Kekoa's First Christmas!!

***WARNING!!! THIS IS A MAJOR PICTURE OVERLOAD!!! HOPE YOU HAVE THE TIME!!!!***

I know, its been over a month since Christmas has passed, but with moving, packing and everything- I am JUST putting up Kekoa's first Christmas pics!

So rather than explain everything, I'll let you just check out the pics and add in my little quips whenever necessary!!

P.S. We spent Christmas Eve/ Christmas Morning at Lola & Lola's house since our apartment was all packed... and not quite festive. Either way, Santa found Kekoa there!

Enjoy!!


Christmas morning, bright and early, Kekoa saw that Santa had brought him his goodies already, and unfortunately by the time I got my camera, he already plowed through one gift!


Its a "Little Einsteins" Ride-On-Rocket! His favorite show!!


Daddy helping with the next gift from Santa



Yay!! Indoor slide for Da Koa Man!! (Check out the pic of the kid on that slide- a little weird how he kind of looks like Koa, eh??)


What did Santa put in your stocking Kekoa?


Yay!! Peach puffs and Japanese Rice Crackers- my favorite!! (And check out Dini in her pink Snuggie for Dogs- courtesy of Auntie Henny! hahaha)


Santa even brought stuff for little Dini 'Auli'i- a brand new bed and some new food bowls, and some new chew toys! Hooray!


Playing with his toys from Santa...





Whoooooaaaaaa!!



Then Ninang Lynn, Ninong Zac & Cousins Bella & Vivi came over for more presents!


Koa, chewing on Yoda (part of one of the many gifts that Lynn & Zac gave him- a whole set of Star Wars toys for him- based off of Daddy's love for the movies!)


Modeling the Lakers jersey that Mommy & Daddy gave him (its not a Vu Ohana unless our kids our cheering for the Lakers too!)


Playing with the Rocking Horse that Lola & Lola got him- he whinnies and makes clopping noises too- Koa loves it!!




Tuckered out from the hours of gift opening- it was a lot of work!!!


All in all, looks like Koa had a great first Christmas!!!!

A Very Merry Christmas From The Vu Crew Ohana!!!

A Pic of our Holiday 2009 Card sent out this year:



I tried to send this card out to as many addresses as we could, but unfortunately my outlook went down and I lost ALL my contacts!! So if we missed you and you didn't get this card, please email me ASAP so that we can get your info once again!!

Happy Holidays to all!

Looks like the Vu Crew Ohana is packing it up!!

We are happy to announce that Martin, Grace, Kekoa & Dini 'Auli'i the little Maltese will be packing it up and moving to Murrieta, CA!!

For those of you who don't know where that is, it is southeast of Los Angeles, near Temecula- WINE COUNTRY!!! :)

We are sad that we are leaving our respective, childhood areas but we are so thrilled to be starting a new life with our children in the beautiful, safe (named the 2nd safest city in the nation by the FBI and statistics), family oriented community.

And no worries to you our family & friends... Murrieta is JUST a little over an hour away, which means that you WILL still see plenty of us (if you still want us, that is!!) and we will make every effort to still visit LA- frequently!!!


*More details, and more pics to come (and yes, the one above is a pic of our actual house that I took today)... as the house is not scheduled for completion till February 2010!*

Koa's First Christmas Pageant!

And he was NOT having it!! Hahaha :)

Kekoa currently attends Susanna Wesley Children's Center in Glendale (where I myself used to teach 5 years ago, when Martin and I first got married).

For his first "performance" he performed, just as expected- by melting down!! How the show starts is the classes (by age) come out and parade around the auditorium so that all the guests can see them. Koa, being in the youngest class got to ride around in a stroller.

Well, even before the parade started, we could already hear him crying outside, wanting either to go to sleep or somebody!

These pics are so sad- here he is in all his sad, tear heaving glory!!!



Koa coming down the aisle with his teacher & friends *Quick Sidenote- all those silhouettes in the background are actually tracings of the kids in the school. Koa's teachers tried to make one of Koa and of course, he could never sit still long enough to get traced!!!*

Quick, Save me Mommy!!!



With proud Ninang & Ninong who were so happy to be there- and poor Koa still traumatized :)


With Ba Mai & Ong Thuc, who also came along to watch!


And Mommy and Daddy, at last!!! He's thinking, "Why didn't you guys pick me up earlier??"

If You've Got The Time...

... Check out these videos!!

The other night as Mommy was resting a bit (another harsh pregnancy!) and we were waiting for Daddy to come home, Kekoa decided that Mommy needed some entertaining.

So, instead of playing like he usually does, he came and started to make me laugh- by making himself crack up... for nothing! I wasn't doing anything to make him laugh or giggle, he was just in that good of a mood! :)

I have to admit, its times like these where I realize how lucky I am!!

Enjoy!!


Don't feel good Mommmy? No worries, I'll entertain you and make you feel better!!



Hey Mommy, since I know how much you like my raspberry blowing, here's some to make you smile!!

Orochon Challenge Take #2

... and the result is... DADDY BEATS THE SPECIAL #2!!!

Today, along with Martin's MBA crew, he tackled yet again, the Orochon Special #2 challenge... and beat it- with seconds to spare!!!

Not much more to say on this issue but that the pictures speak louder than words (Thank you Stella for sending us these!!)... Oh, and yeah, he suffered a bit later on AFTER the bowl was done. Let's just say, we most likely never need to go back there again.


Martin hard at work on his bowl


And he did it!!!! His smile is either relief that he's done, or just really bad indigestion. :)


*Quick sidenote: our friend, Janet Austin, brought her 20 year old son David, who also tried the Special #2 challenge- although his first time... and he conquered it too!!!! Except he, with a stomach of steel and youth on his side (and I think just sheer bravery and invincibility that comes with being young) finished the bowl in 20 minutes!!! GO DAVID!!!!! :)

A Message From Kekoa

YAY!!! And that is how we told everyone that Baby #2 was on its way!!

Well, we actually told my parents this way first... and then sent out the message with Koa wearing this t-shirt to spread the word.

Yes, Baby #2 is making it's way into the Vu Ohana in May 2010! We don't know yet if baby is a boy or a girl, but we sure can't wait to find out!


...And here he/she is! The very first baby picture!! Taken at 8, almost 9 weeks!


Hurry up Baby Vu #2... we can't wait to meet you!!

I LOVE PANCAKES MOMMY!!

This morning, while Daddy went to Budo Tai Jitsu class, Mommy decided to cook up a little treat in the morning and make some pancakes for Koa... his first time eating the breakfast food!

While Mommy had her "regular" size pancakes, Kekoa had his "baby sized" silver dollar pancakes... which he loved as you will soon see... he ate 4 of them! Yup, no problems eating pancakes here for this kid!


YUM! I LOOOOOOOVE PANCAKES MOM!!!!!




Pancakes make me so happy!!





And now... Kekoa LIVE!

Koa's First Halloween!

Yay for Halloween! While I have to admit, its not my favorite holiday of the year (I mean, how much fun is it really to just have the crud scared out of you??) now, that I have a child, I have to make it as important as possible. Granted, Koa will never have ANY memory of what he did today for Halloween, but we'll at least have some great photos to look fondly on (and get some really good laughs at too!)

Martin, being the HUMONGOUS Star Wars fan that he is (although he didn't dress up with Koa to match him), seemed only fitting that we would dress Koa in his very first costume as... who else?? YODA!!! I have to admit, for a little green alien man, he was pretty cute. :)

Our evening was going to be spent at Ninong Lynn & Ninong Zac's house for their annual Halloween SPOOKTACULARRRRRRRR. But first, a quick stop at Lolo & Lola's house so they could see his costume.


*WARNING: this IS a picture OVERLOAD!!*

On the way there, we ran into Ong Thuc!


Koa does not look amused being in this costume :)


Don't sleep yet Koa, the fun hasn't even begun!


Yoda, chillin with his lightsaber (Ok, not really a lightsaber, but it was the smallest light up toy we could find!)


Hey Guys! Stop laughing at me! Haven't you ever seen a little green midget before?!


With Lola, Dini & Daddy in his creepy costume- its supposed to be someone from work, until Uncle Christian pointed out who it really resembled and we all were just creeped out by it even more. :)


Mommy & The Creepy Man



Lola showed Koa some mercy- she took off his hot costume and gave him what the days' all about... CANDY!!



Wow, Lola! Is this really all for me??


My kid, the double fister- and with one already in his mouth!!!


Again, more laughter at this poor kid's expense... wearing Daddy's mask- poor thing!


So, on to the party! It was a blast as always- THANK YOU MONCRIEFS!!!! Bella was a Superhero- SUPER BELLA to be exact!!! And Vivi was her absolute favorite thing in the world- a LADYBUG!!!!!

Here they are with their vampire fangs... and yes, Vivi with her drool! Love it!



Their three buckets!!! Sadly, none of us got a picture of all three of them together. Sad! :(


Bella, doing the robot- or I guess, Super Robot?


Koa & Mommy


And Koa signing off saying, "My costume next year better be cooler guys!"


HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYBODY!!!!