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Christmas at Mi Ma's

We had a great Christmas at Mi Ma's. The food and company were good. Griffin got way too many gifts. Hopefully someday he will realize how luck he was as a kid. I wish we could have spent Christmas with my family too. Maybe one of these years we will.

Time to be thankful

I should be thankful everyday for what I have in life. However, sometimes I forget due to the day to day things. It is nice to have moments in our lives that remind us to be thankful.

Griffin and I recently got back from our visit to California. It was nice to see family again. My uncle passed away and that was very sad. However, that only made it more meaningful to see family again.

My dad is still not feeling very well. We keep encouraging him to be strong. He has a few more appointments to determine all his ailments. We know for sure that he will need a heart bypass. Hopefully that is all that is wrong with his health. After losing my uncle, I can't imagine losing my dad. I am thankful that he is still here with us.

Thanksgiving is tomorrow. For sure I will be very thankful for a good meal. Most of all I am thankful for my son, my family, and all my friends. I have had a very good life and and I am very thankful. Somehow, I have always managed to get by even when it seemed daunting.

As a new new year approaches and the present year comes to an end, I wish everyone much happiness and success.

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Birthday Celebration

Happy Birthday !

I can not believe that my son is now five years old! Where did the time go? Not only has Griffin grown up so fast, I feel so much older too.

Today I took Griffin to the zoo. We had heard that Sponge Bob was going to be there. Unfortunately, we were a day early. Nevertheless, we had a great time. I just wished I hadn't forgotten the camera.

Griffin's birthday is always a reminder of how lucky I am and how blessed I am. For Griffin, it is all about the presents and getting to be a new age. His birthday always reminds me of that moment when I first saw his face and knew exactly that he was truly mine. I knew my life had changed for the better. I am so thankful.

Farewell Family Celebration

My family threw my brother's family and mine a farewell celebration. They got a roast pig as the main dish. Griffin thought it was gross but eventually ate it. Each member of the family tied a string around our wrists as they wished us good luck in their own ways. We were very appreciative of the gesture. Overall we had a wonderful time.

Beautiful Wilderness

We hiked near this cool stream. It was nice air conditioning in the hot summer weather. You could feel the cool breeze of the cold mountain waters as you get close.

Bountiful Backyard

My parent's yard is a small suburban yard. Yet it is full of fruits and vegetables. Also pictured are the crabs my brothers caught near San Francisco. My mom made a very tasty meal out of the crabs. The fruits in the yard were very good too.

Visiting Family

Griffin and I just got back from a week of visiting family. We had a great time. Most of the time was spent camping. Griffin was the leader of the Super Heroes. His team included him as Spiderman, and his cousins as Ironman, Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. It was quite entertaining watching them run around making up scenarios.

Summertime

We had a great afternoon today. My brother got Griffin and me swim passes to our local swimming pool. It is nice because the pool is right across the street from us. It was just nice to relax and watch the kids play in a pool. We will be spending a lot of time there.

The kids were having fun playing around the living room. I decided to snap a few candids.

Different Generations

I know that my life is completly different than what my parents experienced at the same age. I expect the same thing to be true between Griffin and me.

The other day while in my new car, griffin says to me, "Hey Dad. You should go to BeepBeep.Com to look at cars."

Okay. Griffin is four years old! He already knows about websites. And not only that, he just made up the name of the website creatively. It just amazes me how wide the experiences can be between generations. When I was four years old, no one even owned a computer and there was no internet. When my parents were four, there wasn't even electricity where they lived.

I thought I would list some comparisons. I'll start with my parents, then me, then Griffin.

First time on an airplane.
Parents 40 when we came to the States, Me almost 3 when we came to States, Griffin 3 months. And for being four years old, Griffin had gone on at least 8-9 airplane trips. That is more than a lot of adults in their lifetimes.

First Schooling.
Dad 12, Mom 46 (Both my parents graduated Adult High School at age 51 and 50), Me 6, Griffin 4 months.

First Video Game Console.
Parents What?, Me 30, Griffin 4

Place of birth.
Parents Tropical Jungle with no medical help. Me tropical Jungle with no medical help during wartime. Griffin, Nice hospital room, planned inducement.

The list can go on and on. I guess it is nice to know that for most things, life is easier for our children. It is true that you try to give your children all that you wanted as a child. My parents wanted the basic things of health, food, shelter and education. I got all those things from my parents. I wanted things like toys, new clothes, eating out on top of all basics. And Griffin has all the things I ever wanted as a child and plenty more. I wonder what my grandchildren will get in their lifetimes.

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