A Happy Huhliday

This Christmas was the first one we've spent at home since 2007 when Jimmy was born.  We definitely miss celebrating the holidays with our friends the Izumihara's in Hawaii but it's also been fun for us to come up with new traditions to celebrate at home. 

First we decorate the house with lights and put up the Christmas tree right after Thanksgiving so the house feels festive the whole month.  We have holiday music playing every morning - Jimmy's favorites are Jingle Bell Rock and Santa Claus is Coming to Town (Ashley hasn't told me her favorites yet).  We go out with friends to see the light displays at Candy Cane Lane and watch my favorite holiday movie "A Christmas Story" on Christmas eve.  After the movie, Jimmy declared "I don't ever want a BB gun - I'll shoot my eye out!!"

Late on Christmas eve, we wrapped the doorway to the living room with wrapping paper so Jimmy can burst through the paper and see the mounds of gifts that have appeared overnight under the Christmas tree. 

I feel so blessed to have such a happy, healthy family, a roof over our heads, food on the table and wonderful and amazing friends like you!

Ashley the Christmas Elf!

Jimmy left Santa his favorite meal - mac n' cheese, chicken nuggets, broccoli and water...mmmm.



What a lucky kid!

Giddy from opening so many presents!



Alex and Teresa with their stocking stuffers.

An inappropriate picture of Pete with his summer sausage.

Ashley loves her new "laptop"!

Most awesome gift award goes to Alex & Teresa who got Pete tickets to the Rose Bowl!

Ashley's new baby doll

Auntie Annie!

Pete and Scotty

Contents of Ashley's cart: balls, hot dog, a raw steak and milk

So glad cousin Lori came by!

The Ashley Files

Ashley will be 15 months old at the end of December – wow how the time has flown by!  It seemed like yesterday that I was praying to have a little girl who will share all of the things I love.  (Pete’s got Jimmy who loves baseball, the Yankees, Star Wars and watching Little Giant Ladders’ infomercials and declaring “I need this ladder!”)   I had hoped for my daughter to be a Libra (just like me!) and be born in the year of the Tiger (just like me AND my mom!).   Sometimes the Universe delivers everything I ask for and more.

Ashley is such a happy girl – most mornings she wakes up with a big smile on her face.   She is already starting to talk and says her version of words such as banana, book, doggie, hi, down, cheese and milk.  We taught Jimmy some sign language as a toddler and when we tried to get her to motion for “more” and asking her “do you want MORE?”  Ashley simply says “esss”.  (I guess we will just skip signing and go straight to talking).

She has a few nicknames such as mae mae which is little sister in Chinese or Hurricane Ashley because she usually leaves a path of destruction wherever she goes.  The best one is Little Human Garbage Disposal because she eats everything.  Anything you’re eating, she’ll want to eat.  If Jimmy can’t finish his meal or snack, Ashley will eat it.

 It is so much fun having a daughter especially in contrast to Jimmy who is very “boy”.  Without any prompting, one day Ashley picked up a lunch bag and put it over her shoulder and started walking around like she’s carrying a purse.   She also loves dolls and stuffed animals and likes to hug and cuddle with them.  She is also a complete DADDY'S GIRL - whenever Pete enters the room, she looks for him and her entire face lights up!  (It's okay, Jimmy's a mamma's boy so we've each got one)

Recently she started trying to play peek-a-boo by hiding behind a blanket or her hands and saying “ba-boo!” then bursting into giggles.   But it’s not always a bed of roses with Ashley – sometimes she can be very demanding.  She wants to be held A LOT and requires constant attention and entertainment. 

She is cautious around strangers and doesn’t like loud noises.  When she gets scared of something or someone, she will run and grab me and bury her head in my legs.  But when she gets to know you, she will smile at you so sweetly that you may be tempted to take a bite of her cute cheeks.

Jimmy’s Tae Kwon Do teacher Master Aaron got a taste of this recently.  After weeks of trying to win her over, Ashley finally smiled at Master Aaron and went to him when he held out his arms.  He was so happy he swooped her high in the air making her laugh and laugh.  Right then, almost in slow motion, I saw something drip onto Master Aaron’s face.  She was having so much fun that she didn’t close her mouth and the saliva just pour out…

Here are some fun photos of Ashley from the last year.

Please don't hurt yourself from laughing at the incredible cuteness that is this picture.  This was taken at our dear friends Scott and Tracie's house Christmas 2010.  I think Scott's mom got this outfit for her at a craft fair and by the time we got it on her, it barely fit!

Here's Ashley with my grandma at Chinese New Year 2010 - getting a red envelope! (and this is when Ashley's hair stood straight up)

Ashley rockin' the cutest pink Puma track suit given to her by Uncle Rob and Auntie Moni. 

Ashley's first Easter - photo taken at the Hohnbaum house.

Bath time fun!

Looking cute trying on Yoda hat...

This is the face she makes when she wants to look cute for the camera.  Look at her shirt - it's the same one that's on the Princess Jasmine doll she's holding (she just happend to have this shirt - another awesome gift from Uncle Rob and Auntie Moni)

Master Yoda for Halloween "Cute I am!"

Bath time fun with brother

First time on a big girl swing - holding on for dear life as mommy snaps away with her camera

She had just squirted apple sauce all over her face.  Don't know if she was mad about that or the fact that daddy got his phone out to take a picture rather than clean her up!

This may look like child abuse to some people but for the Lee family, most children under that age of 8 are subjected to this kind of face-making by my Uncle Terry on a regular basis.

Sexy off the shoulder swim suit in Hawaii

Possible thoughts running through her head at this moment, "What is the state of the world and what is my part in it?" Or, "What are they eating over there - malasadas? shaved ice?"  Photo taken at Halona Blowhole in Hawaii. 

Pumpkin patch at Tanaka Farm Halloween 2011

Ashley on one of her first trips to Disneyland with daddy in November 2011

This photo is her entry for the Ms. Chinatown pageant

It was so nice to be able to honor Dr. Huh by having Ashley's one year party on his birthday.

Huhlet Humor - featuring Jimmy in Tae Kwon Do class

Today was a rainy day so no other kids showed up to Jimmy's Tae Kwon Do class besides Jimmy.  It was great for Jimmy to have a private lesson because he loves his teacher Master Aaron (MA).

They worked on his form when doing different kicks and punches.
MA: "Jimmy, don't stick your little finger out when you're punching - who taught you that?"
Jimmy: "Mommy taught me that... she doesn't know about how to punch."
MA: "Jimmy, Mommy knows everything..."
Jimmy: "No, she doesn't know everything about Star Wars!"
(He is right, the first few times I read him a Star Wars book, I was saying CP3O instead of C3PO, and when I put the wall decals up in his room, I put the Y Wing fighter upside down.)

At the end of the class, Master Aaron always ask the children to recite the "Home Rules" such as being respectful to your parents, being kind to your siblings, keeping your room clean and not interrupting adult conversations.  Then they bow to the teachers, the flag and say thank you and I love you to the parents. 
MA: "Jimmy, how much do you love Mommy?"
Jimmy: "Twenty two thousand!" (without hesitation)
MA: "That's a lot, show me how much with your hands."
Jimmy: "I love Mommy ALL THE TIME!" (making large circular motions with his arms)
MA: "How about Daddy?"
Jimmy: "I love Daddy SOMETIMES..."

Vegas and fried stuffing balls

If that title couldn't get your attention, I don't know what can.  The two are not necessarily related but they happened close to each other.

Some of you may have heard that I let Pete get an indoor deep fryer.  This is something that he has wanted for YEARS.  The fryer and the recent acquisition of a FoodSaver unit has in his words, "made my life complete".   We got the fryer in time for Thanksgiving so of course we deep fried our turkey.  Since you can't really stuff a turkey that's being fried, Pete made stuffing balls and fried them.  It was SO GOOD!

After Thanksgiving we went to Vegas for a few days without the kids. (thanks Annie and Michael for watching them!)  The main reason was to catch the Jabbawockeez show and it was AWESOME!

Yummy fried goodness (you can kind of see the stuffing balls on the blue plate)

Jimmy passing the time waiting for Thanksgiving dinner...

Such a great show!

Frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity 3

Winter time at the Venetian - beautiful!

Cool performer

For the next 4 pictures, see if you can identify which hotels these pictures were taken at. Leave your answers in the comment section and the first person to get them all right get a brand new matchbox from the Bellagio.

"I left my heart in San Francisco..."

We just spent a nice weekend in the Bay Area for my dear friend Karen’s wedding.  I was honored to be the officiant for the ceremony and it was a beautiful and fun evening. 

You know it's a good party when the kids fall asleep like this within 5 minutes of getting in the car

Here are some other highlights from our trip.

Jelly Belly Factory
I’ve always loved Jelly Belly Jelly Beans – they are like little bombs of flavor: Juicy Pear!  Root Bear!  Buttered Popcorn!  They offer a free tour of their factory and we had such a great time. 


Harry Potter portrait done with 10,000 Jelly Beans



Yes, these are actual Jelly Belly flavors - we opted NOT to try them!

Sonoma Train Town

This place is known for having “The Most Well Developed Scale Railroad in the Americas”.   They have an awesome train ride that’s 20 minutes and goes through tunnels, over bridges and stops at a miniature town and petting zoo.

Ashley's first time on a carousel!

California Academy of Science
This museum located in Golden Gate Park was so much fun – it has a planetarium, a rainforest and an aquarium.  It was well laid out and great for kids and adults alike.

As we were driving over the Golden Gate Bridge, Jimmy says "Look! Just like in Soaring over California!" (it's the first thing that appears on that ride in CA Adventure)

It had just stopped raining so we went up to the "Living Roof" where they've grown a garden and saw this beautiful rainbow.  It was REALLY bright - that's why their eyes look like that...

The aquarium is under the rainforest - one of the coolest things at the museum. We pointed out a lion fish to Jimmy and he asked "Does it say ROAR?"

There were butterflies and birds flying around the rainforest.  I took a picture of this one with Ashley wiggling around in a carrier in front of me!