11/21 Ice Skating

We've been riding the bike at Stanford for several weeks, and kids and I started getting bored. What else can we do? Stephen got an idea: Ice skating! Ha loved it, so he was the first one agreed to go, and Hee was ok later. How about me? To be honest, I'm not really interested in ice skating, and I needed to cook a dish for church's Thanksgiving sharing potluck; also, I needed to buy a turkey for Thursday's gathering, so they went first, and I went there later to be the photographer only.

Ha was able to skate by himself even though he fell sometimes. Hee needed to be held by Stephen, and he was having fun, too. Here are some video clips:

Iceland, Equipment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1bGR_JduLM

Stephen and Hee: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJZ3F2yeSbw

Ha: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oNVYyesVCA

Stephen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffThecp1MIY

Hee said that he was hungry, so I brought him to the car to have some snack, and we went to Safeway to get the turkey, and Ha and Stephen were still there skating.

When Hee and I went home, it was quiet, and Ha asked us to keep quiet because "Daddy is sleeping". What?Why? Ha told me that Daddy just hit his right arm on the ice and he's hurt because he tried to avoid bumping into a person who suddenly stopped at the doorway and he fell. I went to check on him, and he seemed to be in pain, so I asked him to go to the doctor. Luckily, the doctor was still there at 5:30pm on Saturday, and he said that Stephen almost broke his arm, but luckily, he didn't. Stephen could hardly sleep because of the pain, but thank God that he had a rapid recovery overnight. He could even join the practice for the Christmas program on Sunday afternoon. We need to give thanks to God because he heard our and other brothers' and sisters' prayers. His arm is not 100% ok yet, and it takes time to recover; however, he is ok to deal with everyday life with both of his hands now.

10/31 Harvest Day

Every year, when it's close to 10/31, Ha and Hee's school has halloween parade, and kids can wear costumes to school. Long time ago, I told them that halloween sometimes connects with ghost and evil spirit, and our God doesn't like us to associate with these things; therefore, as Christian, we'd better not to celebrate halloween. Both of them chose not to wear the costumes to school because they love God, and I let them wear "handsome clothes" which they never wore to school.

Of course, they didn't go to treat or trick; instead, we went to the harvest night in the church. It's getting better and better each year, and they got a lot of candies and had a lot of fun! In the photo, after playing 5 games in one round, you could get a cotton candy, and Ha was enjoying it. Hee was working hard at rolling a big, unbalanced pumpkin. He finished the first round of all 10 games and started the second round, and he got 2 cotton candies at that night! With so much fun, nobody cared about treat or trick.

My Birthday Parties

There are 2 parties: one was on my birthday with Stephen, Ha and Hee, and the other one was in November with my parents and sister's family. We also celebrated my Dad and my brother-in-law, Philip's birthday on the same day.

On my birthday, I got an e-card, a birthday cake, a pressure cooker (which I have started using it before the birthday)and 5 clothes. Stephen wasn't very sure about my size, so he tried those clothes on in the store by himself because our sizes are similar. Just imaging the scene that a man trying the woman clothes in the store is very touching, and it is the best gift that I can ever ask for.

Also, this was the first birthday after I joined Facebook. I got many birthday greetings from my relatives and friends. Thank you everyone, I love you all! From the mail, I got a I-House gift card from my sister, Sophia, and we will definitely try it some day.

In Elk Grove, it was a great party, too. I got a gift card from my mom, and a beautiful necklace and a huge giant umbrella from my sister. All four people in my family should be able to fit under the umbrella. It will be a great life saver during the storm day.

For more photos, please go to : http://picasaweb.google.com/happyfamily.huang/YiSBirthday2009

Some video clips:

Happy Birthday at home-1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atQi3x5Hzeg
I'm not 40! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPuFQkGg36I
Happy Birthday song at home (搖滾版）: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBBTBbvizRE
Party in Elk Grove (正常版）http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q95rzgN8KcM

認識10年紀念日-10/24/09

10/24/99 was the day that Stephen and I first met each other, and this year was our 10th year being together. Only 10 years? How come I felt that I've known him forever?

In the past 9 years, we never celebrated this day, but 今年擴大慶祝。 Stephen bought roses and 香檳, and we drank little after the kids went to sleep. This year, since 10/24 was a Sat., after dinner, we decided to go back to the place that we first met: Stanford University....10 years ago, we went to a violin concert there, and through friends' help, we started knowing each other better.

It only took about 15 to 20 minutes to get there from our house, but since it's dark, it took us longer to find the entrance. Hee fell asleep in the car, and Ha was excited to be able to ride the bike in the campus. Stephen held Hee, Ha rode the bike, and I walked until almost 10pm . The second day, we went there again, and both kids rode their bikes. Now, biking is one of their favorite activities, and Stanford is one of the best place for biking, so, we went there again last week, and I predict that we will go there many times in the future and we will have many more 10 years of happy days ahead of us .

I'll upload the photos to slideshow later. http://picasaweb.google.com/happyfamily.huang/102409#

Biking at Stanford: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCIL3e-JsMc

哈哈教嘻嘻怎樣自己開始騎，不需要人家推一下，後來嘻嘻真的學會了：http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2NqLql9V70