Four weeks from today

Yep, if the due date is right on, Baby Jonathan could be here in four weeks. He is currently just over 6 lbs and is estimated to be between 7-8 lbs at delivery. He has plenty of amnio fluid and moves tons each day. I am serious about serving an eviction notice as he is getting rather bothersome with all that hard kicking and stretching not minding if my bladder or stomach or ribs are in his little way. We just can't wait to see him. We are wondering if he will have my eyes or Steve's and asian hair or none.

Today I went to swim class. I call it the old ladies swim and sing class. The teacher, Esther gives us a move to make and then we sing a song with an appropriate oldies song and beat. The ladies are warm and welcoming and the workout is not bad either.

Wedding Bliss for Weston

Well Weston is hitched! Yeehaw! Did anyone get a pic of the silly grin he couldn't stop as his bride came down the center aisle? It was just precious...

They had a lovely wedding on Saturday. Pastor Shannon preformed the ceremony. I thought Kristina looked smashing in her green dress. She is her mothers daughter as she got up at three am and added sleeves to her dress as a last minute change. And the addition was great! What a talented family.

The cake and punch reception followed, that brings me to my southern days. I think the cakes tasted fabulous, which as you know, at a wedding can be a bit of a gamble. Lisa had a tiny sample and let us know that the frosting was pretty good.The cakes came in chocolate, yellow and a happy mix of both, and they also had different fillings and were moist and generous with their sizes. This for me is always most important with my little hobby.

Weston looked dazed in a happy way and Kristine was a radiant bride.

The groom's mother made her own dress, which was just one more way of Gwen demonstrating her amazing seamstress abilities. Glenn provided the getaway car. I don't know what the make and model are, but it is certainly a solid tanker car. Raymond, the famous mechanic, mentioned the pillow shocks, so they will ride on a luxury cloud to their honeymoon.

We appreciated the subtle detailed touches, like covering the seats of the picnic tables, and the homemade banana bread, and decorating the entrance way all the way to the parking lot. The punch was wonderful and refreshing on the warm, but not too hot clear sky day. Doesn't our Jenny look gorgeous with her new look?

The bestman had a great one-liner about his friendship being a match made in lemon since he and Weston met over a cup of lemon-aide.

Dinner Party

Rick and Rachel, Steve's coworker came over for dinner Friday evening. Rachel is Chinese and Steve enjoyed comparing their growing up years. We had Baked Chicken, red potatoes, beans, and they brought cherry and lemon cheesecake pie. We really enjoyed the evening.

Resurrection Sunday

Celebrating our Lord's Resurrection on Sunday was such a blessing. This was Steve and I's first dinner party. We had eight people for our party. Everyone pitched in to help make our day a success. Eagle brought a gorgeous Easter lily. Steve and I really appreciated this later in the week as we read in Matthew, consider the lily of the field, it neither toils nor sows, but God clothes it better than Solomon in all his glory.Robert made the gravy and Hollaindaise sauce for the Asparagus, and well as bringing wonderful bread. Juan and Melina cut the ham to perfection as well as preping the salad and bringing drinks. Steve bought chairs for everyone to sit around the table. And I supervisedas well as made a chocolate flourless cake! The Nelsons had impecable timing, as everything was done and ready just as they arrived. But they helped with the dishes. And what a blessing that was!

Gifts for Jonathan

Stephanie, Jonathan's future babysitter, got these tiny socks.

This is Diane's amazing crochet work!

Raymond jr., I believe, is planning to teach baby Jonathan to surf with his totally awesome outfit! On the rear it says "Wipe Out!"

Baby Tao, Shower for Jonathan

Thanks to the Westside Bible Study Ladies for the fabulous shower of love and gifts for Baby Jonathan. Gwen and Debera greeted the guests as they arrived at Devanee's house.

Lauren gave a devotional out of Deuteronomy followed by a delicious brunch of quiches made by the ladies and some gorgeous salads. One of my favorites Asian salad(thanks pioneer woman)was there, of course made by our salad specialist, Gwen.
Two of my previous neighbors came, Eagle and Diane. I am so honored they were able to be there. Cynthia couldn't come, but sent her gift ahead. The group gifted me with a car seat and a pack and play, wow, we are so ready for Jonathan to try them out.
I love this double mother/daughter duo picture, my WWW tea kitchen buddies(Sue and Karine and their precious daughters, Commie and Allie).Monique and Desiree handled the "stupid shower games" as I like to fondly refer to the games loved by women worldwide played at bridal and baby showers. They kept their games tame with blindly trying to pull out tiny blue pacifiers from a bowl of rice. Kristina won with 29, total. The second game, was to guess using a piece of plastic measuring tape how large I am around. Stacey won that game. Sandra, my nursery enthusiastic nursery supervisor trainer, traveled down for the shower with her hubby, John.Helen and Thelma have been my dear friends from my very first GCC activity at Titus Tuesday, my third week in California.Karen, my ever patient WWW kitchen trainer, demos the photiphic way to eat a strawberry. She and Eagle debated who was older and wiser.

Sisters, nothing sweeter

Sisters make everything sweeter.

I am delighted to have my sisters for a weekend. We laugh and laugh and laugh. My sisters are quick witted and nothing is sacred from the teasing wit of family. When they arrived we went to have our toes done, grabbed Mexican food for lunch and then we hit the fashion district.

The fashion district is fabulous!
I had never even been there before. Isn't that a shame? They can't wait to come again to get more bargains. My sisters are fashion gurus. If you could see their closet you would drool. They have a wall of hats and purses. They have over 100 pair of shoes. The shirts are arranged in an amazing array of colors, textures, and styles. And the jewelry department is overwelming. Their personal styles are quite different, but Keni loves putting together outfits. Cathy always looks like a million bucks and has since she was a teenager, and maybe before.Keni is modeling her new purse.


The Avery branch found tiny treasures for Baby Jonathan. When Steve and I opened them, we were finally struck with the realization that we will soon have a little guy in our family, for real. Steve really loved the little shoes. He loves shoes, probably his son will too. The family bought baby Tao a Travel system including a carseat and stroller.
Thankfully sister Keni loves to assemble everything. She had a great time putting together everything. Thank you so much, sister.

Saturday night found us out for Steve's hometown restaurant. We had his favorites, steamed fish, mushroom/cucumer salad, Northern bean noodle salad, Tofu and meatball soup.

Sunday morning we dropped them off at LAX. We are so blessed to have family.

Lauren and I

Lauren and I each created a recipe to split with the other to swap. I made Anna Sander's American Cassarole which I love and Steve tolerated (too much cheese). Which made 2 9x13 pan servings. I served one and froze the other. We are not at the "cook for a month" level like Adrienne, but we are learning.

Eagle also came over bearing baby gifts and she stayed for dinner too. Eagle is such a practical gift giver! She got us little towels and washclothes, lotion, and cleaning things. Thanks Eagle, you are so thoughtful!

Lauren made stuffed pork chops without stuffing them, the stuffing goes on the bottom. I packaged them into 3 meals, two in the freezer. So I am stocking up and making my life easier!

Tomorrow my sisters are flying in for the babyshower. We are getting our feet done.