Baobeilicious

Trip to Utah-Part 2

2010-01-19T01:49:00.000-08:00

Jamie invited us to her house to have a playdate with Miles. Both of them had lots of fun playing together! Rainny loves her cousins so much that she still talks about wanting to get on the plane and fly to Utah to see Miles and Sophie even after we came back to Taiwan! How cute!

Lenny enjoying sitting in Miles' swing.

We spent a really fun day at American West Heritage Canter with Joey, Jamie and Miles just two weeks before Halloween. We've driven past by this place so many times but never went in and knew that there is actually a lot of stuff to see and to do inside. Such a fun place for the family!

Adam doing the hay jump.Rainny trying out her first hay jump with a little help from Daddy.Found a little snake by the corn maze...ewww! I hate snakes.

Rainny and Miles walking around the kids' corn maze.
The fun hay slide!
Rainny and Daddy riding in the wagon-like car.
Rainny on a horse tire swing!Going through the corn maze.

We didn't finish the maze because we realized it would take quite a while and there was no way we can make it before it gets dark. So, we decided to head back. This was my second attempt walking through the corn maze even though I didn't finish. The first time was when Adam and I just got married. I remembered it was the Chinese Ward's young man and young woman's activity. We went to a corn maze in Bountiful at night, the kind that people dressed really scary and they jumped out to scare you. It was really fun, but getting hit by a flying corn definitely wasn't something I expected. :p

Rainny didn't see a big puddle ahead while she was walking. She stepped right in it and slipped and fell right on her butt. She wasn't very happy about getting her pants all dirty and muddy. :p

Trip to Utah-Part 1

2009-11-22T05:43:00.000-08:00

Here are some of the highlights from our trip to Utah in September and October:

Rainny showing off the little carrot Grandma Hislop grew in their backyard!Grandpa Hislop told us about this new playground in Logan, so we took Rainny there to play. It is by far the nicest playground I've seen! It's got a castle slide, pirate ship, swing, sandbox and lots of other fun stuff for big and little children to play. Rainny loved going there!!!
I bought Rainny a lollipop at Island Market, a grocery store near by Grandpa and Grandma Hislop's house, after taking her and Lenny for a walk on a sunny morning.
Beautiful Aunt Angie with Rainny and Lenny.
We drove up to Pocatello to watch Max and Sophie. Here are the two outside their house looking for bugs..eww!
Max, Rainny and Sophi sitting on a swing.
Rainny was having so much fun jumping on the trampoline with Max that she kept saying she wanted to go back to play more!!! : )
Jack and Luck joined the fun when we went to visit them the second time.

Max jumped up and tried to scare me while I was taking pictures of them.
Hahaha...look at his face! So funny! : )
Sophie's cute smile!
It's funny that Sophie would point to Lenny and say, "That's my baby!"...hahaha...
Our good friends, Shawn and Amei, are moving to Toronto. Shawn flew back to Salt Lake the day before Adam came back from his training in Phoenix. I'm glad we got to hang out and ate at our favorite Mexican restaurant in Park City, "El Chubasco". We're going to miss them a lot! Such nice couple! Hopefully, we can visit them in Toronto next year when we go back.

Some Random Pics We Took Before Our Trip to Utah

2009-09-12T01:33:00.001-07:00

September 2nd-

Aunt Nikki gave Lenny this "I Love NY" onesie. (Nikki also gave Rainny the same matching T-shirt in Chinese!) Thank you, Nikki! : )Playing with Daddy...

Getting a bit chunky at one and a half month...

Going for a stroll in Snuggly.Rainny's little pink bike.

Lenny's big happy smile! : )

September 4th- Leofoo Village Amusement Park

The closest amusement park to us, about 30 minutes drive. We found some cheap and limited-time-only tickets online for about US$12.50 per person (Rainny is free!), which would normally cost double. Good deal! Rainny is getting tall enough now that she was able to go on many rides with us. It was such a fun day!

Riding on the mary-go-round.
Feeding horses.Riding on the monkey trail to see monkeys.

Now looking at these pictures, I don't feel it's a very safe bike ride for kids...it's pretty high above the ground and besides a seat belt, there is not much of a protection around you. I mean, you can get hurt pretty bad if you fall...scary!

On the train to see more exotic animals! (I'm amazed at how many animals there are inside the park! And there is a white tiger, too!)

More Pics of Lenny

2009-09-02T05:47:00.000-07:00

Here are some more recent pictures we took of Lenny...and his big sister Rainny!:)

Lenny at 2 weeks old.

Rainny enjoying a chocolate popsicle...mmm, yum yum!
Sound asleep...z Z Z Z

This is the picture we took of Lenny for his U.S. passport. The American Institute in Taiwan (where we applied for Lenny's Consular Report of Birth Abroad of an American Citizen and passport) requires photos showing the child's full face with "EYES OPEN". Apparently, it was really tricky for us when we tried to take one of Lenny since he sleeps tons! (I think all newborns do...haha). At first, we tried to take one of him against the white wall, but it was too difficult to get a good shot because Lenny still couldn't hold up his head. Finally, we lay him down on a white paper we put on the floor and were able to get this picture...hahaha, it worked! :-)

Lenny and Rainny!

Rainny showed her love for her little baby brother Lenny by giving him his binkie!

Rainny is becoming more and more like a big sister now! One night I was talking to Adam on Skype while he was still away in Korea. Lenny was lying on the bed and Rainny was playing by herself nearby. Couple minutes later, Lenny started getting fussy and was crying, but I didn't go check on him right away...Then I overheard Rainny saying, " It's okay, it's okay..." At first, I thought she was just talking to her toys (she talks to herself a lot when she plays with her toys now. Haha...) I turned my head to see if both of them were doing okay and I couldn't believe what I saw...
Rainny said to Lenny, "It's okay, it's okay" while she was patting Lenny on his head and trying to calm her little brother down. (Lenny was still fussy) So, she went on and got her toy, Boots (the monkey from Dora the Explorer) and put it in front of Lenny and said to him, "Okay, do you want Boots?....hmmm..." (Lenny was, again, still being fussy) Finally, she realized that she couldn't get Lenny to calm down after a few tries, so she gave up and said, "Mommy help! Mommy go help baby boy!"...hahaha! It was so funny!!! : )

Lenny at one month old
Getting so comfortable in his tubby that he fell asleep... : )

New Hislop Clan: Lenny Zen Hislop

2009-07-19T02:31:00.000-07:00

My aunt, who is in Tainan called me a couple days ago, asking me why I haven't put any new pictures on my blog...(I thought nobody visits my blog anymore because it's been soooo long since last time I updated...haha)

Adam had to make a few trips to Korea for his work soon after we came back from our little family vacation in Kenting in April. In July, a lot of our friends in Utah came visit Taiwan and we had a little Salt Lake 39th Chinese Ward reunion here in Hsinchu. Our good friends Shawn and Amei stayed with us for a couple days and we went on a 2 days trip to Hualien Taroko on the east coast of Taiwan (just 10 days before we had a baby!...) It was a lot of driving, but it was so much fun hanging out with them!
Okay, back to the topic. Lenny came at 7:53 am on Wednesday July 15th, 2009. My water broke around 4 am in the morning. We hurried and packed some stuff to get ready to go to the hospital (we didn't have the infant car seat ready in the car because we didn't know Lenny would come 11 days early, so before we left the house, Adam hurried and grabbed the car seat we just took out of the box days before and threw it in the car...guess what? He forgot to get the base for the car seat. So, when we left the hospital on Friday, I sat in the back holding the car seat with Lenny sitting in it really really tight while Adam was being extremely careful driving at a 20-miles-per-hour speed...I'm glad we made it home safely... : ))

We got to the hospital at 5 am and I started having some mild contractions. At 6:40am, I decided to get an epidural because the contractions were getting stronger and the pain was getting more and more unbearable. It was a perfect timing when I got the epidural because I went from 3 centimeter to fully dilated in only half an hour. Both Adam and I can't believe how fast the labor progressed and went the second time we had baby. I literally did 3 or 4 pushes before Lenny came out! It was such a quick labor!

Lenny Zen Hislop

July 15th, 2009
Weight: 2675 g (5 lbs. 14 oz)
Height: 47cm (19 inches)
...yet another small baby...guess I'll never have a baby that weighs more than 7 pounds...

Here is a picture of Rainny playing with the bed remote...she was pretending she was talking on the phone. What a funny little girl! Hahaha...
Two most important men in my life...(okay, besides my dad...)
Adam probably can't wait to tell Lenny everything he knows about baseball when he grows up...haha
Lenny at 10 days old.Sticking out his little tongue... :p

Rainny's Beach Day!

2009-04-26T02:03:00.001-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, we decided to take a small family vacation to Kenting, a beach town located in the very southern part of Taiwan, before Adam had to leave for Korea again. This spring weather has been like a roller coaster. One day it could get so hot and humid like summer, and next day the temperature could drop more than 15 degrees Celsius. Adam and I really wanted to escape the rainy weather in the north and go somewhere where it's sunny and warm. So, that makes Kenting the perfect getaway place for us.

Day 1: Lots of Sunshine in Kenting!
Rainny woke us up around 5 am on Tuesday morning on the day we left for Kenting...oh well, I guess we only lost half an hour of sleep since we had planned on leaving the house early anyway so we could enjoy more time at the beach...heehee...Rainny slept through the 5 and 1/2 hours' drive and woke up right when we were driving on the road where we could see the beautiful ocean close to us on the right.

We arrived at Chateau Beach Resort a little before noon. The lady at the front desk was so nice that not only did she let us check in early, but also gave us a room with two king-size beds with no extra charge! Lucky Rainny got to sleep on one of the king-size beds all by herself, but...that still didn't keep her from rolling off the bed one time in the middle of the night. Luckily, she fell right on the extra pillows I put on the carpeted-floor next to the bed and remained sound asleep when Adam went to pick her up. Whew! I guess I already kinda knew that was going to happen... :p

Chateau Beach Resort is the only hotel in Kenting that has its own private sandy beach. And the good thing is you don't need to pay big bucks to stay there if you go during the low season. We actually got a pretty good deal for the price we paid when we stayed there this time. (free breakfast buffet, free lunch/dinner at the hotel restaurant, free beach towels, discount coupons for drinks and spa...)

After lunch, we took a stroll on the beach. The weather was perfectly nice and warm that we couldn't help getting our feet wet. Rainny didn't seem to get too scared by the waves. She would stand close by the ocean waiting for waves to come, and then she'd start running away from the waves as they were getting closer and closer. Sometimes the big waves came so fast that Rainny didn't have time to get away that she'd lose her balance and fall on her butt, but she would still play it over and over again. I guess she really enjoyed the excitement of being chased by the waves...haha...

After we played on the beach, we headed to the swimming pool for more water fun! Rainny finally got to wear her cute little itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka-dot bikini for the first time this year...heee : )
Day 2: More Fun at the Beach!
Rainny kept bugging us to take her to the beach when we were eating breakfast. So, shortly after we ate, we walked back to our hotel room to get all her beach toys and then headed directly to the beach. The weather was a bit cloudy, but it didn't stop us from having tons of fun playing on the beach! :)We tried to make Rainny a sand castle, but I guess it didn't turn out looking like a castle at all...hahaha...So, Adam dicided to dig a big hole in the sand while Rainny enjoyed playing in it.

A big wave came and filled the hole with water while Rainny was standing in there. Funny Rainny just froze and didn't know what to do...see the look on her face? ^0^
Rainny saw Adam bury himself in the sand. So, she told us she wanted to have her feet buried, and then she would ask us," Where is Rainny's feet?"...hahaha... :p
We went for a ride to a nearby small town (can't remember what it's called) after waking up from our afternoon nap. We randomly stopped at this place where you can walk on the cliff overlooking the ocean. It was so pretty there! (I'm glad we made it there before it got dark).
We got super hungry after spending all morning and afternoon playing on the beach. Rainny was having a rarely good appetite that night when we ate at Smokey Joe's, which is Adam's and also my favorite Mexican restaurant in Kenting! There are a lot of good restaurants in Kenting, mostly Thai. But since we're living in Taiwan now and we don't get to eat good Mexican food everyday. We certainly can't pass up this one when we have the chance! Hahaha... There is a big night market on the main street of Kenting every night unless it rains. In the not-so-busy season, the main street of Kenting can get awfully quiet during the day. But you'll see more and more people flocking into the night market as soon as it gets dark outside. Rainny always has lots of fun playing these little fun games at the night market where she can win toys! : )

Day 3: A visit to the Local Aquarium
It was rainning a lot on our last day in Kenting, but we were glad that we had made the right choice on visiting the aquarium last. : )

Rainny's 2nd Birthday! What a fun day!

2009-03-16T20:55:00.001-07:00

Rainny is two years old today (March 17th)! (Just ignore the date on the top, I guess my blog is set on US time zone...hahaha!) Anyway, in the morning, Adam took her outside to play and rode on bike. Later we went out to lunch for some family bonding time. She was doing a bit better at eating more food now(only the food she likes...), but is still a picky eater. I guess it's going to take quite a while and lots of patience and trying before she'd accept more different variety of food... :p
In the afternoon, we played more LEGO games. One of Rainny's recent favorites is watching the train coming close to the blockes she put on the tracks and knocking them over. She would just laugh and laugh! Another one is wacthing Daddy making a robot with LEGO blockes!

Adam made this LEGO robot two days before Rainny's 2nd birthday. He's really good at making lots of different things with only limited amount of LEGO blocks we have. I can never be as creative as he is!Daddy enjoys making a robot while Rainny enjoys knocking it down later. Hahaha!

Getting ready for Rainny's birthday party in the evening!

We put a big Minnie Mouse head ballon and some other small ones for her little b-day party. It was nice to have a casual dinner in our restaurant with a few other family members.

Rainny got a birthday hong bao from great grandmom! : )

Rainny's 2nd birthday cake! It's her favorite Mickey and Minnie Mouse!

I found this bakery on the internet that makes all kinds of different cartoon characters cakes. They even customize your cake the way you want it, which is so cool! I emailed them a picture of Mickey and Minnie Mouse and told them to make it as cute as possible. Adam and I were so pleased with the cake when we first saw it! It's exactly the way we wanted, so cute! We just loved it so much! Rainny couldn't take her eyes off of the Mickey and Minnie Mouse birthday cake! We were all laighing so hard when she started saying "Happy Birthday to You" as soon as she saw the cake. What a funny girl!

Rainny was definitely the happiest girl tonight!
She was sooooo happy when everybody sang Happy Birthday Song to her.
Time to blow out the candle and make a wish!
"Whatever you were thinking and wishing, Daddy and Mommy hope they all come true!"

Rainny got Wall-E robot and Eve for her birthday from her uncle.

Not a Barbie doll, but these robots are exactly what she likes! Hahaha....^0^

Big Sister Rainny : )

2009-02-22T08:04:00.000-08:00

You guys could probably already guess what it is as you read the title...heehee! Yes, we are EXPECTING our second baby and Rainny is going to be a BIG SISTER! Sorry we haven't told a lot of people about this, especially our friends (Amber, you are probably the only friend who knew because you asked me a couple of times on MSN... :p)

We actually just had our third doctor appointment on Friday and we were pretty lucky to be able to find out the gender of the baby at 18 weeks...

We found out we're going to have a BOY!!!!! We're so excited!!!!!! : )

We're also SO EXCITED for Sammy and Missy (my brother-in-law and his wife), who are expecting their first baby in July! And I guess they're going to find out the gender on March 5th!!! How exciting!!! We can't wait to find out theirs!!!!!! : )

Chinese New Year's Eve Dinner (除夕夜)-Happy 牛 Year! Moo...

2009-02-08T04:07:00.000-08:00

On January 18th, just a week before the Chinese New Year, every Taiwanese citizen and foreigner married to a Taiwanese who is legally residing in Taiwan got a Hong Bao (red envelope) from Taiwan government. Each person was given NT$3600 (US$100) dollars worth of voucher (a.k.a. "spending money"). This is part of the stimulus plan that Taiwan government has worked on to help the economy. It isn't a big deal of money, and despite the facts that some people think the vouchers are only gonna help the economy temporarily, but I think everyone is happy to get it...at least Adam, Rainny and I are!!! : )

Very tradtional Chinese New Year's Eve dinner dishes for my fmaily.
Rainny giving Buddy a kiss ^0^.
Lucky Rainny being the only grand child in our family, she was up first to receive Hong Bao from her great grandma.This year, Rainny obviously understands it's MONEY that's inside the red envelope. (last year she had no clue at all...) After her turn and before great grandma had a chance to finish giving away Hong Bao to other people, she went right back to great grandma and kept asking "Money, money!!!"...so, great grandma gave her lots of "empty" red envelopes instead to keep her satisfied...what a greedy little girl...hahaha! ^0^
The grab-your-own-hong-bao(money) has been our family tradtion for over 15 years and has always been the highlight of the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner! We've all loved it since we were little kids, and how wonderful that it's even being passed on to Rainny's generation!

Rainny couldn't really participate last year because she wasn't even one year old, and I did most of the work for her, but this year she's old enough to play and she grabbed all the money by herself! Yay!!!
Only a little bit money left at the bottom when it was Rainny's last turn. Everybody saw how hard she was trying to reach for the money at the bottom and just couldn't stop laughing! : )

Recent Random Pictures

2009-02-08T00:06:00.000-08:00

January 10th-

Rainny enjoying the companionship of her "stuffed animal friends" while watching her favorite cartoon show-Mickey Mouse Clubhouse...like always...:p

January 20th- A Visit to Taipei City

We saw a bunch of people shooting a toothpaste commercial as we walked out of the underground parking lot. One guy who was wearing a cow suit just finished shooting his scene and he wanted to take a picture with Rainny. We ended up taking more than just one...I think of taking pictures with a cow as a good luck sign for the brand new year since 2009 is the Year of the Ox in the Chinese culture...very typical Chinese way of wishful thinking...hahahahaha!!!

Was Adam too shy to be in front of the camera!!!???

Nah...

We walked over to Dr. Sun Yat-San Memorial Hall for some "correr correr(Spanish word for "RUN") time" for Rainny. Rainny likes to run in a big open space and that's what she says every time she runs...I guess watching TV isn't that bad after all because that's how Rainny learnes to speak a little bit Spanish from watching Dora the Explorer...hahaha!

Being a Taiwanese, this was actually my first time going inside the building to see the Dr. Sun Yat-San statue and some really cool galleries and exhibitions. Adam has probably been there more than I have and he's more familiar with roads in Taipei City than I am...^0^The Honor Guards performance is the must-see attraction at Dr. Sun Yat-San Memorial Hall. At each o'clock sharp from 9 am to 5 pm, the Honor Guards switch shift and it's really cool to watch! We were lucky to make it to see the 4 o'clock one. I don't know how they do it but the two guards standing on each side of the statue began moving their fingers exactly the same time at exact 4:oopm. They can't move for the entire hour so they certain can't look at their watch to check what time it is, and I don't think they wear a watch,either...so I'm still really curious how they know when to move...

Rainny looks like she wanted to address something...got inspired by Dr. Sun Yat-San maybe!?...haha!

3 little squatters!
Rainny saw these two kids squatting and she went to join them. They really enjoyed starring at the water! Kids are just so cute and funny!!! I love my little baby!!! : )

Rainny got hypnotized!? :p We ate dinner at Taipei 101 food court and found some giant lollipops at the Jasons Marketplace. We got one for Rainny and she didn't mind swinging it around and hitting people with that...oops!!!

2008 Christmas in Utah-Part 2

2009-01-16T05:30:00.000-08:00

December 26th-Having fun taking pictures in the snow.

We put Rainny's Mickey Mouse in the snow and took a picture. Notice something is missing? One of Mickey's eyebrows...heehee! One day Rainny was playing with her Mickey Mouse and she ripped off one of his eyebrows. Then I told her Mickey's got an owie and she just started crying because she really thought Mickey was hurt...haha...kids are just so funny! Mickey has since then become one-eyebrowed Mickey. (I still keep the other eyebrow but just never remembered to glue it back...) Believe it or not, this Mickey Mouse was a gift from my dad when he went to Disneyland 20 years ago!!! And now this antique and hand-me-down Mickey Mouse has become Rainny's best pal ever! : )

Rainny looks so tiny standing behind the big pile of snow!

The Christmas tree popcorn eater Sassy sleeping cozily on Rainny's baby blanket.^0^

December 29th-Going sledding with Angie and Craig!

We went sledding with Angie, Craig and his two little girls in a nearby park in Logan. Adam had been so excited about taking our little family (first time going sledding for Rainny and I!) to go sledding on this trip. We first tried a small and more kids-friendly hill and Rainny really liked it, but after going on a bigger and steeper hill, Rainny just didn't seem to like it that much and didn't want to sit in the sled anymore (I guess it was a little more scary for her)...and later all she only wanted to do was to walk up and down the hill...hahaha! I never knew that sledding can go so fast and get so...well, out of control! But it was really so much fun!:)

December 31st-New Year's Eve party in Salt Lake!

Our good friends Shwan and Amei invited us to their New Year's Eve party. It's always so much fun hanging out with friends! We ate a lot of good food, played so many fun games and just partied and partied all night until it was time to count down the New Year!
This was definitely the highlight of the New Year's Eve party! All 7 couples celebrated the New Year with lots of kisses and kisses and kisses!!! ^0^ (P.S. Rainny celebrated her 2009 New Year by watching more Mickey Mouse Clubhouse upstairs! Hahahahaha...)

2008 Christmas in Utah-Part 1

2009-01-16T00:26:00.000-08:00

After two long layovers and connecting flights in Tokyo and San Francisco, we finally arrived in Salt Lake City on Monday December 15th. Before we took off in Taiwan,We kinda prepared ourselves for the freezing cold winter in Utah, but I guess we couldn't know and feel how COLD it actually was until we walked out of the airport to the parking lot. After living in Taiwan for a year, I sort of forgot what the winter in Utah is supposed to feel like, but as soon as I took a first deep breath and felt that freezing cold air going into my lungs, the familiar smell of Utah winter came back. Despite the fact that I don't like being in the cold, I actually do miss that smell...weird huh?
December 18th-

Going for a ride in the car...Rainny still had jet lag. She fell asleep while watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with her best pal Mickey Mouse...hahaha...

December 19th-Joey and Jamie came over to hang out.

Look at our cute little nephew Miles! He's gotten so big since last time we saw him in May 2008. It's incredible how fast babies grow and how much they've changed in only 6 months!
Rainny having some play time with cousin Miles, which was a very good opportunity for her to learn how to share toys and play nice. In Taiwan, she rarely gets to play with kids her age (except in the nursery on Sunday) because most of my friends are still unmarried and they don't have kids...Here is a quick shout out to my college friends,"When do I get to be invited to attend one of your weddings? Rainny can be a pretty good flower girl if you guys ever need one...hahaha! ^0^"

December 20th-Going to see Ginger's Hi-Lo's dance competition in Bountiful.

In the afternoon, our good friends Shawn and Amei treated us to Texas Roadhouse for lunch. Yum...

December 22nd-Shopping for Christmas gifts!

A multi-tasking Adam carrying Rainny in one hand and a bag in the other while trying to keep snow from getting in his eyes. It was snowing a lot that day and Adam obviously didn't know I was taking pictures of them crossing the road...heehee...and it turned out to look like one of those paparazzi trying to get a close-shot of some kind of Hollywood celebs...haha! :p

December 24th-Christmas Eve dinner.

This year, Grandpa and Grandma Hislop got a real Christmas tree. Nikki, Ginger and her friends decroated the tree with lots of gingerbread cookies and popcorns! Yes, they are real edible popcorns!!! But about a week later, one day Sassy started eating and chewing on part of the popcorns at the bottom of the Christmas tree...hahaha! ^0^

I've never seen Rainny shoveling food in her mouth like that. She had a really good appetite that night! : )

December 25th-Opening Christmas presents!

This Christmas, Rainny was spoiled with lots of Dora presents! A talking Dora that says Rainny's name, Dora shower set, Dora photo album, story books and hinged banner...America is like a Dora paradise for Rainny! They've got almost everything you can think of with Dora: Dora canned soup, Dora tooth brush, Dora toothpaste, Dora diapers, Dora toilet seat cover,etc...so many!!!

December 26th-The Esplin Family came to visit from Pocatello.

We didn't get a picture of the whole Esplin Family, but we got a picture with Rainny's 2-month-younger cute cousin Sophi!
Nikki standing outside the house, showing us how much snow we got just OVERNIGHT!
It's crazy!

The Funniest Thing Rainny Says

2008-12-12T00:43:00.000-08:00

Okay, this happened over two months ago. Adam and I took Rainny out for a walk after dinner on a beautiful autumn evening. We were enjoying our walk hand in hand, and when we were walking back to the house, all of sudden, Adam had a not-so-silent-fart (a pretty big and long one actually!). We both turned to look at Rainny and thought she probably didn't hear anything, but the next thing that came out of her mouth just made us laugh so hard...she said,"Daddy farted!!!" and just kept walking...hahaha! I wish I've had this videotaped because it's just soooo funny! : )

We're leaving for America on Monday (the 15th of December). We're getting ready for lots of Utah snow!!! Yay!!!

Flying Cow Ranch

2008-10-31T07:33:00.000-07:00

A very rare picture of all three of us holding hands together... : )

Adam wanted to take us out for some family fun time the day before my 27th birthday. So, on Wednesday night I was trying to think of a toddler-friendly/family-friendly place(or whatever you want to call it...haha) that everyone (especially Rainny...)would enjoy going to on Thursday. And then I thought of the pretty pictures of the Flying Cow Ranch my friend Amanda put on her blog. After I googled this place and found out it's located in Miaoli (only about 40 minutes drive from where we live), we decided to check this place out ourselves hoping to see some "flying cows"...hahaha...just kidding!

Flying Cow Ranch is such a beautiful place that reminds me a lot of some of the places in Utah.

Playing the water is still Rainny's favorite thing to do. It's hard to stop her once she starts playing with it. She either completely ignores us or just says "No" when we tell her to go. : pWe had no choice but to have Adam grab her after several times of trying to get her out of the water and still in vain...hahaha...
Rainny looks like she was running in this picture but actually she was losing her balance and trying hard not to fall. And She did it! It looks funny though... : )My very first time giving a baby cow a bottle...very fun experience!
Rainny really enjoys feeding sheep a lot!!!
Here is Rainny enjoying piggyback!It was a really fun day! We definitely want to go back to visit again! The ticket is about $6.50 for each adult and that also includes one free cup of their home-grown milk...mmm, so good!!! : )

Going For A Bike Ride

2008-10-22T03:05:00.000-07:00

Over a week ago, we took Rainny to Nanliao, a fishing port in Hsinchu, which has become one of the most popular places for family outdoor activies over the past couple of years. That place is always overcrowded on the weekends. A lot of poeple fly kites, rollerblade or ride bikes along the 17km coastline-a biking trail especially designed for bikers. We were really lucky to get a tandem bike before they were rented out! It was a little challenge in the beginning for us to ride this thing because it was just too windy there and we felt like we could get blown away. Also, Adam and I had to basically paddle the same time we were riding. If he paddles faster, I gotta paddle faster. If he stops paddling, I gotta stop,too. It requires a good teamwork, and I think we did pretty good...hee

Rainny was really happy to get her own seat and handlebars, and Adam was happy to finally get some exercise. Adam and I both woke up having sore legs the next day...but we all had so much fun!!! : )

Janfusan Amusement Park

2008-10-10T10:39:00.000-07:00

Last month we drove down south to Janfusan Amusement Park in Yunlin to enjoy our little 2 days vacation.(Adam and I wanted to take Rainny to another water park before it closes for the year) So, we took advantage of their September special package that includes one night at the Prince Hotel, free breakfast buffet and tickets to both parks. We also thought it'd be nice to pay a little bit extra to have my sister come along with us. The plan worked out perfectly! She got to play for free and we got ourselves a babysitter when Adam and I went on rides together...hahaha

Day 1-all about the water!

Spider-dad? Hahaha...Adam was being goofy.

This thing is called "Tornado"-definitely the most exciting and scariest tube ride I've ever been on!

Cannon Bowl-this one was less scary but was still a lot of fun.

Day 2-all about the rides!

Happy 3rd Anniversary!

2008-09-29T07:56:00.001-07:00

Adam, thank you for having my sister babysit Rainny and taking me out to dinner on our 3-year anniversary regardless of the typhoon weather. It was nice for the two of us to go on a little date (even if just for a couple of hours), and to enjoy a quiet and romantic dinner without having to shovel the food in our mouth and to chase Rainny around the restaurant. (I think we've both really needed that for a long time now...haha).

I can't say these three years of our marriage have always been smooth because there're always challenges in life, especially when we grew up in totally two different cultures. I've come to know that a good marriage does need a lot of hard work, patience and understanding of each other. But I can definitely say that these three years have been the highlights of my life.

Thank you for being a wonderful person as you've always been: a wonderful friend, a wonderful boyfriend, a wonderful husband and a wonderful father. : )

You and I both know that we couldn't be more proud of this little girl we raise together. She is smart and feisty, so funny and full of life! I'm happy to be a mom and so happy to be married to you!
I love you two a lot!!! Happy Anniversary!!! : )

Rainny Stacking Formula Cans

2008-09-15T06:41:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday night, Rainny was playing with her toys after we gave her a bath. I was watching TV and Adam was using his computer while she was enjoying her little play time. For a while, both of us had no idea what she was playing with, but it sounded like she was really busy "doing something". So, we decided to check on her to see what was going on and this is what we saw......

Rainny was stacking her formula cans!!! Hahahahaha...^0^

This was our first time seeing Rainny doing something like this. I immediately grabbed the camera and started taking pictures of this formula-can-stacking-action! Rainny saw us taking pictures but she didn't seem to care. She just kept on doing her own stuff...

I don't know how in the world this little girl managed to get all these formula cans off the table and stack them on top of each other. Interestingly enough, she only grabbed cans! She even gave herself an applause after she successfully finished putting the third can on! : )

The next night (Wednesday night), my cousins came to our place to watch movie so I took Rainny downstairs to play with them. Before the movie started, I had to go get something from our room so I went back up and when I opened the door, I couldn't believe what I saw......

This!!!
They just stayed that way the whole time!!!
I was laughing so hard when I saw this that I had to go get Adam to see this, and we both laughed again! Hahahahahahaha...so hilarious!!! Apparently Rainny has taken her formula-can-stacking- skill to the next level after only two days of practice...heehee : )

Formosa Water Park

2008-08-29T00:15:00.000-07:00

The whole summer we've been wanting to take Rainny to the water park because we know she'll definitely love it a lot there. This Wednesday we finally decided to take her to Formosa Water Park in Taipei because they are one of the rare water parks in Taiwan that don't make you wear those ugly swimming caps before you go in the water...haha
When Rainny woke up in the morning, we told her we were taking her swimming, and she was in such a good mood that she didn't even scream or try to kick us when we changed her diaper and put on her clothes. After we got off the highway, we had to drive on a really winding road to get to the park, and poor little Rainny got car sick and puked in the car...
Rainny got to play in her favorite kiddie pool, and despite the fact that she wasn't allowed to go on most of the slides, she was still able to go tubing on two slides with us! (...after we promised the life guard that we'd be extra careful and made sure that Rainny was wearing her life jacket...hee :p)

Rainny going down the kid slide with daddy!

This one was Adam's favorite!

We spent the whole afternoon there and had so much fun that Adam and I want to plan for another trip to a different water park in September! : )

Rainny on July Baby Life Magazine Cover

2008-08-05T11:18:00.000-07:00

Rainny's second time on a baby magazine cover! This cover photo was actually taken back in April, just days before we went to America. There were also 4 or 5 other babies in the studio that day for the Baby Life Magazine cover photo shoot, so we really didn't know if they would put Rainny on their cover. After we came back to Taiwan in June, one afternoon I got a phone call from their editor-in-chief saying that they wanted to put Rainny's picture on their July cover!!! And they did!!! Both Adam and I love the picture they chose for their cover. : )

Trip to Kaohsiung and Yilan

2008-07-23T09:44:00.000-07:00

Three weeks ago, we travelled south to Kaohsiung city by high speed train that goes 249 km an hour! We left Hsinchu at 12:00pm and arrived in Kaohsiung at 1:30pm. (It would normally take us about 4 hours or more to get there if we choose to drive.) The reserved-seat ticket is about US$40(weekend price) one way and a little bit less during the week. Well, the tickets are a bit expensive, but considering the fact that we didn't have to wake up really early in the morning and drive down there-just the time and the energy we saved, it's worth it!

Photo by mymachi
(This is a picture of the 85 Skytower I found on the internet. It has this unusual design of two separate towers merging into one, leaving a big space between the lower two towers. When we saw this building, Adam was joking that a small airplane or helicopter can probably just fly right through it...hahaha)

The coolest thing about our trip to Kaohsiung was staying at the Kaohsiung Splendor Hotel located inside the 85 Skytower building. The 85 Skytower or Tuntex Sky Tower has a total of 85 floors and is 1,140 ft high! It was once the tallest building in Taiwan until the completion of Taipei 101, but still is the tallest building in Kaohsiung though.

From the 40th to the 70th floors are hotel rooms, and we were so LUCKY that we got an ocean view room on the 70th floor!!! Neither Adam nor I has ever stayed in a hotel room that high above the ground. We were so fascinated by the view of the ocean and the Kauhsiung Harbor that we couldn't stop saying wow for seconds, and then we both heard this tiny little whispering "wow" voice coming from Rainny and she was looking straight ahead at the window...so funny!
We went on a boat tour on the famous Love River (or Ai River) in the city. The boat ride was rather short (only took 15 minutes), but it was still a lot of fun, especially when this white bird showed up unexpectedly behind us and was literally only 5 steps away from us! I'm glad we got a close shot of it. We also went to Urban Spotlight, a very cool place to visit in Kaohsiung at night. There's some outdoor cafes and live band performing, and there's also a lot of shopping places nearby as well. It's really fun!

Adam and Rainny enjoying some father-daughter fun time on the river bank.

One week ago, we drove to Yilan, a city in the northeastern of Taiwan. Thanks to the Hsuehshan Tunnel finished two years ago that connects Taipei and Yilan and shortens the journey time, we were able to get there within two hours. We visited the National Center for Traditional Arts, a place and kind of a museum where you can see a lot of the Taiwanese arts in an old-fashioned way. They even make a street of all these Taiwanese houses just like they were in the early 20th century. They also have a lot of cool shops that sell old-fashioned Taiwanese toys that perhaps my grand and great grand parents used to play when they were little. And if you stay there long enough, you may get to see some outdoor performances. We were pretty lucky to see one- a guy was demonstrating and showing the audience how the Taiwanese puppets used to be a very popular entertainment back in the old days when there was no television, and how the appearances and sizes of the puppets have changed over time. Adam couldn't really understand a lot of what this guy was saying because he was speaking Taiwanese mostly, but it was still very interesting to him and he really liked it a lot! : )

I love walking on this street! It makes me feel like we just took a time machine and went back in time to the early 20th century of Taiwan. I wish we could take more pictures of other cool stuff and places. Too bad that our camera batteries died soon after we took these ones...sigh...

Life Since We Came Back

2008-07-14T03:04:00.000-07:00

Life has been pretty good for us so far living in Taiwan. As you know, Adam is now working for the Kansas City Royals as a baseball scout. He has had to travel quite often to south to watch a lot of baseball games the first couple of weeks after we came back. The first week was probably a bit difficult for him since we were still pretty exhausted from our long trip and trying to recover from the jet lag. There were two nights(actually two separate nights...hee) that Adam had to stay at a hotel in Chiayi. Rainny and I really missed him a lot even if he was only away for one day. (Well, Adam and I have never spent more than one day apart since we got married :p) But we also get to spend lots of lots of time together when he doesn't need to be on the road. We feel so blessed that Adam has this great opportunity to do something he loves so much!!! : )

One of the reasons why we've been slow on updating our blogs is that Rainny wants to share the computer with us now...hahaha. We don't really get to use computer that much anymore when she's awake because if she sees one of us using it, she wants to use it,too. She loves watching the videos on our computer, especially the ones of Grandpa Hislop playing with her and the Salt Lake Bees game we recorded. Adam even taught her to press the space on the keyboard when it stops playing. Now she can just sit in front of the computer and watch these videos over and over again! Like 20 times a day!!! ^0^

Rainny was pointing at the picture of Grandma and Grandpa Hislop and smiling. : )
Rainny and Mommy
I finally decided to get a bob haircut!

What do we usually do when staying home? Taking Rainny swimming!!!

The weather is so hot and humid!!! Swimming is probably the coolest way to beat the summer heat, and nothing gets better than swimming in your own pool...it's free!!!

- Our little mermaid -
Rainny finally gets to wear her little bikini! Whenever she wants to go swimming, she'd say "nia-ma"(it doesn't even sound like swimming at all,but that's what she means...so funny...hahaha) Adam's been trying to teach her to hold her breath when going under the water, but we haven't had much success so far because she still likes to open her mouth.

Adam bought her this kid-sized Royals t-shirt from a store near by the baseball stadium he went to. Still too big for Rainny right now, but perfect for pajamas...hee! She looks so much like Adam in the picture above!!!

The Hislop Family Pics!

2008-07-09T23:01:00.000-07:00

One of the greatest thing about our trip back to Utah this April was being able to see all the Hislop family members and hang out with every one of them!

Nikki flew in from New York to spend a couple of days with us in Logan. We had BBQ (Nikki's idea!) in the backyard on a sunny day.(Grilled hamburgers and hot dogs are just so tasty...)
Rainny had some fun time playing bubbles with Nikki!

A very rare family dinner together-
Everybody,except Angie, had some family fun dinner time at Ruby Tuesday. I've always loved the feeling of having a family dinner with everybody. Too bad we rarely get chance to do that often since the Esplin family live in Idaho, Nikki lives in New York and we live in Taiwan. But I'm sooooo glad we did that during our visit in Utah this time!!! : )
At the dinner, Rainny walked over to her 3-year-old cousin Max to give him a hug. Adam and I just burst out laughing when we saw that because we've never seen that side of Rainny before.(she's never hugged any kids!!!). Kids are just so fun to watch and play with because they seem to be constantly saying or doing things that surprise you and make you want to laugh!Hahaha! : )
At first, Max pulled his hands away when Rainny gave him a hug (picture above). Then we told him to hug Rainny, and he hugged her back! Sooooo cute!!! Rainny was so happy!!! : )
After hugging Max, Rainny moved on to her big cousin Jack...hahaha!

I want to thank Joey and Jamie for inviting us to Miles' baby blessing, so I could have this opportunity to take pictures of all the Hislop family members (well, kind of...sorry I couldn't get a pic of Nikki because she was in NY...). Miles' baby blessing was so touching and went perfectly! The weather was perfectly sunny and the lunch was so delicious, and......I can go on forever! Mantua is such a beautiful town and the views are fantastic!!! : )

Here are the pictures of my wonderful and lovely American family:
My mother and father-in-law: Nancy and Craig
親愛的大家長 : )
Adam's brother's family(left to right): Shirlyn, Sarah, Sharon and Hal
Left to right: Jamie, Joey and Miles
Left to right: Missy and Sammy
Adam's sister's family, the Esplin family (left to right):
Luke, Clay, Max, Sophi, Samantha and Jack
Adam's sister Angie and her boyfriend Craig
Adam's little sister Ginger
And us! : )

Part 3

2008-06-23T20:30:00.000-07:00

May 8- That same evening after we came back from Las Vegas, we visited Joey and Jamie and their new baby boy Miles, who was born on May 7. We were so excited to see this new addition to the Hislop family! Welcome to parenthood, Joey and Jamie!!! : )

Rainny's got a new cousin!

Adam and I got to hold our one-day old nephew Miles for the first time. He was so little and so cute and so calm! It's hard to imagine Rainny being even smaller than him when she was born. I guess I just quickly forgot how tiny a newborn baby is...haha

May 11- Samantha brought her kids over and I was surprised to see how big Sophie has got! She's a chunky cutie! : )

Rainny and her cousin Sophie chilling in the crib(pic taken 9 months ago). Both of them didn't have a lot of hair at that time...heehee
So nice to see these two playing with each other 9 months later.
Swing, swing, swing
Rainny really enjoyed swinging high up in the air. But maybe this was a little bit too high?!...
I wasn't going to put these two pictures on my blog, but they're just so funny to look at (especially the second pic). I think Adam did a good job capturing the funny scared look on Rainny's face...hahaha!!!
We took Rainny to feed the ducks and geese in Logan, but she was more interested in looking at the water than feeding her two feet friends.
She was signing "water" to Daddy...so, we both knew exactly what she was up to...

The next thing you know it, she was walking in the water (despite the fact that it was freezing cold). We knew this would happen anyway because it is difficult to keep this girl away from anything that has H2O... ^o^

Part 2

2008-06-14T19:04:00.000-07:00

Driving under supervision...

Grocery shopping!

Trip to Las Vegas5/4- The second weekend in the U.S., we decided to drive down to Las Vegas. After driving for 7 hours long, we finally made it to Excalibur, the hotel where we stayed for 4 nights(all because of their 10'' pool). Just when we thought we could finally get some rest and begin enjoying our little vacation there, for some reason Rainny started crying and screaming as soon as we walked in the room and she would only stop when Adam took her out. So,we had no choice but to switch to a different room and it was so tiring because we had to carry all of our stuff downstairs to the lobby, wait in line to check in again and walk through the casino to get to the other side of the hotel. The first couple of nights in Vegas were just straight nightmare. Rainny just cried and cried and cried all night! It was probably the most stressful vacation I've ever had in my life. But it's all worth it when I saw that big happy smile on her face when we took her swimming.

She was so happy and laughing the whole time in the pool. : )

During our 4 days vacation in Vegas, we were still able to go places and do some sightseeing other than just taking Rainny swimming every day. Adam and I went on the roller coaster ride at New York New York (Well, we took turns while the other watched Rainny). It was so fun! I love scary rides! We also went to the Tournament of Kings dinner show where we ate dinner with our hands. Again, Rainny was crying and being incredibly fussy when the show started, but she got really excited when she saw the horses coming out and was enjoying herself as the show went on. When it ended, everyone was clapping and so was Rainny!

We woke up at 5:00am on Thursday and decided to take one last pic of Rainny and the castle before we left Las Vegas.

Rainny was totally out when we got home! Hahaha...

Pictures from our trip to America-part 1

2008-06-14T08:11:00.000-07:00

4/21-Arriving in San Francisco one hour earlier than scheduled arrival time, which led us to 5 hours layover at the airport, meaning plenty of playing time for Rainny! Good for her but, not so much for us... : p

Rainny's first time in a swing.

4/24- A cold snowy day in Logan! We went out to lunch with Adam's parents. Before that, we had to take Rainny to see the doctor because she started having some pretty bad rash few hours after we were on the plane and we were not sure what caused it, and it turned out to be Eczema, an inherited type of sensitive, dry skin. So, the doctor prescribed "steroid cream" to treat Rainny's dry skin problem and well, it works! Ha!
4/27- We're so glad we got to hang out with some of our good friends in Salt Lake. It feels just like the old days! Shawn and Amei, thank you guys so much for your hospitality and for letting us stay over when we came visit. : )
5/25-The wonderful Doney family invited us over for dinner. Kuei went it all out making lots of yummy food for everybody that evening. They're moving to Nebraska in June and we don't know when we'll be able to see them again. So, it was very nice to hang out with their family before they move. It seems like our two families have at least two things in common: 1. Both Sheldon(big Yankee fan)and Adam(big Dodgers fan) love baseball so much that the two of them can talk about it forever...haha! 2. Interestingly enough that 2006 seemed like a baby booming year for the 39th Chinese ward. There were probably 8+ women pregnant that year, but only Kuei and I were both due in March. So, we pretty much watched each other's belly grow bigger and bigger as days went by and we even had a baby shower together! We will definitely miss you guys! : )
Look at these two little cuties strolling together!
Keane (3.13.2007) and Rainny (3.17.2007) were only born 4 days apart.
From left to right: Shawn, Adam, Brighton, Sheldon, Keane and Charles
After dinner, everybody went for a walk outside their apartment by Gateway.
And then I had no idea who suggested that the guys should race. They look like they all want to finish first...hahaha...
Amei, Kuei and me

Back in Taiwan!

2008-06-13T02:19:00.000-07:00

After 16+ hours' plane ride from Salk Lake to San Francisco to Taipei(the actual total traveling time we spent was 22 hours), we finally made it to Taiwan on Wednesday and we were exhausted! But luckily, Rainny had been pretty good during the plane ride 90% of the time...thanks to the portable DVD player Daddy got the day before we left (We loved it!). We did give Rainny a tiny bit of Benadryl in the last couple of hours before we landed just to make her sleep, but I think Rainny would probably be just fine even without it.

We are still getting used to the time difference. The three of us wake up at 4:00am in the morning 2 days in a row now. But because of that, we were able to talk to my sister on MSN yesterday, who is still in Spain visiting her boyfriend Zaki. We finally have the excuse to go to Europe now...hahaha...maybe after we save enough money. Traveling is just getting more expensive now.Rainny's signature "Pig Face!"

By the way, "Happy Father's Day to All You Great Dads in America!"
Daddy you are No.1!!!

Rainny & Grandpa Hislop's Funny Video!

Grandpa Hislop was playing with Rainny when we were eating at Olive Garden one day. He was making her laugh so hard! And I think ever since that day, Rainny would just move her hands like that whenever she sees Grandpa. Isn't it funny? I guess Rainny really loves it! : )

America! Here I come!!!

2008-04-19T09:22:00.000-07:00

This pic was actually taken in 2005 when flying over the pacific ocean from LA to Taiwan.

It's past midnight and I'm still awake while Adam and Rainny are so sound asleep right now. Well, I thought I could write a post before we leave for the U.S on Monday since I will probably be busy doing the last-minute packing tomorrow...I'm way behind...haha

We've been pretty busy this week and finally were able to get some final shopping done today. We went to Jasons Marketplace to get some snacks and Rainny's baby food to bring on the plane. They've got a lot of cool international stuff there. They've also got those super cute mini shopping carts especially designed for little kids so they can enjoy the fun of shopping too...maybe???!!! Hahaha...I know Rainny really enjoys and loves pushing that mini shopping cart whenever we go there.

Packing hasn't always been an easy thing for me, and now that we have Rainny, not only do I need to pack for my stuff, but also I need to pack for Rainny's,too. How much I wish I had a "Packing for Dummies" right now (that would really save me a lot from all the hassle of packing) if there was really such book....hahaha... : p

Queen of Mischief will see everybody soon!!! : )

Rainny on the March cover of bobo magazine

2008-04-06T08:12:00.000-07:00

Okay, this isn't the first time that Rainny appears in a magazine. Last October, Rainny had her very first magazine photo shoot and got more than 7 spreads in the November issue of Baby & Mother Magazine when she was 6-month-old. A couple of months later, she had a second photo shoot for another magazine called bobo Magazine just few weeks before she turned 1. And this time she was on the COVER!

We did get paid a little bit for this photo shoot (US$50 not a lot I know...probably enough to buy toys and diapers that kind of stuff for Rainny.Ha!) They gave us some free pic CD and magazines,too. But hey! Seeing your own precious child on the cover of a baby magazine is PRICELESS!!! Right?

It's very interesting and funny to see Rainny's magazine on the shelf in the baby section in every bookstore Adam and I went to. And it also turns out to be a pretty awesome birthday gift for Rainny! Hahaha... : )

More pics from the photo shoot:

Little mischief!
I love Rainny's facial expression in this one. It makes me laugh every time I look at it.
I made that pink teddy bear hair bow for Rainny a while ago,but she's never had a chance to wear it. Putting that stuff on Rainny took quite some time because Rainny didn't have a lot of hair and she would try to take it off. So in order to keep the hair bow staying on her hair, the hair stylist had to use some bobby pins to secure it. Finally, the pink hair bow was able to make its first debut in this cover photo shoot...haha! And it coincidentally matches the little pink polka dot dress they prepared for Rainny. Funny huh? : )

Rainny babbling!

2008-03-25T23:34:00.000-07:00

I took Rainny outside to play last Friday afternoon. Her face lighted up when she saw
the sink near by the restaurant. I guess she was just having SO MUCH FUN playing in the water that she started babbling...and she was soaking wet!
"Ahhh...yahhhh...yahhhh...baaaa....."
Does anybody understand what she was saying? Hahaha...

She was getting leaves out of the water.

Oops! She got one on her face...Funny Rainny didn't notice that the leaf was stuck on her face. : p

She was really having a blast.
Can't wait to take Rainny to swim in the summer. It'll be funny to see Rainny in her little bikini. : )

Rainny's 1st Birthday!

2008-03-17T00:59:00.000-07:00

Rainny was born one year ago today.

It's really amazing how much she's grown in one year.
Her first smile,first laugh,first time sitting up,first time crawling,first time standing without help,first step...it seems like they all just happened not so long ago...

One thing for sure though,Rainny was definitely no longer a tiny 6-pound baby anymore.
She's a very happy and energetic baby who likes to walk around the house playing peekaboo with Mammy and Daddy. She especially loves it when we put her in the laundry basket and just swing back and forth. She always laughs so hard whenever we do that. She dances to the music. She does a lot of the baby sign language like milk,car,ball,shoes and wet. She's really growing!!! : )

Happy 1st Birthday,Rainny!!!
You Are Such A Wonderful Baby!!!
We Love You So Much!!!

This is Rainny's birthday cake. Isn't it too cute to eat it? Rainny's holding a shamrock in her hands and there's one on her head,too. (A lot of you probably don't know that Rainny was born on St. Patrick's Day-3/17. That's why the hospital nurse glued a green bow to her head when she was born...heehee)

Rainny was really happy when we sang the birthday song to her.
She was clapping and dancing. : )

Too bad that Rainny didn't get a chance to eat her cake because she was getting really
tired and fussy...

Lavender Cottage & Bei-Pu Town

2008-02-21T23:35:00.000-08:00

Over the past two weekends,we visited Lavender Cottage and Bei-Pu Town. And since both of these places are in Hsinchu County(about 30 minutes drive from where we live),they make it a perfect choice for a half-day trip. : )

This was our second visit(Rainny's first visit) to Lavender Cottage.I think this yellow cottage style house is really cute. It's actually a gift shop where you can buy a lot of herb-related stuff to take home with.

The owner grows many different kinds of lavender in their herb garden. They have one kind that has pineapple smell so I picked one to smell and it dose smell like pineapple!

Lavender Cottage provides free cards for tourists to write down their wishes and you can tie your wish card on a tree. Out of curiosity, I couldn't help wondering what most people would have written on their wish card...so I looked and it turns out that lots of them wish:
"I want to be rich!","I want to have a lot of money"...that kind of money wish.
One guy even wrote down all the dream cars he wants...hahaha...lots of funny wishes.
Bei-Pu is a small Hakka town with lots of street vendors and Hakka food. A lot of the street vendors here offer free smaple of the food they are selling and we ate a lot! :p
We saw a guy standing in the middle of the road selling balloons and we wanted to get one for Rainny. I showed Rainny the Hello Kitty balloon but she wouldn't even look at it,so I showed her the Micky Mouse one and her face just lighted up!!! In order to test if she really likes Micky Mouse,I tried again by putting both Micky and Minnie in front of her. Guess what? She chose Micky over Minnie(because Micky is a boy)!!! Hahaha....so funny!!!

Rainny's First Chinese New Year!

2008-02-08T22:52:00.000-08:00

Rainny got her first "Hong-Bao (red envelope)" on Chinese New Year's Eve(February 4th)! This is the only picture I could find with Rainny looking straight at the camera without squishing the red envelope...hahaha! Happy Chinese New Year to y'all!!! : )

Rainny and Daddy enjoying dinner with everybody.

Rainny got Hong-Bao from great grandma.

Rainny got Hong-Bao from grandma!
Being the first grandchild in our family,Rainny was really spoiled with lots of attention and of course, lots of Hong-Baos!!! Hahaha!!! : )
After giving Hong-Baos,our family has this tradition of putting coins in this big pottery pot for all the kids to grab. Every year on the Chinese New Year's Eve,all the kids(starting from the youngest to the oldest in our family) would line up waiting for their turn to grab as many coins as they can until all the money in the pot is gone.
Rainny got to join us for the money-grabbing action this year. Yeah!!! Of course,she didn't know what was going on and mommy had to do the work for her...lucky me!
Time to count the money!!! : )

☆ Happy Birthday Adam! ☆

2008-02-01T03:49:00.000-08:00

I'm not very good at picking birthday gifts for Adam. For the past 4 years since I've known him,I've been giving him pretty much the same gifts on his birthday every year-Clothes,clothes and more clothes! Boring huh? I know...haha

Guys would always say that women are hard to shop for. I'd say men are more difficult to shop for. Hahaha! For Adam's birthday gift this year,I've been trying hard to think of getting him something that he'd really like and enjoy and something he'd get to use a lot...maybe. The first thing that came in my mind was the Wii game,but that was not the option because Adam's got all the Wii games he wants. So, the next thing I could thing of was "baseball!" Yeah,anything that has to do with baseball!!! Anybody who's known Adam well will definitely know that he is a huge baseball fan of the Dodgers. Speaking of baseball,there's a little interesting story that I'd like to share with you guys. It happened on the very first time we talked on the phone...back in the summer of 2003.
Adam was working night shift at his family's motel-the Best Western Baugh Motel and I just finished working in my family's restaurant for the afternoon. I called the 1-800 something number he gave me because he told me it was free(but it wasn't when you called internationally...hahaha) Luckily,I still had about 10 minutes left on the phone card that I used a long time ago when I went to the US. So, I went ahead and called him. I was so nervous at that time because I didn't know what he sounded like.

"Best Western Baugh Motel",somebody answered.
"Hello,is Adam there", I asked.
"This is Adam",he said.
"Hey Adam! It's me Nicole. How are you doing?",I said.
And then our conversation went on...Wanna know the first thing he asked me?
"Hey, do you know Chen Chin-Feng?",he asked.
"Nope",I said
"How about Tsao Chin-Hui? Hu Chin-Long? Kuo Hong-Chih?",he asked
"Nope,I don't know.Who are they?",I asked.
"Oh,they are all really famous Taiwanese baseball players that are in America right now.",he said.
"Oh...",I said.

He was super excited to talk to me about baseball,but I knew nothing about baseball at all at that time...well,I still don't know much about it...hahaha! I just think it's so funny and ever since then I've always remembered our first conversation on the phone and I'll definitely still remember for quite a long time. : )

Anyway,that's how I got the idea of getting him a Dodgers jacket and t-shirt for his birthday this year. From seeing the smile on his face when he opened his gift and saw the jacket,I knew I bought the right birthday gift...Happy Birthday Baobei!!! We love you!!! : )

Maybe the next thing he'll need is the ticket to the real Dodgers game in LA!!! That'll be awesome!!! : )

Later that night...

2008-01-11T01:10:00.001-08:00

Well,gotta take a picture with the Queen's Head...hee

Rainny standing inside this mini coffee cup that spins around and plays music after inserting coins(NT$20,about 60 cents)
A little father-and-daughter fun-
Adam and Rainny having fun driving this big dog inside Carrefour.

One Day Trip in Taipei County

2008-01-09T00:44:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday we made a one-day trip to Taipei County. Adam was very excited to use the GPS navigation system that we just bought the night before. Thanks to the advanced technology,we were able to find our destinations without having to pull over to stop people
and ask for directions for the very first time,which saved us a lot of hassles...
how come we didn't think of buying one before?...hahaha!
Our first stop was a mediterranean style hostel & cafe called "Ocean Breeze" located in Sanchih,a small town by the ocean. I remembered seeing pictures of this kind of place in a travel magazine before,but just couldn't remember the name. So, I searched on the internet and I found out there are actually several similar styles of this kind of mediterranean restaurants just in this area!

We took Rainny to see the gold fish before we ate,and she was very happy to see the "WATER" as usual. She tried very hard to put her feet in the water and we had to grab her really tight. : )

A close-up of Rainny!
Little sea shell decoration inside the restaurant

This interesting chair looks like it's made of coral reefs,but it's not...Rainny sitting on the chair
After a little tour around the restaurant,Adam and I got really hungry...Start digging in!
We ended up ordering the same food -chicken with rice. So yummy!
I think the best part about eating here is that not only can you see the ocean,but also you can hear the waves crashing onto the rocks. It was a very nice and quiet lunch since there were only a few customers there,probably because it's winter. But I bet this place will be overcrowded with lots of tourists in the summer.
After lunch,we took a stroll on the beach. The weather wasn't too bad that day but I just wish it wasn't so cloudy. Both the sky and the ocean looked gray. It would be a lot nicer if it was sunny...
Rainny kept raising her hands while we were holding her.
She likes to do her "reach for the sky" thing that Adam taught her.
Despite the big wind kept blowing on our face,she was still having a lot of fun doing that!
"Hurray for Rainny Bei!"
Few minutes later,Rainny didn't want us to hold her anymore.
We knew she wanted to come down and PLAY!!!
The second we put her down,she was going crazy running the sand through her fingers!
That was Rainny's first time playing on the beach and she really loved it! : )
Rainny probably doesn't understand what an ocean is,but she definitely knows that it's a big giant TUB!!! Hahaha...
Our next stop was Yeliou Geographic Park that was about 20 minutes drive from Sanchih. After getting in the entrance, it only took us about 5 minutes walk to get to the place where you can see lots of weird-shaped rocks. Thank goodness they have handicap access,so Adam and I didn't have to carry the stroller to climb all the stairs...haha!
We got a surprise visitor on the way to see the rocks! A globefish...Is that what it's called? It's the kind of fish that has spikes all over the body and it's poisonous. I've heard that Japanese like to eat it like sushi or sashimi? Is that right?

This fish got washed to the shore and a guy who walked by saw it and just picked it right up! It was my first time seeing this kind of fish alive. It was kinda interesting and...scary too! : pA very famous and must-see "Queen's Head"

Goodbye 2007! Hello 2008!

2007-12-31T00:30:00.000-08:00

How exciting! It's going to be 2008 in less 7 hours!!! I can't believe I'm writing my very last post for the 2007...hahaha

Happy New Year Everybody!!! : )

I don't really have any plans for celebrating the new year tonight. I guess going to Taipei 101 and shouting for the new year countdown with the crowd can be an option.But I'd rather stay home and watch the countdown and fireworks on TV because just thinking for the next 4 or 5 hours after the countdown,you'll be stuck in Taipei with the rest of hundreds of thousands of people there and can't move or go anywhere...that'd suck. And also, I think I'm getting too old for that,too...

I'm going to give Adam and Rainny a big HUG and KISSES tonight when the clock turns 12:00am. I guess that will be my way of celebrating the new year! Hahaha...^0^

Little Rainny Gone Wild...

2007-12-25T01:34:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday afternoon, we were taking some family pictures for Christmas outside the restaurant. Rainny was up first. We put her down on the grass (oh,she was so excited to get down)and she started playing and making faces. She was having so much fun! Then...

She started lifting up her dress...like this
Hahaha...Funny Rainny! : )

She put it down..
.
And,she lifted it up again...

And,she put it down again...
She did this for about 10 times I guess...heehee

Later after she got tired of playing with her dress,she moved on to her white boots...

Rainny looks like a Santa's little cheerleader
"Goooooooooo,Santa!"

After the boots,she found a dry leaf she can play with...
I guess Rainny always can find something she can play with : )

Merry Christmas!!!

2007-12-25T00:27:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

We're so blessed to have so many good friends and two really wonderful families in both Utah and Taiwan. Thank you so much for all of your love and care and friendship!
We love and miss each and every one of you!

Best wishes for all of you! : )

Heavenly Father gave Adam and I the best Christmas gift this year -Rainny!!!
We couldn't ask for a better gift. We're just so HAPPY and so BLESSED to have her join our little family and to spend this Christmas with her! She is such a joy! I can't imagine doing anything without her now... : )

I found this brand new Christmas outfit that comes with a hat,a dress,a diaper cover and a pair of white boots on the internet for a total of $8 US dollars. What a bargain! But the hat is a little bit too small for Rainny,so I made this Christmas Bow Band for her and it turns out great! It matches Rainny's Christmas outfit! : )

P.S. Let me know if anybody wants one for next year's Christmas! Hahaha...

Rainny's Christmas Gifts from Grandpa & Grandma Hislop! : )

2007-12-14T01:56:00.000-08:00

This morning Adam took Rainny outside for a walk. Minutes late, they came back with a BIG package from America! It's our Christmas gifts from Adam's parents! Yeahhhhh!!! We were so excited and can't wait to open the package to see what's in there...hee

Rainny was helping Daddy unwrap the package...

Hmmm...let ms see what gifts Grandpa and Grandma Hislop gave me: some OREO cookies,a stocking full of American snacks,Daddy's favorite sunflower seeds(Daddy was so thrilled to see this one...haha), a greeting card from everyone with Grandpa,Grandma,Angie and Ginger's signatures on it and lots more! Thank you so much for these wonderful gifts and all of your love!

" We miss and love you all so much!!! "

Now Mommy and Daddy finally have some cool gifts they can put under their 4' tall Christmas tree.I can't wait to open mine on Christmas day!!! : )

Funny Rainny clapping her hands!

2007-12-11T23:42:00.000-08:00

Rainny understands "clapping hands" in both Chinese and English! She's such a funny and happy baby in this video clip.

One of Rainny's favorite things to do recently is clapping her hands which she's just learned a couple days ago. Last week she started doing that a lot by hitting her two fists together.At first,Adam and I thought maybe she was doing some kind of signing like "ball" or "more" since we've been letting her watch the Signing Time DVDs. But the way she did it doesn't really look like she was doing either of the signs.

Rainny's little brain is like a sponge. I'm really surprised by how quick she learns new things. She is a fast learner! She started saying "Oh, (pause),oh" a month ago when Adam was trying to teach her to say that by saying "oh oh" and repeating that word whenever he dropped something. And she said "oh oh" the next day.

Rainny also understands a lot of the words we say to her now. When we tell her to give daddy or mommy a kiss,she would actually lean forward and open her mouth to give us a kiss. That really makes us laugh a lot! Haha! : )

I'm a GIRL! Not a BOY!

2007-11-26T08:22:00.000-08:00

I had lunch in our restaurant with my family today. A new waitress who saw me pushing Rainny in a stroller came up and asked me,"Is it a boy or girl?"... and I was like ???...kinda surprised that she'd still ask me that question when Rainny was wearing PINK from head to toe!!! I mean,Rainny was so PINK that she was PINK all over!!!

I paused for a few seconds before I said "Mmmm...she is a girl!"

Actually, this isn't the first time it happened. There were SO many times in Taiwan that I was asked the same question when Rainny was wearing pink. Some people here even asked me if Rainny was a "boy" when she was wearing a DRESS and a HEADBAND!

The funny thing is that I remembered one time somebody asked me if boys can wear headbands like Rainny's...hahaha! I said,"Probably not! But,if you want him to grow up to be a sissy,maybe you can give it a try...haha"

Sometimes I just don't get these people. Are they color-blinded or just being completely ignorant?...hee...just joking! :p

I guess wearing pink isn't that obvious enough to tell girls apart from boys...
And people would probably still think Rainny is a boy as long as she still has short hair...ha! -__-'''

More pictures of Rainny! : )

2007-11-15T23:20:00.000-08:00

Well, since I don't have much to write,I guess I can just put some funny pictures of Rainny on my blog...hahaha!

These pictures were taken over a week ago. One evening I was getting ready to do the laundry while Rainny was playing. As soon as she saw me putting down the laundry basket,she crawled over and wanted to climb up. So she pulled herself up to stand with both hands holding onto the side of the basket. Here she is...As I was watching her thinking what she was going to do next,she slowly let go one of her hands as if she was trying to touch or grab something on the floor...
She looked a little bit scared letting go of her hand. And of course,she wouldn't let go of both hands because she knew she'd fall...haha

Okay,she gave up...she went after Daddy's T-shirt instead! : )

Oh,oh,Rainny! You better not let Daddy find out...hee

" Send me to dry clean! "...hahaha...

I put little Rainny in the basket and she was so HAPPY! Looks like she liked it a lot...

Rainny on Baby & Mother magazine!

2007-11-04T22:33:00.000-08:00

More than a month ago, I emailed some pictures of Rainny to a very popular baby magazine in Taiwan called Baby & Mother magazine just for fun. The next day,a lady who writes articles for the magazine called and asked us if we'd be interested in putting Rainny's pictures on her upcoming article featured in the November issue. And of course,we said "Yes!" : )

A couple of days later,we headed to a professional kid's portrait studio in Taipei called "Pandora" for the photo shoot. People there were just as good at making babies laugh as those at Kiddie Kandids in America. Rainny had some fun and got all the attentions she wanted and she seemed to enjoy...well,at least for a little while...haha! She started getting tired and fussy towards the end of the photo shoot.(I'm glad that the photo shoot only lasted 2 hours and not 5 or 6 hours...that'd be really tough for Rainny).We didn't get paid for this photo shoot,but we got some free magazine and FREE family portraits instead! I guess that's a pretty good deal considering how much it'd cost you for a professional family portrait nowadays...hee.

I like this little green chair Rainny was sitting on. They have tons of other cute props in the studio...

Happy Halloween

2007-10-30T23:10:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween! Well,today is Halloween and it also means that I'm one year OLDER...yep,one year older...

We actually celebrated my birthday yesterday because Adam has to go to a church meeting tonight. Adam bought my favorite chocolate cake with hazelnuts on the top. The cake tastes sooooo delicious and yummy! Oh,so much better than those super sugary frosting cakes you buy at Wal-Mart and Albertsons...hee : )

If I can have as many wishes as I want,I'd probably only need one...
that is,"I wish all my dreams come true!"...hahaha! : )
I love my little family : )

Rainny is growing fast!

2007-10-29T20:25:00.000-07:00

It still amazes me how fast babies grow and how fast they learn. A month and a half ago when we moved to Taiwan,Rainny could barely sit up by herself and now she's crawling everywhere! And now she can even pull herself up to a standing position while holding onto the furniture!

Sometimes we'd put her in her crib and let her play with her toys,but she seems more interested in checking to see what's going on outside the crib. Adam and I like to watch her standing inside her crib with her little head looking out...we think that's so cute. : )

Adam bought this wig for Halloween.But when I first saw it,I thought it was a skunk.Haha! Adam decided to try it on Rainny and see what Rainny would react.The white hair is supposed to be in the front,but we both felt it looked weird that way.So we turned the wig...

There you go...Rainny with a big afro!!!
HAHAHAHAHA!!!...we both burst into laughter when we saw this picture.The look on Rainny's face is way too FUNNY! : )