Christmas Family Reunion

There are a total 17 of us, including 4 Eylers from Michigan, and Ed from WA met up during the Christmas holidays.  What a delight to see everyone, and especially to watch the five kids and one baby.  Of course I am biased to chose the following picture as my favorite:

I made a slide show on you tube to capture some of the fun we had.  It's a joy to see Tom tickling Lawrence.  Dan, the master sword maker, energized all kids - big and small.  The chit chats, game playing, and wine drinking......filled up our time:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCwyzBuNyFk

Christmas Lights at Longwood Garden

Mei-ping invited me to go with her and Vivien's family to see Christmas lights at the Longwood Garden.  I have not been there since probably 2004, but always have a fond memory of the Garden. Certainly I enjoyed the place very much again.

Thanksgiving - Family Fun

We got together at Tom and Janice's place this year again.  Family get together is always relaxed and fun.  Lots to eat.  Margaret and Franco got to do some shopping together.  Kids played together.  We all watched some TV.  I had lower back pain but was able to take a few shots of our time together.

2014 draws to a close

There were too much emotions in the past few months.  I am glad that 2014 is drawing to a close, and now I look forward to a new year.  To catch up on what happened in 2014, I enjoyed meeting up with old friends.  Winnie's visit earlier in the year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_7pcmeM7OE

Meeting up with some classmates in California:
Lunch with Ping at a water front restaurant

 With TingTing, Tsing Ping, Judy, and Peggy at the front door of Tsing Ping's home.

Reconnected with Mei-ping, Yue Sheng, Doreen, and Jun-Lei:

With Mei-ping in a Peruvian restaurant when she came to DC to give a talk:

 A reunion in Philadelphia and Mei-ping took us to a charming little museum of recycled glassware arts.

 A nice walk in the neighborhood of Mei-ping's home.

KC came to visit and Bowtie was so happy to cozy up with her:

A reunion at Sylvia's old house to remember our dear friend.  The cleaning up of Sylvia's stuff and thinking of her made me feel sad and a bit depressed. The ashes of Sylvia (in the double happiness jar)and Claudia (in the cat jar) were behind us above the fireplace.

Some of my memories of Sylvia:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWsH_o2yzEU

Mei-ping lost her daughter Sher to a traffic accident.  To me there is simply no answers to many questions in life.  I was very moved by Sher's life  Although short, Sher had achieved self actualization with her life, and left her prints in many, many people 's hearts and lives.

A slide show I made for Meiping:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g0lbjwtQKk

It was only during the trip to Spain and Portugal, I started to regain some merry mood.  It's great that Tom nicely documented our trip:
http://jat.esmartweb.com/nature-photos/spain/spain_and_portugal_in_depth.htm

Unfortunately I hurt my lower back climbing the fortress in Sintra (A UNESCO site):

But we all have to just look forward!  As soon as my back is feeling better, I will start some serious training to get ready for Mont Blanc in 2015.  What a wonderful goal for the new year.

We had a nice Christmas reunion:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCwyzBuNyFk

Trip to China in June 2014

I have prayed for this trip to be positive and beneficial.  As things turned out that my prayers have been answered.  My friend IChung does not believe in God.  He majors in History, and knows all the wrongs committed by self centered so called religious folks.  On that account, I agree with him with respect to the flaws of human.  For myself, I told him that "I need God in my life."

A slide show of our trip to China:

http://youtu.be/JsOtaJUuQac

Alaska! Alaska!

I finally made it to Alaska.  What a wonderful experience.  Although my traveling companions and I do not find agreements in politics, we all enjoyed the scenery, good food,  and wildlife together.

A slide show of our trip is shown below:

 http://youtu.be/iwXh8Qgt7NY

What I have accepted is that "Chances are that I won't be in Alaska again in the future".  The fact of life is that time is limited and there are other places to go before the end.

Meeting floating flower pedals

One meets new people when one travels.  Sometimes some of these new acquaintances become new friends.  A Chinese saying describes these kind of chance meeting as "Ping Shei Shien Phon".  I met a couple on the Croatia tour I took last December.  They opened their home to me this past month When I visited Seattle.  IChung, the husband, who is going to celebrate his 80 birthday next year.  Annie is 72 this year.  I quite admire their philosophy and style of life.  Their retired life include hiking regularly, baby-sitting two grand daughters, traveling, and sponsoring a school in rural China.   IChung, before his eye sight deteriorated, he had been writing Chinese calligraphy every day for 2 hours for nearly 20 years ever since his retirement.  Annie, in her quiet tenderness, shows so much wisdom and caring toward others.  How respectful and admirable is this couple, my new friends made during my travel.

Annie and IChung with their two grand daughters in their backyard:

 
IChung's calligraphy:

 

We went hiking in the Wallace Falls and picked blue berries afterwards: