Good Bye to 2011, Happy New 2012!

Looking back, 2011 was a good year of unexpected changes and new adventures.  Bill started a new job in the same company (UBM) but under a different division (DeusM).  He really likes his new job and the new opportunities it brings.  I started a new job with Interthinx (a division of Verisk Analytics) that I am really enjoying, after FICO's layoff in Feb and my exactly 12 weeks of "paid" break.  We both started working at our new positions on the same day (May 16th) and both of us from home! 

Kids are now one year older, taller, bigger, stronger, smarter, more talkative, playing better together but still working on sharing... Mason played Fall Soccer, went skiing and indoor skydiving.  Both kids had 4 months of swim lessons, which they will continue next Spring.  Audrey is growing up to be a fearless child, very assertive, independent and living up to the term "terrible 2s"!  At least she's been out of diapers. 

We got to see family several times this year, both visiting and being visited by grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.  We went to Portland, Atlanta and Hawaii for vacations.  And Gong Gong and Bu Bu moved to a new condo only 1 mile away.

We don't know what 2012 will bring, but we hope and pray for:

• new adventures and seeing new places (Bill and Mason are planning a trip to China);
• make memories with family and friends (starting with my cousin's wedding in LA in early March and hoping to see grandparents several times); 
• new milestones the kids will reach (we are applying now for Kindergarten programs that Mason will start in Aug/Sep; and hopefully 2012 will be the year Audrey gives up her pacy!);
• continue with old and start new activities for the kids (skiing, swimming, Spring soccer, hopefully starting the piano);
• have Bill and I continue to be committed to our physical fitness, working out with our personal trainer, yoga and going to the boot camps;
• advance our careers with the right balance between work and family;
• health for kids, us, all our family and friends
• be thankful for what we have and always remember those who need help

Happy New Year!

Christmas with Yaya and Mimi

The kids loved being with Yaya and Mimi.

Devices galore

Bill's sister posted this hilarious christmas card with the whole family on their mobile devices.

 On Christmas day, Mason was playing with his leapPad and Audrey with her MobiGo, Bill with his iPhone, and I was also on my phone (used to take this picture). We didn't have to stage this, although Bill did gesture "1 second" on purpose.

Merry Christmas!

We are thankful for all the gifts Santa and the family brought the kids this year. Christmas is really about them these days, and even limiting to one gift per grandparents, they get lots of toys!

Audrey got a gigantic doll house (mansion) from Santa, a mobi game console (Yaya and Mimi), tangled DVD and dolls (Nai Nai and GP Jack) princess dresses (Mom and Dad), new tea set (auntie Heather and Jamie) and a cute cape (auntie Shawn). The gigantic doll house from Santa was partly financed by Gong Gong and Bubu and assembled with elves (Mom and Dad) in about 3 hours.

Mason got his Optimus prime transformer and batman cartoon DVD from Santa, new leapPad from Yaya and Mimi (one of the hardest toys to find this season thanks to Mimi's perseverance), talking ball-shooting firetruck (from Nai Nai and GP Jack), a ninja and darth Vader costumes (Mom and Dad), teaching Globe (Gobg Gong and BuBu), and remote control car (Auntie Jamie and Heather) and spiderman pjs (auntie Shawn).

Bill and I decided to ask for contributions to a new set of sheets we want to get, and we jointly bought an Apple TV, and donated the money we would have spend on each other. Still we got great sweaters from Mimi and Yaya, and Bill cheated by giving me accessories for my iphone. We have a gift exchange matrix that rotates between the siblings, so this year Bill got a candy jar with old time candies from Sandra Rogers and I got a relaxation bath set from Heidi.

More pictures from Hawaii

Luau

A picture from our luau.  It was so windy that the table cloth came up from one of the tables next to us.  I didn't expect it to be cold, but it was due to the wind, so Bill had to go back to get us jackets.  The kids fell asleep by the time the performances started, so we stayed only for half of it.

Hawaii

Sometime in January this year I had to call Hilton regarding a separate reservation and they offered a vacation package to Hawaii at a significant discount to listen to their sale's pitch on their timeshares.  I'd normally hang up the phone if called about something like that, but I called them on something unrelated and the customer representative had been quite helpful.  I was also online and able to do some quick research on their property in Hawaii.  4 nights at Hilton Waikoloa, 2 luau tickets, a free car rental, and $200 towards your next Hilton stay for approximately $600?  Great deal, SOLD!

We booked our dates in June, after I started my new job.  November and December are great months to go to Hawaii.  It is freezing in CO by then and a cheap season to go.  We upgraded to condo at the Hilton King's Land down the street from the Hilton Waikoloa hotel.  They are a couple of years old, 2 bed/2 bath, full kitchen, their own pools and on the golf course.  My parents, who have never been to Hawaii, decided to join us and spend the first couple of days in Honolulu on a tour of Pearl Harbor (70th anniversary).  We also upgraded to a minivan and got car seats (they are much worse than the ones we have, but based on limited driving we planned to do on the island, I wasn't looking forward to lugging our own car seats around).  We got all our 4 tickets on United on miles.  Incredibly the tickets were only 40K miles each vs. the $800 they were going for online.  We figured that including meals, upgrades and the original $600, we spent around $2K!!  Not back for a vacation in Hawaii.

The last time Bill and I were in Hawaii was for our honeymoon in Maui.  Neither one of us had been to the Big Island.  It was great, specially the 80-degree weather since it was -8F when we left Denver Tuesday morning.

We enjoyed the beach, all the amenities at the Hilton Waikoloa, drove the Hilo and did some sightseeing along the way.  Bill went SCUBA diving.  We enjoyed the lagoon area where we took out kayaks, peddle boats and went snorkling.  There are many different fish in the lagoon, but the highlight are the sea turtles.  Audrey loves the beach.  She can play for hours on the sand.  As waves approached, she would run towards the water and Mason would run back to the beach.  Can you guess if she is like me or Bill in that regard?

The kids woke up between 4:30 and 5:30 AM each morning, but we were all in bed early every night too.  The meal times were all messed up, but we just went with the flow of things (Hawaiian style).  The sales pitch was not bad, in fact done very professionally and not pushy.  They had some great promotions with up front points, but after running our vacation numbers, viewing the resell market and looking at other accommodations in the same area, we decided not to buy.  Although I would say if I were retired or had more time to travel in low seasons, the Hilton vacation timeshares has good repuation and value, and you can get great deals from sellers strapped for cash right now. 

The only glitch is that our flight back to SFO on Saturday night was cancelled. They had a mechanical problem.  By the time we got rebooked for the next day (direct flight from Honolulu to Denver), got a taxi back to the hotel and check-in (1 hour line), it was around 1:30 AM.  But Hawaii is not the worst place to get stranded in.  Mason slept through the whole thing and woke up at 5:30 AM asking "Where am I?  Am I on the airplane?". 

We enjoyed the pool and beach (picture below from the beach in front of King Kamehameha Hotel) took a nice nap before our 7 PM flight to Honolulu and back in Denver by 8:30 AM Monday morning.  Kids went back to school (they had slept well on the flight) and we got right back to work.

Now, I need to catch up and get Christmas shopping done and Christmas cards out.  :-)

Can't wait for our next trip to Hawaii!!

More pictures to come...

Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a lovely Thanksgiving with my parents, Heather and Jamie.  Auntie Heather and Jamie built a gingerbread train and a gingerbread house with the kids.  I cooked a small turkey (10 lbs), which cooked quicker than I expected and came out a little dry.  But a good gravy fixes anything.  :-)

There was no Black Friday shopping for us.  Bill took Mason to Loveland for his first ski lesson.  It was a great deal for full-day lesson, rentals and lunch. 

Audrey and I went to Pearl St in Boulder, which wasn't busy since those shops don't really have Black Friday sales.  We got to visit with Santa.

On Saturday, we caugh up our friends Jen and Winston Price and their sons (Ethan 7 and Cayden 5).  We love hanging out with the Prices, but live 45-minutes from them and we both have busy schedules.  We went bowling with the kids and talked the day away.

On Sunday, Bill took Mason to the pool to try out his new snorkel (great deal I found on craigslist just in time for our trip to Hawaii).  Audrey was a little sick, so I took her shopping (limited to 1 store to buy both kids new shoes).  Their gigantic feet (Mason in size 12 and Audrey in size 9) keep growing!
We got all our Christmas decorations done, except for the hanging lights on the house.  I am still not ready for how quickly Christmas is approaching.  We will be in Hawaii for 5 days in early December, which will make Christmas approach even quicker.  I am trying to get as much of the Christmas shopping done online as possible.

Casa Bonita

We celebrated Josie's 5th birthday at Casa Bonita on Saturday. Her birthday was Sunday and she was having a tea party just with her girlfriends. But she wanted to celebrate with Mason and Audrey as well. Casa Bonita is a famous Mexican restaurant in Denver known for the entertainment, divers (yes there is a pool and diving shows) and for it cheesiness, but not known for its food.

Bill and I had both heard of Casa Bonita, but never been there. It is perfect for a 5 year old's birthday. We had a great time watching the divers, playing the arcade, and exploring the gigantic restaurant.

T-Rex

We took the kids to see the T-Rex exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. It was a great exhibit, with very life-like animatronic dinosaurs from the Cretaceous period. The kids were very afraid of approaching the T-Rex.

We did take pictures in front of the green screen with the T-Rex superimposed.

Big girl bed

Audrey still pretty content with her crib and hadn't tried or figured out how to get out on her own. However, we were ready for her to have a big girl setup. Now that she is potty trained, a twin bed allows her to get out without our help. We had already purchased a twin mattress for the cousin's trip in July, and don't plan to get her a bed frame for another few months. Chamois sheets and blanket from PBK complete the setup. She loves her new bed!

Old Pictures

My parents brought back from China some old family pictures.

Here is my Grandfather and Grandmother on my Father's side and his siblings. R to L on the back row: uncle Peter (Diana's Dad), my late Aunt (only girl), uncle David (LA) and my 2nd oldest uncle (HK); R to L front row: uncle William (NY), Grandmother with uncle Frank (LA) on lap, Grandfather and my Dad in front of him.

My Mom, My Great Grandfather (Ta Ta), and I. Dear Lord, what were they feeding me?

My Grandmother on my Mom's side in her 20s in Shanghai.

London

I had client meetings and an European user conference for one of my products in London last week. I know, what a bummer having to spend a week in London. :-) I was joined by two colleagues from the States and two from the UK. Great meetings, very sucessfull user group, went to great eateries, drank like a fish, and stayed at a great hotel centrally located at Picaddily Circus with all the ammenities. I can't complain. I only wish Bill could have gone with me or if I had more time to explore the city.

Halloween

The kids had a lot of fun trick-or-treating this year. They each got a basket full of candy that could last them weeks. We normally give them a couple of pieces during the first week, then confiscate the rest and they won't even remember.

We got about 120 trick-or-treaters this year, down from 135+ from last year. We went through 4 gigantic candy bags. Mason and Audrey enjoyed giving the candy out and seeing the different costumes. The worst costume goes to the lady in the 50s, not dressed up, but with her safeway bag in hand asking for candy! What is up with that?

First Snow of the Season

On Monday we have a high of 79F, and today we woke up to snow!

The fall colors were so beautiful. These trees are now covered in snow. I went outside at 6:30 AM this morning to shake our poor trees. Bill did it twice more during the morning. I hope all the branches make it.

Pumpkin carving

Pumpkin carving seems to start with the whole family excited to dig in and carve. I got out the tools and lined the table with newspaper to start our messy pursuit. After a couple of minutes playing with the tools, we lost Audrey's attention. She was back in the den playing with her toys.

Mason was still excited and kept asking "Can we carve the pumpkins yet?"
"No dear, Daddy needs to cut the top off, let's select a pattern"
Mason pick out the pattern of a face and a bat for my pumpkin.
"Can we carve the pumpkins yet?"
"Not yet, we need to get the seeds out"
He helped get all the seeds out, which I didn't save since I really don't know what to do with them.
"Can we carve the pumpkin?"
"Nope, now we need to transfer the pattern"
Once that was done, Bill helped Mason get carving going. Good thing that pattern was easy. Once that pumpkin was done, he was done with the pumpkin carving.

Bill and I finished two more pumpkins in the kitchen, as the kids played in the den. The pumpkin carving tool broke on the 4Th pumpkin, signaling the end of pumpkin carving for the evening. Audrey got to "draw" on her little one. Here are the results.

Potty Trained!

A couple of weeks ago Audrey was too stubborn to use the potty. But once she started transitioning to the older class (2 1/2 yr-old class), she started using the potty literately overnight. She had about 2-3 accidents in total over the last 2 weeks. I can't believe how easy it has been. No more diapers!

Ok, now she still asks for her pacy! We restrict it to bedtime now and "special" moments. At least that doesn't cost us anything. Well, free for now until she needs braces I am sure. One battle at a time!

A Week's Free Tuition

Every year, Gateway Academy has a Fall Festival. This year, they also had raffles for various prizes with all proceeds going to Susan G. Komen Foundation. There were many gift certificates to restaurants, studios, massages, and the grand prize was a week's free tuition. We dropped 4 entries in the free tuition raffle at $5 each and another couple of dollars in massage and photography. The chances of winning the grand prize was low, since most families had their eyes on that bag as well. But surprisingly, we won!!

I could hardly believe it. I was also distracted talking to the teachers, as they started the raffle drawing. Our name was the first one out of the first bag, and I didn't even know what we had won.

We left the Fall Festival delighted, thinking we won a free week's tuition for one of the kids. We found out today that our credit was for both kids, which in our case is around $400! A free week's tuition for the family! I can't complain at the 20 to 1 return on investment.

Gong Gong and Bu Bu in China

Gong Gong and Bu Bu left for China again. They will be there until early November. It is a lot more manageable being just us and the kids these days. My parents don't come over everyday any more, but it is nice to have their help while I am traveling. Having an extra driver to pick up or drop off the kids at school, help planning and cooking meals, or getting kids ready in the mornings and for bed is very nice. But we will manage, or should I say, Bill will manage since I have a business trip next week and he will be on his own for 4 days.

Pumpkin Patch

We went to Anderson Farms for their annual Fall Festival with Eric and his son Gavyn this past Sunday. We've been there two years ago, and decided to go back this year, as it is one of the best Fall Festivals in Colorado. Most of the attractions and rides are free with the entrance fee. The weather on Sunday was cool (50-60) but dry and not windy, and it wasn't crowded. Most rides had no lines. It was perfect!







And here is the video of the pumpkin launcher!