It's hard to believe that it's already mid Feb. Time does seem to fly faster and faster as we get older. Everyday is busy so it seems like you just keep going but all that time adds up. I know this blog is mainly happy but I also want it to be a place where I can record thoughts, think about things and, much, use as a reminder of these years of our lives. I turned 47 last year and, for the first time, really thought about how I've probably lived half of my life already. I mean, we all know that we aren't going to live forever and that we'll become less healthy as we age but that's all in the abstract and very hard to grasp in reality. Perhaps because my mom passed away a couple of years ago, Amy's parents' illnesses, my own health slowly changing, etc, I thought about it and realized that I probably am not going to make it to 95. And, even if I do, I don't think I would be in any great shape at that time. That realization has made me think a bit more about how to spend my time and what I want to do with the life that I have. I've cut down on work quite a bit over the last year and I'm happy with the amount of work that I'm doing now. Amy isn't working and dedicating her time to our family (including her parents, as well) and I think in that respect, our priorities are in the right place. Our relationships, within our family and outside of it (friends, neighbors, church), are what we want to focus on. We're both trying to stay healthy, I'm trying to get some exercise at least 5 days a week and Amy is still running and keeping up with her PT. We want to focus on experiences over things or money and I think we're in a good place there. There has been some anxiety over the recent political developments but we're doing our best to be informed (not too much though because it's very stressful), learn where we can and be active when possible. We're both reading more. Me, mostly fantasy and sci-fi which I have really enjoyed getting back into, and Amy some history, currently The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich 8) I am trying really hard to squeeze the joy out of life, whether it's time with the kids or cooking something new for dinner or spending time with Amy. I think we're doing generally well though always striving to improve and adapt. All right, that's it for the contemplation for now :) onto the pictures!
A smorgasbord of things in Jan and early Feb ..
ps. I remember being in Sweden and learning what smorgasbord meant, basically a table full of various food offerings, and it has come to mean a collection of many different things :)
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| Sora and Elysia are enjoying their ice skating class. They don't need the buckets anymore :) |
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| Jad has joined competitive soccer with friends, Mojo, Colton, Ashton and Orion. It's more time and more cost (coaches, uniforms, registration) but we're going to give it a go for at least one season. |
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| The moms went out to afternoon tea for Kristina's birthday |
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| Our small group made Chinese style stew for the BYF Friday dinners. We want to support the youth whenever we can as BYF is a place where they can make some solid dependable friends. |
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| Jad (Kai and Sora too) went to their first orthopedics appt. We found a nice not too aggressive orthodontist that we like and feel much better :) |
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| Celebrated lunar new year with neighbors and some sparklers. I tried to go to Vietnamese town to buy some firecrackers but the lady looked at me and was like, "those are illegal, we don't sell them here".. I should have brought a Vietnamese friend 8D |
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| Sora is selling cookies again.. aiming for 300+ boxes this year |
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| Our garage is, once again, full of cases of cookies :) |
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| Went to watch the Dog Man movie with Jad's soccer friends. We rarely go to the theater now so it was a treat for all of us. Movie was surprisingly touching and (with Raja's recs too) made us want to read the books |
This past weekend, we went to meet up with my intern/medical friends in Tahoe. This is the 19th year we've done this trip since intern year in 2006! That's pretty good for a group of friends who were mainly together for one year :) Viet has moved away and Lin and Sean haven't come for a few years now but we'll keep them going as long as we can. Thanks especially to Ray and Mukesh who pushed to get things organized this year.
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| The drive up was so slow.. some traffic, stop at In-n-Out and chain control made it a full 6 1/2 hour drive. Next time, we'll have to pull the kids out school at lunch to get going earlier! |
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| The house we rented was very nice. We stayed with Mukesh and Lin while Wei, Ray and John went to the other house. Certainly a step up from two rooms at the Peppermill! |
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| Honestly, we spent most of the time just chatting and catching up with each other, while the kids watched TV, played games or just ran around. A few people went skiing or boarding but most of us just went to the nearly sledding hill and played in the snow there. |
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| Jad had some good rides |
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| Sora too! |
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| Kids watched all three How to Train Your Dragon movies in two days :) |
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| Breakfast time |
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| It's harder to get everyone together now, everyone has responsibilities and kids (boy, are we glad to be out of the really young kids phase), but it's really awesome to make it together. |
That's a wrap for now. We're planning a trip to SoCal next week to visit friends that we haven't seen in a while. And hopefully a Costa Rica trip in the summer! Til next time!
