The Chinese Rockers...

were live on stage last Saturday night at the Richmond Night Market! They performed well and had a lot of room to move around. According to Marvin the best part was when he went on stage. Him and his cousins were watching from 'backstage' mostly. He wanted to dance but was feeling too shy. They came on right after the dog show and as you can see Pat got a new hat. His head must have been cold before hand. Fayth stayed awake through the whole thing and waved her ice cream cone only in the air at the end.

on moving and ON CHOICES...

You rarely have time for everything you want to do in this life,
so you need to make choices.
Hopefully your choices can come
from a deep sense of who you are
and who you want to become.

Mr. Rogers

What do you do when you move? Go to Ikea of course to get the things you need to make your home more functional and more comfortable. In our case we needed a few things to make it more organized and to help us cram ourselves in with ease. We put the children in bunk beds in the big room and we are taking up the other room mostly by just inserting our queen size bed. We picked up a desk finally so Pat can keep all his business stuff neat and tidy or at least where he can find it when he needs it. We also needed shelves for the bathroom and a large shelving unit with cupboards underneath that Marvin calls, 'the thing that we don't know what to call it' because we were going to get a baker's rack but decided it would be too deep. It contains our phones, mail, keys, cook books, kitchen linens, miscellaneous items and we put some baskets on it too for receipts and coupons. I like to put my purse and anything I've carried upstairs on it as well and hopefully it will keep us from throwing up our pockets onto the counter. I have tried bulletin boards, desk organizers, hooks, little shelves and throwing tantrums and nothing else has worked but this is helping some. We still need shelves for some of the closets, a towel rack and a shower curtain but we are getting much closer to order over here in 216. It's a little bigger and full of carpet. Today I spent quite a bit of time organizing Asia's clothing and putting summer stuff up high and bringing the warmer stuff down where we and she can reach it. The label maker Pat got me for my birthday is really coming in handy! Marvin had a day off from school which didn't work out very good for him because I was too sick to help him really enjoy it. Also I wasn't thinking clearly and forgot and my mom was kind enough to bring him to school. I didn't make it to work and it was quite difficult to be taking care of two children with bundles of energy when I am feeling so rotten with some kind of cold or flu thing. I was naive to think I would only get sick like this once in 9 months I guess because this was the second time. We enjoyed watching The Wizard of Oz again. I really didn't get any rest and don't feel any better for staying home because those children had to keep being fed and stuff like that every time i turned around, or so it seemed.

Summer

This summer we really enjoyed the parks in New Westminster especially Queen's Park with it's playgrounds, water park and petting zoo. Anastasia was traumatized by Pumba the pig who bit a hole in her grocery bag and then took off her egg after slobbering on her stroller. The goats were a little nosy for her liking as well but she was fascinated by the bunnies and enjoyed the chickens and ducks quite a bit. Now she knows her animal sounds. Take a lookie....

The Chinese Rockers

a.k.a TCR will be performing on S E P T E M B E R 22ND at 7:30pm at the Night Market.
Pat is the lead singer along with his brother Phil and their buddy John on guitar and another brother Mark on the drums.
They have some originals now too. Come out and enjoy some classic rock and some surprises too.
Please come out and see them jam and dress warmly.
Click here to find out the directions how to get there.
If you've never been out to the Night Market here's the perfect excuse.
If you haven't been in a while isn't it about time.
Be prepared to pay for parking or walk a little ways.
This outdoor event takes place close to Ikea in Richmond behind Home Depot
and is filled with tons sweet deals on everything from
toys to handbags to MP3 players to jewelry to bonsai trees to wallets to car accessories
The food is quite unique and includes everything from dim sum to imitation shark fin soup to bubble teas to gyros and also takoyaki to Korean ricerolls. Yum, I know Phil will be going for the takoyaki a popular Japanese festival food containing octopus and loved by children.
The earlier the better to beat the crowds as far as shopping goes but since it's already getting cooler I don't expect the crowds will be quite so dense.

Jessica...

...was baptized on August 24th at the Burnaby chapel in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints! by Elder Fisher who has since been transferred to Surrey. She looked really cute with her pigtails all dressed in a white blouse and skirt before she went into the water. As usual I didn't get there early enough for photos of that. It was really nice and held in the Relief Society room. It was lovely to see her Mom AND Dad and also Teresa and Nana and Christopher and Aimee girl all there to show her their love and support. I know her family coming meant a lot to her and she was worried they may not. I guess I forgot that refreshments don't magically appear at baptisms so I missed a lot of it setting those up. Thank-you to everyone who brought some sweet snacks. I had promised Jessica I would bake a cheese cake and it was plain just like she likes. We were all very exited for her. She looked just beautiful, so happy and absolutely radiant before, during and after. It's really wonderful to see how much she is maturing and growing and learning and progressing. She was pretty fabulous to begin with but she has made some lifestyle changes and added some good habits to her routine and they have made her even happier and sweeter. It's nice to see someone so enthusiastic about the scriptures and commandments our Heavenly Father has provided for our guidance and help. It really helps me remember when I returned to my own faith and helps me retain my love for the gospel. It has been a good opportunity to see her testimony develop and kind of took me by surprise. We have been blessed with so many wonderful Elders and Sisters teaching and leading and helping answer her many many questions. I am very proud of her for setting such a good example to all those around her.

SUMMER WAS FUN!

Anastasia's Birthday

It's almost been a month since Blue's birthday and I am finally getting around to posting the photos. We had a lovely time in the grass area out back with a few friends and family. Since she seems to be all about Dora we dressed her like Dora the Explorer and used it for our theme. We served delicious and authentic Spanish foods and kept it nice and simple.
pictures top to bottom:
Anastasia, Lola Andrea and Lolo Milo with Sydney and Maysen, Tiana banana, Uncle Phil, What’s left of the Pinata, Gabby with Maysen, Mommy and Amma helping Anastasia with piñata ribbons, Fayth, Jessica and Marvin-these guys really miss playing together, Anastasia likes her new knapsack from Aunty Gen, Hien and Vi asleep and three, Vi’s brother Dhat, Tita Malaya a.k.a. Aunty Iris, Carolina with Edwin and Erica-Jessica’s siblings, nice neighbors-James and his new wife, Anastasia with her new sunglasses and bubble gun, Isabel and Betty, Chanel with ice cream, Marvin and Dominic, Marvin decorating