H A P P Y E A S T E R

We celebrated Easter this year with our dear friends, the Clark's, at their home in Fort Worth. We had a great weekend full of fun... animals, baking, candy, play, play, play! Thanks Clark's for making it a beauitful Easter. Just think back to the one where the boys were turning two - my how they've grown!!

Kaylie is the first to discover that there are eggs hidden outside!
I thought this was a pretty darn cute picture.

H A T
T R I C K

Taylin had a soccer game today and she pulled a "hat trick!" A hat trick is when you score three times in one game. And that is what Taylin did yesterday in her soccer game. You should have seen the smile on her face... and her dad's face, and my face and even Tanner's face. We were so excited and proud of her! She was playing so aggressive and just really doing super well. Way to go Pooks!

(Okay, I'll admit, at first I thought it was called a "turkey," but I know that is in bowling.)

This picture was actually taken before her game, at Tanner's football game. I didn't get any pictures at her soccer game, but I did get all three goals on film!

Refridgerator notes are best!

Dear Mom, Dad, Kaylie, Tanner,

Thank you for being such a nice family! Tanner, you are the nicesed brother I could ever have! Kaylie you to, also you guys are the funyest brother and sister! Mom, you are a great cook! Thank you for everything you have done! Dad, you are a great cook also! Thank you for everything too!

Love,
Taylin

Taylin is the sweetest girl. She is always leaving notes around the house or writing such nice things in her journal. She loves to write. I wish I had a scanner so I could show you just how cute this letter is. It is decorated with crayon and markers and it has rainbow corners, red hearts all the way around the edges of the paper, the note part is outlined in blue and then it is all colored in with pink and some purple. We love and adore her! This note made me smile today, especially because Taylin took me by the hand (away from the computer, imagine that) and showed me she had placed it there!!

Design Mom

When I was at my sister's house, she told me about this website. It has the cutest ideas for things, yes, just things. She says that she posts ideas "on where design and motherhood intersect." I just love that. You should check it out and then try it out... if the shoes fits.

Thanks Tammy for the fun tip!

S P R I N G B R E A K
camping at Lake Georgetown

What a beautiful time we had camping! The weather was so cooperative and it just couldn't have been a better time. We were able to stay two nights which gave us more time to hang out and enjoy time together. Campfires were a favorite as we made tinfoil dinners (new experience and they were good, but we definately have room for improvement), roasted some hotdogs, made smores, and even tried to bake some cookies. Maybe some of you didn't know, but Huy is a genius. He invented his own cookie sheet and although it took about 10 minutes to bake one cookie, it was quite tasty!


One of my favorite things about camping is enjoying a full course breakfast. You just gotta have the pancakes and bacon and OJ when you go camping. I guess my dad spoiled me growing up on our family camp outs! I think everyone enjoyed it.

The fishing wasn't quite up to par - not enough to actually have a dinner from it, but the kids had fun casting and reeling. The also had a few skipping contests which were more like tossing-rocks-into-the-water contests. They were all winners!

We all had a cushy bed in the tent and even though the wind blew quite a bit the second night, we all stayed warm and survived! Kaylie liked to just go in the tent and lay in her bed, even when it wasn't night time.

My visit to Oregon.

Alone, four days, nice.

This is my sister and most of her family (one of her sons is on a mission in Florida) and her second son, Nic, will be leaving on his mission on the 18th to Sau Paulo, Brazil. I went for a few days to visit them and spend some time with Nic as he prepared to go. We had a super nice weekend. My mom was able to come to so I also was able to spend some time with her. And get this, it didn't rain hardly at all which is truely crazy and almost unbelievable. But notice I said hardly - I think it rained one night while we were sleeping so I never really even saw the rain.
(Pictured above, Doug, Tammy, Nic, Megan and me)

We saw a few movies, did a little shopping (some to get things on the packing list for Nic), did some decorating, planted wheat grass for Easter, played a little pool, and lots of eating - one of my families favorite things to do together! I enjoyed my local favorites, Burgerville and their secret sauce, and Muchas - the have great nachos. Oh, and of course, Tillamook ice cream! Gotta get some of that while I'm there - Chocolate Peanut Butter is darn good, but this time I liked Marionberry Pie. Yum!

(My sister, Tammy, my mother, LeeAnn, and me)

One of the best parts about going was that we were able to attend the Portland Temple with Nic. It was a beautiful session and it was nice to share that with my nephew.

Nic spent a few weeks with my family here in Texas a few years back and ever since then, he has been a University of Texas fan (which is kind of funny since our household is not - Huy won't conform just because we live here)! So... his mother believed he needed an apron to take on his mission. And as you'd expect of most 19 year old boys, he insisted he didn't need one until one day after church while eating his lunch, he spilled on his nice, new suit. It was then that he finally agreed that maybe it would be a good idea, but only if he could have one that had "a UT something" on it. It then became my assignment to find one and it really wasn't that hard - those fan stores have everything. He proudly used it while I was there when he made french toast for us!

Nic is a great nephew and I will miss him, but I know he will do wonderful on his mission and have so many experiences that will bless his life, the life of those he teaches, and the lives of his family back home. Good luck Nic. May the Lord bless you. Be good and be safe.
AND WRITE YOUR MOTHER!!!



Thanks for a great time Tammy and Megan!!

And thanks to my sweetie for making it possible for me to go and for taking such great care of the kids while I was away!

Holy Cow, my boy is 10!

I can't believe that more than half of his life in my home is over. My days of teaching him are being numbered so I better pray that he's learning only the good things from me!

He got a new BMX bike. I think his words were, "It's sweet!" He went with his dad to help pick out the one he wanted so we were sure to get it right. He's a new man on that thing and has been begging to go to the BMX dirt track. Mental note, we've got to do that.

We had to come up with yet another idea for some kind of football cake. With the help of Karmen, we made the cake pictured above. It was a 3D football and Tanner had asked for a chocolate and yellow cake so we put a cutting board in the middle of the pan and poured half of each on each side. It was pretty tasty.

Tanner got a large Transformer from Grandma and Grandpa, the Transformer 360 Xbox game from Aunt Linh and Noah and Luke, nice clothes and a gift card from Ba Noi and Ong Noi, Ravin' Rabbits Wii game from the Clarks, his bike from Mom and Dad, knee and elbow pads from his sisters, and the very thing he wanted, a pillow! Thank you everyone!

Tanner invited a few friends (Tanner Walker, Ryan Schroeder, and Connor Kaup) to go with us to Dave & Busters for dinner and then they played some arcade games. After loading up on sugar packets, it was everything we could do to not get kicked out of the joint! Boys make me laugh.

Princess for a day! Again!

Kaylie celebrated her 1st/4th birthday on her first real birthday... Leap Day! She had seven little princess friends come to her party and they all got little princess shirts that said "pretty" and Kaylie's shirt said "princess." (Being the talented mother that I am, I sewed toole around the hem to make them look like princess skirts. Not all the girls wanted to wear them so I never really got a good picture of them, but they were darn cute if I do say so myself!) We read the book "The Frog Prince" and then played Pin the Crown of the Frog Prince. We also played musical pillows because princesses don't sit on hard chairs. And we also played Pass the Frog, but in all honesty, it doesn't work very well to tell little girls they have to sit out of a game! I think they had fun - or at least I want to believe they did.

Kaylie got clothes from her Ba Noi and Ong Noi, PollyWalks from her Aunt Linh and cousins Luke and Noah, a gift card from her Uncle Vu, a two-wheel scooter and helmet from her Grandma and Grandpa, a musical toothbrush from her Aunt Tammy and cousin Megan, a princess plate, bowl, and cup set from Tanner and Taylin, Polly Pockets from Mom and Dad, the Island Princess elephant from our good friends who came down from Fort Worth, the Clarks, a Littlest Pet Shop magnet case from Brittany, the Barbie movie Mariposa from Morgan, a High School Musical keychain, bubbles and candy from Kyla, and a Barbie phone from Nicole. With each gift she opened, it was proudly displayed as high above her head as she could get, standing on her tippy-toes accompanied with a huge smile! Thanks everyone for making her day so wonderful!!

This is the cake I made (so proud of it - pat my own back) and her invitation which reads...

Hey everybody, it's time to cheer,

It's 2008 and it's a LEAP YEAR!

It's my birthday and I'm here to say,

I've waited four years to celebrate my big day!

It's 2008 - yep, it's my LEAP DAY,

And I'd like you to celebrate with me in a very special way!

I'm planning a princess party so come with your hair in a bun,

Because I'm turning four, but technically just one!

You see, Leap Day comes but only so often,

And usually my birthday isn't on a calendar, how rotten!

It's my LEAP DAY birthday this month on the last day,

Come on February 29th where fun will be the way.

So come one, come all,

We're sure to have a ball!

On Bamfield Cove at 1503,

From 4:00 to 5:30 - it's the place to be.

If you want to come to my party for kicks,

Have your mom pick up the phone and call 246-9026.

Use a marker, a crayon, pencil or pen,

Just mark your calendar, hope to see you then.

Your friend,

Kaylie

Happy Leap Day 2008 Everybody!

Little did I know that Leap Day would be such an important day in my life. I use to think nothing of it, except that maybe "that's weird." But now, it is Kaylie's birthday and so it is technically her 1st birthday today! She has no clue why people keep asking her, "Oh, is it your 1st birthday?" She quickly replies, "No, (holds up her three, then changes it to four fingers) I'm this many!"

So... I thought I'd let you all in on a few "nuggets of wisdom" about Leap Day that I found in the LDS Living magazine and thought it was pretty cool.

Leap Day occurs every four years, when an extra day is added to the month of February. In honor of 2008 being such a year, here is some leap year trivia:

* The actual length of a year is 365.242 days , not 365.

* Although a leap day is added to the calendar every four years, this is not the case if it is a century year such as 1800 or 1900. Only one in every four century years has a leap day; otherwise there would be three extra days every 400 years. The next century year to have a leap day will be the year 2100.

* Leap Day, February 29, is also traditionally known as Sadie Hawkins Day - the only day in the year when women are allowed to pop the question themselves rather than having to wait for their beuas to propose.

* There are about 4 million people living who were born on a leap day!

So I guess that mean Kaylie is in one-in-four-million! She will be having a big party later today - A princess one! She is so excited!

Telling our family secrets

Kaylie goes to preschool at the Fellowship and yesterday I was picking her up and was headed out the door when the education pastor (much like a principal) stopped me in the hall because she wanted to infrom me about what happened earlier that day.

She said it something like this ... "A few of the classes had a little assembly where a dentist came to talk to them about eating healthy, brushing their teeth and flossing. As the dentist was demonstrating how to floss and explaining how important it is to do it daily, Kaylie decided to inform the audience that "my mommy does that to my daddy!" We all had a good chuckle at that one. Kids say the darnest things." (Smile, smile, laugh, laugh, laugh.)

So I guess our family secret is out... I floss Huy's teeth! Thanks Kaylie for sharing and good for you - you are finally doing what I try and teach you all the time... SHARE!

P.S. Just incase a few of you are wondering if I really floss Huy's teeth... NO, I don't.

I've been tagged.....

My first time. Yeah! Thanks Cindy! It's been fun to recall all these specifics that I don't think about all too often, but am so grateful for! I love my husband! Look at him. How can a woman resist?!

What is his name? Huy Nguyen (pronounced We Win and yes, it is a full sentence. How many of your husbands can say that about their name? Isn't Huy special?!)

How long have you been married? We have been married 11 years, quickly approaching 12.

How long did you date? We dated for several years before he begged me to stick around.


Who said I love you first? I asked, "What if I told you I love you?" Does that count?


Who kissed who first? He did, but I didn't give in easy.

Who asked who out? He did - hockey game and dinner in Salt Lake.

Who proposed? He did - a planned visit (I was living in CA, he was at school at BYU), but it was a total suprise. I had received a huge bouquet of roses earlier in the day of his arrival saying how excited he was to come visit and then he showed up at my door all dressed to kill. (He had to ride home from the airport with my dad which at the time, and given the circumstances, must have been one of the hardest and longest hours ever.) It was a great weekend visit as a result!

Who eats more sweets? Me for sure, but I've about got him hooked too!

How old is he? He is a whopping 35, but he thinks he's 25, sometimes 18!

Who is taller? He hates this question, but I am - by two full inches.

Who is smarter? I hate this question cuz he is for sure.

Who can sing better? Tough one. I think I can, but he probably does.

Who does the laundry? Me! But he's a great help!

Who pays the bills? Me! I was out-of-town once and he had to pay a bill. He called to ask if he had written the check out right.


Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? He does.

Who mows the lawn? We've shared this responsibility off-and-on. I like to, but he thinks the neighbors will think poorly of him for making his wife do the mowing.

Who cooks dinner? We share this too cuz he's a great griller and we grill a lot!

Who drives? He does. I'm old fashioned that way.

Who has more siblings? I do, 3 to 2.

Who wears the pants? He mosly wears shorts literally, but he usually has the pants on too!

I tag Suzy Christensen and Natalie Barratt!

Confession.

Now that I've been sitting at the computer a bit more lately, doing the blog thing, I have to confess, I've found a few blogs that I've been hearing so much about - friends from church, how great they are. So I've added you to my list of favorite blogs (still looking for more). Hope that is okay. I enjoy reading them and hope I can call you a friend! Thanks for sharing.

Daddy Daughter Dance

February 8, 2008

It was a special night for the girls as their dad took them out on a date! They met up with some friends at Chili's for dinner and then they went to the community recreation center for an evening of dancing. Kaylie thought she was going to dance class, but soon figured out she could wear her Sunday dress and that something different was up. They had a great time!

A few have asked to see pictures of the girls' new, shorter hair. It's been a while since they both had it cut, and in the picture of Taylin, you can't really tell how short it is - about the same as Kaylie's - so it has already grown a lot. They're still cute!

Superbowl fun in Arizona

On January 30th we drove to Phoenix, Arizona (or to be more exact, Queen Creek, AZ) to visit our friends the Ricks, go to the NFL Experience, eat at In-n-Out, watch the Superbowl - at their house - and catch up with our good friends (Jeff Engelke and his boys flew in too). We did just that and more!

We also used some connections (Huy's cousin Griffith - thanks a ton Griffith! We all had a great time!) and had a cabana at the Builtmore. The kids got to swim and go down a slide while some of the bigger kids went "star searching." They saw Barry Sanders (running back legend), Art Rooney (owner of the beloved Steelers), Al Davis (owner of the hated Raiders), Clyde Drexler (Portland Trailblazer great when Kim lived in Oregon, the late 80's, early 90's), Neil O'Donnell (Steelers Superbowl XXX QB), and they saw Pretty Boy Floyd Mayweather's cars (Dancing with the Stars - or some of you may know him as a famous boxer).

While the girls stayed home and played, the boys went to the NFL Experience. It was unanimous that they had a good time. When questioned what they did, there seemed to be only one story to tell and lucky for me, Aaron caught it on video for us all to watch and enjoy! A shortened version would be... all the boys ran through this obstacle course and Huy took a turn. He was showing all his stuff... speed, agility, power, and then... he trips! Yes folks, full on flat faced wipeout. He was in the video and then disappeared out-of-sight, only to appear again red-faced and laughing histerically. A moment that will not be forgotten by those in attendance. If I ever get the footage from Aaron, I will be sure to share it.

Huy gracefully accepts his embarrassment as long as it is accompanied by his "money ball" story. I got a full-on, three dimensional drawing of the event that I am sure he would draw again if anyone wanted to see and hear about his amazing throw! He's cool and I love him!

And we mustn't forget Jennie's half marathon race. We watched her take off and her big finish! I am definately impressed because running isn't something I enjoy at all. She rocked the race and did great. I can't even imagine her pain, but also her victory! Thanks for letting us be apart of it Jennie!

The New York Giants beat the New England Patriots in an awesome Superbowl XLII game. The commercials were decent, the food was delicious, and the company was even better. The trip was a great break from life in Round Rock. Thanks Ricks for a great time!!

Well, it has been over a month since I've posted. It has stressed me out thinking how far behind I have gotten so I just keep putting off my return, but enough is enough. Let me make several excuses for my tardiness before I work towards "catching up". First excuse... we took a trip to Arizona and I forgot the camera at home (agh!) so... how do I post without a picture? Second excuse... my computer got a virus and Huy has attempted to fix it, but we are going to have to take it to "the shop" for repairs and for some reason, using Huy's computer isn't as good as mine. (But note here, I have resorted to using Huy's computer!) My third and final excuse, the behinder I go, the behinder I get. Isn't that how the saying goes?! : )

So now, I will attempt to get back on the horse and post the happenings I have missed.

Bet you didn't know...

... we had three girls, I mean princesses in our house. It's a rare occasion, but I think Tanner was desperate today. He was home sick from school and after laying on the couch most of the day, he decided he was feeling better so he got up to play with his sisters because he knew Mom wouldn't let him go outside to play with the neighbors. I would say he is definately feeling better, but maybe no, maybe he's not feeling better. Maybe something was unscrewed in his brain from all the vomitting he did. I'm not real sure.

And by-the-way, this is the norm for Kaylie, but it was funny to see her siblings join in her fun!!

(To Tanner's credit, as I sat down at the computer, he said, "Don't you dare post that picture on the blog Mom!" I'm sorry hunny, but you must not know me very well, now do you?)

I've wanted to "jazz" my blog up and after seeing my friend Jeannie's, I learned how to do it. But just so Jeannie knows, it wasn't my intention of using the same template as her, but of all the choices, I liked it best so I hope she doesn't mind. (Let me know Jeannie and I can change it!!)

Stay tuned for some music to be added too. I like it when there is music!

C H R I S T M A S in Utah 2007

This is one wonderful Christmas! We had such a great time with both our families. Below is a sampling of all the fun things we were able to pack into our five days in Utah. We can't thank everyone enough for all the beautiful memories we shared, some filled with laughter and others with tears (okay, not the last one) and for the great gifts. But next year, you are all invited to Texas!!

P.S. To my cousin Scott... if you see this, please call me and let me know how to do the Flashslideshow. I tried everything to get it to be like yours and lets just say, I'm just glad people can view the pictures at this point.

And so the photo shoot began...

It started out as all smiles...

We were having a great time...

But by the end...

We had all gone a bit crazy and couldn't take much more!

Merry Christmas!!!

Not your traditional Thanksgiving

We didn't have any visitors coming into town this year, and although we were invited to share Thanksgiving with friends, we decided to take a mini-vacation as a family and use the days off to go the the Texas beach in Corpus Christi. We stopped at a Golden Corral for our "not traditional Thanksgiving dinner." The kids found something to eat and I'll just say that I missed my Mom's cooking! Funny thing was that the usual warm Texas weather didn't hold out for the holiday weekend. A cold front moved in and well, we were a bit cold, a bit wind blown, and a bit wet at times. We still had a great time playing on the beach, taking a dip in the hot tub, going to see the movie "Bee Movie," and Huy got up early to get some good deals on Black Friday.

This is our beauitful pilgrim girl who came for dinner!

Texting in church
Huy is notoriously known for texting people while in church. And sometimes the kids like to play games on his phone or text people too. When we came home from church today, upon checking my email, this was the text message waiting for me on my email (Taylin had sent it to me) ...

"I Taylin know how to count to five in vietnamese this is how:
1- mop
2- hi
3- ba
4- bom
5- nam"

She's gonna be a GREAT negotiator...

I was getting Kaylie ready for her preschool today, doing her hair up in pretties while she "washed" things in the sink. After finishing her hair, I said it was time to go and get her shoes on. She, of course, fussed a bit, but to stop an all-out tantrum, I said, "Okay, in one minute." She kept about her business and said, "Okay Mom, in two minutes." With the tilt of my head, I re-emphasized, "one minute Kaylie." And she then questioned, "Okay Mom, three minutes?"... and before I could once again re-emphasize the "one minute," she went back to her business and told herself, and the items she was washing, "Okay, three more minutes. Thanks Mom."

How can you not just want to squeeze all that cuteness out of her and give her a bunch of kisses? I just couldn't control myself and so I squeezed her and kissed her and squeezed her and kissed her some more and then we smiled together! What a great way to start a great day!!

Check her out!!!

Taylin was all smiles when she finally received her first pair of "way cool" glasses. She had been asking for days after arriving home from school, "Did you get my glasses today Mom?" To her, and my, dissappointment, it took several extra days to get them. She hoped to get them Friday, but we had to wait until Tuesday and so it was a long weekend. But now she is "Miss Sophisticated" and loves her new glasses.

It may be hard to tell, but they are kind of a red and blue stripe. She tried on several pair, but she must have known these were the ones from the beginning because she kept going back to this pair and just seemed to know that they were "the ones." And she was right! She looks awesome in them!!

We went into the eye doctor just kind of expecting a check-up on her eyes, not even thinking we would walk out with a prescription for glasses, but it was a good thing. She said upon putting them on for the first time, and dropping them below her nose and then placing them back on again, "Things look so different. Blurry (with them below her nose), clear (putting them back on correctly), blurry, clear," followed by a big smile!!

She is supposed to wear them at school, to a movie, and in the car - times that she needs to see things that are far away. She is doing great with them. We are so proud!!

Congratulations kids!

It was a great day today! Tanner brought home an "A Honor Roll" report card and Taylin brought home a super duper one as well (they don't start letter grades until 3rd grade). They are such awesome students and we are so proud of them. They work hard and put forth a lot of effort to do well in school. Keep it up guys!

Trick-or-Treat???

It was a tough year for the kids to decide on that final costume. For most of the month of October the girls were planning on being dogs and Tanner was going to be a transformer, Optimus Prime. But on Halloween night, it seemed that everyone had a change of heart - Kaylie wanted to be a princess, Taylin thought she wanted to be a Steelers football player and Tanner was in his transformer costume until Taylin decided the pads and helmet were too uncomfortable and she changed back into her dog costume and then Tanner changed his mind and put the Steelers outfit on. Got all that? They all turned out darn cute no matter the costume!

And we can't forget the most unforgettable, "the Wendy's guy!" Huy was an original. What can we say about that?!

The kids also had a good time carving pumpkins. They are getting old enough to be a bigger part in it. Can you guess whose is who's?