November Noteworthies

November, November, November.  It frightens me how quickly you've come and gone.  This month, there was a lot of celebrating!  From baby showers to birthdays, wonderful things are happening all around.

A photo posted by Truly Blessed 👩🏻🐶 (@trulyblessedssl) on Nov 27, 2016 at 5:37pm PST

My little nephew (left) turned 1!  We celebrated with family at my sister's home and it was just such a blessing to see just how loved the little guy is.  The cutie on the right turned 4, and I just love him to pieces!  He's the boy of a close friend of mine and I am so happy to have been able to just watch him grow into his own so far.

A photo posted by Truly Blessed 👩🏻🐶 (@trulyblessedssl) on Nov 24, 2016 at 8:48am PST

I also ran in an annual Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning.  I only did the 5K this year and came in slower than I usually do, but faster than I anticipated.  

A video posted by Truly Blessed 👩🏻🐶 (@trulyblessedssl) on Nov 13, 2016 at 1:18pm PST

Echo has been making great progress on his agility classes!  I love watching him happily running through a course.  Oh how it warms my little heart!

As far as my book review is concerned, I shamefully admit that I have not finished this month's book yet!  But, I WILL double up in December and achieve my goal of one book per month for 2016.  Stay tuned!

Pumpkin Themed Baby Shower

My sister and brother-in-law are having a baby and I am going to have a new nephew in December!  I started thinking about ideas a few months ago and spent this past week preparing for their shower. Here are some photos from their special day!

 Gift table

 Closer look at the diaper cake

 Light appetizers: turkey meatballs from Trader Joe's, garlic hummus dip for veggies and chex mix scrambled with autumn mix sweets

 Interactive station: guess the celebrity baby, baby well wishes, and guest sign in

 I was in such a hurry that I didn't notice the well wishes card printed with black spots on the banner - argh!  I chose a guest sign-in that was more personalized, allowing guests to write a sweet message to baby boy and the final product can be used as decoration in his nursery

 Here's the final product of the guest sign-in!

 Dessert table: sweets from Trader Joe's, cheesecake from Portos and lots of pumpkin flavored candies

 Decorate a pumpkin contest!

 Group photo!

 With the proud parents to be!

Birthday Boys

This past Sunday, we celebrated J's and my youngest brother's birthdays.  It is a tradition of ours to celebrate our birthdays just with our immediate family with a cake and take a photo at the dining table ever since we were 1 and we have extended this tradition to our significant others.  A simple tradition, but a meaningful one.  I really have a deeper appreciation for my family now realizing how warm and welcoming they are to all of our significant others.  One of the most common issues in a marriage is attributed to in-laws / families from hell.  I may be biased but I truly believe that all of our significant others are pretty darn lucky to have married into our family. 

My parents go out of their way to make our significant others feel welcomed.  My mom will cook their favorite foods or my dad will make sure that he orders one of everyone's favorite dish when dining out.  Everyone gets a hefty red envelope on Chinese New Year, on their birthday, and even sometimes for Christmas!  I have never heard my parents judge, bad mouth or gossip about any of our significant others and give us all the freedom to live as we please.  They also continue to be parents...they continue to provide for us (they took us to Vegas for New Year's!) and they have created a life for themselves that allow their children to lead their own lives without the burden of having to worry about them much.  My siblings all treat J like a brother and are so thoughtful and considerate of him just as I treat their significant others like my own brother or sister.  It brought me so much joy watching J celebrate amongst my family and opening his gifts because he was surrounded by so much love.

Singing happy birthday

Focusing hard on making their birthday wishes

Kids photo

A trendy weekend bag for little bro

Amazon gift card for J

Happy Monday!

This is my doggie-nephew, Buster in the silliest of positions holding onto the rhino I bought him.  This photo brings a smile to my face and hope it does yours as well!  Have a good week! 

Family Photos - At Last!

When we took our engagement photos, we were not able to bring Echo due to bad planning and location of our shoot.  And though he was a part of our wedding, we were so busy and overwhelmed that we did not take any pictures with him!  Since then, I have felt a little piece of my heart missing in all of our photos because Echo is such an important part of our lives!!  So this weekend, we all went out to a park nearby and my brother took some photos for us.  We will be using some of these for our holiday cards, but here's a sneak peek!

 

Superbowl Sunday

This past Sunday, we invited the family over for Superbowl Sunday.  I was secretly rooting for the Seahawks while everyone else cheered on the Broncos.  I am not a huge football fanatic, but I always root for the underdog!  On the menu:

 Chicken ceasar salad

 Pulled pork sliders

 Spam musubi

 Delicious Chinese New Year cake (nian gao) made by one of my dear friends

Gary & Lillian

My baby brother tied the knot this weekend!  It was such a wonderful celebration that encapsulated both of their quirky personalities.  Everyone who knows Gary can attest to the fact that he is the most caring, genuinely kindhearted, patient, responsible, and hard working person they know.  Growing up, he was the one who would sit next to me for hours while I fought off a stomach ache and the one who would let me pinch his cheeks until they got droopy (I know, I am so mean).  As an adult, he is my voice of reason and an inspiration.  I am so happy that he has found his lifelong partner in Lillian. 

 A rare photo opportunity with both grandmas

The proud parents

Here comes the bride!

My brother joyfully receiving his bride

It's official!

My brother gave one of the best speeches of all time, tastefully roasting his younger brother creating a room full of laughter

J and I trying to be creative with our photos

Christmas At Home

This Christmas, we had our family over for a traditional Taiwanese hotpot dinner, Secret Santa, and a nice stroll around the neighborhood to enjoy the holiday lights. 

 J was the chef of the night!  The rest of us just filled our tummies.  =)

Fish balls, corn, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, ribeye, dumplings and shrimp!

 

 Opening our Christmas gifts

 Merry Christmas!

Here's to holiday hearts filled with gratitude and a new year full of blessings!

Merry Christmas!