Stuart and I had a very busy day on Wed 7/24.  Once we dropped off the kids at schools in the morning, we arrived at the title company to sign off the final paperwork for selling our house.  We then rushed home to get ready for the movers and do more packing.  The movers arrived as planned, and they immediately jumped in and started moving our boxes and furniture.  Stuart and I had color-coded all the items, and they loaded up the ones to the apartment first.  We all drove to the apartment and unloaded.  Then we returned home for the second half.  We took a short break for lunch, then they loaded up the remaining of our big items and boxes and moved them to the storage.  After almost 5 hours of hard work, the move was completed, and we were pleased with the work they had done.  Stuart and I cleaned up just a little bit more, then it was time to get ready to pick up the kids from schools.  We had dinner out, and afterward we picked up Scottie from the house and all moved into the apartment together. 

    Scottie seems to like the new place; he explored every corner of the apartment immediately, then settled in on the couch with us in the evening.  He has been eating fine and has not cried much at all.  He likes looking outside through the windows.  We have a nice view of trees, the lake and the hill.  The boys liked the apartment too; Connor kept referring to it as “the hotel”.  The boys have been doing fine not being too loud and being respectful to our neighbors.  They bathed well as usual, then I read to both of them together at bedtime.  They had learned the new routine of reading together with Daddy while I was away, so the transition was easy.  The first night here was the very first time for the boys to share a room together by themselves.  Logan did very well falling asleep quickly and stayed asleep despite the noises Connor was making on the first night.  Connor took over an hour to finally fall asleep.  We had to pay him several visits in the room; he whined and talked so loud at times.  The next morning, right at 6:35, we saw the two little guys coming to our room.  Logan was so proud to tell us that he woke up with the “Bunny clock” and that he woke Connor up too.  The next couple of nights they both went to sleep well as usual again.  We are very pleased how well the boys adjusted to the new place and the new routine.

    Thank you to everyone for the support this past week!  The terrible news came to me on 7/18/13 at 1:20pm that my father had passed.  Knowing that the boys were in good hands with Stuart and Thuy’s sister offered to drive me to Oakland, I decided to catch the first available non-stop flight at 5pm back to New Mexico.  It was very sad when I arrived to my parents’ house, but fortunately many of my stepmom’s families and friends were there to support her and to pay their respect to my dad.

   Dora and Gloria drove from Colorado and arrived the next morning; Yvonne also flew in that evening.  The next couple of days, we all stayed together to morn and to plan the funeral.  We were able to find a very comforting funeral home and arrange for the visitation on Sunday 7/21/13.  Some relatives also helped us by adding some Chinese tradition to the funeral.  Allen finally flew in on Sunday with Katie and Kevin after lots of delay trouble at the airport the day before.  There were also other relatives flying or driving back for the funeral.  Since Logan and Connor are very young and we had the house situation, I did not ask Stuart to make the trip.  The evening of the funeral went smoothly; many families, relatives and friends came to spend few hours with us to pay our dad the last visit. 

    On Monday 7/22/13, we, along with majority of our families and friends, gathered at the funeral home again to accompany our dad on his last journey.  We did a final praying and a flower ceremony, then we were on our escorted possession driving to the crematory.  The final goodbye was very difficult, but our dad is now resting in peace.

    For the rest of the time in New Mexico, my sisters and I helped sort out some of our dad’s belonging and did some cleaning up.  We also took our mom to see a doctor for a checkup.  Yvonne was able to convince our mom to go stay in Florida with them for an extended visit.  So Dora, Gloria and I left on Tue 7/23 while Yvonne and mom flew home on Wed 7/24.

    Stuart did a great job holding down the fort the five days that I was away.  I was so thrilled to see Stuart at the airport and then we picked up the boys at school.  Connor kept staring at me and giggling, and he kept saying “Mommy is here…Mommy is here”.   Logan did not give me any initial reaction, but shortly after, he just held on to me the rest of the evening.  It was so nice to be home with my boys again.

    Because of the school restructuring, Connor was moved to a preschool classroom as of today.  Connor did a wonderful job potty training just in time for this move.  I am proud to say that Connor is doing great keeping his underwear dry everyday and I have not had to wash a single poopy dirty one.

     This new classroom is much bigger and looks quite nice; this was the classroom that Stuart and I visited before we decided to take Connor to this school a year ago, so we are happy that Connor is going to spend some time there.  Connor now will have more classmates and two new teachers.  Fortunately, one of his toddler teachers is coming to this class to help transition him along with few other toddlers.

    This morning, as expected, Connor did not like the change.  He immediately started sobbing and hugging me when I put his sleeping box into his new cubby.  He cried even more when I took him into the morning drop off play area.  I had to say a quick goodbye to minimize his sadness.  At the end of the day, when Stuart and I picked him up, Connor was happily doing his cutting “job”.  He wanted to finish cutting the entire strip into small pieces before he left.  The teacher told us that Connor was sad for a little bit in the morning, but quickly adapted to the new classroom.  He even peed in the large big kid restroom just like everyone else.

    I took Scottie in for his 6 month doctor visit today.  He was due for a blood draw and some vaccinations.  He now has a new doctor as his last doctor for the previous 8 years had just moved away.  Scottie was very cooperative in his old age these days.  He tolerated the physical exam, the blood draw and urine collection, the brushing and even the car ride very well.  After the physical exam, the doctor reported that Scottie was doing fine, other than some slight arthritic changes and the same minor murmur.  He had yet lost another 4oz to be only 6lbs 10oz, but the loss was not too significant over this period of time.  But I was told that I don’t have to stick with his kidney formula, and I should liberally give him anything that he likes to eat (like tuna or canned chicken).  The last report, the blood test result, will be available tomorrow.

      It was Cameron and Colby’s 1st birthday party on Saturday.  We arrived at the park where there were a lot of people in the clubhouse already.  We said hello to Julie and Robert, and started getting in line for some Tacos and other food.  Our boys did not really care to eat, but preferred to go play instead.  They managed to eat a little bit, then decided to stand in line to wait for balloons.  Logan received a sword balloon and Connor was happy with a monkey balloon.  They then went outside to play at the playground while I had a chance to mingle with some people.  Logan’s sword popped, so he came back to get another one.  I was talking with Jennifer and Jesselyn, but Logan was not too friendly to Jesselyn initially.  But finally he warmed up and they started playing together while waiting for balloons.  Logan got a lightsaber this time, and ended up fight-playing with Thai, Tyler and Tyson for awhile.  Then we all gathered to sing happy birthday to the twin boys; neither Logan or Connor cared to eat cake this time.  We resumed playing in the playground on and off for more, then it was time to say thanks and byes to everyone.  We followed Kathy and her family out to drive to her storage to borrow some packing boxes.  While we were at the storage, the boys played with their favorite big boy Ian.  We finally then went home for a very late nap for Connor and I.

    We missed Raz’s birthday outing to Gilroy Gardens on Saturday, but Logan and I joined them for a movie today instead.  We met up with the Merons and Vrinda/Rohan at the theater to watch Despicable Me 2.  Logan sat between me and Rohan; he occasionally chatted with Rohan during the show and had some small giggles.  Logan and I shared a big popcorns, so we both were very content and enjoyed the entire show.  After the movie, we all chatted in the lobby for a little bit while Logan and Rohan went to check out the game area.  Then we left to come home to the napping Stuart and Connor.

    As soon as Connor and I woke up from nap, we all packed up to head to the Kaos.  We hung out to talk and play a little bit inside the house first.  Logan, Mckayla, Connor and I played hide-and-seek.  Fortunately, Mckayla only had one hiding place according to Michelle, so we were able to find her easily.  Later on, Marcus woke up and helped me find the other three kids.  It was a hot day, so everyone was ready for a swim.  The water was super warm due to the weather and the bubble cover; it was very nice going into the water.  Connor did not mind playing at the steps, and later was fine too when we got him into the water.  I placed him on the boat with Mckayla; he enjoyed it for a little bit, but later preferred being carried by me or Stuart instead.  The entire time up to then, Logan was walking around the poolside playing with the water gun; he enjoyed shooting at all of us in the water but he refused to come into the water.  Finally I convinced him onto the steps then later tricked him into the water with me.  I put him into the boat against his wish, but quickly he realized how nice it was and did not mind staying on it.  Mckayla was so good to Logan and such a good swimmer that she steered Logan and the boat with her everywhere inside the pool for a long time.  Logan continued to play with the gun shooting us while Mckayla moved the boat around to shield themselves from our revenge.  Connor got tired of the water at some point, so we sat at the poolside to watch everyone.  Later on he got a second wind and wanted to return to the water to play some more.  While we were in the water, Thuy, Thai, Tyson and Tyler arrived to come join us.

    We all played in the water for a long time while Ted prepared BBQ for our dinner.  We then took turns coming out of the water to shower, and got ready for dinner.  We had some yummy drumsticks, pork tenderloins and Thuy’s beef rolls.  The kids had their share of food and went inside the house to play.  Logan finally convinced us to let them watch a movie, and they joined in.  The adults were able to enjoy ourselves chatting and eating some more in the yard.  Connor periodically came out to say hi, and he even brought out some music instruments to play to us.  Later on, Michelle suggested dessert to Mckayla, and she was so excited to spread the news; within 30 seconds, all the kids came out with joy.  We all had some ice cream, then the kids went around the huge yard to play.  Connor attempted to run after them, but shortly later he came back to tell us that the kids were too fast for him. 

    By then it was getting dark, so we packed up and thanked everyone before we left.  During the drive, the boys both said they had fun, and Logan told us that they were playing “Follow the leader” in the yard.  He said he was the leader five times while Mckayla was the leader six times, and they were the fastest in the group.  Logan was getting tired then and wanted to sleep.  Fortunately we started spotting fireworks on the drive home which kept the boys excited.  When we arrived home, we were able to continue watching fireworks over the houses.  After ten o’clock, we finally got the kids inside, cleaned up, and they both fell asleep in less than 30 seconds.

Thanks to Michelle; here are some of her water camera photos.