You know how sometimes you see someone and they have everything nice to write about in their lives and you think wow they have it perfect. In reality when you take the in between chapters of their lives and you see all the trials and tears they shed, you realize no one has it perfect, even if they appear to have everything in their lives. April was a bit sad for me, not because I turned 32 but because I lost another grandma, only 7 months after I lost my other grandma. My grandmas were friends. When I visited my paternal grandma after my maternal grandmother's death, my ba Noi expressed to me that she wished she had left with my Ba Ngoai. She was done living. She was ready to embrace death and free her spirit of the prison that has held her for the last several years. Our family is sad but we know she's in a better place now and no longer suffering from all the illnesses of old age, including being paralyzed for the last 2 years. Her spirit is free and no longer trapped in an immobile body. She is now reunited with her family, of which are her 5 children she lost during the war. We will miss you Ba Noi. What a woman! Any woman who bore 9 children is my hero.
Another thought worth mentioning for April was the news I received from one of my good friends from college. She was diagnosed with stage 3 malignant melanoma. I was very sad to hear this news. She is the girl I thought had everything perfect in her life. She is sweet, friendly, fun to be around with, has 4 beautiful children, gorgeous husband, beautiful home that she decorated so absolutely beautiful, and her closet, I love everything in it! She has a warm personality and everything you would covet if that is not sinful. Yet she compliments me and thinks I have it all and everything I described about her above she describes about me and I feel unworthy to accept any of those compliments. But trials are trials and everyone has them. She is a strong woman and I know she will be fine, but for now this is a trial. I visited the temple and prayed for my grandma's family and for her. I felt peaceful after leaving the temple. I know in the end things will be ok. Our trials make us stronger and help us learn so much more. I try praying that I will learn from other's trials and appreciate every moment life brings us.
On a brighter note, my birthday came. I wasn't as thrilled to turn 32 but eh, I'm still a few years away from 35. I tried to find some happiness in that. Dan gave me a whole new closet of clothes, my friends brought me flowers and took me out to eat my favorite meal of Pho. Cupcakes and ice cream, lots of celebrations throughout the day.
The flowers made for a colorful decoration for Easter, which brought our cousins over to our house for a filling dinner/sleepover. The girls looked forward to it very much and had a blast. I made the main dish and some Resurrection rolls and there were some amazing pies and desserts the cousins brought over. I put together about 60 eggs and and some had spiritual messages inside for the kids to find around the yard and we read the Easter messages together after the kids found their chocolate filled eggs.
Shelly and I brought the girls to the mudhouse for some pottery activity the next day after everyone stayed up 'til midnight to talk. The girls enjoyed being with their girl cousins very much
It's been a couple of years since we were here last, but Mt Vernon Tullips Festival, about an hour from our house, always takes me breath away. The kids and I took off one week day and enjoyed walking around the tulips field, feeling a bit like we were visiting the Netherlands. We chose a different field from the last time. There are several fields and they're all beautiful.
Ronin's corner
Ronin was a very easy baby, he got hard around 9 months when he became super mobile, but lately he has been so much easier to watch. Either I'm getting smarter or he is better at navigating around and keeping himself entertained. He enjoys the slides, swings, going to pick up his sisters from school, making impressive block structures, and absolutely loves trucks, cars,trains, and airplanes. What a boy!
He became official to attend nursery this month. He has been in there since I'm the nursery music person and from the two nurseries we have I'm in there almost all the time with him, with the exception of when I leave him to go to do music for a half an hour with the Senior nursery. He does a great job even when I leave, with only the occasional short fusses he gives out when I step out but soon after just goes back to playing. He knows to pull a "cheese" for pictures. I took pictures of the nursery kids and made cute pictures for them to hang on the board. He is proud to put his up every time!
Reena's school PTSA put together a cultural event for the school. It had booths from many many countries and dances and songs. I volunteered to do Vietnam. The kids got to help by dressing up and they had fun going to the different booths and learning some words from different languages and getting treats from different countries as well as having their passports stamped.
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