His favorite spot

this is his favorite spot! I usually don't mind since he's very furry and fluffy. It feels so nice and warm! Seriously who can say no to this face?

Conversations with Raspberries!

I went raspberry picking with a friend of mine today. And it was very fun! Who knew that the simple act of picking raspberry and enjoying having a conversation with a friend would brighten up my day? I'm so glad my knee decided to give me a break today so that i can enjoy this time with a friend i have wanted to get to know better.

This was my first time picking raspberries. I've picked fruits before but not raspberries so i was excited to do it. The weather turned out perfect for a day of picking berries....not too cold, not too hot! Just perfect!
At first we decided that 3 quarts (i think it was quarts?) would be enough for us so that's all we got. But after filling up our 3 quarts Liz decided that she wanted just a little bit more so she can have enough for her to make jam. So i said "ok lets get more". She said we would just probably get 2 more quarts because she was getting kinda tired from bending down a lot and her back was hurting (she's pregnant). So we decided on just 2 more quarts each. We went back and had the lady hold ours for us while we picked more.

 Liz having her lunch and picking berries. Pregnant and a muti-tasker!

We ended up actually filling out all 3 quarts again, which probably was best since she'll have enough for jamming and i'll have enough for....well all i plan on doing is eating them!. We come out winners either way! 
I'm really glad i went and so glad Liz invited. I got the opportunity to get to know her better and just do something fun with a friend. Those times are priceless.

 i couldn't get a good shot, the wind was blowing pretty hard at this moment so i was not steady hence the blurred photo.

After our fruit picking we had a little lunch before we said our good-byes! It was a great time spent with a friend. I'm thinking we'll probably go back again....don't know when but i'm sure we will. I have a hunch! So who's going with us next time? Well since you didn't go with us, guess you'll just have to enjoy these pictures and drool!?! ha ha ha.

not a very "beautiful" shot of me but oh well. I can't look good all the time right? Heehee. I really hate my acne.

yummm! Looks good doesn't it?

Virgina

Wow this post is long over due. Things have been so hectic lately i haven't had the time to sit down and post anything. Well better late than never!


We decided as a family since every year we always to to Tennessee for vacation (actually we don't call it vacation any more-we go too often) that we would go some where else different. And since we've never been to the ocean (the ACTUAL ocean) we decided to head out there. Fortunately for us I have a friend who lives close to the ocean! So we made our plans and it was perfect timing too. That weekend was Liens' birthday! We get to celebrate Liens' birthday AND celebrate finally getting to see the ocean!...an actual beach..yippy!
Lien has been to an actual beach before. He used to live in San Diego. Lucky him!
We decided to head out late Friday night right after Lien gets home from work...now that was his choice. He was working 12 hours that week. That's what happens when you are such a hot shot at work...people always need you! : ) His boss makes every one work 12 hours every time we are going to go on vacation. Good and bad. 
We left at around 9 pm Friday night and we got to Virgina at around 10 am. We took a little power nap at Margies' place and woke up around 12 noon. Then off to the Virgina beach Aquarium! That was pretty fun.

After every one was ready to go we headed off to Virgina Beach to have lunch at this Pho place. Not too bad but i think my Pho is better...i might be a little bias here!
Then Mike and Margie took us to take a look at VA beach!...a little teaser!

After that we headed back to their place to rest a bit, which didn't really happen. By that time we were all hungry so the guys just rested a bit and then off to dinner at this seafood buffet! Amazing place....we stuffed ourselves like crazy! Good times i tell ya! and yes Margie, you were right, i was wrong. The seafood place was all i needed. Sorry for making you ask your coworkers for a good seafood place. But to be fair, i didn't ask you to, you did it yourself. I did say any place is fine right? Besides quit complaining, you did it for a friend, that means you care. Geeesh such a complainer! J/K i love ya!
But i do appreciate all you did for us! It was above and beyond. Thank you!
After dinner we went for a little walk at Norfork beach. It was nice and breezy, perfect for a midnight stroll at the beach.

A perfect ending to a wonderful start!
Next day we went to lunch at subways!....eat fresh! ha ha ha
Then we headed back out to Virgina beach to see downtown and see where Margie works. She also took us to this museum. It was docking a very old Naval ship that has since been retired. It is the actual Naval ship they used during World Word I or II....i forgot. It was huge...long and huge. We didn't go in but there was this nice family that took a picture for us who gave us a sticker that allows you to tour the ship. They said they didn't need it. It was really nice of them to do that. The little girl didn't really want to give her sticker to us, she was adamant on keeping it! Her brother, father and mother were urging her to give it up (the sticker says "tour" in pink) but she was still adamant. Finally her mother walked off and her father finally said "give it to them, we'll not using it anyways". I mean we did tell them that it was ok that she didn't want to give it, we were good. But i think the father just wanted to teach his kids that giving something to some one who could use it was a nice thing since they didn't need it anymore. They had purchase the tour but didn't go do it, i think. It was still very nice of them to do that. I hope her mother wasn't too mad at her, but if it were my child i'd be mad me.
Anyways we also went to the Japanese garden in downtown, just down the street from Margies' work. She is one lucky lady. She gets this nice view for lunch every day!

After the garden we were off to VA BEACH!!!!!!!!!!

It was the beach day ever....literally! I didn't even think about any thing that had been stressing me out for the pass few days prior to this trip. We had such a wonderful, awesomely GREAT time! Can't believe I waited 30 years to see the ocean. But it's better late than never right? To prove my point that i'm such a "beach virgin" the first time i got in the water i was really scared but it got better. So anyways i was starting to have fun than i taste something kinda salty and kinda like blood tasting. So i thought my mouth was bleeding. I'm thinking to myself, "why am i bleeding?". So i swallowed (I'm a vampire by the way! I like to swallow back my blood, i feel like i can't lose my blood, i have to drink it back....i know strange....but hey i'm coocky like that!)
So after about 3 swallows, a light went up in my head and i was like "oh yeah, they say beach is salt water!". Needles to say, i spat that sucker out faster than you can say "salt"! Let me just tell you, that ocean is beautiful but not very tasty. 

I really wish i had taken pictures of the many jelly fishes swimming around or laying dead on the sand. They were every where. I was a little freaked...to say the least, because when i hear jelly fish, poison comes to mind. But i was surprised there were no problems. Weird. Maybe they weren't that kind of jelly fish?
They looked like breast implants when they are laying on the sand.....dead. Margie and I kept on telling each other to clean up our implants. We are so messy you know! Geesh can't take us anywhere. : )

I can seriously rave on and on and on about this trip of ours, but i think it might be a little boring for some of you. So why not say in pictures? Enjoy!

So are you jealous yet? ha ha ha

Let me just tell you that our hosts, Mike and Margie, were the best ever. They went above and way beyond to make us feel comfortable and made it so fun for us.
We thank you very much for having us for 2 days. You guys are the best. I must warn you....you might not get rid of us now!
We appreciate all that you did for us. Thank you for the room to sleep in, the bathroom to, well you know! Thanks for the hospitality!

I couldn't have asked, well WE couldn't have asked for a better vacation and it was made possible by my husband, for working so hard so that we can have a family vacation. And also made possible by two fabulous couple, Mike and Margie for allowing us to go and visit and for taking us all over. THANK YOU!

Taking a walk around Margies' apartment complex. The place is nice....love the huge pond! My kiddos are really entertaining aren't they?

On our last night boo hoo we went crabbing! It was our first time as well as Mikes' and Margies' first time, so we were pretty excited to see what we can do.
It actually turned out to be pretty fun! We caught about 11 crabs and one ugly spider crab. We were there for about an hour so that wasn't bad at all. Lien and I were talking that next time we visit we'll have to take a weeks' vacation! Hear that Margie?...so get ready. If you didn't get tired of us then, wait till we stay for a week. It might drive you crazy! : )

                                                                  Getting ready to do some crabbing!

                                                       The always fabulously dressed Margie!

 

Look! Mike caught some...yay!

And now it is time to say good bye. So sad to say but we had to. Until next time. We truly enjoyed every minute of our vacation and thank you to Mike and Margie again for having us. We appreciate it so much. Hope we didn't leave too much of a mess!

Ying Thitikarn - Yom Jum Non Fah Din (Eng Subs)

One of my all time favorites. I love this singer, she has a great voice. This song is a very sad story, i think a lot of people can relate to this song. To me personally, (i know would be a shame to say now) i've felt like this many times. Those who know me would understand and those who don't know my story wouldn't understand. I don't expect any one to understand actually. And i also don't expect any one to judge me. If you haven't been in my shoes than you shouldn't judge me.
I'm looking to the present and the future now, that's all that matters. 

This song has a lot of meaning. I've listen to this song over and over again, and it still makes me cry. No matter how many times i listen to this song, it still remains to be the best! I'll never get bored of this song.

Enjoy! Tell me what you think of the song.

Lyrics!

 
   Yahk dtor wah fah din tee hai rao pope jur
    I blame Heaven and earth for allowing us to meet,   

    Dtae mai yom jap rao koo gan
    But denying our union

    Fah din jong jai glayng rao tur wah reu plao
    Would you say they’re torturing us on purpose?

    Tummai na tong haam ruk gan
    Why is our love forbidden?

    Kwarm mor som na reu tee yeun yao
    Is it because we’re not meant to last?

    Teung nai jai mun kaang,
    Although my heart opposes this,

    Soot tai, dtong yom jum non
    In the end, I must surrender

    *Gon tanon kong rao yaek gan
    Before our paths diverge

    Gon kwarm fun kong rao sin long
    Before our dreams come to an end

    Kae yahk pope gap tur suk hon,
    I only wish to see you once more,

    Sop dta eek krahng
    Look into your eyes again

    **Kae hai chun dai bauk tur suk kum
    Just so I can say a few words to you

    Poot nai wun tee jam; dtong jark
    To speak of the day I’ll remember; our farewell

    Yahk hai roo wah ruk tur mahk
    I want you to know that I love you so much

    Lae ja ruk, ruk dtalod pai
    And I’ll love, love you forever

    Gert chaht nee kae dai pope jur
    We were only able to meet in this lifetime

    Gert chaht nah koy fun gan mai
    Let’s renew our dreams in the next lifetime

    Wun nee jai salaai
    My heart is shattered today

    Yom jum non hai fah din yaek rao glai gan
    I surrender to Heaven and earth tearing us apart

    Paw jai laaw chai mai fah din
    Is Heaven and earth satisfied yet?

    Tee dai hen wah kon dtoy dtam
    To witness an inferior person

    Mun dtong jeb dtong chum dtong nam dta dtok
    Crying in pain and suffering

    Lohk bai nee mee kon mahk mai
    This world is filled with so many people

    Tummai dtong pen rao song kon yom jum non hai laaw
    Why did we have to be the ones to surrender?

    Wung wah kong por jai
    I hope that they’re satisfied

    Repeat *, ** twice

    Kon ruk gan yai fah din teung mai kao jai
    Heaven and earth didn’t sympathize with our love

Mommy is "Noy"

So today while i was typing a note to my dear friend, my daughter was sitting beside and watching me do it. She was pretty amazed that i was typing at warp speed and not looking at my hands. Then she noticed that my notes' size was smaller than the size of my friends' note. I was responding back to her email. So she asked her brother, and i will be quoting.

Naree: "Nilun why is moms' letter size smaller than Margie's?"
Nilun: "Probably because mom set her font and letter size to be a small size and Margie has her big"
Naree: "Oh i know! Because mom is "noy". Everything about her is "noy" even her letter size!"

And they both laugh  hysterically! Seriously these kids will not let me live this name down. If you understand what i'm talking about than obviously you've been reading my blog, if you don't understand the funniness of it than you'll have to go back and read my blog. Because i will not repeat what my name means again.


Don't you just love kids?

something to read

A few days ago and friend of mine posted this on her blog. After reading it, it reminded me so much of me. And i'm sure it applies to a lot of moms out there. So have a read and pat your self on the back all you moms out there.

What you don't see...

By: Tiffany Gee Lewis
Posted in Mormon Times 20 April 2010

What you don't see, when we all march into church on Sunday morning, is the chaos of the morning that happened just 10 minutes earlier.

What you don't see, when you look at my four little boys in their suits, is that the 7-year-old is wearing Dad's socks because we couldn't find his. And they go all the way up to his knees.

What you don't see, when I pull out the lovely quiet book I made a few years back, is that below it, in my church bag, are five baggies of smashed raisins because I haven't cleaned out the bag for months.

When you enter my house, with its shining entryway, you don't see the three loads of laundry dumped on my bed. Or the dirty pots I stashed in the oven. And you will never see the interior of my minivan, not until I find the time to vacuum it out.

When you admire the hand-sewn pajamas I made for tall the kids, we don't talk about the three nights I got no sleep to make those.

If you look on my blog, you will see pictures of homemade chicken noodle soup with homemade noodles. You won't see my confession to popping in a frozen pizza THREE times last week for dinner.

Or the night we ate Cheerios for dinner, dry, because we were out of milk. There is a zoom on my camera for a reason. There is a delete button for a reason.

I don't think we're all playing a part. We naturally want to put our best selves forward, so that is what other people see. They don't see what's going on behind the scenes. I like to think that good parenting is like a duck on the water. What you see is the gentle, almost effortless gliding, not the furious paddling that happens underneath.

I keep a mental list of about ten people I want to stalk by camera, from morning to night, to see how they do it all. Are they up at 4 am? Can they survive on three hours of sleep? Do they have a housekeeper? Because I drop balls just as fast as I can grab them. My intentions are of pure gold, but they come out as tinkling brass, at best.

I started a blog last fall. I dragged my feet into it for many reasons. One of the main reasons I hesitated was I didn't want to be another contributor to the cyberspace guiltosphere out there. Especially where mothers are concerned, do we need one more reason to feel guilty?

Because from the looks of things, other families are happier, their houses are cleaner, their marriages are better, their clothes are more stylish and their craftiness is even more crafty. Their lives are perfectly lovely, while my kids are running around screaming in their diapers.

My worst fears were confirmed last week when I got an e-mail from a friend who asked, "How do you do it all? Your column, your blog, all the things you do with your children? You're amazing!"

I looked around at my house, at the six bins of winter clothes waiting to be transported to the garage, at the sewing projects stacked against the wall, at the state of the toothpaste crusted to the sink... I let things go, a lot of things.

A spanking-clean house is not a high priority for me. I'm a big believer in mud and its importance in a child's life. The time I take to write is time away from scrubbing that bathroom sink. I would rather read with my kids than shop at the mall, so I am certainly not up-to-date on the latest styles. I've been listening to the same music for 20 years because I can't seem to keep up with the latest music scene. And I require a lot of sleep.

We all have priorities. For some, it is keeping a spotless house, and they are good at it. For others, it is writing, or exercising, or serving others. And yes, there are some who seem to do it all, the Benjamin Franklins of the world. I tell myself I don't have to be them. And also, Benjamin Franklin was not much of a family man. Even he let things go.

What we don't see, when we look at each other on Sunday, or on blogs, or in our shiny kitchens, is that we all have different talents and unique situations. I tell my kids all the time: Life is not a race. The only person you are competing against is yourself.

What we forget to see, when admiring others, is our own personal finish line.

Summer Cooking

I love summer time. For many reasons but the number one reason would be all the grilling and cooking. I love, well i should say, we love to grill outside when the weathers' great. And we use charcoal, we don't like the gas grills. The charcoal gives the food this nice smokey smell and taste to it that doesn't even compare to gas grills. Yeah it takes more time to start up the charcoal and everything but i guarantee it is worth it.

That's why i love the Summer season. It's nice and warm, ok sometimes way too hot but i'll take it compared to the snow. It's the time of the year for our family to pack up and go on our vacations since the kids are off school too. Summer has its' many good traits!


Just a few of our summer grilling! Show us yours, what do you like to put on the grill or cook?

Allyse Robertson

We had the pleasure of meeting this beautiful and wonderful missionary a few months ago. She is a great girl. She is actually the one that set up our baptism for us. The first time she came over to our house to meet us, we instantly fell in love with her. I mean how could you not?
We are blessed to have met such a young, beautifully and talented young woman who will go places. She is an inspiration to us. She has taught us so much and given us such a wonderful friendship that we are so sad to see her go. I are not sad that she will be ending her mission and going back home to see her family and start her life. What makes us sad, is that she is gone from Cleveland. We won't get to see her like we use. She is an incredible missionary!
Our kids love her so much. Ok so we might be a little bias, since she is from Boise but that's not the only reason why we love her. It's because she is awesome! She really is. Anyone who has met her will agree with me. We do have a few fave missionaries too but she is by far one of the best that we are very close to.
We know she will miss us and we will always keep in contact. She has really taught us so much about the gospel and everything. We are truly grateful to Heavenly father for bringing her our way! ; )

 sorry i took this from her page! : )
I wish the best of luck to you in all that you do. May God always keep you in his arms and lead you to success. May whatever path you choose be the path to greatness and joy. May your life be blessed with love and care. We hope that you've accomplished all that you have hoped to accomplished. We hope you've made wonderful new and lasting friends along the way. We know we will keep you in our hearts and always remember you. We won't just remember you for your kindness, but we will also remember you for your honesty, integrity and knowledge. May your life be filled with laughter and joy. May your days be filled with sunshine and rainbows. May all the roads you take take you to the sky. Because you deserve it!

Thursday night her and her family came over to visit and have dinner with us. We are so glad that they were able to come visit. It was so nice to meet her family and talk to them. We have living in Idaho in common! ; ) I was going to make spring rolls for them (it's sister Robertsons' fave) but she had mentioned that her mom wanted to see how it was made so i decided to wait and have them make it with us. How fun is that huh? I think he liked making it. They need some improvements but didn't do too bad. We also did a little bbq out on the grill since sister Robertson likes the sticky rice. And since this is her day we made sure we had all the things she likes to eat at our place for her.

                                                                Even Lily made one!                                                     

                                                         Ribs and chicken! Yummy!

This picture turned out kinda lope sided or something. We all look kinda weird. Angle is wrong. But we still look good! 

 We had the Robertsons back to our house the next day for lunch along with the sisters. They enjoyed the food a lot...well at least that's what they tell me! ; ) I'll take their word for it.
The sister on the right with the blue shirt. I felt really sorry for her. I had sliced up some jalapenos and i laid them on top of the lettuce. She thought it was  bell peppers so she just took it and popped it in her mouth. She realized it was hot and her eyes were watering. What made it worst was that she rubbed her eyes with the same hands she used to pick up the jalapenos. Yay not a very good idea! I felt really bad for her. But I told her "at least you'll have a good story to tell your parents. And plus we had beef tripe and beef hamstring in the pho too. So now she can add that she ate those too." Works out pretty well doesn't it?

The kiddie table! Lily did pretty well, she almost finished her bowl. I was pretty surprised that she ate everything in the bowl. Usually kids would ask what was in the bowl but she didn't, she ate it and yes even the tripe and hamstring. Wow is definitly the word. 

 

                                          At our wards' Trunk-or-Treat. She look scary huh?

 Our batism! A day we will forever remember. Thank you to Sister Park and Sister Robertson for making this day the most memorable and special day for us. Aside from the cold water and being dunked 3 times, we had a wonderful time. It was and is a good decision. For us to be able to feel even more connected as a family is a great feeling. We are blessed to have each other.

I will forever be grateful to her. She has taught me so much and has given me so much without even knowing it. Although i will miss her dearly, i know she is going to do better things for herself. I am so proud of her for doing the mission. I hope that my kids will be inspired by her wisdom and knowledge and follow her path. We will forever hold her in our hearts!

Long lost friends and family

Our Tennessee trip was awesome! So much fun. We love taking this yearly trip to Tennessee. It gives us a chance to be together as a family and it also gives the kids a chance to spend some time with their little cousin, Layla and their grandparents. We usually don't do much. We just hang out in the farm and help around the house and such. Nothing too fancy. But we do a lot of eating and socializing. A lot of it! We eat all the time. We could be eating and some one will want to know what else will we eat. It's funny!

This year we had a chance to visit Lien's best friend in Georgia. That's always a good treat for him. This is his friend since he was in Phillipine at the refugee camp before coming out to America. They kept in contact for a while after arriving in America but lost contact a few years after. It has been over 8 years since they lost contact and then one day while we were visiting his cousins in Michigan, they found each other and now they call each other all the time. They made a pact now, that they have to keep in touch atleast once a week, if the other doesn't call, some one has to. It's really great. I'm so happy for him that he found his best friend. He even have names for each other. And just this year, they found their other friend from when they were out in Phillipine. Now all they need to do is find one more and they are all together again. There was 4 of em'. Now 3...i'm sure they will find there friend soon enough. Facebook does some good stuff huh?

Liens' brother was able to be out there in Tennssee with us this year. They use to live with us but moved to Florida after their wedding in '07, i think. And we haven't seen them since then, so it was really nice to see them. They have 3 of the cutest kids.. They are so adorable. Anyways we are glad to see them. It is so nice to get to spend some time with family, especially ones you haven't seen in such a long time. Boy time flies by!

They have such adorable kids. minus one- she's some where. We hope to see them soon again. Maybe one day we can visit them in Florida. It would be a good idea, since i've never been to Disney Land/Disney World. The kids haven't been either so it would be a great trip! Can't wait....one day.