Easter In Pictures

We had a wonderful Easter with family. We took hundreds of pictures during the four days we spent with Dad, Amy, Kendall and the girls. A picture is worth thousands of words. So let these pictures speak:

Our Easter celebration started on Wednesday when Joey came to visit. He brought us a beautiful tea set as Easter gift with a heart-felt card thanking David for the time they spent together studying Bible. In his card, he said:"... You teach me not only English, but also God. Today I know God a little, but I will learn more and more... I believe that one day I will become a Christian and God's child like you. I learn more from God, I get more. This is all because of you. You are the best American friend and teacher I met ..." Of course, Emily just loved Joey. They played for a long time. When Joey left, she followed Joey to the door.

Dad came in Thursday afternoon. We had hamburgers at home. While we were waiting for Amy and Kendall, we let Emily to open her Easter basket. She had so much fun playing and examining each item. Then we talked about the true story behind the Easter by explaining the meanings of different colors in the Easter basket. We told Emily that this year mommy helped her to identify the colors in the basket; next year she will have to do that for her baby brother. Emily just loved grandpa. She followed him everywhere he went that evening.

Opening the Easter Basket

The hopping chicken was an attraction:
Reading the true Easter story (explained by My Easter Basket):

The Bunny bicycle was a hit:


Friday we went to the Dallas Arboretum. Although it rained a little bit, we were not affected much. Actually the temperature was perfect.

Emily and Daddy:


Emily and Uncle Kendall:

Three girls playing with the plastic eggs:

Emily's favorite things to do #1: running:

#2: climbing the stairs

#3: playing with the stones and rocks


It was fun!
After we came home from the arboretum, all the girls took a nap. Then we had the egg hunt in the backyard. Chloe was definitely the winner. She was the only one that knows what to do. This is egg-hunting in action:


Emily didn't know what to do and she was not interested in collecting those eggs either. Amy showed her to get the eggs:

Finally she picked two eggs and put them in the basket after everybody told her to:

She couldn't care less about the egg hunting. What she really wanted to do were: riding the horse like Chloe did


following Presley: And being with adults

We squeezed in Andy's shower Saturday morning at Gayla's house. Amy and I had a great time visiting with our girl friends. While we were at the shower, Dad, David and Kendall took the girls to the Shops At Legacy. They were stopped by a couple of ladies, asking them what was the occasion and they even offered to take a picture of them. Here is what they looked like:

This is a group sweet friends who hosted the shower for us. We have been greatly blessed by each of them.



We celebrated Sophia's birthday Saturday night at Spring Creek BBQ. Can't believe she's one now! Here are some pictures:

Sophia - Happy 1st Birthday
Emily saw David using a toothpick. She insisted to use one too:







Emily loved Amy too. She reached her arms to Amy whenever she saw her:


Sunday Gordon talked about the two travelers who encountered with Jesus after he was risen. He compared it with the recent TV show that 7-11's CEO disguised as a new employee. It was really thought-provoking. Amy McAfee gave Emily an Easter gift after the service. Emily was so happy to receive it. We had the Easter lunch at Gayla's house after church. Emily had more gifts from Gayla. Before long we will need to teach her that Easter is not about the gifts from other people, but about the greatest sacrificial gift that we receive from our Heavenly Father and the life and hope that gift brings us. Happy Easter to you all! Hope you had a great one!

Spring is here!

The weather was so beautiful these days. David took Friday off so we had a long weekend. Friday we ran several errands and met Fred and Fang for birthday dinner. Saturday David and Emily worked on the vegetable garden the whole day. I ran more errands and cooked a meal for our friend Jean Ann and Bill who just had a baby boy. By the end of the day, David was exhausted. He quoted Ecclesiastes 5:12 "The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much".

We started a new patch of garden in the backyard. Saturday was the beginning of that effort. Look how father and daughter worked together. Emily's finger nails got so dirty that they were still black even after washing several times with soap water. She also managed to eat the dirt (or organic manure ... Yuck!) twice when we were not looking.

We are getting ready for Andy's room. The wall borders are up. We also bought the furnature Saturday morning before David went to the Men's Breakfast. We couldn't wait to put everything in place. At the same time, we let our friends to use our bedroom set that was originally in Andy's room. Before they took the furnature away, Emily really had fun playing in the big bed: jumping, rolling, crawling, etc. She had such an excellent balance that no matter what she did, she kept herself in the bed.

As we counted, Emily knows and says about 60 words now. She pops out words constantly as soon as she opened her eyes. She still has difficulty pronouncing "S" and "L". But she is catching up very fast on other sound. She loves outdoor activities: blowing bubbles, spinning the pinwheel, picking up the rocks, examining the leaves, watching the puppies, pointing at the flowers ... As soon as she sees the stroller, she would say:"Walk! Walk!"

Emily also likes to share her favorite snacks with us. She constantly shares her puffs, apple bites, raisins and nuts with us. It made her happy every time when we took up her offer.

This is a video of Emily walking in mommy's shoe (the original video was sideway so I rotated 90 degree. But the quality got worse after rotation). If I don't know where my shoes are, Emily is the good person to ask ...

Birthday

Last week Emily had a play date with Charlie and Austin on Thursday. That was the second play date she had. So she was a little bit shy. Besides they probably don't know how to play together yet at this stage. I'm sure we moms enjoyed a lot more than our kids did. I fell in love with Kyri's salsa sauce called Aribba. That prompted me a trip to Target afterwards.

Kyri and smart Charlie

Dawn and sweet Austin

Emily and me

Friday night Robert and Gail took us to Nicola's for my birthday dinner. It was such a fancy restaurant that David and I wouldn't go very often. When David and Robert were talking about the new Medical Bill that Obama was going to pass, our waiter smiled:" Speaking of the President, George and Laura Bush are eating in the next room right now." Really?! David stood up to "go to the restroom". He came back and told us that George and Laura Bush sat right on the way to the restroom and their booth faced our table. Robert "went to the restroom" next. Then Gail and I went together. Two tall body guards stood at the kitchen and the restroom area. I just glanced at the former President and the former first lady and quickly turned my head away. They dressed as sharp as they were on TV. The waiter told us the family that were having dinner with the Bush was the 43rd richest people in the world Harold Simmons. I was not into politics at all. But having my birthday dinner at the same restaurant that the president and the rich guy had at the same time, certainly makes me talk about it to anyone! That experience overshadowed the delicious food we had. We definitely will go back to that restaurant again in the future.

Before we went to the restaurant, Robert and Gail asked me to open my birthday gift. I unwrapped it - it was a cheerio box. I guess they knew I am a mom now and I need lots of cheerios. As I thanked them, Robert said he wanted to taste a little bit of the cheerio. I opened the box and found two beautiful silver baby picture frames inside - I was tricked!!

Saturday we ran many errands and tried to work on Andy's nursery room. It began to get cold at night. The birds were extra active around our house after the sunset. I guessed those were the ones who didn't build their nests when the weather was warm and sunny (a simple lesson, Huh?). The next morning we had a big snow. On the way to church we saw three car accidents. Even during the second service, there were not as many people as we thought. Many people enjoyed the online streaming at home.

Can you believe the weather was in 70s on Friday?

David's poor vegetable pots

Spring or Winter???

Monday was my birthday. When I got up, I saw a beautiful pot of purple Hydrangea and a sweet birthday card on the table. Robert sang the Happy birthday song on the phone. Amy sang it in the email. Dad mailed a check. David also made my favorite cake - cheesecake with blackberries on top. Many friends left a Happy Birthday greetings on the phone or in the emails. Thank you everyone for making me feel so special! It was a wonderful day!



Dad forwarded an email about birth verse. It says that the Bible has a special verse for everyone's birthday. You can look it up here: http://WWW.birthverse.Com/mybirthverse.cfm I looked up mine. It is "(Lamentations 3:22 NIV) Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail."

Here are a few pictures of the week:

Emily loves being a doctor
Emily pretended to be a sick patient (she does this whenever she got a piece of tissue)

(Emily learns the Alphabet - E is for Emily)