Roseola What?

Probably the saddest part of the trip for me and Lucas was the fact that Luke came down with Roseola the day we headed to Utah. It started with a fever and ended with an all over body rash. He was somewhat lethargic and had a fever the first few days we were there. He wasn't sleeping well (which means I wasn't sleeping well either!) and I could tell he just didn't feel like himself. He was extra clingy and wanted to sleep even when he had just woken up. On the 3rd day he broke out in a rash. First it was just on his head and then it spread everywhere. He was definitely out of sorts and it was just sad to see him! I don't have a good picture of his illness (curses to my darn camera battery!) but here is one on our last day in Utah. His rash was fading but if you click on the picture you can still sort of see his spots and his eyes are swollen and red. He was a sad mess but finally seemed to feel better the day we left! At least he finally had a good night's sleep that night. A huge thank you to Grandpa and Michael who volunteered to hold him for me numerous times when I just needed a break. I'm just thankful he's back to his sweet self now.

Food, Folks and Fun

Two times while we were in Utah we went to Dan's cousin Mark's house to see the family and eat dinner. Auntie Cynthia and Uncle Junior were in town from Hawaii and we were excited to see them and spend some time hearing about the family. The first night was a true party - besides our family also in attendance were Charlene Goo & family, Spencer Goo & family, Tammy Lim & family, Joanna Lam and family, and Mark's girlfriend. It was great for Danny to see so many cousins that he hasn't seen in so long. They had a great time reminiscing and catching up on where their lives have gone in the past few years. Here is our family that night!


The second night was New Year's Eve. Uncle Junior made his yummy noodles! We ate dinner, let the kids play, and then went outside to light sparklers. One of the best parts was that Jared was reunited with his cousin, Henry. They are both 5 years old and got along really well the last time we were there too. This time they were inseparable and had a ton of fun running around and entertaining each other. Unfortunately my camera had died so I have a limited number of pictures that I thankfully was given by Traci and Auntie Cynthia. Here is a shot of Jared and Henry together.


Part of our evening included fireworks & toasting the new year!


We also went out to eat one afternoon together at Toscano's. Grandpa and Grandma Fong called from Hawaii and told us to go out to eat on them! We thankfully thought it was a great idea and met at the Brazilian BBQ place everyone loves.

Awesome Aquatic Adventures at the Aquarium

One of our days there we went to visit their aquarium. It was a nice size for our age of children. Plus it had lots of animals you could touch, if you were brave enough! There were also lots of child size toys to explore. Jared enjoyed driving a boat:


The octopus who normally stays in the corner in a ball suddenly decided to stretch.


There was also a Touch Station where you could touch an assortment of animals.



And finally, at the end, there was a section with a man made reef where the kids could crawl through various caves.


A huge thank you to Traci for the use of her pictures! Of course my camera died 3 pictures into the aquarium. Thanks Auntie Traci!

Sledding and Snow Angels

After naps we went to a nearby hill for some sledding! The kids were in heaven (and that includes the "older children" from the last post!). We bundled everyone up and headed out. The hill was great - not too steep to climb back up each time but definitely steep enough to give you an exhilarating ride down! The adults took turns taking various children down.

Elizabeth and Daddy:


Spencer and Grandma:


Traci and Spencer:


Michael and Kailyn:


Grandpa and Lucas (who eventually fell asleep...):


Liz and Mommy (I must say that my blood has thinned since I lived in Utah! I had on 2 winter jackets, long johns, snow bibs, 2 hats, and gloves - can you say wimpy?!?!?) :


And one of our snow angels:

This is the Place!

We spent 1 week of our Christmas Break in Utah visiting the Manahans. To make this easier to eventually publish into a book, I'm going to post each activity there individually instead of posting the longest post ever. Trust me, you'll thank me later.

We arrived late in the day on Dec. 26 and began our adventures on Dec. 27. First we had to finish off Christmas. The Danny Fong family needed to give to the Manahans and the Michael Fong family needed to give to us. Simple enough, right?

Jared received a baseball glove, jock strap and cup from Mike and Jen. He had no idea what it was or what to do with it. Here was his first guess:


With a little help from Uncle Shawn (and another guess on his part...) here was his second try:


We then put the kids down for naps and the "older children" began to play with the new toys.

Dancing Queen

We told Liz that when soccer came to an end she could sign up for dance class. Normally she forgets things we tell her immediately after we say them (this comes in handy actually!) but not with this promise. She has questioned us multiple times as to when her dance class would be starting. Finally, with the start of the new year, her class began.

It is a ballet/jazz class and there are only 5 little girls in it. Whenever the music is on, Liz is dancing whether the teacher is ready or not. Luckily she has the movie Barbie Nutcracker and already has a ton of dance moves. Here are some action shots:



Here is she is strutting her stuff while the others are waiting patiently for instruction:


And the one negative moment in class - the teacher made them sit down by the trash can! (From my perspective: the teacher asked the girls to sit down and suddenly Liz had this upset expression on her face. I was wondering what had happened. After class I asked her why she was sad and she said, "She made me sit by the trash can.") Liz has this amazingly strong sense of smell. She smells things long before anyone else does. Obviously a low point for Liz!

Hi Dada

Just before Christmas Lucas started saying something new..."Da da da da da." If he's cued, he'll say what sounds like, "Hi Dada" much to Danny's delight. Why do they ALWAYS say Dad before Mom??? Our kids are 3 for 3 saying Da Da long before Ma Ma. Jared is drowning him out in the video but hopefully you can hear Luke. I love when they find their voices!