Ski Trip

Our winter break vacation was spent in Telluride, CO this year with the Chun family. It was an awesome trip with lots of fun and milestones made for the kids and myself. It was the kids' first ski experience and they did great! Ethan and Hayley took their ski lessons and Ethan even skiied down the green slope on his own! Wow! I had not skiied in over 15 years and got back into it with lots of great encouragement. I went down the green and double green slopes with not too much trouble and even made it through the blue slopes with some difficulty, but still survived it! Phew! I'm just glad that we all came home with no injuries.
Telluride is such a beautiful place and it was my first white Christmas! We stayed at Hotel Madeline which was highly recommended on TripAdvisor and it sure was a great hotel at a perfect location. The ski school and ski lifts are just outside the hotel and it has a ski valet which you can ski right into and check in your skis when you're done. We didn't even have to drive anywhere and we took the gondola to town for dinner. There is an ice skating rink right outside the hotel as well and Hayley really liked ice skating. What a great find, thanks to Linda!
Now that we're back, Ethan is already asking when we can go skiing again! Maybe we will have to plan another ski trip soon....
We took many pictures and you can check it out here.

Cancun

We took a one week vacation with the whole family in beautiful Cancun. It was a fun-filled and somewhat relaxing week. We stayed at the Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort in a 2-bedroom lockoff villa which we purchased from a friend. It worked out great with lots of space for all of us. We visited the ancient Chichen Itza ruins (recently named the New Seven Wonders of the World) and learned about the Mayan history. We enjoyed the beach and resort pool. We cooked and also tasted some delicious Yucatecan food at Labna and local seafood at El Fish Fritanga. We also visited Xcaret - Cancun & Riviera Maya's top eco archaeological park for family fun. We took Ethan snorkeling for the first time and he did great even though he didn't like the salty water. We also enjoyed the amazing performances - Xcaret Mexico Espectacular, even the kids liked it very much and clapped and danced with the music. We also became the locals for a few days by taking the bus to downtown to shop and eat. We will definitely return to Cancun someday.

View from our room

Chichen Itza

Hayley at the beach

Ethan lounging at the beach

Daddy and the kids enjoying the pool

Mommy with the kids

Daddy and Ethan enjoying the view of the beach from the pool

Barbecued chicken wings, shrimp, veggies

Lunch at El Fish Fritanga - Seafood Soup and Spicy Chili Fish

Lunch at El Fish Fritanga - Tumbada Rice

Yucatecan Lunch at Labna

Family Picture at Xcaret

Ethan getting ready for snorkeling

Lots of sea turtles

Amazing show - Xcaret Mexico Espectacular

More performances

More performances

Hayley and Gung Gung taking the bus downtown

Public bus ride

December 2010 Road Trip

We rented a minivan and took the whole family including our parents to California right after Christmas. Our first stop was San Diego and the kids did great. We got to a very cold California night and was welcomed by our long time friends, Su, David, Colin and Su's mom. Su's mom prepared several Malaysian dishes and we were so grateful for some warm home cooked meal after a long road trip.

We visited La Jolla, Sea World and Balboa Park before heading to LA. We were only rained on one day which was nice considering it had been really wet in Southern California. In LA we visited the Travel Town Museum, Natural History Museum and the Griffith Observatory. We also enjoyed a lot of yummie Chinese food. Here are some highlights from the trip:

Seals chilling at La Jolla

Sea World

Balboa Park

Travel Town Museum

Natural History Museum in LA

Griffith Observatory

Fall Break Road Trip

Ethan had a week off for Fall Break, so we decided to take a road trip to LA. We met up with the Chau family and had a great time. We visited many places - The Farmer's Market, Little Tokyo, Disneyland, The Getty Villa, The LA Zoo, Travel Town Museum and the beach. The kids did very well and we all had a great time! It was tiring, but a lot of fun.

Breakfast at the Farmer's Market

Getty Villa

Getty Villa

Ethan's art work at the Getty Villa

Hayley enjoying the long corridors at the Getty Villa

The Beach

Disneyland

Travel Town Museum

The LA Zoo

Hayley's First Plane Trip

My parents, Hayley and I took a trip to San Francisco/Napa Valley for our friend's wedding. It was Hayley's first trip on a plane. She did really well and slept through nicely. We all had a great time! Lee and Ethan stayed home and enjoyed some father/son bonding time.

Hayley on her first plane ride

Alcatraz Island

Hayley at the Fisherman's Wharf

Too foggy to see the whole Golden Gate Bridge

After a long day....

Robert Mondavi Winery

Wedding Ceremony

Hayley in her new dress

Tis the Season....Ho Ho Ho...

Daddy and Ethan were at the mall during the weekday last week and there was no line at the Santa Claus picture place, so daddy decided to send Ethan to Santa for a picture. The picture turned out fine except the prints came out a little compressed, so Ethan had a little too round a head.

Then we went to LA middle of last week and Santa visited our hotel lobby every evening, so we got a better picture. What do you think?

Road Trip

We decided to get away from Phoenix and go to California (San Diego/Long Beach/LA) for Memorial weekend. We all had a nice time. Ethan enjoyed meeting Colin, Uncle David and Aunty Su for the first time. He also liked hanging out at the Santa Monica Pier chasing after the pigeons. The car ride was not too bad. Ethan napped and enjoyed his music and Baby Einstein DVD.

Breakfast in bed

Colin, Ethan and Lee Kiat

Ethan chasing after the pigeons

Ethan enjoying his first smoothie - Pomegranate and Blueberry - Yummie!

Happy New Year!

Hope everyone had a nice Holiday Season. Well, it is 2008 and I've decided to start a blog, so I can share updates and photos with family and friends. Since we had Ethan back in March, we've had many stories and pictures, but didn't really have a chance to share with everyone. So, this is my attempt to keep everyone posted. So, enjoy!


Ethan had a busy 1st Christmas. He enjoyed opening presents and his new toys from many friends and family. He also took his first plane ride from Phoenix to Dallas and did great. He loved being in the Baby Bjorn carrier as he could see everything in front of him.


Another exciting news is he got to meet his cousin, Michaela, and the newest addition, Caitlyn, who was born on Dec 28, 2007. She is just precious! After this busy Holiday Season, it is time to take it easy (yeah, right!) and enjoy the New Year!