california adventures, last leg.

so after a great time visiting the folks, sam and jenny graciously let us stay with them for our last weekend in sunny so cal.  we got in town just in time to get ready for mikey’s first birthday party!  so very strange that the boy is now a year old.  whoa.  i didn’t really realize that while we were traveling.

anyway, we had the party at good ol’ china gate!  being that this is the first dol i’ve ever been to, i was surprised at all the stuff there was to bring and do.  i seriously thought we were all just getting together to eat!  so i tried my best to keep it nice and ghetto.  hee hee.  BIG thanks to my dad and stepmom as they threw this party for the little guy.  they totally rock as grandparents!  mikey was a trooper and stayed mellow during the party even though he missed his naps cuz we were so busy that day.  however, we could not, NOT, get the boy to smile- he’s quite good at keeping a poker face.

the tsai fam pretending to be korean

mikey with his grandpa, grandma mira, and great-grandma

mikey’s elmo birthday cake!

but darn my lack of planning!  we forgot to take pictures while the party was in progress.  so no shots of guests eating and having fun, no shots of the cutie babies and kids, no shots of everyone singing ‘happy birthday’ to mikey, and no shots of him picking out the string (i guess it means ‘long life’?).  arrrrgh!  but the memories of all those moments are very sweet and i am so glad you, my awesome wonderful friends, made it out to celebrate with us.  you all are totally like family to us.  *sniff sniff*.

peter and stella had a nice relaxing little get together at their pool the night before we left.  that was THE BEST way to wind down our trip.  so relaxing!  so fun!  thanks lees!

then we instructed minna to go in to labor and have the baby so we could see little baby nah before we had to leave.  they agreed.  we were JOKING of course.  so we went home with sam and jenny and began our long, long night of packing.  oh how i hate to pack.  thankfully it got done, and we packed it all!  got a call in the midst of packing that minna had indeed gone in to labor!  they went straight to the hospital from the pool party!  hey, we were KIDDING!  …

so austin and mikey said their goodbyes early monday morning.

we popped by the hospital to meet little mia nah (so why minna looks so good?!  i look more haggard and worn than the lady who just gave birth!!)

and then we were home before we knew it!  (hey, we actually didn’t miss our flight this time!)

like i said, it’s SO good to be home again.  but oh, how we miss all of you guys, i’m actually homesick for you all!