Sis Visit Part 2

Jen here. Here are several photos from Sarah's visit. Enjoy!

The Fremont troll! You can't see it, but the troll is holding a real VW Beetle in his left hand. (Those people are sitting on the troll's right hand!)

The view from the Space Needle is awesome--downtown Seattle, the Puget Sound, the Olympic mountain range, the Cascade mountain range and Bellevue (see the skyscrapers in the distance).

I introduced Sarah to Bubble Tea and a little shop I frequent to speak a little Cantonese to the owners and buy my beloved bubble tea. She got a fruit smoothie with mango jelly (similar to jello) in it...I got honey green tea with bubbles. Yum!

On the weekend, Dan, Sarah, Roy and I took a hike on Mountain Loop Highway--Heather Lake. The last 0.5 mile was snow covered and there was an "aggressive mist" for most of the hike, but it was a blast! As you can see in the photo, we looked like drowned rats, but God's creation is totally worth it. Roy and I had (hiking) sandals on so our feet thanked us as we left the snow area. :)

Roy, Sarah and I went hiking at Mount Rainier. This was in June, which some in Seattle call June-uary, and this year the snow melt is especially slow, so most hiking trails were super snow-covered (one particular area we wanted to go to was covered in 20 feet of snow!). We were able to hike a lower trail and enjoy the green and pines of the Pacific Northwest, and experience a little snow on the ground. Fun!

What a joy it was to have Sarah visit. Thank you!

My Sister's Visit!

Jen here. My sister Sarah decided to come visit us for a week. She got permission from my parents and paid for the tickets on her own. Wow, she loves us. :)

She split her time between Roy and me, and my brother and his wife. I was able to take a day off work (my last week of work until the fall!) so Sarah and I could be tourists. I stayed up late deciding what to do and early in the morn we headed out.

The plan: kayak Lake Union, stay clam at Ivar's, Space Needle and possibly the Underground Tour. Tourists in Seattle. :)

Roy and I kayaked through NWOC the summer before we left for Hong Kong, so I decided to rent our kayaks from the same place. We arrived at 9:30am and they opened at 10am, so we had plenty of time to get ready. :)

Our double kayak served us well. If one of us was tired, the other could paddle and keep us going. And boy, we both got tired so fast! In looking through Sarah's pictures (I didn't take my camera for fear of ruining it) it appears that I paddled most of the time and Sarah just took pictures of us. Haha...it is somewhat true.

The house boats (is that what they are called?) interested us right away. They literally are houses floating on the water. Wow. NWOC asked us to stay at least 20 feet away from the house boats so as to respect the privacy of the "house boat dwellers" (they sound kind of scary to me). It's so hard to stay 20 feet away when one wants to see the houses and also is being moved by the waves. :) Sarah kept reminding me to steer away from the boats (my kayak seat had steering pedals connected to an udder). It was fascinating how there were little neighborhoods of house boats. Similar to in a city, the houses were next to each other with space between for a boat dock (driveway) and were in rows separated by larger stretches of water (roads).

Our kayak journey began in Lake Union, a small lake in Seattle with a view of the Seattle skyline (see photo--the space needle is just to the left of Sarah's head). We paddled west through Portage Bay to Union Bay which is just off Lake Washington near to the University of Washington. We saw several sea planes take off and land, the duck boat tours go by multiple times and artists perched on the shore painting landscapes.

Sarah had a blast and took many pictures. My face got fried because I did not bring sunscreen or a hat! And both of our arms were so tired. Once we made it to Union Bay I seriously wanted to ask one of the leisure boaters if they could tow us back to NWOC. Ha! We stuck it out and paddled back. All in all we spent about 2 or 3 hours on the water. Sweet!

Family!

Jen here. My family came to visit!! I am so excited and have been for about a month. :)

Dad and Mom got a hotel; we invited Sarah to come stay with us at our house! They are only here for a few days. I will try to post some photos of the visit.

Here is my sister on an early morning walk. It is so beautiful here!

More to come later. :)

Thanksgiving!

Jen here. Thanksgiving 2010 was not what we planned, but it was grand. :) We had been planning for months to visit Roy's sister and family in the southeastern US for Thanksgiving because it had been about 1.5 years since we saw them last (before HK). But as time got closer, our funds and the plane prices weren't lining up. Plus, Thanksgiving isn't exactly a long holiday off work. So we ended up staying in Seattle and our good friends Scott and Jill invited us to join them for a large feast!

All in all they had about 16 people in their welcoming home for a delicious meal. Friends, family of friends, friends of friends. It was a great time. Scott and Jill are like family to us...we feel so comfortable around them and in their home. They invited us to stay the night before and after thanksgiving, which made us feel even MORE like family! :) And God added blessing upon blessing by giving us snow over the holiday...so it really felt like a holiday! Yay!

The day before and day of we helped them set everything up, including two themed tables to go along with their dishes. One table was "the blue table" and had blue and white plates, a cheese pumpkin for decoration and blue/green/tan place mats. But my favorite table was "the cow table" and well, you can check out the picture to see why it was so named. Look at the white cow creamer with flowers in it! Cute!

The next day we planned to have a post-Thanksgiving dinner with a few new friends from church at our home. We made a splendid meal of ham, potatoes, etc...and enjoyed another day of feasting, games and talking. Ahh...it was grand. :)

That weekend my brother Dan and his friend Daniel ran in a 5K in Seattle, so we had them (even Christie and Baby E) over for lunch, games and even a bit of time in the sauna. Daniel has ways of tricking the thermostat in the sauna so that it heats to his desired (really hot) temperature. Later on there was a brief shopping run, during which Baby E napped and woke up...and this is how we entertained her.

Uh, yes that would be a metal mixing bowl with a glass jar in it. Baby E LOVED it. She was ecstatic--smiling, giggling, grabbing the bowl and looking into it nonstop for at least 20 minutes. So adorable. We think she loved seeing all the reflections of the ceiling lights in the bowl...plus when you tipped the bowl, the glass jar made a cool sound. After a while, we turned the bowl over and it became a drum! Good times.

Almasy Fam arrives

Jen here. Roy's theory seems to be true. His theory of Familial Gravity. The more family living in a certain area, the stronger the pull is to bring more family to that area. :) Dan was the first. Then Christie. Then Roy and me. And now Dale. Yay!

Dale arrived in Seattle near the end of October. We are so glad he decided to move out here and know that God is using it for good for him. Dale is renting the house with us (and one other housemate), and it is nice to have him around. He is friendly and fun and I know Roy enjoys having family near. Dale was able to get a job working for the same company we all do and has

really taken to coaching students in Chess and helping out in the office with IT.

A few weeks after Dale arrived, Mom and Dad Almasy graciously drove Dale's packed truck from Michigan to Washington. The drove at a pretty quick pace, but were able to stay for about a week. We loved it!

We all still had work while they visited but tried to squeeze in as much as we could. And while we were at work, Mom and Dad transformed our landscaping, weeded gardens and cleaned up the garage. I was amazed at all the work they did. Thank you, Mom and Dad! :) What a blessing it was to have them...and not just for the work. :) We loved their company.

One morning, Mom, Dad and I went to the REI in Seattle. Another morning Mom and I went to Pike's Place Market in downtown Seattle. That weekend before they headed home, we went for an AMAZING hike in God's creation--at Mt. Rainier. I cannot praise God enough for His beautiful creation...especially with Mt. Rainier in front of me. Wow.

Thanks, Mom and Dad, for coming to visit!!

Michigan!

Jen here. And after a week of waiting and hanging with the Ellis family, Roy arrived in the good ol' USA. Yay! We spent a few days with the Ellis' and then were picked up by Roy's dad and our good friend Elliot and we headed up to Michigan. Roy and I had been planning for a few months what we might do with family during our short visit to the Midwest. it had been over a year since we had seen any of them (except Roy's Mom)! (Isn't Roy so handsome? I had to post this pic.)
We decided we wanted to go camping. We planned and Dad Almasy generously gave us and bought us equipment, and we set out. Wilson State Park near Harrison, Michigan was our destination. It was a few hours from Flint, but not too far, and it was close to Mom Almasy's family. Dale, Roy and I set out one evening and Mom and Dad met us there the next day where we camped for an additional night.
This was our first time camping together! Had to get a photo for the scrapbook (or blog)!Here's the tent Dad Almasy bought for us. Our first tent. We have many plans for this tent. It will be well-used.

Dad Almasy had some "hobo pie" irons which we used to make, um, hobo pies. At Girl Scout camp we called them pie irons but I like the fun name. We ate many a hobo pie. Pizza, breakfast, dessert. Mmm... I forgot how much I missed smelling the smoke of an open fire and cooking over it.

We learned how to play Chinese chess and brought the game back with us. Roy taught Dad how to play and beat him (Roy always wins!). Then I played Dad and thought, ha, I'll probably win. After all, I do play against Roy and sometimes I even give Roy a hard time to win. We played and Dad beat me in about four moves. WHAT? Time for some humility, Jenny.

Good photo of Dale, eh? I believe he's enjoying a rice meal of sorts. All parties (Dad, Dale and Roy) got to break out and use camping items they haven't used in years. Even though we only camped for two nights and two days, we went all out. If you saw our camp, you would have thought we were going to camp until the fair (which was two weeks away and right across the street). Everytime we visit the Almasy's in the summer, it's blueberry season. And it was again this time. We got up early one morning and picked away...picking some 36 pounds of blueberries, or was it 50? Either way, it was a lot!
The conclusion of our trip was the retirement party of Roy's high school chess coach and good friend, Mike Skidmore. Roy wanted to make it to the party, but we weren't sure if he could because of work. Once we found out he was able, we didn't let Skid know because we wanted it to be a surprise. Boy, was he surprised and so happy that Roy was able to make it. Throughout the day there were tons of people who dropped by. Skid worked for Kearsley for 37 years before retiring. Wow! At the party, I was asked to be the impromptu photographer of all guests so Mike could see who all came. Roy played lots of Chess and caught up with all the Chess alum that were able to make it. It was a fun time; we were so glad we made it. :)

Ohio!

Jen here. I have many photos to post to summarize our past few months being back in the states. I'll try not to skip too much, or to talk too much. Enjoy. :)
I flew back from Hong Kong earlier than Roy for one reason--PARTY! My family sneakily organized a surprise 60th anniversary party for my grandparents. When I say family, I mean FAMILY. All of them. My parents, aunts and uncles came up with the idea several months ago when they were all brought together for a funeral. The story is that Dad volunteered the farm and the planning began. It was super secret and super amazing. I cry just thinking about it (Yes, even now).
Grandma and grandpa were brought to tears by all the people who came (even some of their siblings whom they hadn't seen for decades) and all the effort given for a wonderful weekend-long open-house celebration. The M&M's were perfect and delicious. Check out grandpa and grandma's wedding photo etched onto the M&M's! It was a blast.
All of our cousins came and people flew in from all over the states (and me from HK!) and we just sat outside in lawn chairs, chatted, ate hotdogs and burgers and had a great time. One of my favorite parts about it was seeing my nieces and nephew. Oh how I've missed seeing these little ones growing up--and now I get to see them all at once(all the Ellis ones, not the Almasy ones)! In this photo, little JoJo is experimenting with (his great-)great Aunt Laura's hairbrush as she laughs. I took every chance I could to walk Jo Jo around the farm, going to see the "baa" or the "cok cok" (sheep and chickens).
And here's the newest niece in the family--little Eowyn Lynn! Dan and Christie had Eowyn in April, so this was the first time I got to meet her. I delightedly volunteered to bounce her and hold her while she napped. She's an adorable cowgirl! As mentioned earlier, we had lots of good cook-out food, and got to spend lots of time with cousins. Here's Corrie and her boyfriend.
My cousin Brian spotted Dad's tractor in the shop and asked a few people if they thought Dad would teach him how to drive it. Uh yeah, actually I bet Dad would love to! And thus began the first of many tractor driving lessons. First Brian, then anyone else who wanted to learn! It was quite comical. The tractor has A/C but lest you think it's new, look for the CD player and you'll find an 8-track player. Wow. I saw some 8-tracks in the house and was really confused. What in the world are these giant cassette tapes? I thought. Weird. Oh, they're for the tractor. Ha.
You can't have a two-day open house party without having a few country games--hillbilly golf and of course corn hole. Oh yeah! Cousin Stephanie played hillbilly golf with Noelle. :)Saturday was the day when everyone was present who was going to be present, therefore we took family photos. The same couple who shot Mom and Dad's wedding (and various other weddings of my family members) shot family/group photos of everyone and anyone for free. Hooray! If only Roy was there... :( He still had one more week of work to complete before he could leave HK. BTW, isn't Dad and Mom's house looking sweet? They blasted the white paint off the bricks, Uncle Mike made and panted new shutters and it was a wonderful background for the family photos. Lookin sharp!
Here's the Ellis family photo (except for my Ishi Roy!). 3 grandkids so far...I hope there will be many more! :) Noelle was so cute, she would say "Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese" until she knew the picture had been taken, which was hilarious and caused everyone to laugh and smile, hence our smiles. Ha. :)Hmm...looks familiar...except I think I like this version better (they're smiling)!

Games with Mom

Jen here. Mom left over a month ago, but I still want to write more about her stay. :) We so enjoyed having company; Mom was a little taste of home and familiarity.

Roy and I wanted to have Mom's stay be similar to a holiday celebration. We'd have lots of snacks around, lounge on the couch, talk and play games. So we did. We played many a Scrabble game and a few other choice games as well (Rummikub, Pounce, Chinese Chess). Check out our travel-size Scrabble board in the photo. Also, notice the yellow chess clock on the side? Yeah, we used it to ensure I would not take hours to make my next word...It was needed.








Another fun aspect of Mom's visit was that she got to see our everyday life. Roy and I still had Chess classes to teach and our normal life happening, so Mom got to experience that. We made sure to take a few rides on the tram and walk along the streets of the less-touristy HK. Here's a bike Mom shot a photo of...we see these all the time. Did you know this bike can carry three propane tanks? Yes, one hanging on each side of the rear tire and one in the front basket? Interesting way to transport propane tanks, eh?










Roy often mentions the unique blend of new world and old world ways in HK. They have trucks, cars, cranes, construction equipment, etc...but in order to transport bricks up the large set of steps by our apartment, they put them in baskets, hang two baskets on a stick that is put over their shoulders and then haul them up the steps two at a time. They do this all the time (not just with bricks). One evening, Roy had two bags packed full of chess sets, a printer, chess clocks, etc...and he had to bring them home (and this route entails many steps). So, he borrowed one of the bamboo sticks that the workers used to carry the bags up to our apartment. I didn't know about this until the next day when Roy said he needed to return it. We snapped a picture then. Enjoy!

Visitor!

Jen here. We had a visitor in Hong Kong! Roy's mom stayed with us for about 11 days and we had such a great time! I'll detail her stay over multiple posts. Enjoy!

Mom arrived late Friday night (April 9). The next day we headed to Repulse Bay and Stanley Market for a small tourist experience. Stanley Market is a normal touristy market--lots of shops with nicknacks, chopsticks, Hong Kong souvenirs, shoes, clothing, scarves, etc. It is usually crowded, especially on a Saturday. We looked in many of the shops, but nothing jumped out at us. None of us are big spenders.

We stopped off at Repulse Bay Beach on our way home (Mom got to ride her first mini bus to the beach) and took photos, etc. I love seeing even just a little bit of nature. It's so rare to me...last year in Seattle, I saw the gorgeous mountains everyday on my way to work...and frequently watched the sun set on the ocean. Ahh... But this year, I have to put forth more effort to admire God's creation (the nature part). Repulse Bay is a little snapshot of that.

After our beach extravaganza, we crossed the street and visited our much-loved Marketplace at Jasons (a grocery store). The Marketplace is reasonably priced and has more western foods than our local Park N Shop. We showed Mom the different food options (including shelf milk, dried seafood soup packets, etc) and did a little shopping ourselves and then headed home.

It was so nice to have family visit. :)