Anthem

I rarely went to any collegiate games when I was in college. Maybe one CAL football game... I think.

This past week we went to a Stanford Women's Volleyball game. Yes... we went into enemy territory!

But it was for a very good cause. Our god-daughter, Mandy was singing the national anthem for the game! An opportunity of a lifetime for her that we just could not miss!

We even got VIP seating with free water bottles!

A first collegiate game for my girls too! Emily played girls volleyball in junior high but she said after watching this game it's nothing compared to college-level. They played like 'professionals' she said. AND the majority of the players were at least 6 feet tall! Did not know that height was important! If volleyballers were this tall, I wonder how tall their basketball players were.

Proud Uncle and cousins

Mandy hit it out of the ballpark! Or court that is..

Proud Mom and Dad

And the game was pretty good too! A nail biter against Arizona.. they lost 3-1.

Check out Mandy's vocals here below:

Happy 22nd Birthday to our Munchkin!!

 Does Uncle Gow Gow have 'enough' pictures with her?

College Rivals

No... not CAL vs Stanford or UCLA vs USC.. Those were the big rivals of my time.

Our friends, Greg & Carolyn and their family checking out 85C Bakery with us down in SoCal.

Now it's Biola vs Azuza Pacific University. Two big name Christian universities that many of my peers' kids choose to attend as their college of choice. Both are located in sunny hot (and trafficy) SoCAL. These Christian universities have been the college of choice over many UCs and CA State colleges.

BIOLA:Visiting Greg & Carolyn's son, Cory in his dorm suite (complete with bathroom & shower- door to the far right). This is his first year in college!

The draw is probably that you can actually get in! What a concept. To know that you would be accepted to a university if you meet the GPA and other college requirements. It isn't a shot in the dark...  even though you have a 4.5 GPA and 2300 SAT you may OR may not get into CAL or UCLA. You just don't know! How stressful is that!

Visiting Michael & Angela's 2nd daughter Jessie in her dorm room of 3 gals. This is her 2nd year at Biola.

Nowadays it is so difficult to get into any UC it is just ridiculous. When I was applying I knew that I was probably a shoe-in for UC Davis (even though I didn't want to live in cow country), or UC Santa Cruz (a podunk town at that time) but now those are not easy to get into either.

With Jessie and Cory at the Biola bookstore

But for Biola and APU, it's less stressful trying to get in and they even offer scholarships! Free money (what a concept)  if you have the grades and test scores! They offer smaller class sizes, direct communication with your professors and an abundance of opportunity to feel welcome and accepted with other brothers and sisters in Christ. Plus there is a good chance you'll graduate in 4 years!

APU: Visiting Michelle in her apartment (a rarity since she's been out of the country for a semester every year). This is Michelle's 4th and last year at APU!

Yes times have changed and I can't believe that the kids I taught in Sunday School or have seen grow up from the womb to an adult are in college now!

Visiting my goddaughter, Mandy in her apartment of 2 bedrooms and 5 girls at APU, her 2nd year.

And in a blink of an eye, my first born, my first baby, will also head off to college. But we have to tackle four years of high school first! I do have 4 more years! Whew!

NEXT UP: Clash of Cousins

Our "Practice-First" Graduated!

My goddaughter, Mandy, (aka nicknamed 'Munchkin' because she was so tiny when she was born) is now a grown 18-year old woman who graduated from Valley Christian High School (with honors) and will be entering Azuza Pacific University majoring in International Business.

She also received three scholarships from APU: an academic scholarship, multi-ethnic scholarship and music scholarship (she'll be singing in their gospel choir).

Mandy with her parents, Don & Cheryl and younger brother, Kyle

We are so proud!

Her VCHS Vocal Ensemble "Room 107" sang "I Believe" as a special music piece after the Welcoming address.

Mandy is third from the right

Mandy receiving her first APU sweatshirt from family friend, Ariana who also attends APU

Matthew and I are so proud and thrilled for her! (Her parents are also pretty thrilled with her achievements)

For the record, she is NOT taller than me. She was wearing 4 inch heels!

Mandy was such a tiny little girl.
Right after Mandy was born, her parents were doing some estate planning (putting together their living trust) and they asked Matthew and I to be her guardians (if anything happened to the both of them) and godparents. So if anything happened to them when Mandy was young,  we would be Mandy's guardian. We would be responsible for raising her and care for her as if she was our own child.

Wow.. what a privilege, honor and HUGE responsibility! We didn't have kids at the time and was just newly married! So we took our new titles seriously and proceeded to spend as much time with Mandy as possible so she would love us as much as we loved her! (We also did the same with her brother, Kyle (aka nicknamed Big Fella because he was huge when he was born)).

She was kind of our first 'practice' child.

We even took formal portraits with her.

We also took into account the importance of being a godparent. Godparent is defined in the dictionary as "a person who promises to help teach and guide someone in religious matters as part of a Christian baptism ceremony."

Although Mandy was not baptized when she was an infant rather she accepted Jesus in her heart when she was little and proceeded to grow in her relationship with Jesus from church and school activities along with being involved in Christian youth groups. She got baptized in 2007 when she (not her parents) decided it was time for her to publicly share her love for our Savior.

Now as godparents we are supposed to provide spiritual guidance for her but thankfully our job was not too hard since her parents took care of that aspect of her upbringing... as they should. I mean they are her parents. But we were always available to talk with her whenever a need arises when she might not want to go to her parents first.

Basically Matthew and I are another set of adult mentors who love her unconditionally and are available for her at anytime with full confidence and confidentiality. That to us is how we godparent Mandy and Kyle... being another set of parents to go to when needed. More importantly, we pray for her regularly that she continues to seek the Lord in all aspects of her life: make wise decisions, learn and grow from her mistakes, and surround herself with good and faithful friends.

Wouldn't you want your kids to go to someone you trust and respect if they didn't want to go to you first with a concern or need?

She's 18!

My little Munchkin is a legal adult!

It was just yesterday that we celebrated her 1st birthday!

This picture was in one of our very first Christmas newsletters.

Now she just celebrated her 18th!

Is Kyle really that much taller than her? He really is a 'Big Fella'!

She is a great playmate and babysitter for the girls...

Here she is with all but one of her girl cousins...next year she will head off to college..
Sigh... they grow up so fast and I'm tearing up as I write this. I am so very very proud of my goddaughter who has become a young lady who loves God. I  know that He has great plans for her future!

Time Sure Flies

I have a younger sister and younger brother. When we were growing up, we hung out with our cousins from my dad's side of the family (our Aunt D.). For many years we spent every weekend at their house. Together, we were three girls and three boys. Kind of like the brady bunch. But asian. No housekeeper but we had an influential grandma who knew how to make delicious spaghetti sauce!

Fast-forward thirty years. Five of us had kids.
We had 1 girl and 1 boy; 1 girl and 1 boy; 2 girls; 2 girls; and 3 boys.
With everyone's busy schedules, it's hard to have quality time together. It's usually during celebrations or holidays that we see each other.

March 2005

Recently, we celebrated my cousin C.'s daughter,  Mandy's birthday. She is the oldest out of all the cousin's kids. She will pave the way for all of our kids: first to get her driver's license; graduate from high school; graduate from college; get a job; get married; maybe even have kids. (No pressure! :)

November 2011

Our goddaughter,  little Munchkin turned 17 TODAY! She was so tiny when she was born!

She is six years older than Emily and nine years older than Hannah. When Emily is 17, Mandy would have probably finished college. When Hannah is 17, Mandy might be engaged (at least that was the age when her mom was engaged).

 Wow.. time sure flies!

Our Munchkin

This June many family & friends graduated and I plan to blog about the ones I attended. One of them was my godson, Kyle. Now I couldn't blog about him graduating and leave out his big sis, Mandy. So here is Mandy graduating 8th grade in 2009.  (I told you these are old.. but I hope you'll still enjoy them.) We nicknamed her Munchkin because she was a tiny little baby when she was born. She was the first baby we babysat, fed, changed diapers, and had stay overnight. Let's say she was great practice! 

Written on June 11, 2009

Our little goddaughter.. was literally our 'first' child (before we had Emily). She was a precocious little entertainer that could steal your hearts.

Now as she graduates from Milpitas Christian School.. she heads off to the scary unknown.. HIGH SCHOOL at Valley Christian!

She was the Student Body President and the only student to give a speech that day.. an inspirational one that made Auntie cry. She also sang a special song with some friends. And of course she received plenty of awards.. one specific one that recognizes all her work in the community and beyond. She does have a servant's heart.

It was a beautiful graduation. The special speaker was Pastor Jeff from Inroads Church. He is also the father of one of Emily's classmates. Small world huh! He gave an inspirational message to the students regarding their 'whatever' attitude. He says that this generation of kids have a tendency to say 'whatever' to whatever comes their way in life... Pastor Jeff reminds them that to God 'whatever' is not a good enough answer or attitude.. in fact Christ says, that you can do 'whatever' if it's "whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him" and "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,." Colossians 3:17, 23. I loved that message.. we should all heed Christ's words.

Just wanted to share how proud we are of our little Munchkin. Auntie and Uncle love her very much!

Our first portrait

First Day of School

At 8th Grade Graduation

Giving the commencement speech

With a proud Uncle

With her cousins

With proud Auntie and Mom