A Family Tradition

For many years, the entire Hong family (my mom's side of the family) has gathered together each year to celebrate Thanksgiving. The number of people gathered has increased by leaps and bounds over the years. Of the seven children my grandparents had, five of them and their families live in either Orange County or LA County. This year, we reached an all time high of 53 people.

Most of my cousins are married, yet they still manage to go to their in-laws' Thanksgiving celebrations earlier in the day or even on Friday. Whatever the arrangement is, everyone makes it to the Hong family dinner. Thanksgiving is the only time I get to see some of my cousins. It's great to catch up with them and it's always a challenge to recall all of the little ones' names. They change so much -- it's hard to recognize them!

Last year, Derek and I celebrated Thanksgiving in Arizona with his Mom, Uncle David and Aunt Penny. This year, Derek's mom flew out to join us for Thanksgiving. We thought about going back out to Arizona again this year, but just starting my 37th week of pregnancy, I was advised by my doctor to stay close to home. It was great for me to be with my family and with Derek's mom.



This year we had dinner at David and Amy's house. It's probably the only home now that can fit us all in comfortably. As usual, it's a great big potluck with turkey, ham and all the fixings. I made creme brulee and pot de creme for dessert. Pictured below is Derek carmelizing the sugar on the creme brulee.

We typically have a short service before or after the big feast. This year, Derek was invited to share a devotional. He shared about the healing of the 10 lepers and how only 1 returned to thank Jesus. It was a great reminder of how we ask God for so many things -- big and small -- and so often we forget to thank Him aftewards for what He has done. We were given a few moments to think about the things we are thankful for and then we shared them with one another. As always, we talked about how thankful we are for our oldest uncle who worked hard to get the entire family to the U.S. and also for starting this Thanksgiving tradition. We are all also thankful that we come for a long line of Christians.

Overall, it was a great evening. The only thing that would have made it better is if my other sister and Dad were there as well. Maybe one year, the entire Kim family will be able to get together for the holidays...

36 1/2 Weeks - Almost there!

This is me at 36 1/2 weeks. I am still feeling pretty good, just tired from not sleeping well at night. Walking can also be uncomfortable since the baby dropped a couple weeks ago and is now face down.

I had another check up today and everything continues to look good. I am 2 cm dilated and the doctor said I could go into labor ANY DAY now... but I'm also very aware that it could still be three more weeks...

I'm excited that we have selected a name! After much back-and-forth and discussion, Derek emailed me the other day and asked, "How about [INSERT NAME]?" (It was one of our top six names we had on our list). I said, "sure" and it was a done deal. It seemed so simple. It's been a long process and I never thought we would want the same name on the same day. We're only telling our family until the baby is born, but we're also reserving the right to change it from now until then. =)

It's crazy to think we'll have a baby in our home very soon, but I'm very excited. I've read the books, gone to the classes, heard countless stories from other moms/parents... now I'm want to experience it all myself!

Reasons to be thankful

So I added this status to Facebook recently, but figured I'd add it to a blog so that it'd perhaps be easier to look back on later.

"Derek is envious at how his wife always (yes ALWAYS) gets awesome discounts... and, tonight, a free meal for 4. But I'm even more thankful. =)."

Just to add another example of how God is looking after us financially through my wife... oh heck, I'll give you two examples. Tonight, Lena acquired us a Queen size bed for us for free... the one we currently sleep on was given to us and we've now seen the end of its usefulness.

And, we've been looking for a TV stand as we have to get rid of our entertainment center. Lena's had it for 7+ yrs (doesn't include the years it was owned by a previous roommate). The weight of the TV is bending the wood and we don't want it to break and harm a young child. We have been eyeing a stand at Ikea and she saw an ad that if we buy it this weekend, we get a $50 gift card. Not bad. But then she spotted an ad on Craigslist for new in the box for just under 1/2 off. We bought it tonight and I saved us another $10 with my strong negotiation tactics (if you don't know me, that's a joke. I was like, "um, would you possibly consider taking $160?").

While I'm at this... I have other examples... many.... During my unpaid (financial supporters) internship, we got married. We received an immensely discounted cake from Ritz Carlton, discounted videographer as she was just getting started, discounted photography from a friend of a friend, along with other big savings throughout. AMAZING!

Found a 10 yr newer motorcycle with 20,000 less miles for only $1,000 more. Steal of a deal!

Recently, I saved over $50 on a new motorcycle helmet. The other was past its safety effectiveness prime.

We have not had to spend $1 on baby gear or clothes. All given as gifts or purchased with gift cards. Crib donated. Car seat, stroller, and dresser are all gifts (as will be the pack and play).

All the damage to my car from the fallen bicycle and Lena's car windshield cost us only $200 thanks to insurance.

The VW transmission may not be going out... I added some premium gas and some oil and we haven't experienced the "stumbling" transmission.

Maybe I'll add more later. It's late. I'm headed to Disneyland tomorrow with the Irvine team to celebrate all God has done through us at the Irvine campus these past 6+ months.

Praise be to God alone!