San Francisco

My family and I went to San Francisco the weekend of February 23rd for my grandma's funeral and we're very glad she is now resting in peace. Even though it was under these circumstances to see all of my cousins and what not, my family and I made some good memories there. It was myself, Aaron, Tyler, my sister and her son, my mom and my brother who flew in from Germany. We were pretty occupied Friday and Saturday afternoon but after that we were able to do our own thing.

For those of you who don't know, the Chinese have a lot of very different customs when some passes away. One of the things that my family is not too fond of is the banquet food. I like Chinese food, but this stuff was out of control! Who in the heck has ever heard of eating SEA BLUBBER?!?!? It was disgusting! Of course we had to "try" a little bit, but let me just tell you that eating a big jelly fish is not the same as sweet and sour chicken! Oh, and you all like chicken right??? Well, they have the ENTIRE chicken on the plate with the head!! Of course it's cooked, but no one wants to look at a chicken head! My family and I joke about it because we cover the head with a big serving spoon. Needless to say, we ate rice and vegetables while at dinner but had In-N-Out and pizza afterwards! :-)

Oh yeah....I chopped my hair while I was there too! When I went with my mom and sister the weekend of February 9th, I cut like 6 inches off there. They do an awesome job for cheap...only $18 for cut/wash/style. Not bad! Anyways, Aaron has been wanting me to go short for a while now and I have wanted to as well but never had the guts too. So, I was determined to do it again while I was there. I went to the same salon and the guy barely spoke English but did a great job. I'll do some before and after pics soon.

Here are just a few pictures we took while at Fisherman's Wharf, Ghiradelli Square, Chinatown and from the hotel. Enjoy!

My nephew Dallas holding Tyler..how cute!

Tyler looking like PePe Le'Pew doing the running man!

The family at Fisherman's Wharf...I love these tulips!

Aaron, Tyler, Dallas and my brother Shane being boys!

My handsome guy at Ghiradelli Square

The BIG 30!!!

This past Valentine's day was my big day.....I turned the BIG 30!!! I know, I know, I am old now but I honestly don't feel it. I have accomplished a lot in the first 30 years of my life and wouldn't change anything for the world. My friend Hailey also turned the big 30 on the 9th and we wanted to celebrate together. When Tater turned 30 I threw him a surprise party and every 30th b-day that is celebrated, is a big thing. Hailey and I wanted the same thing...a big celebration or something together, so we had been hinting around that we wanted a party with everyone or have a girls night out. Something to do with out all the kids. So, for the past 2 weeks our wonderful husbands have been going crazy to plan a party. They pulled it off and threw a surprise birthday party for us at San Felipe's at the Tempe Marketplace this past Saturday. Nothing like walking into a busy restaurant at 6:30pm and having half the restaurant (that was reserved for us) yelling "SURPRISE"!! We had such a blast! Thanks to both of our husbands..it was a hit and a birthday party that we will always remember!

My wonderful husband

Troy and Hailey (the other b-day girl)

My crazy mother in law (I love her to death!)

The three of us

My brother in law and his wife

Sad News

What is it with me getting all the "calls" at work first thing in the morning? My mom calls me yesterday around 8:30am to tell me that she does not need me to take her the airport Tuesday (today). She was going to see my grandma in the hospital. Well....about 30 minutes after I got off the phone with her, she calls again and tells me that my grandma didn't make it and she just passed away in her sleep!!! How something so drastic can change that quickly is so mind boggling to me. I think I'm still shocked. I know now that she is not suffering and is resting with my grandfather, dad, dogs and every other angel looking after us. But boy....has this been hard. We are still going out there on Saturday, but instead of it being a "vacation" we will be clearing out her apartment and prepping for the funeral arrangements. Since Chinese New Year starts on Thursday, they will not be having the funeral until the 23rd of this month!!! Talk about dragging something out. I guess it's against their beliefs to have any type of service during the celebration of the new year?? I still don't quite understand but I'm sure I'll get the full explanation when I get there Saturday. My mind is going 100 MPH right now because I am super busy at work, playing mom and trying to get 10 people to fly from Arizona and Germany to San Fran in a "cost effective" way. Sorry if this was a Debbie Downer. Here is the last family picture I have with her, my brother and his daughter and of course my mom. GOOD TIMES!

My Poor Grandma!

So I am at work on Thursday morning when I get a phone call from my mom who tells me that my 96 year old "Chinese" grandma is in the hospital!!! She says that she fell down in her apartment and broke her shoulder AND a couple of ribs. Can you imagine how frail anyone would be at 96??? It just amazes me that it's been 6 years now since my "Chinese" grandpa (her husband) has passed away and she has been living by herself, walking up 3 flights of stairs to her apartment in San Francisco (Chinatown). She has a family member that comes to check on her at night and then of course Meals On Wheels comes, but knowing that she doesn't speak ANY English in a hospital with only a translator every now and then would scare me to death! She is such a strong amazing women who has been through so much. My mom, sister and I are flying out there on Saturday to spend some time with her and I'm cherishing EVERY minute!

Tyler & my niece Sarah walking with Tai-Pa
(Tyler is almost as tall as her!)

Tyler loves his Tai-Pa!