California Tour

Our last month living in California had us on the go! From Yosemite to San Francisco to Santa Barbara to Orange County...and it was amazingly fun and a great way to bid farewell to living in California for a few years!

After getting back from Taiwan, we had a few days of rest before heading to Yosemite. It was my second trip there, my parents' first, and one of several for Adam. We had an amazing time there- we were blessed with great weather and because of the snowmelt from the winter, we saw some great waterfalls! Unfortunately, I had planned out a detailed itinerary that included a hike on the Yosemite Valley floor and through the meadows but most of it was underwater from all the extra snowmelt!! We had a phenomenal time nonetheless! I did take my parents on a 5 mile hike to the upper Mariposa Grove on accident (meant to just do the lower loop but I wasn't paying attention to the map! Mom and dad were troopers for sure!!).

Mom, Dad and I in front of one of the big sequoia trees (before we really got to hiking!)

Dad showing his exhaustion for the camera! 

At Swinging Bridge in Yosemite- even the bridge was under water! Gorgeous waterfalls though!

From Yosemite, we headed to Sacramento to see my aunt, uncle and cousins. It had been a really long time since we'd gone up to visit them and the last time we saw the family, I'm pretty sure it was at Susan's wedding nearly 5 years ago!! We had a lot of great meals with them, we were able to visit my granparents' burial site, and we were able to catch up because it had been to long!

Mom and Dad with my aunt and uncle

State Capitol

During that same weekend, Susan and Paul were in San Francisco for a pharmacy conference, so of course we also had to head out to SF to see Susan and Paul and celebrate Father's Day with our dad! Unfortunately Betty couldn't come out that weekend but she was there in spirit.

Happy Father's Day!!

Cuong was able to come in and hang out with us! Fun!

Then Adam and I headed out to Victorville to hang out with Sarah and Jeff (Sarah scrapbooked, I cut things out on her Cricut, and Adam and Jeff watched action movies!) and to meet Margaret, Gaby, Catalina and Julienne. They were doing us a gran favor by hauling a Uhaul trailer full of our junk!! It was fun seeing them all again (and of course Catalina asked if Uncle Adam had eaten any seaweed lately!).

The following weekend, Adam and I headed to Orange County. It was a lot of fun- we potlucked, went to the beach, bought avocados and hummus at the Farmer's Market, and had a good time! Jennifer went with me to the Scrapbook Oasis where we got to catch up with Jennifer and Jess (I didn't get any scrapping done but I did buy some cute monster paper!!). Adam and I were also able to head out to Temecula to see Jeff and his wife Heather and we also met up with our friend Minna!

Visiting Jeff and Heather

Betty came down and we ate Chipotle

Seriously, this was ONE burrito that Betty and I shared. It was huuuuge!

As always, Jennifer played hostess to the pot luck quite well, ensuring there was an abundance of goodies, including these vegan chocolate cupcakes (with Joe Joes on top)

We won't be seeing these kinds of sunsets in Colorado!

Ray, Mitch and Adam grilling it up!

Renee, Jennifer, Julie and I (with Ray in the background!)

Our amazing friend Minna!

While Jennifer was at work, Adam and I had all-you-can-meat kbbq at Cham Soot Gol. Super yummy and incredibly filling! Lunchtime is way better because you don't leave smelling like meat sweats!

On our way home we FINALLY saw Alex! We hadn't seen him since last February!

We did go back to Ridgecrest for a few days again, but were off on another weekend trip to Santa Barbara to visit Danny. Again this was full of good times. We cooked, watched movies, explored SB, chatted it up, and had a blast!

Just for us (and if you can't read the sign, it says "Bienvenidos Amigos")

I love farmer's markets

Homemade carnitas tacos with homemade gaucamole and salsa! Yummy!

We made it back into Ridgecrest in time for 4th of July, which we spent with Sarah and Jeff. Who let Sarah be in charge of lighting the fireworks?! Haha. She did a great job and we had a blast hanging with her and her family, as I always do!

And before we knew it we were into our last few days in Ridgecrest. It didn't feel like we were about to move to a new state, so I don't think I took enough photos or spent enough time with my parents. We watched t.v., cooked, baked, and had many coffee breaks together (and Betty also came home again for the weekend so it was FUN TIMES!!!).

And now we are off on new adventures once again! Goodbye California, hello Colorado!

Phew!!

Moving is exhausting!!! We are now Boulderites! We arrived into Boulder on Friday evening and have been slowly packing and settling in. We've been scouring Craigslist for good finds and realizing all the things we wished we hadn't given away before we left for Ecuador, haha!

And of course there is always the mystery of where things went- What happened to my slippers? Did I donate those pair of slacks? Where did my beloved dessert plates go?

Anyway, I'll be posting the photos from Yosemite, SF, Sacramento, last few weeks, and our current digs soon!

Taiwan! Andy & Gaby! The nieces!! Maile! Fun!!

** photo heavy...though when is it not?? and not necessarily in chronological order...

After Myanmar, we headed to Taiwan where we got to see the stomping grounds of Andy, Gaby, Catalina and Julienne! They moved to Taipei last year and we honestly didn't think we were going to be able to make it out to see them anytime soon. So glad that we were able to go!

The gorgeous family!

We had a great time hanging with the clan- we did so much fun stuff with them! We visited Yeliu, Wulai, Jiufen, Bitou Cape, saw the Dragon Boat Festival races, ate at Din Tai Fung, watched Kung Fu Panda 2, visited Catalina's school (she finished kindergarten this year! woo!), and so much more. It was fun spending that amount of time with them, since I don't feel like we've really had the chance to over the years (just a few short visits here and there)...though they may say otherwise, having us as guests, lol.

On our first full day in Taipei, Catalina showed us her skills on her princess bike!

Catalina and Julienne trying to get Uncle Adam to eat seaweed, one of their favorite snacks!

Our adorable niece Catalina at her Kindergarten End of the Year Party!

Is this not the cutest picture ever? Mother and daughter sharing an umbrella!

Kung Fu Catalina!

Waiting outside of Din Tai Fung...Julienne making her monster face!

Rolling out the dumpling skins!

Awww, Uncle Adam is so sweet! Catalina couldn't see the guys at work so Adam gave her a boost!

Which one, which one?

A 3-year-old using an umbrella that's her same size...so cute!

Adam testing out the Portuguese style egg tarts sold at Taiwan KFCs. Andy and I agreed, these egg tarts were amazingly good and totally delicious!!

We took a trip out to Bitou Cape to catch the sunset

Sunset between the clouds

Hanging out in Bitou waiting for the sunset

Adam and my attempt at doing the squishy face...fail! 

In honor of the Dragon Boat Festival, even Starbucks was carrying zhongzi (or joong in Cantonese)

Andy and the GPS...she's always telling us to make u-turns. What is up with that?

Julienne singing...perhaps to the Tangled soundtrack, or the Rio soundtrack, or the hilarious Spanglish "Gummy Bear Song"

 

Adam and I on the outside of Jiufen's Old Street. Lots of noodle shops, snack shops, and touristy shops.

I picked up some of these in Jiufen and the girls seemed to like them! Of course, Adam didn't touch them!

Aww, how sweet!

Awwww!

Catalina is such a ham! 

On our way home from Jiufen, Adam started to get carsick. Julienne always gets carsick so she has a plastic vomit bag just in case...she was so sweet sharing with her Uncle Adam.

Abandoned building along the coast

A waterfall that we passed on the way home

We were in Taiwan during Dragon Boat Festival, so we were able to go out and see the races over the weekend close by Andy & Gaby's house

We were there the first day, so some of the teams were kind of lousy and the other teams were super intense. I am sure by the last day of races, the really good teams are left.

TOO CUTE!

Adam is yawning, Andy is playing on his iPad, and Gaby is checking out her photos. Clearly the races were not so intense that it captured our attention! =D

I got Adam to pose for a photo!

They also had food vendors and games, so Catalina and Julienne rode the carousel. Catalina is pointing because her horse was broken!

And yes, they also rode airplanes!

Another day trip to Wulai waterfall. And of course, Gaby and the girls are like celebrities. These women asked to get a photo with them!

Super pretty waterfall and really clear blue water below

Aww, finally a good picture of Adam and I!

And yet another day trip out of Taipei to Yehliu Geopark. So many cool places near Taipei! Here there are hoodoo formations dotting the landscape- super cool!

The famous "Queen's Head." We didn't stand in the incredibly long line to get a picture with it though...it was way too hot!

Cute little tchotchkes 

 Dried fish and shrimp

Monkeying around at the mall!

While we were in Taiwan, our good friend Maile was able to fly from Beijing to see us! That was super cool and very fun as well. We hung out at the Shilin Night Market, rode up to the top of Taipei 101, ate at the "Modern Toilet" restaurant (so-so, but we had to try it!), rode the Maokong gondolas, perused the flowers at the Neihu Flower Market, spent a morning at the National Palace Museum, ate at Din Tai Fun (yes, we went twice!), and of course, rounding out Maile's wishlist of things to do, drank lots of coffee and boba tea!!

Maile was super impressed with the metro system's coin scanners

Taipei 101!

View from Taipei 101. It looked like a clear day but from above it was fairly hazy

Adam and I and the Damper Baby

Maile and I in front of Taipei 101

Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall

Another one of my "It's so hotttttt" faces

Standing guard at Chian Kai Shek Memorial Hall

Eating dumplings at Din Tai Fung...YUMMY!

Some steamed buns!

Maokong Gondola!

Ok, super cute, as always!

Julienne is "flying" over the trees

One of my favorite pictures- Julienne and her Uncle Adam

Gaby and Julienne making monster faces! 

Ah yes, Modern Toilet Restaurant. Food served in little toilets. Sitting on toilet seats, table is a bathtub with glass on top. We had to try it out!

Adam picking out all the seafood from his hot pot.

Adam is making a sad face because the picture of the dessert showed a swirly "poopy" frozen yogurt dollop...but what we got was a scoop of chocolate ice cream in the squatty potty. 

Maile and I headed out to the flower mart. It was a huge market filled with all sorts of flowers, including orchids, cacti, roses, daisies, tulips, etc.

Maile carrying home a gorgeous bouquet for Gaby and Andy. It was raining, we were umbrella-less, so a plastic baggy had to do!

On our last day in Taipei, we were able to meet up with my cousin Elmer for lunch. I didn't get a chance to visit any of my other family members in Taiwan, so I was glad that we were able to see Elmer right before we flew out. 

So that was our trip to Asia! Totally fun, thousands of photos, and endless priceless memories.