Pumpkin Carvin' Party!

A bunch of neighbors on our street got together for the annual pumpkin carving get-together. It was a great time to meet all the neighbors, have fun watching the kids play in the streets, and making jack-o-lanterns! Melody, Valerie, and Paxon enjoyed the afternoon out. Melody and Valerie also enjoyed getting the guts out of the pumpkin and drawing designs on the pumpkins for David to carve out.

Here's are some pictures of us, the neighbors, and lots of pumpkins.

Pumpkin Carving Block Party

Hanging out with Spencer and Tyler

While in California, David had an opportunity to hang out with his nephews Spencer and Tyler (also with Jennifer's sister Eunice and brother-in-law Ryan). They are both great kids. Spencer has lots of energy, loves to laugh, and is fascinated with cars. Some highlights with Spencer includes reading books, playing hide and seek, playing "knock, knock" and following the garbage truck around. Tyler is a sweet boy - he is always laughing and smiling. David is also in awe of his ability to consume solid food at just 5 months old... :-)

Visit with Spencer and Tyler

Officiating a Wedding

David had an opportunity to officiate one of his good friend's wedding in California. Peter and Anne chose a beautiful wedding site that overlooked the Silicon valley. It was a beautiful wedding, and David had a great time catching up with friends he's known for over 15 years! Congrats to Peter and Anne as well!

Peter and Anne's Wedding

Balloon Festival

Every year in Plano there is a hot air balloon festival. We trekked out to the park to join the festivities this year with our good friends Leon and Jenny as well as many new friends from our recently formed homebuilders small group.

plano balloon festival

Melody's first day of school

Time flies...I can't believe Melody is already going to kindergarten!! Melody loves going to school and enjoys making new friends both in her class and outside of her class.

Melody's First Day of Kindnergarten

Fourth of July Festivities

Uncle Walter and Auntie Sylvia from our church invited us to a special treat for the 4th of July. They are members of a business club (La Cima Club) in Irving, Texas. We were treated to a great dinner, complete with a symphony performance and fireworks (seen from the 26th floor of the tallest building in Irving.

4th of july celebration

Steven and Stella's Wedding

David's brother Steven got married to his fiancee Stella in August. They had a beautiful wedding at a wedding chapel overlooking the hill country. We were excited to be there for their wedding. It was also a great time to visit Mark, Jeany, and Harvey. Harvey is such a cutie!

Austin visit: Wedding

California trip - closing moments

It had been a really full trip up to this point. After returning back to the Bay Area, we just hung around with friends in the area.

We spent some time at the Children's discovery museum with the Kangs.

Children's Discovery Museum with Kangs

We also spent a lot of time with the Chuangs.

Week with the Chuangs

As well as many other friends & family...what a full trip!

california trip - friends and family

California trip - Monterey Bay Aquarium

After LA, we headed back toward the Bay Area. We decided that it would be fun to swing by the Monterey Bay Aquarium to complete our circuit of California. :-)

Monterey Bay Aquarium

California trip - Disneyland!

Another purpose for going to LA was to go to Disneyland. This is where David proposed to Jennifer over 10 years ago...and this was part of the 10th year anniversary celebration for D & J. Things are definitely different than 10 years ago...we are now a humongo family of 5!

Disneyland

California trip - Los Angeles

Our main purpose to visit LA was to see Jennifer's grandparents (gong gong & po po) - we hadn't seen them in over 5 years, and neither of them had seen Valerie and Paxon yet. At the time of our visit, Gong Gong was in a nursing home because of his deteriorating health. He went to be with the Lord a couple months after we visited him. Eunice (Jennifer's sister) wrote a very touching eulogy for Gong Gong. We are thankful for the opportunity to see him before he passed away.

While we were in LA, we also went to the beach, visited friends, and had a chance to see Jennifer's cousins Karen & Alex.

california trip LA

California trip - Sequoia National Park

After a relaxing time in Napa, we drove down south toward LA to visit Jennifer's grandparents (gong & po). On the way, we decided to take a brief detour to Sequoia National Park. It was a great trip, but we experienced freezing weather while we were there! Needless to say, it was a good thing that we had borrowed clothing from our California friends (thanks, Cindy & Karen!)...

Sequoia National Park

California trip - Jade's Wedding

We also attended Jade Jun & Jon Chia's wedding in Napa. It is at the Silverado resort, which is a really fancy schmancy place. It was a beautiful wedding. Jennifer and I were able to enjoy it as a couple sans kids, courtesy of the babysitting services of Ryan, Eunice, and Jennifer's mom.

Jade and Jon's wedding

Trip to California - part 1

After graduation, we had a one-month long "mini-sabbatical" from everything. We packed up and went back to sunny California to see family and old friends. First stop - Ryan & Eunice's place in San Mateo - their blog has a lot of pictures of what we did and our family reunion time in Napa Valley, but I thought I should definitely include two videos...

california trip

Long overdue post: David's DTS Graduation

Okay, it's been six month lapse since the last post. So here goes...

David graduated in May from Dallas Theological Seminary after 4.5 years of studies. Praise God for giving the whole family strength and perseverance over the past few years. We have seen God's faithfulness and loving kindness toward us. :-)

David graduation