28 January 2008

President Hinckley remembered

We received word of President Hinckley's passing last night during a family dinner at Sunny's parents' home.  

Please visit Jonathan's blog "Who Are Mormons?" to read more about President Hinckley's passing and public legacy.


22 January 2008

Minnesota

Minnesota is the coldest place on Earth! We were there for a few days over the weekend with our sister-in-law Katie and her daughter, Ariana (pictured below).
We had a great time braving the subzero temperatures. :)  Also, see more pictures here.


Minneapolis



Ariana Chen, our niece, at the restaurant Basil's in downtown Minneapolis



Visiting with Jonathan's high school friend, Cynthia, and her husband, jared. they live in St. Paul

13 January 2008

11 January 2008

Chinese Acrobats in Pasadena


We had front row tickets to a big performance of the Chinese National Acrobatic Troupe. They are considered the best team in China, and are now on a world tour to promote the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, where they will also perform. We went with Sunny's parents to the Civic Theatre in Pasadena.

The performers did amazing tricks, stunts, jumps, twists, falls, spins, etc. WOW! After having seen so many people doing such unconventional and surprising acrobatic moves, the next time we see Cirque du Soleil, we may end up disappointed.

01 January 2008

Hurrah for 2008!

We are so excited for this entering year. 2007 was wonderful and we have been blessed with so much. In 2007, we were fortunate to visit a wide variety of places around the globe. 
We ushered in the New Year on Jan. 1. 2007 in São Paulo, Brazil, with friends from Jonathan's mission there. Then we traveled to the Amazon, and then to Rio de Janeiro. Since that time, we've been blessed to travel to Monterey in northern California; and Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Taipei (Sunny showed Jonathan around her mission), Tokyo, and Seoul in Asia. We even crossed the border into North Korea! We ventured to beloved Spain where we toured Madrid, Toledo, Segovia, Alicante, and Valencia, with a personal expert tour guide. :)  We also spent time in Toronto, Canada; and Honolulu, Hawaii. In addition to this, we spent about 3 months living in Hong Kong where Jonathan & Sunny worked.  Jonathan started grad school at UCLA, while Sunny got settled in her new office where she keeps very busy.  
As we reflect on 2007 (our first whole year of wedded bliss): airports, eating, gaining weight, new niece and nephew, etc., our most exciting experience has been the whole marriage thing - lots of fun together. (how cute!)  We even got to show each other around our mission areas. Anyway, we are looking forward to 2008 and spending time with family and friends. 

the peninsula branch Christmas Party

John was Santa.... I think I broke his leg.


Christmas in Hawaii

with BYU friends, Maggie & Nate and their son, who now live in Honolulu.

Group shot before leaving Hawaii.

If you follow the links I posted in a previous post, you'll see many more photos.

Jonathan & Sunny - Since 2005