Super Bowl XLIV

We hosted our annual Super Bowl party tonight, potluck style. With good food and even better friends, we watched as the Saints won their first Super Bowl.

The Ly boys with their girls

What's a Super Bowl party without wings?

Yummy food

Jason trying to steal a kiss from Sophie, with no luck. Sorry, Jason, you're a married man now. :P

The big 3-0

I was anxious to see what Trung had planned for my thirty birthday...everything exceeded my expectations, which is definitely hard to do. :) Trung had my girlfriends gather together to have brunch at Mulberry downtown. We had to take several detours due to a parade, but we all thoroughly enjoyed the perfect day and delicious food when we finally got to the restaurant. Then the girls and I headed to my house for scrumptious homemade layered chocolate cake. Later, Trung and I had dinner at our currently favorite restaurant Wink, where they personalized the menu and presented me with a complimentary dessert. I had a wonderful day and welcomed the next decade of my life with a bang!

Enjoying a gorgeous sunny day with my friends.

My meal, accompanied by oysters and a mimosa

Trung's homemade cake, truly a work of art

My loving family

I almost blew out all the candles...the "i" was stubborn

My favorite neighbor

Lydia with my cousin Michelle and her husband, Albert. We'll miss them when they move to California in a couple of months. :(

My Sophie

I love these girls!

And of course, these too!

The greatest husband on earth (doing dishes)

Squaw Valley, Tahoe

This is Trung (you know, Grace's husband) making a "guest" post on our family blog. Grace wanted to me to slap up a post about my recent ski trip. First, let me get out of this out of the way. Best. Trip. Ever.

Now on to the detes. My buddy Jason and I arrived at RNO airport at about the same time on separate flights, and surprisingly.. early. Shortly after, the boyz from Cali (Thomas, Bert, and Jason's bro, Jack) picked us up and we all headed straight to the Reno casinos for a little fun. We promptly skipped the gambling, the girls, and the booze and went straight for the dinner buffet. Yes, ahem, we are well behaved married men... what did you expect? After filling our tummies and slurping down some questionable oysters, we headed to the resort ... Squaw Valley, USA.

Our reasonably priced semi-faux log cabin made for a bodacious little pad to crash at (and web surf) after hitting the slopes.


You can't beat being able to roll out of bed, step outside your door, pick up a grande mocha latte, stroll over to the gondola, head straight up the mountain, and rip off a perfect 3.2 mile run down the mountain... you just can't.

We even squeezed in a few games of that ruthlessly cut-throat yet not surprisingly uneventful board game, Carcarsonne (this word must be pronounced with a strong fake French accent). No pictures of this,.. we were too buzzed off of Belgian beer to operate a digital camera.

How was the skiing/snowboarding you ask? Well, didn't I already say this was the best trip ever?.....



Going up the cable car... Thomas never imagined that snowboarding actually required heights


.... and so he was scared out of his wits. (Just kidding, Thomas. We love you, man, just smile once in a while, mkay?.. again, just kidding)

On the second day, the sun came out, completing the checklist of "Absolute Perfect Ski Conditions". After this shot, we promptly hurled down the mountain at ridiculous speeds, ending up at the bottom even cleaner and more free of snow than when we first started. True story.

Only "Xperts" were allowed to play with this miniature exact replica of the Squaw Valley ski resort.
The name of this photo is "Pure Bliss". Click it and you'll get a better idea of what I'm talking about.

Getaway

This weekend is Trung's "guy getaway" to Lake Tahoe with four guy friends, so I decided to get some help from my parents while he is away. We left for Houston on Thursday night and had our usual dinner stop at Chili's in Bastrop. While at Chili's, we saw signs posted saying that the restaurant would start being smoke-free on February 1st...yay! We don't go that often, but when we do, we can totally smell the smoke.

Friday morning Trung slept in a little while I watched the kids, and then I took an hour nap before preparing a quick lunch. After dropping Trung off at the airport, the girls and I went to Willowbrook Mall to visit Jeannie the Gymboree manager and of course, to shop. Jeannie used to work at the Galleria and is best friends with the manager from the Gymboree at Lakeline Mall in Austin. Fortunately, I entered the mall where the childrens play area was located, so I let the girls play for a good while before heading back to my parents' house. At one point in time, a little boy came over and started to grab something from inside my Gymboree bag. I stopped him nicely and looked around for a parent, and when his mom came over, she just said, "oh, he must have seen something colorful in the bag". Then later, the boy went to someone's stroller and tried to get in; his mom then said "oh, we have one just like it." I don't know, but I think apologies would have been nice, but maybe her child does it so often that she doesn't apologize anymore. Regardless, I just know that if it was my kid, I would be apologetic.

Anyhow, today was awfully cold and windy, so we just went out once this morning to La Centerra to see if that Gymboree had anything good...it didn't. After lunch, the girls and I took naps and played with Jimmy and kids until dinner. Jennifer came over for dinner and helped bathe and entertain the kids, while I kept trying to control my cough. It hasn't been too bad with Trung being gone, but it sure would be easier if I felt better. I hope he's having a wonderful time though because he sure does deserve it! :)

Attention

For about fifteen minutes after Jason and Betty's wedding while Trung and I were socializing, Lydia was supposedly being watched by Jason's cousin. When I went to go find her, I discovered that she had been having her own little photo shoot with the bride.

Playing hide and seek

We bribed Lydia with candy to get this shot

From the professional...John of Knotting Hill Photography. Can't wait to see what other little poses Lydia got herself into. :)

Training Day

Even though we've had the little potty out for awhile now, we haven't really been pushing potty training. We tried training Lydia before she started MDO and she did pretty good, but then suddenly stopped. Then when she went to MDO, she learned within a couple months. So, I'm thinking about waiting until Sophie starts MDO to reinforce the potty-training, but she won't be attending until August. Hmmm, maybe when I'm finished doing inventory on my eBay store next month, I'll start the potty-training. I've heard of people slacking when it comes to their second child, be we really need to get on the ball with Sophie's alphabets and numbers; I think Lydia knew almost all of them at this age. :/

Sophie sitting on her potty with a dirty diaper; we didn't make it in time

Sophie crawls better than she ever did

BTW, I finally received my blood test results on Thursday and I am officially not a carrier for beta thalassemia, so it's all Daddy! :P

A Windy Austin Day

The sun was out, but it was quite windy today. The kids and I went to Costco in the morning and ran into several people, while Trung did some odds and ends at home. After lunch, the kids took a quick nap and then off we went to Ladybird Lake for an afternoon jog. Trung pushed the double jogging stroller with the kids while I jogged a few minutes behind at my own pace. The sun kept me warm and the wind kept me cool, so it was a perfect day for my first jog at the lake; I didn't even stop for the three mile run! :)

Lydia feel asleep reading her books during her nap/rest time

Sharing the wealth

A playdate with Judy

Judy spent the early afternoon with the stay-at-home moms, Wendy and I, and our kids. We chilled at Wendy's house a little while before heading to Mimi's Cafe; I just love how the restaurant caters to kids so well!

The kids playing...all smiles!

Judy walking the kids to the cars; it was a very windy day.

Jason & Betty get hitched!

Our close friend Jason got married to sweet Betty at La Villa Vista on Lake Travis. It was a gorgeous day and we had a great view of the lake. Congratulations to both; we wish you a lifetime of happiness.

The Ly's with the bride and groom

Lydia loved being around the beautiful bride

Jason sang a love song while Betty accompanied him

The lovely ladies

The handsome men (and Sophie)

Betty's future piano students

Now this is why I'm glad I took Lydia out of MDO that day. :)

Sophie taking a stroll with Tobias

The gang went to Buca di Beppo for dinner that night. Everyone and their kids went; it felt like old times again. Looks like I have a new pal.

Silly kids

Funny girls

Sophie's funny face and Lydia's Krazy drink at Short 'n Sweet

Two girls in a trundle