Home Above

"If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord."  ~Romans 14:8

God is good - if we are His, and we pass from this world, we, and others, know that we will be with Him and that our end is not just it. The past few weeks have been tough - it's been nice, with rare getaways and vacationing - but two wonderful women that were part of my world here have passed on.

My Auntie #1, the eldest of the Lau aunties, passed away in her sleep, peacefully. She had a Korean BBQ dinner one weekday night with her children and grandchildren - a traditional Tuesday night gathering - and the next morning, my cousin (she stayed with them after they noticed that when she was living on her own, since my Uncle passed away a few years ago - that she started losing her memory. In living with them, she had regained her memory and it was much better) noticed that she didn't get up at her usual time, and checked in on her. She had passed away in her sleep. My Auntie #1 is an amazing woman, whose life is a testimony of God's love - she had six sons (I have just two. And they're girls. Boys and girls are admittedly very different, and SIX is just beyond what I could imagine to have to raise in one house together!), and living righteously reflected in her children who have all grown up to fear and love the Lord, and in turn, their children too, follow Christ. It's pretty amazing, because in this world where God isn't usually first, she lived a way that her family could see her faith reflected in her choices, thoughts, actions, and it was enough to convict her own children, grown men now, to want and have that in their life and in their families too. That's not an easy task, and by the grace of God (ironic - her English name is Grace!), it happened.

Carol is like blood to our family, even though she isn't related in the traditional way. Uncle John was once Shelton's neighbor, and when Shelton and his parents first moved to America, he showed them kindness and generosity in helping these strangers who didn't know English, who had no idea how to fix the toilet, or mend things around the house, and spent time teaching little Shelton about football and chess and almost everything else, and treated him as he was his own son. He's seen Shelton grow up and have a girlfriend (me!), get married, and have children. He IS family - and at our wedding, he and his girlfriend were honored guests, sitting at the first table, a table reserved traditionally for the ones regarded in the highest honor within the family.

You may think it a little strange to see an elderly, albeit active (he's an active chess tournament player, amongst renting homes and staying involved with current news and sports...he doesn't just sit around doing nothing!) man have a girlfriend, but he did, and she is the most perfect fit for him. She was just as elderly - I think they went to school together in Wisconsin, and when she came out here, they met again, and electrons flew, and bam! A perfectly balanced chemical equation! Carol is Uncle John's girlfriend, a wonderful, giving, loving woman who took and loved UJ's heart, and gallivanted all about the world on many adventures here and there. She met me shortly after Shelton and I started dating, so she's known us our entire time together (officially ^_^). She's seen us get married too, my belly grow big with babies, and seen and held and played with our Aiva and Penelope. Her loving spirit would spend time to find little gifts for them, and the past few years, she's taken up making jewelry and knitting beautiful scarves, of which she's always saved some of her work for us. Last Christmas, not only did she make matching scarves for Shelton's mom and I, but she also made a mini-matching one for Aiva! Her thoughtfulness, generosity and love was always very clear to us, and we love her for that. She had cancer, and though it had gone away, it came back. She had fallen in February, and she was in the hospital for a bit, and apparently, had been going back and forth for a month. We had just come back to Vegas for Spring Break, hoping to see them (we were told Carol was in the hospital last week, and may have needed hospice care), as we usually try to see them whenever we are town, but she had passed away at the end of last week. Last Wednesday, I think it was, according to UJ's recount to us today at our usual Paymon's where holding back tears was a challenge in itself (along with Penny and Aiva both being grumpy - as it turned out, Aiva had a 103 degree fever and threw up in the car on the way home), they found out the cancer had spread very deeply. They were unaware of it, as the blood tests didn't show that it had spread because she had finished treatments early February and she was supposed to feel better around then. But she didn't...and on Friday, she went.

It's sad that we didn't get to see her before she went - we didn't even expect that something like this would happen so quickly. We had just hung out with her and UJ a few months ago, when we were last in town during Christmas - she had even treated us to a few nights at Elara, since she had an extra room in her vacation suite. She was always so generous - it was her that gave us a week in Nuevo/Puerto Vallarta at her vacation timeshare as a wedding gift to us! Aiva had just started ballet classes this past month, so I was eager to share some pictures and stories with her, because Carol had been a dance instructor in the past.

However, what's important is not what we didn't get to do, but that we did get to share together in the moments that we had together. And both women believed in the love of God, and demonstrated that in the way they lived and in the way they treated those around them. So there is comfort in knowing that they are both at peace, with God at Home up in Heaven, free from any suffering that they may have had to endure in this world that limited them to be with us forever. But they both lived wonderful lives - those who knew them both, whose lives were made complete and filled with their friendship and love, are the most blessed, because they are the ones that have their cherished memories in their own lives to remember and live by. My auntie's children and grandchildren, Uncle John and us, we were given a most precious gift - their love, time and energy, and their memories, which will be a part of our lives forever. It is we that are blessed by their time here, and we couldn't be luckier to have them be a part of our lives, and be a part of theirs. =)

Toddlers and Trash Bags

Penelope's such a doll! And there's our wonderful 3 year old in the back, demonstrating why one is never to give children giant trash bags...

Penny Eats

She's beginning to eat some rice and roasted broccoli here...soon she'll be off of baby food!

WWE Yuensters

Shelton has taught Aiva a few moves since birth...it looks like Penny's picked some up! :)

Weekend in San Diego

Hair Accessory Board

Craft Party at Sandra's! Hot glue. Photo frames. Jewelry wire. Ribbons and embellishments. Pretty paper. That's it! Quick and beautiful!

You could even use mesh instead of the jewelry wire to hold earrings instead of hair clips, and using photo frames with multiple openings allow for earrings and hair clips both on the same board, and possibly even a spot for a picture!

Just remember to remove the glass from the frame cuz you won't need it...we just need to figure our a good craft with the leftover glass so we don't waste it..:)

Minty Grasshopper Pie

Happy St. Patty's Day! Made some mini grasshopper pies, minus the creme de menthe. I had to guess on the mint extract to substitute for the libation , and used 1/2 teaspoon...I think it's on the mintier side so perhaps 1/4 teaspoon would be better.

Using Double Stuf Oreos, marshmallow fluff, Cool Whip and a few drops of green good dye...it was an easy recipe.

Recipe posted tonight.:)

Two-Tiered Stands

I saw the idea online at Bellasugar, and thought I had to give it a go! What cute displays - and they'd be such pretty gifts to others. =)

I made two this weekend, and they only took a few minutes, as all I had to do with hot glue things down. Though I got everything at Target (and the price wasn't too bad - the plates and little cups on top were a total of $5-$6, though that big glass votive candlestick on the larger one was not cheap...!), I'm sure you could find most of the pieces at something like the Dollar Tree or the 99 Cents Store. The first one is similar to the original on the video, only I switched out the top with a glass votive that had some impressions on it. The second one is made from different and smaller colored melamine plates, with a smaller, smooth glass votive on top as well. One of these is a gift, and possibly the other one too, so though I've already written this out, I won't post this publicly until after they've been given as gifts, hee hee. =)  

Besides displaying jewelry or beauty items, I think it'd be a creative and gorgeous little snack platter too! The little cups on top could hold dips or nuts or confections along with a little spoon for guests to scoop out, hee hee. =)

Playtime with Penelope