Forgive and forget is not easy and takes time, but it’s sure beats being those who offended you — they having to live with guilt and shame for a lifetime, and pass it on to their children and their children’s children.

Life is good. =)

Happy Chinese New Year, everyone! We wish you all good health, true happiness, and peace at home!

Here are some New Year photos of us with our photogenic lil’ girl.

In case you are wondering, we never tell her how to pose. I always tell her to “stand properly and look at the camera,” and she will figure out how she wants to look in photos.

It’s definitely not a genetic thing.

She is just very comfortable in front of the camera, probably because I have taken more than 15,000 photos of her in the past 5 years.

A couple of weeks ago, my cousin Maggie & her family stopped by and stayed with us for a night, while on their way to Seattle from L.A.

I think the last time we saw them was like 6 years ago, on our wedding day, when their son was only 2 months old! We went back to New York and I think not long after, they moved to Taiwan for a little while before settling in Hawaii; so we haven’t seen each other since.

Although it was the first time the kids have met each other, I was great to see that they had no problem playing together and getting along.

The visit was short, but now that they are in Seattle and we are in SF, it will be much easier to visit them as well as my Grandpa more frequently then ever.

Of course, I’ll need to find a steady job first.

Benny is one of Kaitlyn’s new friends from church and he just turned 4. He had his birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese last Monday & we were invited.

Here are a few photos I took from the party. I guess I was having such a blast there that I totally forgot to even take a picture of the birthday boy! Sorry!

strongHere are some of the funny things that Kaitlyn says from time to time. We intend to update this post with new ones, so for your convenience, we will keep it at the top of our site./strong

strongCheck back often Enjoy!/strong

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emstrong2012-01-08/strong/em

Kaitlyn was watching Benji (an old movie about a dog saving 2 kidnapped children) with Daddy.

strongKaitlyn:/strong What do dogs eat?
strongDaddy: /strongAh, dog food.
strongKaitlyn: /strongDog food spiders?
strongDaddy:/strong I don’t think so.

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emstrong2012-01-06/strong/em

We were at Wal-Mart, a woman over the P.A. system called for a “code Adam” to all store associates. I think code Adam means “drop everything you are doing look for a missing child.”
The woman over the intercom went on to give a description of the child said something like, “The boy is wearing a grey shirt, blue jeans, has brown hair…”
Looking a little lost, Kaitlyn said, “Oh dear, what’s that??! I don’t know what that means.”
But then, after giving it a second thought, she understood it.
“Oh, she’s talking about him because it’s his birthday!”

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strong2011-12-17/strong

On our way back from Kaitlyn’s dance class, Paw-Paw (means “Grandma”) asked Kaitlyn if she gave Ms Lyons the Christmas gift bag in Chinese. Kaitlyn said yes. Then Paw-Paw asked if Ms Lyons said “Daw-Jeh” (means “Thank you”). Kaitlyn replied, “No, she said ‘Thank you.’”

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emstrong2011-03-21/strong/em

Kaitlyn was on the floor coloring. She sneezed.

strongKaitlyn:/strong Who’s going to say “bless you” to me?
strongDaddy:/strong How about me?
strongKaitlyn:/strong Yes.
strongDaddy:/strong Bless you.
strongKaitlyn:/strong Thank you! Now you say “you’re welcome!”

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emstrong2010-12/strong/em

strongMommy:/strong Now I can’t get that song out of my head!
strongKaitlyn:/strong Because there’s no hole. That’s why. (said it matter-of-fact-ly)

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emstrong2010-11/strong/em

We were having dinner at home. Kaitlyn was eating Chinese-style steamed spareribs pulled a small piece of bone out of her mouth. Speaking in Chinese, Daddy told Kaitlyn to wipe the chipped bone off of her finger with the napkin, he said, 「Kaitlyn, “hi”喺呢度。」(“Kaitlyn, wipe it here.”)
Kaitlyn, holding the bone close to the napkin, with a soft, squeaky voice, she said, “Hi! Hi!”
“To wipe” in Cantonese Chinese is pronounced “hi”.

It’s been almost a week into the new year & I hope all of you have had a happy 2012 so far! A “new year” is the perfect excuse for everyone to be grateful for past trials, hopeful about the future & excited about life again — at least we are!

Since we arrived here in the East Bay in September, we have been hard at work settling in, getting Kaitlyn in school, finding our ways around, applying for insurance, finding work, and even planning a side-business.

And it definitely hasn’t been easy emotionally either, since we had to start with having zero friends here. Yes, we miss you guys in New York dearly! No more birthday dinners with Mel’s friends, playdates for Kaitlyn, video game nights, basketball with the Elders, or morning jog with Jeremy. And as much as we loathe the crazy weather, pothole-filled roads, and the rat-infested city, the Big Apple has spoiled us with Coney Island, great parks & museums, $2.25 subway rides, & cheap-but-authentic ethnic food from all over the world just down the block!

I’m sure we’ll discover great new places & find new friends here in the Bay Area, but we’ll forever miss New York & the experiences we had there.

Although we struggled through most of 2011 — even after moving out west — but with plenty of help from family, tons of support from friends, & countless prayers from everyone, we are more hopeful than ever in 2012. And when Melanie actually gets her driver’s license some time this year, watch out! Nothing else will be impossible for us! Hey, this super mom lost like 30 lbs. in 6 weeks last year & has kept it off since! There’s no stopping — at least for her!

We sincerely wish you all the best. You’re always in our prayers, because we’re grateful for you!

Enjoy the photos!

Sometimes we forget that it doesn’t take much to be kind, and it doesn’t have to take much of our time, either. Quoting Nike: Just do it.

I strained my back earlier this afternoon so I was lying down on the couch with a blanket over me.

Kaitlyn entered the room & saw me with the blanket.

“Poor Daddy…,” she said.

She walked over, bent down, gently held my face with her little hands and gave me two soft kisses on the cheek.

Then she stood up, put her hands together, and closed her eyes.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“I’m praying for you.” she said.

To Kaitlyn, Diane & her husband are her 3rd set of grandparents. This is especially true since Mel’s parents retired to California after Kaitlyn turned 2 & my parents had always lived 3,000 miles away.

For over a year, she had spent almost every Monday at Diane’s house. They would cook her favorite foods, take her to McDonald’s, buy her donuts & pizzas, take her to the park, read books to her, teach her manners & chores, watch TV with her, bathe her, get her to nap, introduce her to YouTube, entertain her, feed her tons of mangos, grapes, & Carvel ice-cream sandwiches.

As much as she enjoys her new environment, Kaitlyn still misses spending time with them. Just as I was going through the photos a moment ago, Kaitlyn passed by & saw some of the photos below. She immediately came over & said, “Is it Monday yet? I want to go there, Daddy.”

Again, thank you for being a friend to Kaitlyn & all that you two have done for her.

Now, Diane, if you are reading this, please stop crying already & enjoy the photos below.

We’ll see you & your husband on Skype soon.

I can’t believe Autumn is already here! I was looking through all the photos we took since May & how I miss everything that has happened since then. The older I get, the more I realize how precious every moment is in life—not just the fun time, but all the stressful & boring moments as well. Those are the moments that has given us experiences & wisdom. Those are the moments that has made me who we are today.

This past May 5th was our 5th anniversary. So naturally, ahem, I surprised Mel with some flowers delivered to her work, the day BEFORE our anniversary—so that she would not have expected it.

Thanks to our friends Diane & her husband for babysitting Kaitlyn, we both were able to take the day off from work & had a relaxing day all by ourselves. First, we went to Queens and had some very nice Thai food (Bangkok Cuisine) for lunch in Forest Hills. We walked around for a bit, then we went to watch a movie (Source Code). After that, we drove to Flushing & ate again! This time we had the all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ buffet at this place called Picnic Garden on Northern Blvd & 149th Street. Let me tell you, we were so full that day that we promised to each other that we’ll never do it again… like may be until next year. =)

So here are some photos to go with the stories you just read. As usual, just click on the small thumbnails below to enlarge them. Enjoy!

It wasn’t until the last week of April that the weather was finally warm & dry enough for us to go check out the cherry blossom at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The timing was just perfect as the flowers were blooming at its peak. It was our first time as a family so we were pretty excited.
Since the Sakura Matsuri Festival was going to be held there that weekend, we figured we would go on a weekday to avoid the crowd & the extra charge. Well, it turns out that admission was free for the hours on the day that we went, so we didn’t have to pay a penny. In exchange for free admissions, however, we got the crowd.
It was a warm & sticky day so we only stayed for a couple of hours; unfortunately all the pollens also kick-started the Ling family allergy season. But the short trip was well worth it—the garden was beautiful & we had a good time together.
Without further ado, here are some photos we took that day. Enjoy!