33 YEARS

Saigon Branch Anniversary

The Van Nguyen (Huy's father, pronounced "Tay") emailed the family the following today:

"This Sunday, April 27, will be exactly 33 years since the last Sunday, April 27, 1975 when the Saigon Branch had the last Sacrament and also it was the day Lien (Huy's mother) and the rest of the family, except me and Liem (Huy's uncle), were evacuated by plane."

The following article was written in memory of this event. I thought it was worth sharing and that it might interest some of you. My in-laws have quite a remarkable story (we hope to get Huy's mother to write her side of the story one day) and they are quite remarkable people who have perservered through much adversity. I love them and am proud to be their daughter-in-law. Their amazing experience is captured in The's book titled "When Faith Endures." I've read this touching story and would recommend it to all.

Article from the MormonTimes.com, April 24, 2008.
http://mormontimes.com/WC_aroundChurch.php?id=966

It's here. It's finally here!

Taylin fell and hit her mouth and teeth pretty bad one day in a hotel on vacation when she was 2 years old. When she was 4, the dentist had to pull three of the teeth because they had died (yes, teeth can die). Really, only two teeth needed to be pulled, but she would have been left with one of her two front teeth and a space on each side (often times called a snaggle tooth) and we didn't want that so three teeth were gone...

We wondered how long she would be missing her three teeth...

The two front teeth did come in, somewhere around age 6...

And last week, I noticed the third and final tooth is coming in. Yeah! We have waited a long time for this. She is just shy of turning 8 years old!

Kaylie has peculiar habits.

Habit #1

She has an uncontrollable urge to make pillow beds where ever she goes. If there is something soft and/or puffy, she will turn it into bed, either for her stuffed animals or sometimes herself. Here is just a sampling for about a weeks worth - there is definately, at least, one new bed everyday somewhere in the house!

(Notice stack of books pictured above!)

(Sometimes Tanner and Taylin join in.)

She will also ask to take as many animals as I will allow with her into the car, but she has learned that they will not go into stores, or school, or dance, or where ever we go. Sometimes she will buckle them in her seatbelt "to keep them safe" while she is away and she often asks me to take care of them while she is gone to school.

As noted in the last picture, on occasion, she is also known to tie things up using, again, whatever means have been given her - a rope, an elastic, a string, a slinky, I mean whatever!

Habit #2

We have several Book of Mormons on a shelf (one for each of us for scripture study and then an few extra, one in Vietnamese for Huy's casual reading!) that Kaylie will carry with her around the house. Often times they will belong to the stuffed animals beds (pictured above). I can put them away on the shelf where they belong for a time, but as she "passes by them," she will begin to carry them around again. This is a constant battle with all of the above obessions - she gets it out, she makes a bed for it, I put it away, she forgets about it for a time, she gets reintroduced to it for some reason or another, she makes a bed for it, and I put it away again until the next time, usually a day or two later (if I'm lucky)!

(Reading from the Book of Mormon)

All very peculiar!

Congratulations Linh!

Twilight is the correct answer!
I owe you a candy bar or something big for enjoying my last post and figuring it out! I just had to share my only connection to the book, and soon-to-be-movie.... T W I L I G H T! It almost makes me want to read it myself!

But for those who are interested, they are filming the movie for it in Oregon, my homeland. It's acutally being filmed at that house (previous post) and in areas around the town of St. Helens, which is where my sister lives. She says she passes by that house most days on her way to her daughter's school. There have been crews there for several weeks now and some of my sister's friends have been scoping it out regularly. They actually met (and had pictures taken with) the girl who will be playing Bella and a few others. They were able to walk through the house before any of the actors arrived and saw that decorators had been there setting the house up with pictures and artifacts that pertain to the story (picture of Bella's drawing in previous post).

So for those of you who are fans, I just thought you might want to know these few tidbits!

Do these mean anything to anyone???

Clue #1 Pictures taken in St. Helens, Oregon.

Clue #2 Pictures are from a movie set.

Clue #3 I am not a fan, but you may be.

Let me know if you have answers for me or want in on more details about "my connection!" (Thanks to my sister, Tammy.) Just thought some of you might be interested.

Kaylie Kaylie Bo Baylie

There are a few choice words and phrases that I've been needing to write down before I forget. These are some of our favorites...

"Back and fort"

"Dear Heavenly Fodder"

"But I do."

(This one needs a bit of explanation - She is very quick to say "no" to most everything, and I hope this is because she is four and that it will change, but then sometimes she changes her mind, like girls can, and she says it and drags it out. Gotta hear it to get the full effect.)

"Sheshell"

And I'm sure there have been others, but I can't seem to think of them now. I should know that I need to write them down when she says them! Darn she is cute!

Nordstrom

Okay, so many of you know that I love Nordstrom. It's a love-hate relationship. Love the clothes and shoes and make-up, but hate that it is a bit expensive. And I will admit, I've been spoiled by my mother. She and I share fond memories of my junior high and high school days, in the summer, going to the Anniversary Sale. First, we memorized the catalog and it would be marked up with the must-haves. Then, it would begin early, I think it opened at 7:00 am and we would wait in line outside the doors around 6:00 am to be the first in the doors so we could get those coveted items marked in the catalog. We would load up the clothes in our arms, as much as we could carry, and then wait in another line to get into a fitting room that was usually just a curtain and not very private. We would spend hours in my department, The Brass Plum, and then, when we had decided for me, we would go to my mom's section and she would get a few things too. And then finally, down the escalator to the shoes. After loading up there, we hauled it all to the car and home we went to pull it all out again and over the next several days, we would admire the loot, convince my dad what a good deal we had gotten because "it was on sale!" It was nuts now that I think about it.

But anyway, the reason this whole topic is even brought up... My brother, Lance, called me one afternoon, which is a little unusual for him to call me in the middle of the day, but I was delightfully surprised. He was in Utah for business and he needed to know how to get to Norstrom because he has been looking for a pair of shoes, but hasn't been able to find one. So he thought that he would see if Nordstrom had one out of desperation. Sadly, but lucky for him, I was able to give him explicit directions to the Nordstrom at Fashion Place Mall.

A few weeks later...
Yesterday I asked him in an email how his trip to Nordstrom went, and asked him if he was able to find what he needed. This was his reply...
"Nordstrom's ticks me off. Nothing worth wearing. One pair caught my eye until I saw $425! Is that in Peso's? Do they levitate?"

There are many reasons this makes me laugh-out-loud. One, he's my brother and I think he is just too funny. Two, I think I knew he wouldn't find anything there that he would be willing to pay, but I didn't want to squish his hope of finding what he was looking for at my favorite store. And three, can shoes levitate or do can they make us levitate?

I love my brother! Thanks Lance for helping inspire me to write about my favorite things...
You and Nordstrom!!

And thanks Lance for making me smile today!

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!