New project!

When Paul and I went to a local "hippie" toy store, I found some very cute shoes that I thought would be good for Luke's room shoes. But when I saw the price I was surprised --- $ 30! Of course I didn't get them (-_-) But I remember I saw the same style of shoes that someone made and posted how to make and also patterns on her blog. So! I started searching the blog again --- AND! I found it!!!

Now, my latest project is started!
When we were in Virginia Beach in October, I went to Joann's fabric. And I got few different fabrics there for the shoes.

Inside the shoes, I decided to use Paul's old German Army pants --- very nice warm wool! Actually, it was Paul's idea to use for it. He was wearing these pants last year in our COLD house -- he survival the freezing upstairs of that house because of this pants! And luckily he doesn't need the warm pants this year (^v^) Now, it is Luke's turn to enjoy the wool!

I can't wait to see these shoes finished! But it might take some time though, since I don't have sewing machine, so I have to do hand stitching --- I will keep an update on this project as it

Pumpkin Spice No-Bake Cheesecake

I made this non bake cheesecake for the first time. A friend of mine brought this cake for a Church activity for women, and I enjoyed so much. I wanted Paul to enjoy it too, so I asked her to send me a recipe (^V^)

It was very easy to make and so tasty. Guess what? It is even weight watchers recipe! If you like cheesecake and pumpkin, please try this recipe.

Servings 8 \ Size- 1 piece\ Time - 10 minutes \ Calories: 239 \ Points: 5 ww

• 7 oz. 1/3 less fat Philadelphia Cream Cheese
• 1/2 cup pureed pumpkin (canned is fine)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, unpacked
• 8 oz. Cool Whip Free, thawed
• 9 inch reduced fat Graham Cracker Crust

In a large bowl using an electric mixer, whip cream cheese, pumpkin, vanilla, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and brown sugar for a few minutes until fluffy. Add Cool Whip and whip until smooth. Spoon mixture into pie crust and chill for a few hours, until firm.

Paul says forget about the Cool Whip, it is (as he says), "just a bunch of chemicals you don't need". You can substitute real cream or leave it plain on top.

While daddy is working...

Luke likes to put daddy's clothes... puts underwear on his head or a t-shirt, anything that he can find.

Here he came and showed me what he was up to while I was making dinner!
This is what he does while daddy is at the office -- he misses him so much!

First Halloween Party!

This is the first Halloween party for Luke! We had a party at my Church --- everyone had to wear a costume. And there we activities for the kids like "trunk or treat", a cup cake "walk", and the chili cook off.

Here are some pictures that we took at the party!

Above is a photo of Lily and Luke. Lily is only a month older then Luke! We're sure that they will become good friends (^0^) Oh, how do you like Luke's pirate costume? Either that, or he looks like a gentleman from the middle ages, don't you think?!

Gabe and Maggie are always taking care of Luke. Actually, they were watching and playing with Luke at the party, so that we could sample all of the tasty chili recipes. Thanks, Gabe and Maggie!

Here is Carina. One interesting fact about Carina and Luke is that she was the one last year who first taught/encouraged Luke how to crawl!

I was disappointed when I found out that I didn't get any picture of Paul... He looked really good in his vampire costume. I have to make sure to get his picture next year! (if he decides to attend, that is).

Oh... guess what? My simple chili recipe won 3rd place at the Chili cook off -- can you believe it? What a great country this is!

Monthly visit to Virginia

This year we always try to visit Mom and Dad in Virginia Beach once-a-month, as long as Paul is not too busy with his work schedule (^-^)

This visit, we took Luke to the beach. And we found out that he is a little bit scared of the sound of the waves, but also that he really enjoys playing in the sand! We are thinking that he might get used the sound of the beach if we take him more often, but it is okay if he doesn't like beach -- Ah huh! Luke was born in NC, he is a mountain boy -- ha ha :)

And we usually (if we don't forget) visit the Asian Market grocery store in Virginia Beach on our way out of town, where I can find some Japanese and other oriental food! This time we got several cans of the "thick variety" of coconut milk (next time, I think we should just buy a box), Thai curry paste, Korean noodles, etc. Finding all of these made me happy, even though I forgot the main thing that I was planning to buy -- Japanese Miso (soy bean paste).

Also we went shopping for our Halloween costumes. That was so difficult... We didn't want to spend too much money and we were looking for the specific theme for all of us -- Vampire costumes. It was easy for me and Paul, we just needed to get a cape and found those at the dollar store. But had a really hard time finding one for Luke. We went everywhere... and the end, we gave up and bought a pirate costume for Luke. Well, next year I will prepare much earlier for the Halloween costumes (a lesson about living in America that I learned this year!) .

This month we stayed only for four days in Virginia Beach, but it is always so nice to spend time with our family there --- our relaxing beach-side get away!

It seems that we always forget to take pictures at Mom and Dad's house... maybe because we are too relaxed! But this time I took one before we left their house.
Next month, we are planning to visit Paul's sister and family in Washington DC for Thanksgiving! We will all stay in their new house (^-^) It is going to be fun!

Pumpkin Patch

Today, Luke and I went to a "pumpkin patch" at Coffey Grounds, as part of the Moms & Tots activities. It was a beautiful day and perfect weather to do some fun activities outside!

Coffey Grounds is now mainly an apple orchard, and there are more then 370 apple tree now on the farm! But there are also pumpkin and other vegetables grown here. Nancy (the owner) showed us how to pick apples, clean them and then sort them using a very old machine. It was so fascinating to see the entire process!

Here is a photo of Nancy showing us inside the apple cabin (^v^)

She has a lot of fun stories and questions that kids love!

After we visited the apple cabin, Nancy took us on a cart ride to show us her farm. It was so fun to ride with friends on the cart towed behind her truck! And we all enjoyed the beautiful scenery.

We had to careful where we sat, since it has to be same weight on both side of the cart!

Kids were so excited -- of course, Luke and I were too!

I had to hold him really tight, otherwise he would get down and try to walk around. But Nancy kept reminding all of us to "Sit down and DO NOT move around!"

I was amazed at the beauty of the scenery around her farm! We kept saying "Oh my goodness, it's beautiful!" Maybe Nancy grows tired of hearing the same thing every day by the end of the ride!

This is Nancy's sister's Christmas tree farm. There are many Christmas tree farm in NC. Paul and I are thinking of going to cut our own Christmas tree when Luke gets a bit older -- It's going to be fun!

After the ride, we went to the pumpkin patch!

We had a good time walking around in the corn field, and all the kids were excited to find a lot of different kinds of scarecrows!

Nancy prepared pumpkins for the kids. They were cute little pumpkins that kids could picked up easily (^-^) Luke carried two pumpkins around!

After we picked out pumpkins to bring home, Nancy shows us some old games that early pioneers played -- one was originally an American Indian game.

Luke really liked the game!

We had such a wonderful time, and Luke had a nice nap in the car on the way home. I'm sure he was dreaming about pumpkins and scarecrows (^-^)

First snow

We had our first snow overnight. Good old Boone, NC weather!

So this afternoon there was still a tiny little bit of snow on our porch.

It is getting colder, but Luke still likes to go outside to play... I'm sure we are going to have a few more warm days before it gets REALLY cold!

Oh, and I just wanted to posted Luke's "Monkey Walk". He has been doing this a lot recently -- his new thing -- and it is always makes us laugh.

New toys!

We found a nice store called Green Mother Goods here in Boone that sells wooden toys (which we prefer to buy). Paul and I wanted to check out this shop for some time, so we did it yesterday. And Luke got a new toy -- a wagon for wood blocks!

This morning, we put the toy in the living room. We want to surprise him when he woke up! Little early Christmas --- hahaha

So far, he has more enjoyed riding on it than playing with the wooden blocks (^-^)

A day in the park!

I took Luke to the local park and this was his first time play there! We have a very nice park not too far from our new townhouse. Today was a perfect day to spend time outside, and we had a great time (^-^)

He was not too happy with the swing...

but he liked to pick up wood chips, and of course, chew them...

Luke met a lot of new friends today. People here in Boone are very friendly, and Luke likes to follow other children, even though he is not old enough to catch up with them, but he was trying anyway!

I took him to this park the other day, but I accidentally locked my car keys in our car when we arrived... so instead of playing in the park, Luke and I had to walk to the university to get Daddy's spare car key --- it took nearly an hour to walk there, but again the weather was beautiful like today. Luke and I enjoyed being outside. And we had a late lunch with Daddy!! It was a fun day!

Luke's new friends!

Today Luke had a great time with Kiki and her kids, particularly her youngest son Wyatt, who is only one month younger than Luke. They are so cute together!

We need to see them more often, so that they can be a good friend just like their Moms.

Mission Reunion

This weekend I had a wonderful opportunity to attend my mission reunion! Months ago when I received the invitation, I never thought that I would be able to attend. But amazingly, everything come together and Paul and Luke also joined me to go to Utah! We stayed at my friend house (she was my favorite companion!) for the weekend. Thank you Kiki!!! We had such a great time spending time with her and her family. It was such a blessing. And it reminds me again how much I had wonderful time during my mission!! Kiki still makes me laugh as always (^-^)

Mission reunion was great, too! It was great to see all the sisters again. Paul was planning to come to the reunion as well, but on the way to the reunion, we got phone call from a baby sitter... she told us that Luke would not stop crying... poor Paul, he had to go back to my friend house and stayed with Luke --- but Paul had great time with Luke that day! But it turned out to be for the better, because if he had come to the reunion, he would have had to stay until 11:00 pm... thanks to Luke! Heeheehee

It was so nice to see President Snow and Sister Snow again. They both gave wonderful talks. I'm glad that I had chance to listen to their talks.