Meaningful Gift

My parents sent my birthday gift back from Taiwan with my brother-in-law. Instead of waiting until my birthday, I opened it early (I know, I cheated). My parents had put together a photo album for me from my baby photos up to my recent photos. The album must have taken a long time to complete. It included most of the major events in my life - graduations, baptism, engagement, and wedding. They also left blank pages in the back. Initially, I thought they didn't finish the photo album. But as I flipped to the last page, I realized that they left blank pages on purpose. They wrote a note on the last page saying that the photos captured the best memories they had with me. And the remaining pages are to be filled by my new family with Tomio. Isn't it so sweet? I'm really touched by the gift. I miss my parents.
On the other hand, I think Tomio was very entertained by my childhood photos :)

My favorite couch

I got to stay on my favorite couch in Los Altos house multiple times this past month when Alice and Tomio visited.




For some reason, everyone made fun of my new sleeping pose,


and took lots of pictures with me while I was sleeping.




I'm so embarrased... I don't think I'll sleep in that position anymore.

Seattle

I had to attend an AP training in Seattle last week. Since Tomio had just finished his board (yay for Tomio!), we decided to go to Seattle a couple of days early to sightsee. The trip was relaxing, and seafood was great! We visited Seattle downtown, Seattle Aquarium, Pikes Market, Pacific Science Museum, and Space Needle. If you ever go to Seattle Aquarium, you've got to go see the sea otters. They were so adorable, I could have spent all afternoon watching them. Pikes Market was the largest farmers market that I've been to. We bought some salmon jerky there and walked around a lot. We also went on a boat tour and enjoyed the waterfront view. Even though we were unfamiliar with the roads, we managed to find the international district with a large Japanese market. I think we went to the international district for Asian food every other day.
We love Seattle!