2013, a year of baby #3

bye bye 2013, we will miss you!

Wow, there went 2013. That went by super fast. Let's see what this family of mine had accomplished. 

1. Ed continues with his job, yay we are super blessed to have him worked so we can have a house, food, car, etc. Though there can be some down moments, we are very grateful that we have a super kind loving dad/hubby who is so willing to provide for our family. Thank you!

2. I was pregnant with baby #3. It was a baby girl!!!!!! That sums it all :) She came in July, happy day and all is well.

3. Jaynann turned 6! Holy cow, she sometimes acts like she is 13 but it's okay. She is cute and is always a good, helpful, and loving girl. Going to Kindergarten is her new accomplishment this year, she loves her new friends and teacher. So far, playing with ponies is still one of her favorite things. She knows her ABC and is learning how to read. Forgot to mention, she has lost 2 teeth and has earned some money for that. 

4. Zeker is now 4, a funny little boy who loves dinosaurs, duplos and constructive things. He goes to preschool with his buddy next door and is now learning all bunch of things. Zeke can draw really well and he can go through a ream of papers in a week. His love of creativity is amazing! He can build anything out of duplos. For Christmas he asked for a volcano, he has gotten it! He said when he grows up, he want to be an explorer.

 

 5. Baby Fern, a sweet little thing and we adore her. She is now 5 months! Every since she has joined our family, she has brought us a lot of happy days. The kids love playing with her and seeing her grow up is one of our favorite thing. She is now over 15 lbs, heavy chubby litte girl. She doesn't smile a whole lot but mostly happy with watching the kids played. At 5 months, she loves to stand and being with mommy. When she doesn't want something, she learns to shake her head, it's so funny.

V for vegetables

Z for Zeker who hates V vegetables!

Over the past few months, the kids have picked a lot of vegetables from our garden. We grow all sorts of veggies such as pea, eggplant, zucchini, cucumber, and tomatoes. We have varieties of tomato as well, the sweet cherry tomato, which is Jaynann's favorite. The bigger ones, we picked them to give to friends and to make yummy tomato soup.

Late last night, I made a big pot of tomato soup. So tonight we got to try my tomato soup for the first time. Knowing that eating vegetable soup would not go well with Zeke, I had to soon come up with a plan ; ) After pouring Jaynann and big bowl of tomato soup to go with her grilled cheese sandwiches, I poured just a tiny small bowl for Zeke to test his pickiness.



"NO," he said. "Darn it," I was not happy with his rejection. After a quick thinking, I remembered having goldfish crackers in the pantry. I grabbed a hand full for both of them. "Zeke, look! Here's a a fish named George and Lukas (a baby next door). I crossed my fingers hoping this trick would have to work. He paused for a few minutes, then he said, "Here's a Max fish (his buddy next door), Marcus (the kid's dad), and a few more fish including daddy fish, mommy fish, and sissy fish. All those fish had been named and eaten by Zeker bug, how amazing!  So 30 fish swam in Zeke's bowl tonight and all of them had names and stories before they got consumed, yeah! We had to fill the bowl a couple of times. Hahaha, the joy of seeing Zeke and Jaynann happy, the joy of cooking for the ones you love, and the joy of tricking a child to eat his vegetable soup.







See for yourself! Victory is mine at last :) 

P.S. Zeke must have recalled me cooking the soup last night. Because after looking at the soup he said "spaghetti sauce, ketchup. I guess maybe he didn't mind it eating tomato after all.

Harmony in the Pond

Harmony in the Pond
medium: pastels on paper
size: 28" x 34"

Our new place, we call home.

Since we left Texas in July, I had no desire to write 't much down. All I know is we went through a few frustrating time not knowing where or when to move in to our new home. Ed quited his Ph.D and started a new dream job. We all moved in with Ed's grandparents not intending to stay with them for two and a half month but we did. The kids grew and as for Ed and I, we have learned our lesson about being patient. Good things come, they really do come when the time is right.
I miss Texas and a few friends that I made and left behind. I miss my calling in YW. I miss my Asian grocery store and my pho restaurant. I also miss taking Ed to school, felt like I was his mother somewhat. Though it was too crazy of a place for me to stay for good, I still think Arlington has been one of funnest time I experienced.
So here we are back from we started, Utah. I love it and appreciate it a whole lot more. Now I have family members to visit, I no longer get lonely. The church is here right next door and the best of all, I am in my new home. We love it! We spent our first Thanksgiving here with a few family members in town and Isaac's family who drove down from ID. Though in Oct Jaynann turned four while we were living with grandparents, later on we moved in a week before Halloween so we could go trick or treat with our new neighbor friends who are super cool. Her kids are so cute and are about Jaynann and Zeke's age.
Everything is going well. We are all grateful that we are having a great time in our new space. I am blessed to be able to stay home with Jaynann and Zeke, it has been nice. Ed's enjoying his new job getting back into banking. We are all happy, so happy. Soon Christmas will be here, how exciting. Our Christmas tree is up looking pretty. Jaynann and Zeke also have their own tree to decorate, how fun! I am very excited to start a new journey this year.

Jaynann and Anya

This is Jaynann's 3rd time reuniting with her BFF, Anya at the family reunion in Nauvoo. What a fun experience we had there getting to spend quality time together as a family.

P.S. Sorry, this is a really short blog. Hopefully in a near future I will post more stories and pictures on the blog.

I am glad that I am here.

October 3rd, 2010

Today I am staying at my cousin's house in Hat Yai. It is the 2nd time that I have visited Thailand this year. This trip was supposed to be for a dental visit; however, an unfortunate event happened. My beloved grandpa, the kid's great grandpa passed away the 2nd day I arrived home. I got off the train in Phatthalung and went straight to see my grandpa in Hat Yai. He had been rushed to the hospital earlier that morning due to his asthma. He experienced a very difficult time breathing. I saw him myself looking right straight into my eyes. I had a hard time telling myself to be strong knowing that he would not perhaps live for much longer. I couldn't believe the miracle of God's love—to bring me here to him and to lead my children here to my very dear family. I remember having an important conversation with him about his ancestors. I asked him to complete as much information for me as soon as possible. Soon he completed for me. With completed dates and names, my grandpa wrote them as he knew this day would come. I know that I am the chosen one for this the important work of redeeming my family’s dead. I know I lack a lot of courage to bring my family members closer the God; I am not even able to prod them to ask me the very important questions, "Is God real?" My soul is so dying to answer them and to bear my testimony. I was promised in writing that one day I will be able to share my testimony with them; I will and I cannot wait. Tonight is a very special night; it is the time of a semiannual 180th general conference of the church. It is also a very first time that I am away from Ed during the conference, and we didn't have a chance to hear conference together as family. I miss having a family our family together. How important family is to me. I know that the church is true and important to those who are living or dead. I cannot deny that this trip is a gift of Heaven Father to me so I could see my grandpa before he entered God's place. I know that he knows too that there is a living God. I cannot wait to share many stories with him—once he and I talked about the story of Noah. My grandpa was wise—he will choose to be with Heavenly Father, no doubt.

So here we are again.

The Pongsuwan family: from left to right, me, mae(mom), P'Fon, Po(dad)
taken in Kaoluk, Songkla Feb '10

first experience at the waterfall in Phatthalung, Thailand

my grandpa Sern or the kid's great grandpa

So here is my story....

From Kingman, AZ to Phatthalung, Thailand, Pasadena, CA, Salt Lake City, UT, Mound, MN, Nauvoo, IL, and Fort Worth, TX. Arlington, Texas is our last stop and where we are now. Where are we going next, don't know yet. But we have had a blast this past summer. We visited family and friends in Thailand in February and that was sure an experience for Ed and the kids. As for me, home is still the only place where I feel very safe and secure. My parents are hoping that we might move there to stay for a few years. However Ed now has a new plan to get his PhD done first and I think it is the best time to do that since the kids are still young. So here we are again moving from place to place, learning about new places and people. We love it but we miss it. We miss seeing the ones who we dearly love like our family and friends. We miss and worry that we won't be able to return to visit them for a long time. Nevertheless, the past summer has become my favorite summer. Not only because I get to learn more about my family and Ed's but also I get to spend it with my dearest family members. We feel their kindness support and their love warmth hugs. It almost makes me feel like I can do it all. It is nice to know that I can also rely on them. Thank you family for being there for us. Thank you friends for loving us for who we are and accept us as your friends. This summer we have had a blast and we appreciate all that you have given us. So here are some of the summer pictures and VDOs that I put together. I will attempt to write some more later when I get a chance. Just a quick note, Jaynann is now 22 months old and Zeke is 15 months old. So here we are, enjoy!

This little VDO clip was taken when Zeke turned one. Lucinda taught me how to bake and decorate a birthday cake. It was a lot of fun. The birthday boy was a little bit tired by the time he had to open the presents so Jaynann did him a favor by opening them all. We had a good time.

Jaynann called this one her turkey dance. Ed took her dancing at the fair before the show started. Nauvoo was quite an experience for us, especially for me. I have learned so much and would never forget to be thankful for the pioneers and the prophets. They are the inspiration to me and my family.

Jaynann is a brave little girl. At her last day of swimming lessons, she managed to be the bravest one to jump off the diving board. I couldn't believe what I just saw. My goodness, she was really brave.

This one makes me smile big. At the Lucinda and Brian's, we were always entertained by the kids. Their aunt Angela and Emily were the kid's favorite people. They spent most of their time playing with their grandma, grandpa, aunt Angela, uncle Edwin, and auntie Emily. What a cool summer!

This VDO clip is awesome. You really get to hear who really know how to play the piano. Zeke was so small to reach the piano keys but he managed to stand on his little toes and tried to play like a grown up. Jaynann acted like she was a professional pianist. The kids enjoy spending time with their grandma and grandpa this summer.