Week of Birthdays (last day!) family party/glam night

The birthday girls! 5 years and one day apart!!

Em blowing out her candle. Goo-Goo Linh made her famous Cherry pie! She always makes two, one to share and one just for Dao! What a good sister!

Haley wanted Lemon Meringue pie again (big surprise!)

Em opened her presents first and the kids all gathered around.

Haley opening hers. Check out cousin Luc to the right, is that the Star Trek sign?

Goo-Goo Linh with her BF Brian, The Ambassador of Wine, himself. Check out his amazing blog! If you are a wine drinker, you will not be disappointed!

Pay, Livi, and Dev outside "fishing" for balls.

The Goo-Goo's (Aunties) were available after the party, so a glam night was planned!

Goo-Goo Linh did every one's nails! Her back must have been killing her by the time she was done!Goo-Goo B and Goo-Goo Xuan did make-up....

here she is with Nana, doing her pretty eyes...

although, the girls had to put their own finishing touches on.

Pretty Pay with hair and make-up done. She is getting her nails done.

Isa and Kaylin with hair and make-up done, waiting for nails next.

Haley set up a "hair chair" in her room, and Goo-Goo Xuan kindly volunteered to get her hair done.

Em and Goo-Goo Xuan with hair, make-up, and nails done. She chose such mature colors! Where is the "Lynnwood blue"??

The soon to be bride (Goo-Goo B) is still a kid at heart! She did her nails herself, each one a different color! The wedding is just around the corner, Sept. 26th! We are all getting so excited!

Goo-Goo B brought her wig from the baccalaureate party, and the kids looked so funny with it on!
The glam night girls! But, the party wasn't over....

Everyone headed downstairs for the fashion show/rock concert!

Em decided to smudge her make-up and became a zombie/rock star! Pay ♥'s to strike a pose for the camera!

Haley and Isa rockin' out!

They all totally got into it!

Em with her back-up dancers.

Poor Pay, at then end of the night, Dao looked down, and he saw that our baby girl had crawled under the coffee table and fallen asleep! She was exhausted (as we all were)! But what a fun week!

Thank you everyone who helped make this such a fun and amazing birthday for my girls! We love you all and are so lucky to have such wonderful family and friends in our lives!

Week of Birthdays (Day 3) The sleepover

For her friends only party, Haley chose to go to the beach, then have a sleepover. The G6 offered to have all three of her little sisters over for a sleepover, so it was just her and her friends all night. Thanks so much G6 it made her birthday that much more special for her!


The girls arrived at our house around 4pm and we left for the beach soon after. It was kind of chilly, but that didn't stop them from swimming and having a fun time!

Haley and Isabel, waiting to catch a wave.

I love this picture! The girls were standing around wading in the water with their backs turned when a big wave came!

The girls were very willing to pose for me to take pics. No complaints either!

Having a snack and trying to get warm with their towels.

Cuddling, still trying to get warm.

The car ride home.

The girls voted to play Blackjack, so Dao got out his card table and played dealer. They later told me this was their favorite part of the party.

Treats!


Haley with Isabel (I♥ this pic!).

With Livie.

With Kiana (the Bobby Jack pillow has speakers to hook up her ipod to!)

With Sarah (This doll is so dang cute!).

The girls decided to to a zombie/pajama makeover. They came downstairs and put on little skits to say how they died and became zombies (kinda spooky).

Breakfast in the AM was Dao's famous homemade waffles, bacon, eggs, homemade syrup, strawberries, and powdered sugar.

I can't tell you what a great group of girls this is. We are so happy that Haley has such sweet and fun friends!

Birthday Week (Day Two)

Our oldest daughter is now 11 (big, big, sigh). We had planned on spending the day at the lake, but out of nowhere, a big dark cloud came and it started raining =-(

I'd say she was devastated, but the truth is, our good friends the G6 had just given her and Em the Wii resort game. Needless to say, she (and the rest of the girls) were well entertained for the entire morning.

Sheree (Mom of G6) called to offer to watch her little sisters so she could have some Mommy time and we totally took her up on it!

She wanted to get her bangs trimmed, but they were booked for the day, so we went to the store, bought some "safe" and temporary hair coloring and a few other things she wanted, and then picked up the sisters to head home to color her hair.

Thanks so much Sheree!!

It's wet in the picture, but it is definitely darker. Last year her Goo-Goo Xuan (Aunty) put a few highlights in, and the dye covered them up. She totally ♥'s it! She also ♥'s lemon meringue pie, which is why she chose it for her dessert.

Each of her sisters made her a special card. (Thanks again for Sheree, for helping me get the little ones to make theirs!).

Em did bubble letters, just like the one Haley had done for her the day before. So cute how they admire and look up to those big sisters.

Happy birthday Haley! We ♥ you!!!

The Big Birthday Week (Day One)

My oldest and third born girls are exactly 5 years and one day apart. So we end up dedicating a week in August to them and their special days.

These posts are always so hard for me. My little Em is six yrs old and heading into 1st grade. For her special day, she chose to go to the beach.

Look at those sandy fingers. She is so excited to "finally" be six!

Here is her collection of white shells.

She wanted to be buried int the sand so her good friend Nana helped her. Normally not something I am to thrilled about (It is not easy getting the sand out of all of the cracks and crevices).
For dessert, she wanted the "Sheree special" (angel food cake, fresh strawberries, and ice cream).

Strawberries are one of her favorite things in the world right now. Along with Fancy Nancy, the movie the Princess Bride, her dog (Mushu), music, and her DSi.

Happy Birthday big girl!! We ♥ you!!

Annual trip to the zoo for Grandma's Birthday

Every year for Grandma's birthday, we take a family trip to the zoo!


The new penguin exhibit is always packed and frankly it is nearly impossible to see a penguin! The kids decided to climb the rocks and statues instead.

We picnicked outside the food court. Auntie Robin brought Fried Chicken and brownies, Auntie Andria brought fruit, and we brought chips and drinks.
Husbands favorite treat in the world is Cotton Candy, so I bought him the big bag of blue Cotton Candy to share with the kids.

I didn't think about the fact that eating this....

Would make you look like this!

Yep, blue teeth! And, we weren't even half way through the day!

The kids sure didn't seem to mind it though. Here is my nephew showing off is baby blue teeth!

At the end of the day, Grandma bought all the kids ice cream cones! The cones were huge, so all the grown-ups had to help eat them a little bit (darn!).

These three took forever to eat theirs!

Happy Birthday Grandma!! We ♥ you!!

Mom and Me in Vegas

My Mom loves Las Vegas! She had been dying to go, so she invited me to come along. I hadn't been since my 21st birthday and we were way overdue for some Mother and Daughter time, so off we went!

We stayed at the MGM and it was grand indeed!

Our room.

It's crazy how close you can get to the lions at MGM. I took some video of them, but blogger hates me and won't let me upload the video! I'll try to upload it later.

Me...totally not winning.

Some of the many statues at Caesar's Palace.

There was a little temple in front of Caesar's. People could light incense for prayer's.

I ♥ the outside of NY, NY

Pretty water falls in front of the Wynn.

This statue @ Harrah's cracks me up!

The Venetian is one of my favorites.

I love all of the paintings and details there.

I ♥ JB, so it was a treat to have a Margarita @ his restaurant.

We hit the M & M store for souvenirs.

Three full days and two nights of Vegas was exhausting! On the last day, I insisted that we chill and have room service. We ordered a big pot of tea, and took our time before heading out for the day. It was lovely.

I have to say the buffet's in Vegas are amazing. By far, the best for quality and selection is at the Bellagio! We also ate at the Rio which was super yummy and had a better selection for kids.

Thanks Mom! Vegas was fun, and it was so nice to get to spend some one on one time with you!

And a big, big thanks to my hubby, who took such good care of the kids while I was gone! You're the best!