First day of fall already? Where has the time gone?
I’m posting some recent pictures from our summer vacation in Hawaii last month.
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It seems like forever since either of us has written anything. In reality, it was just after last Christmas when Ruby Phuong visited and experiences snow for the first time in her life. A number of things have happened naturally since our last post.
Evan and Caylan, now 7 and 5 years old respectively, are doing very well. They’ve started to show some growth and never hesitate to weigh and measure themselves at any opportunity. They both have been taking swimming lessons and are doing extremely well. Neither one of them is afraid of the water and it shows in their eagerness to learn. As a matter of fact, we went to Wild Waves, a local water/theme park, with Cap, Brenda and Audrey. I had a very hard time keeping Evan out of the deep end of the wave pool.
Evan has been playing YMCA basketball for almost a year now. Despite being the shortest kid on the team, his speed, aggression and nose for the ball have allowed him to excel and lead the team in nearly every statistical category. In school, he’s moving on to second grade and doing very well. He can’t seem to ever fulfil his desire to do math problems. I guess that’s not a bad problem to have.
Caylan breezed through Kindergarten and is looking forward to first grade. She’s definitely the “artsy” type and dreams, instead of being a princess now, of being a performer. Lookout Britney, here comes Caylan. She’s really started picking up the whole reading thing and can now read much of a relatively large kid’s book with little help now. She still has problems with long vs. short vowel sounds but that’s coming along.
There is one ironic thing about them that I’d like to highlight. A week ago, while Thuy was out of town attending a wedding, I was driving with the kids in the back when the song “Rooster” by a Seattle band named Alice in Chains came on. The kids couldn’t get enough of the song. They kept singing it all that evening and continued asking me to play it for them during the week.
If you don’t know the song, it’s about the experiences of band guitarist Jerry Cantrell’s father during the Vietnam war. There’s nothing in the song that mentions Vietnam by name but I find it extremely ironic that they like that particular song so much. I’ve discussed the war with them and they know that Americans were there fighting. They also understand that, depending on which side of the line you stand, the perception of “good guy” and “bad guy” changes. To them, the only thing that matters about the war is that the Vietnamese and Americans are now “friends”.
Anyway, we hope everyone is doing well. Take care and I hope to write sooner than 8 months from now. 
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The Christmas season is meant to be shared with those dearest to you and that’s exactly what we’ve been doing. Ruby Phuong and her family came from San Jose to visit for a few days and, during their stay with us, Cap came by with his family and the kids were united once again. The kids enjoy being together so much and the families enjoy spending time together as well. It’s amazing how a shared “life experience” can bring you so close to people.
Below are some pictures from our Christmas Day and with Ruby Phuong and Cap during their visit:
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Thing have been crazy for us lately. No time to post. The kids are doing wonderful. Wishing everyone a Happy Holiday season.
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