My maternal grandmother passed away on December 19 - about a month shy of her 98th birthday (99 if you count the Chinese way). Alex hoped that she would live to 100 but she was blessed and lived a full life - she had four children, nine grand-children, and seven great-grandchildren, the oldest of whom is in college and the youngest born just this year! We visited during the summer and had a family reunion that included her, my mom and sister, some of my aunts and uncles, cousins, and their kids - four generations. I have many memories of her - here's some: gardening, raising a goat, dealing with rattlesnakes, playing solitaire and mah jong, reading the Wall Street Journal and following the market, cooking and making dumplings, crochet, tai chi, watching game shows, and her paraffin hand treatment in an old crockpot... Here are some photos of ours from visits through the years and her obituary.





Today is the 2nd anniversary of my Dad's death. As I was going through old photos and old emails to make this album of my grandma, I found a letter I sent and started reminiscing...

Hi Dad,

I'm thankful the last few years have given you opportunities to travel (to HKG, NY, etc) and see old friends and relatives. I'm glad the kids have gotten to know you during our visits and that you've followed their lives via my photos and blog when you could. They are old enough to have some memories of times spent together, unlike myself and your dad - I only have vague memories of spending time in the laundry...

I know that since our family wasn't outwardly affectionate growing up and your, what I call "tough love" practices were some times hard to take, the words "I love you" don't roll easily off the tongue. In our hearts, though, we feel it, and appreciate all your sacrifices to raise us. It's hard to raise children!

I love you Dad and will miss you. I remember swimming next to the rowboat in Maine while you rowed, I remember you teaching me to drive the car that was as old as I was. I remember us all stuck with no power for 3 days - snowed in in Redding! I remember us playing on Wii sports together. I have lots of documentation of experiences together by movies/videos and photographs that are in albums - yours and my own.

See you soon!

Love, 

Becky

Merry Christmas from the Su family!

These are the only family photos we have together this year, not that
we didn't do stuff together, but with the ownership of various
i-gadgets, we just take pics of each other instead of having someone
take photos of us as a family...sad, right?

We had our usual hotpot dinner Christmas eve, then went to church.
Christmas day we went out to dim sum for breakfast, followed by a
couple mile walk along the river to buy bread and do a little more
shopping. Later in the afternoon we went for a bike ride - only 60F
here - really nice, actually and Paul said his iPhone app logged 20
miles. Made roast beef and potatoes for dinner, then lounged around after
watching TV, on the computer, reading... nice, restful time at home.

Long weekend to Taipei - theme of our trip "Time to Eat" haha!

Well, that's usually what we do in Taipei when we go, making the rounds of our favorite restaurants, eating our favorite foods... Besides the beef stew noodle places (went to three different ones), this time we also took the train up to Keelung who spells out its name in the hills like the Hollywood sign (in slideshow below) and again as letters along the harbor. We ate at the "Miao Kou" market meaning "temple mouth (entrance)" to eat street food from the stands - Taiwanese tempura (fried fish paste), rice noodle soup, "lu rou fan" a bowl of rice with meat sauce and a side of "rou gung" meatball soup, thicker, like chowder would be, lemon "ai-yu" (fig jelly)...am I making your mouths water?

We waited a couple times at various street vendors with their gas oven and tank, a little counter space on a push-cart to enjoy fresh "ji dan gao" (egg cake). They put them in a little paper bag so you don't burn your fingers...

Enjoying chocolate and vanilla swirl soft serve from I-Mei (we went twice)

We all took individual photos on our i-gadgets and am still missing Paul's, but here's what we have...

In Middle School, music is required curriculum - Alex sings alto in choir and plays trombone in band. Maggie opted for double band this year in what may be her last year choosing music for her HS Fine Arts requirement. She was first clarinet in one band and second in the other. It's been wonderful to see the progression of the students from their beginnings in Elementary school...

Con Brio Choir

MS Cadet Band

HS Show Band

Alex's choir and a couple others from MS also got to sing for the Christmas shoppers at a local mall.

Click the link for more music: videos online