Awaiting

Eight months ago your life journey began;
A gift from above, it's all been planned.
Your every hair was numbered because He cares;
Such wondrous blessings we'd love to share.

Whenever mommy ate, you started to kick;
Whenever mommy slept, you started to play!
Let mommy feel your movement everyday,
so we know you are doing okay.

Sometimes you kicked so hard even daddy could see;
Mommy hummed your favorite song and you listened quietly.
I wonder... would you love playing piano like your mommy,
or enjoy building model like your daddy?

No matter how you turn out to be;
We know in God's eyes you are unique.
He's got the whole world in His hands for you to explore;
Life is full of sunshine and joy, you'll never get bored!

Little ToTo you are growing bigger everyday.
For less than two months we eagerly wait.
The countdown is on for your arrival day;
Just don't come out to play too soon or too late!

The Little Angel on the Top of the Christmas Tree

Someone posted this in the office today, and had a good laugh out of it!  Great way to get ready for the holiday season!  Having a bad day at work? Think of poor Santa.  :)

When four of Santa's elves got sick, the trainee elves did not produce toys as fast as the regular ones, and Santa began to feel the Pre-Christmas pressure.

Then Mrs Claus told Santa her Mother was coming to visit, which stressed Santa even more.

When he went to harness the reindeer, he found that three of them were about to give birth and two others had jumped the fence and were out, Heaven knows where.

By now Santa was in a bad mood. He began to load the sleigh, but one of the floorboards cracked, the toy bag fell to the ground and all the toys were scattered....

Seriously frustrated, Santa went in the house for a cup of apple cider and a shot of rum. When he went to the cupboard, he discovered the elves had drank all the cider and hidden the liquor.

In his frustration, he accidentally dropped the cider jug, and it broke into hundreds of little glass pieces all over the kitchen floor.

He went to get the broom and found the mice had eaten all the straw off the end of the broom...

Just then the doorbell rang, our highly irritated Santa marched to the door, yanked it open, and there stood a little angel with a great big and gorgeous Christmas tree.

The angel said very cheerfully, 'Merry Christmas, Santa. Isn't this a lovely day? I have a beautiful tree for you. Where would you like me to stick it?'

And so began the tradition of the little angel on top of the Christmas tree.

- Author unknown

Getting Ready

My work schedule had been quite hectic recently.  While working for at least 10 hours a day on-site, I had been writing reports for other projects at home in the evenings and on weekends for the past 3 weeks!  I had never worked under such crazy schedule and stress.  Now I know how it feels like to be an elastic band being stretched like it had never been stretched before...

Tonight, PJ talked about being aware of the spiritual meanings behind everything that happened in our lives.  That was a good reminder for me at the right time.  In such busy schedule and tiring days, I could hardly find time to think deeply about the spiritual meanings behind all these.  God could have molded me for His purposes using different ways, including ways that I would never imagine, like making use of my crazy workload!!

We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.

Isaiah 64:8

I am not sure how things would work out, but knowing that there is a purpose behind all these unbearable workload, my working attitude would become very different.  Maybe all these crazy working hours were just “warm-up” exercises for me to get familiar with what a busy lifestyle is like, so I am getting mentally and physically ready for the coming of little ToTo!  :)

There is one thing I am sure – it’s all in His good hands.

Little ToTo at 12 weeks old.

March Break Getaway

We had been looking forward to visiting Vegas, and decided to go for it during this March Break.  Well, we are not much into gambling, but the food, the show and the neon light city in the desert itself sound exciting enough!

After a long line-up to check in and going through U.S. Customs (not surprising during March Break), we made it on the plane pretty smoothly.  It was a 5 hour flight from Toronto to Vegas, and everything was on time.

Needless to say, Vegas has been famous for its gambling and adult entertainment activities and has earned the title of Sin City.  There were slot machines everywhere, even inside the airport, and believe it or not, people were playing them, considering the closest casino is just 10 minutes drive away!

At around 7:00pm, we arrived at our hotel (Luxor). It has an Egyptian theme and has the shape of a pyramid.  After checking in and dropping off our luggage, we went to Mandalay Bay for dinner based on some highly recommended reviews online, and the reviews were right!  The buffet was excellent there, probably  because of our late arrival (we had dinner at 8:00pm Las Vegas time, which was 11:00pm Toronto time).  Anyhow, all the food taste extra yummy, including some of the biggest crab legs I've ever seen!  It was so good that we almost went there a second time during the rest of the trip.

On the next day we spent most of the afternoon at Premium Outlets, and took a walk on the Strip at night.  It is at night where Vegas really comes alive!  All the drinking and partying usually seen on weekends elsewhere happen here every night!  I just found lots of photo opportunities with all the neon lighting displays around Paris and Bellagio and had a good time snapping shots after shots!

You have to admire the Americans for their determination to transform a desert into what we see here in Vegas today, and there are many crazy stories to tell here.  From what I heard, if you let the casino know that you are going to spend a huge amount of money gambling on their facility, the hotel will give you free vouchers for food (buffet, most likely) and a free room to stay (the luxury level of the room depends on how much money you agree to spend).  Pretty good deal, right?  Thinking that you might have a chance to break even or even able to win a fortune, while enjoy all the free stuff?

Well, imagine how much revenue these casinos/hotels have to generate in order to support the establishment of such spectacular architecture in their facilities, to hire all the staff to work there, and to cover the energy bill they use to light up the desert?  Most likely, this money is coming from the gamblers' own pocket.  What are the odds that people think they are going to be the lucky one hitting the jackpot?  Well, do the math and think again.

Anyhow, I am beginning to understand how come almost every casino has a buffet restaurant... it serves the purpose to feed people quickly, so they can get back to gambling in no time!  For the same reason, I think I know why all casinos are designed in a way that people have to walk through the gambling area before getting back to their hotel rooms or the exits.  Also, no wonder why the casino exits are so difficult to find, yet they never bother putting up more signs and directions to show people where the exits are.

The next day we went to MGM Grand to pickup the tickets for Cirque du Soleil's Ka.  I was really excited seeing the Lion Habitat there and saw some real lions!

 

We then went down to the Venetian, the Mirage and Caesars Palace.  We didn't get to visit the real Rome and Venice, yet we had a chance to see all these European attractions on just one street.  Although all these architecture were great to look at and I still enjoy a walk on the Strip, they are all phony, and the people and the culture behind the real thing are missing.  Maybe that's why I was so excited about seeing the lions earlier, because even though they were trapped behind glass for display, I saw lives in the lions, which was in big contrast with the phony and hollow European landmarks here in Vegas.  Hopefully some time in the future we can see the real thing in Europe ourselves.  Finally, we headed back to MGM Grand for dinner and to see Cirque du Soleil's Ka.  Fabulous show!!

The trip wouldn't be complete without a visit to the Grand Canyon.  After a light night’s sleep, we managed to wake up at 6:00am and met up with the tour going to the South Rim.  The drive itself took 5 hours one way.  On our way to the Grand Canyon, we stopped by at Hoover Dam for a 10 minute photo shootout.  At around 1:00pm, we finally arrived at the Grand Canyon and stopped by the Bright Angel Trailhead.  The view was absolutely breathtaking!  During our given 3 hour free time, We took the shuttle bus, stopped off at the Mather Point area of the Canyon, and walked along the trail to the Yavapai Point area.  The view on the way was truly beautiful, and you have to be there to experience and see for yourself how the geologic processes played out over time and how magnificent the landscape is.  What a great piece of nature's artwork!

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.
~Psalm 19:1~

During these 4 days in Vegas, I think we had seen everything we wanted to see and we were ready to head home. Vegas is worth the visit but once you've been there, I don't see why you'd go back. Maybe next time we would consider staying at the lodge there, so we have more time hiking down the Canyon and explore its beauty in other ways, like a helicopter ride down the Canyon. Exploring the Red Rock Canyon with a scooter sounds pretty fun, too!

Oh, and of course, thanks Jen for the treat!!

Click HERE to view more photos.

Our 13th Valentine

I love to see and hear you smile;

it seems to take away my trouble.

Your smile has always warmed my heart

like a hot cocoa with floating marshmallows.

I love to sit next to you

to watch an episode of "Chibi Maruko-chan" or two.

Your giggles and laughs are like music to me;

to duet with mine like a symphony.

I love to hear you play piano;

a precious sound from deep in your soul.

Musical notes expressed in an unique way

delivered to God who is worthy of our praise.

I adore your passion on music;

Chopin, Mozart, they all sound romantic.

Learning music is fun but not that easy;

You have opened up a whole new world to me.

I admire your passion on teaching,

even those kids always give you headache.

Your patience and persistence always remind me

"Thy Will Be Done" and it is not me.

But... sometimes we fight, sometimes we quarrel;

the silent treatments had made us sorrow.

But after all things got resolved,

they've made me understand and love you more.

You brighten up my days though you drive me crazy;

You have become the rainbow of my life.

I thank God for giving you to me

to cherish as the apple of my eye.

瓦器內的寶貝

我們有這寶貝放在瓦器裏、要顯明這莫大的能力、是出於　神、不是出於我們。我們四面受敵、卻不被困住．心裏作難、卻不至失望．遭逼迫、卻不被丟棄．打倒了、卻不至死亡．身上常帶著耶穌的死、使耶穌的生、也顯明在我們身上。

~歌林多後書4:7-10~

我的生命，是一盞漂亮但不能發光的燈台，抑或是能夠在軟弱中散發出上帝的光采？

願主叫我時刻緊記有祂這寶貝活在我這個本來就一無是處的瓦器內。