A few years ago when Ricky got his first iphone, he asked me if I wanted one. I told him, “Neh…a cell phone is for calling and my phone can do just that. I don’t need a fancy one.” Now that I have an iphone for quite some time, I don’t think I can live without it. Oh well…let’s just say life is not the same without it. And I bet it holds true for you with the phone that you have.  My iphone wakes me up at different times on different days of the week. It’s my karaoke when I’m in the shower. It has a timer I can use to dye my hair, or time out the kids. When I’m driving, I record voice memos when a thought pops up. It is my to-do list, appointment book, weather channel, radio station, GPS, bible, babysitter, and it doesn’t end here.

Let me clarify that I’m NOT an Apple worshiper, but I think to some extend, a lot of people think of God like the way I thought of an iphone in the beginning. They’re totally happy and satisfy with their lives. They don’t feel that they need Jesus. Heaven is a luxury that is un…necessary. But I really want to tell those people that once we have decided to let Jesus into our lives, He will do wonderful things that we have never imagined. When we look back, we would only say, “Why didn’t I know him earlier?”

I’m sure that some day, the iphone will be replaced by another gadget that is more powerful. But God is irreplaceable. He lives and reigns forever.

Ricky and I shot a wedding in New York for our friend Ivan two years ago.  And guess what? Ivan’s little sister was getting married in Napa Valley last week. We had the honor of documenting her wedding in the beautiful wine country.

There was an incident the day before the wedding. I strained my upper back and couldn’t bend down or it would hurt. Praise God who listens to prayers. A Chinese bandage from Ivan’s mom and two hot baths rescued me. My back got much better the next day. Whew! That was pretty scary.

Although we are not a big fan of alcohol, we couldn’t resist sipping a glass of complimentary red wine from our hotel room. We walked around the area and visited the Robert Mondavi Winery. Then we enjoyed a great reunion lunch with Ivan and his family at Brix. Sitting on the patio in front of a vineyard and eating fresh salads that grew out of their garden were some quite unique experiences.

Ivan and Sylvia quickly expanded their family…

This little guy loves food as much as his parents do. It was understandable that he yelled for the lemon tart. I totally would too!

Ending our trip with a happy picture in front of the vineyard…

They were saying, “Shhhhhhhh….we have to be quiet inside the library.”

After watching videos of tsunami in Japan, I didn’t want to post these photos of our vacation by the sea. I hated the sea. It’s a mass murderer. But I finally got over these thoughts because when God created the world, everything was beautiful. It was us, human who fell and changed the way we have to live. Natural disasters are reminders that the Creator is in control, and that we do not own a piece of this world, or ourselves. How we are spending our time on earth is way more important than how much time we are spending here. So I should not blame the sea.

Now back to my Mexico post. We visited two ports on our Disney cruise, one day in Puerto Vallarta and one and a half days in Cabo San Lucas. Ricky and I went on shore at Puerto Vallarta and on the first day at Cabo San Lucas with0ut the kids. We knew they would have more fun with Mickey and Minnie on the ship than with us.

We took a cab to down town Puerto Vallarta and browsed some shops. We’ve only spent a couple hours there walking around at the pier.

The next day, we had a bit more fun at Cabo. It was my second time visiting Cabo and my jaw still dropped for its beauty. Last time we went, I was pregnant with Christian so I wasn’t able to do much besides taking photos of the landscape and my big tummy.  This time we went for horseback riding, and were so glad we did. We started off at a ranch and rode through a dry riverbed with a wild desert scenery. Then we arrived at a private beach fronting the pacific ocean and continued jogging in the surf. It was heaven! Snapping shots on a horseback was more difficult than I thought. What an accomplishment that we didn’t drop our camera!

Meet Tofu and Buzz…

The second day in Cabo, we brought Christian and Annabelle along. We took a glass bottom boat to the Lover’s beach. I think we need to take them to the California beaches more often. They acted like they hadn’t seen sand before! It was a great trip overall.

This was the best family picture we could get. Someone was acting up…

Getting back to reality after a week on the Disney cruise is no easy feat. Annabelle and Christian had a great time every day at the Oceaneer’s’ Club, so Ricky and I can sit by the pool, play table tennis, or sleep back what we didn’t in the past month. We called this a pig’s life: eat, sleep, eat, sleep. To me, this is how a true vacation should be. So for all of us, the week went by as magically as ever.

I went on another cruise a few years a ago and I don’t think a Disney cruise is ever the same. It’s the Disney experience and the environment they’ve created that make me forget about my worries from the real world. The Disney brand makes us start to believe that fairy tales could be real, and dreams can come true, IF you believe in it. All you need is to have faith, trust, and a little pixie dust.

This post is overloaded with photos of our piggy lives on the ship. The only regret we have on this cruise? We never hit the gym. We made a tour to the gym and promised the front desk guy we would see him the next morning. SORRY! We lied. You might have seen a pig lie, but not one who exercise.

Kids program on the 1st day at the Oceaneer Club. There are 55 youth counselors on board to entertain and take care of the kids.

How many entrees from each course should I choose this time?

One of the most anticipated events on the cruise is their award winning shows almost every night. Even Christian couldn’t stop saying from the time he woke up each day, “I wanna watch a show.” These shows were breathtaking!

We got up too late for breakfast in the formal dining rooms, but breakfast on the deck under morning sun is even nicer.

His morning devotion…but with the ear plugs?

“Guess what? I kissed Snow White!”

We saw a whale spraying water in the sea when we were eating lunch by the pool.

We had a nice dinner at Palo, the 5-star adult only restaurant on the ship.

You can tell I was so stuffed and about to puke…

Watching Toy Story 3 on 3-D. Wasn’t it enough to watch it every day at home?

This was my favorite scene at the Toy Story Musical show…

On our way to Animator’s Palate, the coolest restaurant on the cruise.

We learned to draw Goofy at a workshop…

The fatty Goofy by Ricky…

And the skinny Goofy by me. I swear this was the best picture I’ve drawn in my life…

The Toy Story Boot Camp…

Christian decided to “standout” from the crowd during the parachute game…

Coming up…more photos from our cruise trip. We’ll go on shore this time. Stay tuned!

I should be so grateful that I live in a community that is surrounded by parks. We are certainly not taking enough advantage of them. It’s nice to spend a few hours as a family at the park. We grabbed some pizza and watched the kids played under the cozy winter sun. Life is good.

There are things in life that I feel should be documented or they will be lost in space forever, especially when they are proud moments like these:

• Christian knows he’s hungry and was clearly communicating it. We went to Las Vegas for a short vacation trip after Christmas. There were long, and I mean long, buffet lines everywhere. We spent 2 hours stopping a few stops, walking a few miles, just to hunt for no-line food. And of course, our mission failed. So Christian finally told us, “My tummy is calling me…EAT!”

• I have 8 single socks in my drawer. Gotta love it! I’m so excited to start my own collection of LittleMisMatched.

• This month, I can just walk out to my back yard and pick some sweet and juicy organic oranges when we’re out of fruits. After bearing zero fruit last year, our orange tree is finally growing oranges again. Thanks to my mom and dad who helped take care of it. I’m proud of them!

Fever. Chills. Sore bones. Runny nose. Cough. This is how my family started our new year. We were attacked by the RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus). All four of us.

When it comes to sickness, my family is very united. One gets sick, the rest of us follow. Here’s why. Whenever Ricky or I hold our kids, they cough right into our mouths as we talk, with 100% accuracy. As if they want to say, “Mom and dad, don’t go blah, blah, blah again next time or you will pay the prize.” They also exchange cups and sip on each others’ drink behind our backs. Help!!

I’m not sure where to begin. But ah, 2010…one of the hardest, best years. This is the year that I began the real adventure to my dream. The year that I realized I’m strong enough to stand if I first kneel on my knees. I have gained some incredible memories and friendships. I’ve grown from not so much of a people person, to one who truly enjoy making friends. These experiences have prepared me for bigger things that God has in store for me and in ways that I can serve Him. All in the past 12 months.

There are new and exciting things that I plan on doing next year. But I guess I won’t be so stubborn about meeting my goals. My mindset has changed. Now it’s all about following God’s lead and recalibrating if I start to get off track. I’m excited about 2011. Are you?

A big thank you to all my 2010 clients. Each one of you are so special to me. You made my year 2010 a remarkably thrilling year. Love you all!

Ricky asked me what I wanted for Christmas. So I compiled the following wish list:

1. Organize my garage -When we first moved into our house, we placed storage boxes and scattered items randomly in the garage TEMPORARILY. Three and a half years later today, those things are still in the same spot.

2. Watch a movie with Ricky from start to finish – If we watch a movie at night after the kids are asleep, I’m usually so tired that I will always fall asleep half way. I can name a number of movies that I don’t know the ending, not because they’re bad.

3. Teach Annabelle how to knit – I learned to knit and embroider at a young age. Even though I did not get really good at it, I think somehow it trained me to become a focused person. I strongly believe that the ability to stay focused is one of the key ingredients to success. A coach will tell athletes that in order to win,  they have to stay focused in every second. Perhaps I should think about teaching Christian how to knit as well.

4. Travel to Europe – Unless you already live in Europe, who doesn’t want to put this on their wish list?

5. Attend a couple’s treat – Ricky and I get so bogged down with our day to day tasks, managing our work and businesses, or just surviving our days, that we rarely have the time to set our eyes on each other and renew our love.

6. Take a Zumba class – I seriously need more exercises than moving my wrist and fingers on the keyboard and mouse.

After reading the above list over again, I feel like I’m doing a post on new year’s resolution. But I’ve decided to keep these on a wish list because new year resolution is not about setting unrealistic goals.

Merry Christmas!