雙星是金星與木星，與上弦月搭配得天衣無縫。他說，今晚月亮就會跑到這兩顆星的上頭，若拍下照片顛倒看，就像哭臉了。
剛被資遣的南縣永康市民李基全說，這幾年沒日沒夜拚命工作，從未抬頭看星空，沒想到就在心情低落時看到笑臉，平靜許多。
因紅燈停車的保安工業區上班族及嘉南科大學生，看到天空這張「笑臉」，不約而同驚呼，紛紛拿出手機拍照。
「莫非這張笑臉是我們最近就要破案的徵兆？」台南縣歸仁分局偵查隊員莫不希望是吉兆。很多南部人看了都覺得鬱卒的心情變得超好的，「好運來了，可以去買樂透！」
台北市立天文科學教育館館長邱國光表示，昨晚金星與木星正好在同一經度上，加上上弦眉形的月亮，宛如一張高掛夜空的微笑臉，這現象持續了兩個多小時。
邱國光解釋，金星是地球所見最亮的行星，木星則是次亮的行星，昨天上午八點，兩顆行星走到同一經度，但當時是白天，無法目視。傍晚五時太陽下山後，木星與金星在仰角四十度位置，與上弦眉形的月亮，正好像兩個眼睛配上一張微笑的嘴。
他說，這個天文奇觀持續到晚間七點五十分月亮下沉，剩下金星和木星，到八點四分及七分，兩顆行星也陸續消失在天際。
傳「雙星伴月」現象千年難得一見，邱國光說，金星周期不固定，無法推測天空出現這種景象的周期，不過只要出現兩顆行星走到同一經度，碰到月亮成上弦眉形月，就會出現這種景象。不過，若距地球較遠的行星，呈現的就不會像昨晚這麼明顯、漂亮。
【2008/12/02 聯合報】@ http://udn.com/

Thankful Thanksgiving

I haven't had time to upload my photos and many video clips taken during this Thanksgiving yet, so I just post one downloaded from my sister's album.

Thursday night, we were invited to K and N's house and had the most delicious turkey. It was very juicy and flavorful, and we stayed there till 9:30pm. Kids played legos and games together; adults chated and ate around the table. I am thankful to help these friends around.

On Friday, we went to my parents' house for another Thanksgiving Dinner. My little sister, Sophia came from Chicago, too, and we enjoyed our time playing Uno together. I am thankful for my family.

On Saturday, after a good Vietnamese lunch, we went to Jennifer's house. Sophia taught us to make bread ( Actually, she taught me once in Chicago, but I still needed to see it again). Warm out-of-oven bread was so yummy, and I am thankful for the food that God gave us. At night, our old friends, Helen and Simon passed by from their Reno trip, and we were happy to have a small reunion together.

On Sunday, my parents got baptised in the church, and this is the thing that I am most thankful for. I will post a new entry for it including their 見證, when I have time.