January 30, 2008
· Filed under Uncategorized
Today was Crystal’s 26th birthday! We got her a lemon crunch cake from Diamond Head Bakery and Grill.
We also had Brie and Candy, Crystal’s friends from college, over for a BBQ this weekend; She made us yummy turkey burgers with a fresh basil mayo and grilled vegis. Brie brought over a chocolate health bar crunch ice cream birthday cake and all got to sing “Happy Birthday to Crystal!”
The birthday girl, Candy and Brie lighting the candles.
Blowing out the candles!
Cutting the cake. It was so yummy!
January 29, 2008
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Last night was Saul’s birthday party. Saul is one of our night nurses, and we celebrated his 5th “35th” birthday in style. Here’s a picture of some of night crew with Saul and his strawberry birthday cake.
Saul and I enjoying our potluck spread. It was amazing! Tons of food– sushi, noodles, chicken, shrimp, ribs, dumplings, cheesecake… mmmm…
January 25, 2008
· Filed under Uncategorized
This weekend was Grants Yakudoshi (41st) birthday party. My sister held it at the Pacific Beach Hotel buffet, and like any big family event, it was a lot of fun, with tons of yummy food.
Mom, Dad and Jarrin
Jonathan and Crystal enjoying their food. Mmm… pho, sushi, and lemon crunch cake!
Singing “Happy Birthday”. Happy Birthday Grant!
January 23, 2008
· Filed under Uncategorized
It was a beautiful, sunny weekend, and we went fishing in our back yard.
Jonathan taught Crystal how to cast the fishing line.
Crystal helping Jarrin with his pole.
Showing off our catch! We didn’t catch any fish, but we were able to catch a few Samoan crabs off the rocks. Here’s some pictures of Jarrin and Crystal with their largest crabbie.
January 22, 2008
· Filed under Uncategorized
Today, mom and dad came by to install our new outdoor motion detector lights. Our backyard was pretty dark at night, so it’s nice to have lights. We won’t have to BBQ in semi-darkness now!
We actually had to run new wires to install some of the lights, so Jonathan got to learn all about electrical work. Jonathan got a couple of little shocks changing our hallway lights the other night, so I was very concerned about the live wires, but thankfully, no major electrical shocks today!
First, Dad disconnected the old lights and wires.
Jonathan and Dad had to add new molding to cover the wires.
Dad and Jonathan running wires. They then had to reconnect the wires and switches. I’m sure that there is much more to this process, and it was all very complicated.
Our finished product! 360 degree motion detector lights! We put two in the back yard, and added a fixed light to the BBQ area.
January 20, 2008
· Filed under Uncategorized
Tomorrow is Grant’s Yakudoshi party, so Jonathan, Crystal and I went to Julie and Grants to make the party favors. I brought over my craft paper and supplies and was the project supervisor, Crystal cut the papers to size (because she’s really good at math), and Jonathan and Julie glued the greetings onto the baggies.
Jonathan and Julie were a little craft challenged, and I had to walk them through the different glues, notions, and papers. Overall though, the night was a success.
Our finished prodcuts. Nice, huh?
Julie modeling the finished cookie packages.
Thor and Elton also helped! Elton spent the night chasing bugs, and Thor took a nice long nap.
January 19, 2008
· Filed under Uncategorized
We’ve been shopping for new furniture for Crystals room. This weekend, we went to the Inspirations showroom; Crystal got a new nightstand and we had a good time playing with the new office furniture. Here’s a picture of Jonathan an Crystal bouncing up and down on new ergonomic, super high tech office chairs.
January 15, 2008
· Filed under House and renovations
I had the day off and spent the better part of today organizing the garage. It was such a mess! In our frenzy to move into our new house, we basically unpacked all our boxes and threw the rubbish into our garage. We accumulated a ton of junk and I was half hoping that the hordes of boxes would magically all disappear.
We finally had some time to organize, and it’s been such an undertaking. First, we broke down all of the boxes, stacked up the nice boxes for later use, and took the extra cardboard and packing paper to the recycling center.
We also used our housewarming gift from Mom and Dad Ping to buy heavy duty storage shelves from Costco. Each unit can hold up to 600 lbs, and is very, very sturdy. Jonathan and I assembled them, got most of our junk off the floor, and finally got our garage organized. It still needs some work, but it looks a ton better, and hopefully, we’ll be able to use our garage for our cars soon!
Jonathan and Crystal unwinding after our busy day with the Wii.
January 14, 2008
· Filed under Uncategorized
My brother gave us a gift card to John Dominis for Christmas, and we used it today to welcome Crystal to Hawaii. We went to the Sunday brunch buffet and for a buffet, the food was all very delicious. Oyster bar, an own omlette station with over 20 different selections (I had a seafood omlette with crab, salmon, scallop and shrimp), a pasta station, gingerbread waffles, macadamia nut crusted french toast (Jon’s favorite), crab legs, a roasted suckling pig, a ton of yummy desserts … mmm.. OMG! It was all so good.
Jonathan and Crystal enjoying their food.
Mom recommended that we ask ahead for a window seat and we got one of the best views in the restaurant! We sat in the corner, with a view of Diamond Head and the ocean, and enjoyed watching the surfers and catamarans go by.
My first course…. Waffles, eggs benedict, and a myriad of seafood.
Crystal slurping her oyster.
My second course… More oysters, crab legs, shrimp, and asparagus, mushroom and crab pasta. Despite all of this food, I still went back for two more plates!
Dessert! My favorite part of the meal!
Enjoying our chocolate covered strawberries.
January 11, 2008
· Filed under Uncategorized
Crystal arrived safe and sound today and moved into our extra bedroom. We’re so happy that she’s here; Elton is especially happy to have another Cavalier loving human around.
Elton is helping Auntie Crystal unpack her stuff. He loves having the extra bed to sleep in.
Crystals stuff. She checked in 6 bags at the airport!
