Happy 40th Birthday Mike!

My dear husband (very fondly aka "Daddy") turned 40 this weekend. He was greatly encouraged by a surprise fishing trip with some of his closest friends and men from Pathway Bible Church - oh and Micaiah too. Then on Sunday we celebrated with a BBQ at the park. I constantly give thanks and praise to God for allowing me to have such a such a partner in life who loves God and his family so deeply.

Kari @ 18 months

We were able to enjoy Kari as an infant for about 1 month :). Ever since then she's been going full steam towards being a toddler (or an adult). I think it's the siblings. Whatever they eat, she wants to eat. Whatever they do, she wants to do. This week she turned 18 month and has been with us for 6 months. What a joy she is to us! On Tuesday morning, Lydia was supposed to be doing her chore - emptying the dishwasher. In typical Chau-kid fashion, she declared "I have to go to the bathroom". Ha. All my kids use that one. They conveniently need to go to the bathroom EVERYTIME there is a chore to do. Anyways, Kari decided Lydia was taking to long, so she took over. (This is a 1 minute video, if you want to have a look). I kind of wish she could stay a baby just a little longer, but that doesn't seem to be on her agenda.


The Final Result

Happy Birthday Uncle Eric!

My younger brother's birthday is Feb. 27. The kids adore their Uncle Eric (maybe it's because he's way cooler than their mother and is a rock star?) . Mimi is the Craft Queen, so she found this craft to make a cardboard guitar from Family Fun Magazine (the perfect magazine for a Craft Queen). We're always really encouraged by her heart to give. She spends hours making things for people. We pray that her heart for giving to others will continue as she matures.

BTW - Eric has a gig next week with Delirious and I'm super proud of him!

Delirious/Future of Forestry Show
House of Blues Anaheim CA
Wednesday, March 18th, 7pm
$23

FoF has less than 100 tickets left to sell that don't have the ticketmaster fees. You can purchase them at:

http://originaldin.com/fofstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7&products_id=16

They will be for sale for just one week (after March 13th, you will need to go to ticketmaster and/or door charge).

Happy New Year! Xin Nian Kuai Le!

Her Children Rise Up and Bless Her

Yesterday was Gigi's (Kris's mom) birthday. She's been known as "Gigi" ever since Micaiah gave her the name when he was learning to talk and couldn't pronounce the name "Grammy". Now she's fondly called Gigi by all four of our children AND all the kids at Pathway Bible Church too :). The night our family celebrated Gigi's birthday, Mike asked everyone to share something they appreciated about Gigi and this is a bit of what was shared:

• Kari - Gigi changes my diaper and will do anything to make me smile.
  

• Lydia - Gigi plays fairy with me.
  

• Mimi - Gigi plays Gecko on my belly (Mimi's likes being tickled!)
  

• Micaiah - Gigi spoils us.

• Cheryl - Mom always thinks of others first.

• Michael Moore - She's easy to talk to and has so much to share.

• Kris - Mom has a servant's heart. She has set an example for us in serving others. She's always caring for others.

• Mike Chau - She's always thinking about us and what we go through.

• Dad - She completes me. She's everything I am not.

"Her children rise up and bless her;

Her husband also, and he praises her saying:
Many daughters have done nobly, But you excel them all."
Proverbs 31:28-29

Happy Birthday Gigi!

Time for Tea

There must be an unwritten rule that every American girl must have a tea party at some point in her life - though I guess I never was "girly" enough to have one in my childhood :). Mimi received a tea set for Christmas and held her first official tea party for a few of her close friends - complete with Evite invitations, making her own grocery list, hand decorated cookies, and meatballs (for all the meat-loving Chau/Chou girls). To her delight, everyone came dressed in their best tea party attire and they had such a lovely time.

She Came To Serve

One of the highlights of our holiday break was a one week visit with Mike's Mom (affectionately known by our kids as "A-ma"). We were so blessed by her visit. Together with Pathway Bible Church we've been learning and studying through 1 Timothy 5 and have been reminded about our need to care for widows, esp. Mike's mom. With that teaching in mind, we looked forward to our time together as an opportunity to minister to her. Rather than us minister to her though, she used the entire week to minister to our family. We have seen so much growth in her over the past few years and were blessed this past week by her servant heart. She arrived from Seattle at Burbank airport with a suitcase full for supplies for cooking that week (I gladly handed over the duties!). She cooked, she washed dishes, she sewed (and finished the basket of unfinished hemming), and spent quality time with each of the kids. We were also very encouraged to hear of her heart for the local church and her desire to minister to her neighbors and friends. God is so Good.