Winter 2009

Happy 2009! Happy Year of the Ox! Xin nien quay la! Say hay bok man hee pa de sayo! Happy New Year! 2009 was an extra special year for us! It was the year of our big trip to Korea (and China). But before we left for our Asian adventure there was lots for us to do here at home.

Once Christmas is over it is "new years season" around our house. First there's THE New Year, and then there's Lunar New Year (also known as Chinese New Year). It is such a fun time, parties, great food and good friends. The year started off with our regular New Years Day dinner with our friends Will and Alex and their parents Dan and Ang. Then there were the Lunar/Chinese New Year celebrations later in January and February. Here (left) are the girls in their hanboks, with the other kids from Korean language school, singing to us at the Korean Association's Lunar New Year Party. And here (right) they are with friends singing at the local Chinese Association's Chinese New Years Party.

This year we had a very special guest to help us celebrate CNY. Grandma (Daddy's Mom) came all the way to visit us from Alberta! And here Jin and Lili show off their jive syle dancing.


She was here for a few big events in addition to CNY. This time of year we also celebrate Jin's family day. Here she is with another of Mom's fantastic cake creations. And Grandma was even here for her own birthday. How cool was that? (Dad's cake skills aren't as advanced)



We also took Grandma to see Science North. It was fun. We raced toy cars, played with antlers and lots of other funs stuff.


Yes that is a rat on Lili's arm!!!!! Too soon it was time for one last big meal with G'ma before she had to return home.

Guess who's toes these are?

Here are a couple of clues...

Lili had surprise visitors for her birthday (big number 5!). Her friend Mya and her Mom Heather came all the way up from Hamilton to help celebrate. The girls had fun inside...

...and outside.

And here are the masked partiers! Mom outdid herself this year with the grand "castle" cake!

With the "party season" finally over we only had a few weeks to get ready for our big trip to Korea. There were lots of last minute preparations to do. Researching for the trip, packing, more packing and re-packing. It's tough to anticipate what you'll need for a 6 month trip. And we had to prepare our house for our friend Heather, who had agreed to "house- and cat-sit" for us while we were away.

Jin and Lili's friends at Korean school made a special "bon voyage" card (below left) and William and Alex hosted a fun going away party for us.

Before we knew it, it was time to leave for our great adventure. We created a separate blog to document our Korean travels. You can see it at this address: http://ourtrip2korea.blogspot.com/

See you when we get back!

Love,

Jin, Lili, Deb and Derek