Nat came home Thursday night to suprise David for his birthday weekend. He was very surprised to see her! On Saturday, we went skiing at Dodge Ridge. It’s been over 2 years since we’ve gone skiing. At first, David was hesitant about going. He was worried his body couldn’t take it anymore. But in the end, he had fun skiing with the kids. And the kids had a lot of fun too.

We got back home in time to freshen up, change clothes, and go to dinner to celebrate David’s birthday

We headed to LA a few days before Christmas and stayed a few days after. It was a quieter Christmas this year with several family members traveling out of the country. We still enjoyed spending time with family that was around.

Grandma and Grandpa, and Auntie Diana and family were in Vietnam during Christmas so we had dinner at a restaurant this year. It was nice to do something different and have a nice dinner out.

After dinner, we headed back to Uncle Tommy’s house to open presents!

The kids decorated ginger bread houses and cookies

Tyler got this “my size” cat. He loves it.

Christmas at Uncle Chai’s house

Nat and I got matching sweaters

Nat joined us for her first big “Cousins Dinner”

After dinner, we went to Vanida’s house for karaoke. Nat loved it.

We tried a coffee shop in Koreatown Nat found

Count down to Christmas has started! This year’s advent calendar is from See’s Candies. I was debating whether or not to keep doing this, but when I saw these, they looked so fun. Plus, both kids were still excited to get them.

We headed down to LA Monday evening to spend Thanksgiving break in LA. David got car sick from working in the car so Tyler drove almost the entire way down. It was a nice break for David. While in LA, we enjoyed warm weather, went bowling, ate a lot, shopped, and spent lots of time with family. Tyler got to play golf 3 days in a row. It was a nice week and it went by fast!

We bought PoPo a new iPhone (major upgrade from 7 to 15!). Natalie helped set up the new phone and showed her some new features.

PoPo got her regular haircut from her stylist

There were plenty of late night taco runs

Shopping at The Americana

Thanksgiving at Uncle Tommy’s house.

We celebrated Hunter and Lindsey’s birthdays

We also celebrated Gong Gong’s birthday with dinner at Raffi’s in Glendale

We left LA Saturday afternoon to get ahead of traffic and dropped Nat off at school on the way. We hung out at her apartment briefly before heading home

Nat surprised us and showed up at home Friday night. She was supposed to meet us in LA but somehow her plans changed and she came to San Jose instead.

On Saturday, we had dinner at Seapot. It’s a cool hot pot and kbbq place that’s AYCE and there’s a conveyor belt with a large variety of hot pot items. We ate so much!

On Sunday, we went to Macy’s so the kids could choose their ornaments and then we had lunch at the mall before Tyler went to work.

Tyler has had this mole on his abdomen since he was a baby. A few years ago I noticed it got bigger and we had it checked out by the doctor. He said it looked fine. A few weeks ago, I saw it again and it looked like it got bigger so we took some pictures and sent it to his doctor. After looking at it they scheduled an appointment for us to see the dermatologist. That appointment was today.

We went into the doctor’s office thinking they were just going to take a look and maybe take a sample for testing. But after two doctors looked at it, they both said it looked abnormal and decided to remove it. Tyler did not expect this and was nervous. He asked the doctor twice if it will hurt. She told him he wouldn’t feel anything but the area might hurt after.

The nurse drew dots around his mole and took some pictures

He was very nervous lying on the table here while the doctor was prepping. When she injected the anesthesia around his mole, it stung but he managed through it. The mole removal itself was very quick. We were both surprised when the doctor said it was done.

Relieved and happy its over

I promised him a treat after the procedure. He chose Hui Lau Shan

Nat came home for a quick weekend visit. Her roommate had to go home (to SF) to pick up some stuff so Nat came along for the ride. She spent the weekend shopping, eating, and set up the Christmas tree.

On Friday night, we had dinner at Gochi. It’s a Japanese restaurant Nat has been wanting to try. The food was really good.

Saturday morning, we took the kids to get flu shots. The line was very long but moved steadily. We waited almost 30 minutes.

Then we went to Stanford mall for lunch and treats

For dinner, we went out for shabu shabu

Since she was home, she wanted to set up the Christmas tree too

It was a fun weekend hanging out with both kids. We’ll see her again in a few weeks for Thanksgiving.

We moved Nat back to school this morning. The car was full and she still has a pile of stuff waiting for a 2nd trip. She is staying in an apartment close to school this year. She was the first one to move in.

Her apartment is a 4 bedroom and is about a 10 minute walk to school. The place was new and clean with nice amenities and a washer/dryer in the apartment.

I’ve been planning this surprise trip since the beginning of summer. Nat & Tyler thought we were going to Portland and were not very excited to go. (We’ve already been there.) The day before our trip, David and I surprised them with the news and they were thrilled! They’ve been wanting to go to Hawaii again. A bonus second surprise was meeting the Chiu cousins out there.

Nat booked a reservation for afternoon tea for just us girls

Farmers market

Tyler got to play a round of golf with Uncle Way at Ko Olina golf course. The golf course was really nice

While they played golf, the rest of us hung out at the lagoon at Aulani

The kids got plenty of shaved ice

The kids had a lot of fun and are already looking forward to going back together

Tyler started his senior year yesterday. Summer vacation felt so short this year. He was excited to start school. A friend of his came to pick him up and they carpooled to school. He only has 4 classes this semester and a zero period so he’ll have plenty of time to play lots of golf.