My Little Boy

Nineteen years since he first saw the light - Sir Lewis at UC Davis.  :)   

2014

1995

Birthdays are vivid markers of God's goodness.  With these pictures, no words are required.  

Time Flies for my Baby Daughter

Fourteen already?

Miriam's 14th Birthday: A Déjà vu

Hiking at Calaveras Big Trees 2014

It is Miriam's one day of the year when she can say what we can do as a family.  This girl - who does not talk a lot but when she opens her mouth everyone laugh because of the unexpected eloquence, wit and humor - turned fourteen!  To Calaveras Big Trees we went camping - again.  Seven years ago we already did the same things in the same place and at the same time. It was a déjà vu. 

The whole family had a fun-filled and activity-packed day.The morning was quiet, birds are just beginning to chirp and the squirrels starting to make their daily hunt for food.The kids woke up from our two-bedroom tent.  At sixty-degree temperature I started the fire going to heat up some water for tea.  The kids were pleasantly surprised when I told them to skewer some raisin bagels and toast them over the hot ember.  Meat or fish kabobs are normal but bagels?  They've never thought of it but were excited to try it.  Anything skewered and roasted over open fire just seem to make every camping food taste better. Anyway, our breakfast on fire got high ratings.  

We hiked the Lava Bluffs Trail which is somewhat difficult for us but who wold have thought that we all had fun and mostly laughing all the way.  Hot and sweaty afterwards, we proceeded to the Stanislaus River. The water was very cold and clear.  The rocks were warm and served as a place of refuge whenever we felt really cold from the water.   

 Successfully hiked the Lave Bluff Trail.

On the Giant Stump - 2014

On the Giant Stump - 2007

Stanislaus River - 2007

 Stanislaus River 2014

 Posing by the roots of a fallen Big Sequoia Tree - 2007

Birthday Toast - 2014

Happy Birthday Song and Cake in the Woods - 2007

Simple things suddenly become special when there are five people experiencing the occasion at the same time. The Lord God is good to us!

Going One Step Forward

My beautiful baby!

Miriam finished middle school this year - 2014.  Next year she will be attending Oak Ridge High School.  

Being Silly with Erich

Different

Confident

   Bullalayaw (Rainbow) Eyebrows

I thank God for giving me my Surprise Baby.  

Brahms Moves to UC Davis

My son now attends the University of California in Davis to take a double major:  Anthropology and International Agricultural Development. 

JB Agustin is his roommate who happened to be a son of someone from my hometown in Abulug.  I know he comes from a good family.  It is a good thing!  So far they are getting along quiet well.  

It was a rainy day when we brought him to his school for the first time.  

Lexy River Lewis: She was Loved

She was a delightful bunny.

Sunday, September 7, 2013 was a sad day for us - It was the day Lexi died.   Having to see life slip away from something dear to the family was very painful.  But it helped that I was holding her in my arms like a baby when she took her last breath.  I can't imagine how much harder it would have been had we found her already dead.  

We lost our sweet cuddly and fluffy bunny.  Miriam was very upset.  For two days, she cried whenever she remembered her.  Even I was very sad and upset.  She was the only pet we had that we could actually pet.  She loved it when we'd run our fingers on her head and in between her ears.  We will really miss her.

Tim and Brahms dug a grave for her in the same area where we buried Casey and Bob.  The following day I planted some echeveria on top of her grave.  That place now qualify as a pet cemetery.

We loved Lexy.  And we thank God for the many happy moments that she brought to our home.  Some of her memories are written in my blogs for posterity:

Adopting Lexy 

Lexy Arrives at the Lewis House

Lexy's Influence on Miram's Art

Shannon Meets Lexy

Lexy in the Garden

Becoming an Artist

Miriam is now taking art lessons from Adam Reeder.  Becky Carmichael, classmate and friend, has invited her before but she was not that interested back then.  Now she is excited not only to learn but also to spend more time with her good friend.

Miriam and Becky Carmichael

Miriam's increasing interest in art is likely to have been a result of her big-sister's influence.  Both girls love Anime.  In fact Miriam along with her brother recently attended the AnimeCon 2013 in Sacramento where she got to meet some of the artists that she follows.   I am not sure if it was Brahms' artistic inclinations or his interests for freebies that brought him there.  But who knows?

Posing with her favorite Anime-artist. (Image by Brahms Lewis)

While waiting for her to get done with her class today, I had to spend an hour and a half strolling along Sutter Street in the Historic Folsom District.  I enjoy antique-shopping but for some reason, the smell of the antique stores made me feel nauseous. (Could it be that my love for old second-hand stuff is waning?) So I walked towards Snooks and got me a cone of Almond Praline ice cream - it made me happy.

 For those who are willing to learn, there is always room for improvement.