Mimi's Post-Thanksgiving Visit

Right after Thanksgiving, Eunice's cousin Mimi and her family came out to the Bay Area for a visit. Spencer got to meet even more second cousins and had a ton of fun playing with Joshua and Justin! Click here for a full slideshow.


We stuffed ourselves at Ni-Mo's and Golden Island Cafe in San Mateo, explored the Japanese tea garden, played in the park, visited cousin Benson and Danielle's beautiful home in San Jose, and ate some of the best tofu soup ever at Tofu House in Milpitas.

Thanksgiving in Vancouver

We decided to join Eunice's mom Terry for Thanksgiving in Vancouver this year. Click here for a full slideshow and some videos.


We wanted to bring Spencer to see Grandpa Lin's grave (it's been 12 years since he passed away) and to introduce him to his second-cousins, Jonathan, Justin, and Connor. We had a great time catching up with Eunice's cousins Wayne, Jenny, Jully, Jonathan, and Dolly, watching Spencer run around with his second cousins, meeting Dolly' boyfriend Derrick, being plied with endless amounts of food by Auntie Angela (including an American-Canadian-Chinese fusion Thanksgiving dinner), being entertained by Uncle Frank's gadgets, and shopping for non-existant totem-pole Christmas ornaments on Granville Island. With built-in babysitting, we even managed to make it out to see two late-night movies!

Spencer and his Grandparents

Eunice's mother, Terry, came out for an epic visit this November - partly to spend some quality time with Spencer (including a weekend of solo babysitting in San Mateo while we headed to L.A. with friends!), and partly to fill our fridge with good home-cooked Chinese food. Mmmm!!!



While Terry was here, we had a chance to grab a BBQ rib dinner with Michael and Adam (out visiting from New York). Click here for a slideshow.

We also made it up to Marin to spend some time with Nancy, Donna, and Mimi. Click here for a slideshow of our afternoon in Marin.

AND finally, we received a wonderful early Christmas present from Fran and Melinda-- a fantastic painting by Andrea Way. It complements Fran's earlier gift of her painting of the Alhambra theater in San Francisco that currently hangs over our fireplace.... this time the painting is of a biker bar in Healdsburg!

Another Bun in the Oven!!!

Well, ultrasounds don't lie. We've got another one on the way! Baby #2 is due in May. :)

Eunice just finished her first trimester, and we've had a lot of fun telling friends and family our exciting news over the last couple of weeks. The best reaction: "You must be crazy!" Well, we sometimes feel that way. Life hasn't gotten back to any semblance of normal since Spencer arrived, that's for sure.

But our philosophy is that no one ever feels ready to have kids-- you just have to decide that you're as ready as you'll ever be. We both have siblings about 2 years apart, wanted that for our family, did the math and went for it, even though it absolutely feels crazy!

We'll find out whether we're having a boy or a girl in a couple of months.... Eunice's first trimester was much more rough this time around, which according to urban legend means we're having a girl. This is verified by Terry's predictions for how her grandchildren will be split. But all bets are off until January...

In the meantime, wish us luck!

Kibbutz LA!

Our good friend Lee came up with the idea of "Kibbutz LA" - a weekend in which a bunch of friends would gather in his hometown of LA to live, eat, and play together. Lee flew in from a business trip in Singapore. Brian and Ellen flew in from New York. We happily left Spencer at home in San Mateo with Eunice's mom and headed out for the weekend sans baby! Click here for a full slideshow of our Kibbutz LA weekend.


Highlights from the weekend included a romantic gondola ride at sunset through Long Beach's "Venice," dinner at Lee's favorite LA restaurant - Hatfield's, a jam-packed day of rock scrambling at Joshua Tree, pretending to be Lee's parents' long-lost kids as we crashed their home in Long Beach, lots of great conversations with old friends, and riding around in our trusty minivan rental while trying to figure out the automatic side doors. Thanks for being the mastermind behind a great weekend, Lee!

Koi Pond with Kristin

Eunice's college roommate, Kristin, was in town for a pediatric conference and was able to tack a few days of vacation on to her trip. We took lots of walks, hung out in Central Park, and caught up on each others lives over many cups of tea. Ryan watched Spencer two nights in a row so that Kristin and Eunice could get in plenty of "girl time." Faith joined us for Kristin's last night - we had a great time walking the Crystal Springs trail at dusk and then going out for a delicious dinner at Lunneta Bistro.


Here, Kristin and Spencer check out the Koi Pond in the newly renovated Japanese Tea Garden in Central Park.


Thanks for coming out to visit us, Dr. Hem - and for indicating that Spencer MIGHT exhibit some early signs of genius. :)