Happy Chinese New Year 農曆新年快樂

Waiting for their turn. 等待上場.


This year is the year of Ox and as usual, the kids' Chinese school held a Chinese New Year Party to celebrate the Chinese New Year with families. It started with games that kids can have fun with then the program starts with the Lion dancing and performances prepared by each class. Xander's class presented an Aboriginal Dance this year, one parent designed and made all of their costumes. Aren't they cute? They did a really good job of the dance.



Good brothers 哥倆好



Time to shine 正式表演了.

I'm Khai's teacher this year and was worried that Khai wouldn't get on the stage. He fell asleep last year while watching other classes' performances, so this year we came prepared with cookies and water in my bag. As we predicted, Khai fell asleep. We put the cookies on his lips and asked if he wants cookies, wow, he woke up immediately and enjoyed his cookies with bright eyes. That's one way to motivate him to perform and you can tell whose kid he is. Khai also stood on stage with a smiling face and dancing very hard. We were very happy with our kids and so proud of them.

Khai look at the front please! 煒勳請看前面.

Dinner followed the show, there were more than 12 dishes on the table and you can tell Pei-I was very happy about it. There were so many left overs so school sold boxes for $1 each, people went to pick items that they like. That's a good idea to get rid of left overs and raise money for school. We collected more than $100 for the left overs.

It was a very fun party and we had lots of fun. We arrived home late with 2 fell asleep kids. Happy Chinese New Year.

Shining star 煒勳表演"下雨"



今年一月是中國新年, 所以中文學校照例舉行新年晚會和許多家庭一起慶祝. 晚會六點才開始, 可是學校在下午2 點時就準備了許多遊戲要讓小朋友們玩, 也有熱心的家長做了珍珠奶茶及其他台灣小點心來義賣. 甚至還有猜謎活動呢. 我們家一大早就先去中國餐廳吃些養茶再於12點多去學校幫忙布置會場.


傑升班上的家長們很圑結, 很有共識. 他們班常常有聚會, 每家帶一樣菜到某個家庭去聚餐. 很多媽媽都很會煮菜, 所以每次聚會都可以吃到很多道地的台灣菜. 今年其中一位爸爸說他志願幫傑升班上做山地舞服裝. 他親自設計了衣服, 在一次聚會裡還特地幫每一位小朋友量身做衣服吔! 媽媽們就約定下一個聚會裡大家坐著縫鈴鐺. 有幾位能幹的媽媽幫班上設計舞步. 當晚諸位爸媽們就犠牲上台表演高山青並錄起來, 這樣小朋友才會記得舞步.

煒勳去年沒有上台表演因為他在等別人上場時睡著了, 被叫醒的結果就是他鬧脾氣不想上台表演. 今年我們怕同樣的情形會發生, 所以聰明的媽媽我就準備了餅乾及水放在我的袋子裡. 結果新年晚會表演當天, 煒勳果然如預期的睡著了. 我馬上拿餅乾放在他嘴吧上問他要不要吃餅乾. 哇, 他眼睛馬上張開並開心的吃著餅乾. 嗯,可以想像這個小孩是誰家的.


傑升和煒勳都很開心的上台表演也表演的很好, 看的我們都很替他們驕傲及感動. 平常辛苦的練習總算有回報了.


表演結束後有晚餐, 我今年是當老師, 所以學校送了我一張票. 我們全家留下來吃飯. 今年的抽奬我們家抽到了2 份小奬: 襪子和滑鼠墊. 晚餐還剩了很多, 我們又開始義賣. 一個外帶的盒子一塊美金, 很多人都來搶著帶菜回家. 我們這樣賣竟也賣了100多美金.


小孩們看完電影, 大人們也幫忙收拾完會場. 我們一家人於10點多疲倦的回家. 好累可是好幸福的一天. 祝大家新年快樂, 萬事如意.

Korean restaurant 帶公婆去吃韓國菜

Korean side dishes . We cooked on the table. 韓式小菜

Parents mentioned that they enjoyed their Korean dishes when they were in Hawaii visiting Tim and Diann. Thinking we have to get kids out of the house after the carpet was cleaned and there was a yummy Korean restaurant that we loved in Ann Arbor, we took everyone to there right after the cleaning company took off.

We ordered the same dish that we ordered before: BBQ tray with lobster tail, 2 lunch bento and a noodles dish for kids.

Table fulled with dishes. 滿桌佳餚.

Our waitress carried 2 sets of side dishes for us, then came our main dishes. Can you see how many dishes are on our table? We all enjoyed the BBQ and each other's company. It was fun to cook your dinner on the table. We shared our complimentary desert--3 colored ice cream and the mango flavor was yummy. Look at all the empty dishes, are we pigs or what? No, in fact we packed most of them home.

Empty dishes ..空碗盤.

我們想說清潔公司洗完地毯後要把小朋友們帶出去, 這樣地毯才不會又馬上髒掉. 公婆有提過他們以前去夏威夷時有去吃韓國菜, 他們很喜歡. 那剛好我們知道有家韓國菜我們很喜歡, 那就帶全家去那裡吃吧.

門口放了便當的樣本, 看起來很好吃. 我們點了2個便當, 1 個烤肉及麵. 侍者給了我們2套小菜, 哇, 整個桌子已經堆滿了許多盤子, 再加上主菜, 沒位置了啦, 趕快吃吧. 公婆們對蒸蛋很有興趣,很燙可是很軟很好吃. 大家都吃的好飽, 東西吃不完的帶回家吧, 晚餐再繼續吃. 肚子好飽哦. 侍者送我們一個三色冰淇淋, 其中的芒果冰淇淋很好吃. 我們特地去中國超市又買了一個芒果冰淇淋給公婆吃.

Remodeling projects 房子小裝潢

We've been thinking of switching our living room and family room plus paint the living room, change our valance, add curtains in the family room and have the carpet cleaned while Sean's parents are here to help. Sean went to Home Depot and picked up some color samples, we all agreed that the Green Tea color would be nice in our room. The boys took down our Christmas tree the day after Christmas while mommy and I went to stores. By the time when we got home, the Christmas stuff was pretty much gone and the living room was ready to paint.

After lunch, we put the blue tape around the room and got the room ready for our primer (the sales lady added greet tea color in our primer already, so we just need to paint the primer and one coat of the paint). It went really well and fast with parents' help. We finished painting the room the next day and were really pleased with the new color.

Before painting and cleaning the sofa. 油漆及洗沙發前.

Patching the wall. 油漆前先把洞補平.

Relocated piano .把鋼琴放這邊吧!

We had our house for 4 years and tried to clean our carpets with parents' wet vacumm 2 years ago, but the dirty spots were still there. Therefore we decided to hire Stanley Steamer to clean the carpet and sofas. They sprayed some detergents on the sofas and floor first and then hooked up the hose outside the house and their truck. It was really interesting to see how clean the surface was after he cleaned the area. The gentleman even showed us the difference before and after the cleaning. Now our house look so clean and nice after all the cleaning and rearranging furnitures.

New finished living room. 油漆及清洗後的新客廳.

Now our final project is making curtains. We went to Joann and picked up the material, it ended up cheaper than buying from store with the 40% off coupon and clearance sale, and it's the color and style that we like. Mom cut the materials while I sew them, she suggested to add some plastic grocery bags in the valances to make them look puffy. We liked that idea. Mom then sewed the curtains for the family room while we put up our new desk that was a Christmas present from parents.

Cleaning in process. This is our high traffic area and is very dirty. 我去買菜時都是從外面直接走過這裡到廚房, 通常大家也都是先進這裡, 所以你看前頭這部份都特別黑. 中間白白的就是洗乾淨的, 清潔公司要讓我們比較一下.

Finished curtains with new desk. 做好的窗廉及新的書桌.

Doesn't our new rooms look so nice? Thanks a bunch to mom and dad.

我們很久以前就想要對換客廳及居家室, 趁著公婆要來我們家玩就順便油漆客廳, 請人來清洗地毯及做窗廉. 聖誕節隔天男生們待在家裡把聖誕樹收起來及整理客廳, 婆婆和我跑了好幾家店去看有沒有已做好的窗廉及買了油漆. 我們決的已做好的窗廉不是太貴就是不好看, 所以決定自己做.

等我們到家後, 客廳已經準備的差不多了. 先貼上藍色的膠帶這樣油漆才不會跑出界, 舖上塑膠布 開始油漆囉. 總共要漆2 層才能把原來的顏色很漂亮又均勻的蓋過去. 由於公婆的幫忙, 我們在24小時內就把2 層油漆弄完了. 我們很喜歡新挑的這個顏色.

再來呢就是要清洗地毯了. 我們已經在這家裡住了4 年了, 2 年前公婆有帶特別的洗地毯機器來我家幫我們洗地, 可是髒髒的地方還是無法洗乾淨. 報導上建議住家的地毯應該每12到18個月就讓專業的洗地毯公司來洗(或是每隔一陣子就自己洗), 想說地毯真的很髒而沙發上也都是小朋友們小時候嘔吐或撒水的痕跡, 就請專業的來洗吧. 專業的洗地毯公司來了後開始噴清潔劑, 然後接上水管就有熱熱的水開始蒸氣及洗地了. 好神奇哦, 吸管一經過的地方都好乾淨. 我們家現在一樓變的好乾淨又好漂亮就像是新家一樣. 真是謝謝公婆的幫忙. 由於地毯要等到24小時之後才會全乾又不可能叫小朋友都不要經過客廳及居家屋, 所以我們就帶公婆到中文學校那附近去吃韓國菜.

Merry Christmas 聖誕節快樂

A church friend who just moved to our ward called us the night before Christmas Eve and asked if we can watch her 5 kids on Christmas Eve, so her husband could have the kidney stone removed. With parents and Sean staying home and nothing planned that day, I told her that we definitely will watch her kids. After picking up the kids from friend's house, mommy and I made carmel popcorn ball while kids were watching a movie. Kids loved their new treat. Kids and us then went out and delivered goodies to our neighbors. We sang songs when the door was opened, but then decided to shorten our song for the next door because the first one was way too long.

Our friend called and said she had to take her husband back to the E.R. due to the unbearable pain. She showed up an hour later to take the kids home for dinner and planned to head to the hospital again that night.

We cooked mommy's clam chowder and Sean's Manhattan clam chowder that night. It was fun to have 2 different kind of chowders for dinner. We went to the hospital after dinner, Sean and dad gave that brother a blessing. He was released to go home few hours after our visit that night.

It was a very long day for us, but we felt very good inside because we helped that family and we were having so much fun with their beautiful children. We were so grateful that parents and Sean were home and helped entertaining kids.

On Christmas morning, parents and us came down first to see kids' exciting expressions. Kids were amazed to see so many presents under the tree. We opened presents one by one and parents were having fun seeing what kind of toys kids got. Sean got an iHome station, Xande got a boom box + legos, Khai got a Leap Frog Tag + legos, Pei-I got a food mill, some clothes and lotions. Daddy got a wallet and a blanky that was made by Pei-I and mommy got a winter hat.

We enjoyed grandma's cinnamon roll for breakfast. Yum.

在聖誕夜前夕, 一位剛搬到我們這的教會朋友打電話問我們可不可以看她的5個孩子因為她先生有膽結石要在隔天動手術拿掉. 尤於我們在隔天沒有安排任何活動, 問了一下肖恩跟公婆, 他們都說沒有問題, 所以就答應了這位朋友. 當小朋友們在看卡通時, 婆婆教我做焦糖爆米花, 趁它們黏黏的時候趕快弄成一粒粒的大球..看完了卡通小朋友就有現成的爆米花球可以吃了.

我們家通常會在聖誕節時做一些點心送給朋友及附近的鄰居. 剛好有這麼多小朋友就順便出去外面送點心好了. 我們想好了要唱那一首歌, 可是在唱完第一家後就決定要換短一點的, 因為第一首歌太長了, 人家的門要開好久,暖氣都跑出來了..唱完了4 家後再回家繼續玩別的遊戲. 餵了他們一些簡單的午餐後就讓他們看另一部電影.

朋友打電話說她本來要載她老公回家然後來接小朋友們回家, 可是她一到家後老公疼的受不了, 又轉頭回急診室. 一個小時後她滿臉倦容的來接小朋友. 邀她留下來吃晚餐, 她說要趕快帶小朋友回家吃些東西然後要回醫院去看老公. 真是可憐吶.

聖誕夜婆婆煮了她每年必煮的濃蛤蜊湯, 我們喝了湯後決定去醫院看這家人...他們帶了一些禮物到醫院和他們的爸爸一起拆禮物...公公及肖恩給了他一個祝福, 結果他竟然幾個小時後就可以回家了.

我們當晚回家後大家都累的攤在沙發上, 雖然是很忙的一天可是我們覺得很充實很快樂, 因為我們很高興朋友請我們幫忙照顧小孩. 我們搬了很多次家, 能瞭解他們的感受. 剛搬到一個人生地不熟的地方, 遇到緊急的事情只能找教會的教友幫忙. 能在聖誕夜做一件好事是非常愉快的感受. 我們也機會教育小朋友能夠幫助別人是一件好事.

到了聖誕節當天, 大人們先到樓下去坐著等著看小朋友們驚喜的表情. 他們一下樓看到樹下有許多禮物都好興奮..我們一次拆一個禮物以便觀看那人收到什麼禮物. 今年肖恩收個一個喇叭, 肖升有一個收音機和積木, 煒勳有教育玩具和積木, 我收到了一些衣服, 乳液和做罐頭用的器具. 我做了一個毛毯給公公, 也買了一個帽子給婆婆..能夠和家人一起過聖誕節真好.

Parents came to visit. 公婆來找我們玩.

This year my parents-in-law decided to take the train and come to our house to celebrate Christmas and New Year with us. This is the first time that we have family come over to celebrate Christmas and we are very excited about parents' coming. We cleaned Khai's room very good and threw away bunch of warn out toys and books. The house was all clean and ready for parents to arrive.

Parents' train took off from Salt Lake City and the train was delayed 2 hours due to the bad weather. We kept calling parents on and off to make sure that they were doing fine. Parents said their room in the train was small but was able to get some sleep. People on the train was very nice to them and their meals was covered. They were enjoying their view from the big window. There was a big storm so the train was stopped at Iowa due to bad conditons of the track. Parents was late for their connection at Chicago at that point. 6 hours past the estimated arrival time at Chicago, the Amtrak company sent parents on the bus at mid night heading to Jackson. They arrived Jackson at 5:15 am and Sean went to the station to pick them up. Yeah, parents finally arrived our house safely. After short greeting, we sent both exhausted parents to bed. That night we found out on the news that the train they supposed to catch from Chicago was stopped for 11 hours due to bad weater and system failure. It must be a blessing that they somehow skipped tha connection.

今年我公婆決定要來我們家和我們一起過聖誕節及新年, 因為他們很想看孫子們拆禮物時欣喜的表情. 於是呢我們就來個全家大掃除, 把煒勳的房間整理的非常乾淨, 順便整理掉舊的及壞掉的書和玩具.

公婆開了3個小時到鹽湖城去坐火車, 他們買的是有床舖的私人房間. 很小的一個房間有床, 一個大窗子可以看外面. 公婆說車上的人對他們很好, 有水及柳澄汁讓你喝. 三餐也都包含在票價裡了. 可是他們來的那幾天正好碰上大風雪, 在幾個地方火車被迫停下修理鐵軌. 他們本來要接芝加哥6點的火車, 可是火車誤點的很嚴重根本就搭不上下一班火車..當他們於半夜抵達芝加哥後, 鐵路公司幫他們安排坐野雞車到我們家附近..肖恩再去接他們回來...簡短的寒暄後就請公婆先去休息..幸好他們平安抵達我們家...當天晚上看新聞時才知道他們本來要搭的下一班火車因為天氣不好及系統出問題, 竟然在半路中停了11個小時, 還不准乘客下火車呢. 還好公婆沒有搭上那班火車.