THE WEEK IN REVIEW:

December 23: Travel day
After a long night of doing laundry and packing up, we headed out to LAX to catch our flight. Surprisingly we were able to check in pretty quickly, and it was off to the gate!! The first leg of our trip took us to Dallas / Fort Worth where we were scheduled to have a 3 hour lay over *grrrrr*!! If not for the TGI Fridays located in the airport, and the several flat screens showing the Raider game, I don't know what we would have done in our time there! *btw, the Raiders were spanked, yet again, by the Chiefs... whatever, right?* We finally took off for the second leg of our trip to Durham, NC where we arrived at around 2am (local time). We picked up our rental van and headed out to my sister-in-law's home (a whole 10 miles away from the airport!!). The weather wasn't too much colder than it has been in Woodland Hills, so we were all pretty comfortable. The kids did great on the flight there - Jacob slept a lot of the way while Mia kept herself entertained with her Auntie Yung, who met us at LAX.

December 24: We spent the day meeting with the newest edition to the family, baby Gordon (aka - Gordo the Conqueror) as well as playing with his older siblings, Nicholas and Haley (see their various pictures here with Mia and Jacob). I'll post more pictures when we return home on Friday.

December 25: the Kids Tear it UP!!!
With gifts galore under the tree, all of the kids tore into the packaging with zeal. Mia was a little slow to get up (the time change hadn't caught up with her yet), but once the sound of laughter and paper tearing filled the air, she was up!

December 26: The Mall
So we took a little drive out to see some of the local areas, including their mall.

December 27: To the airport
I play chauffeur to my sister-in-law and husband who flew out this morning back to Orange County. I return with breakfast and a hankering for some coffee. ONWARD TO STARBUCKS!!!

December 28: Chill day
A pretty relaxing day today. Jacob and I caught up on some sleep while everyone else headed out to the shopping mall in Raleigh. Jacob caught a bit of a cold (which he's kindly shared with the other kids... sorry about that, sis) and it's zapping some of his energy... though not enough as he is STILL as active as ever. This was made quite evident when we went to dinner later that night at the Nantucket Grill. HieRan and I still tag-team during mealtime. Usually I scarf down my food while HieRan entertains, distracts, and feeds Jacob... then we switch. The food was good, the company was great, and the desserts (yes, we had more than ONE slice of six-layer cake which we brought home) made the evening perfect! That and a nice cup of coffee kept me up late enough to catch some NBA on TNT. Yeah, I was up past midnight watching the west-coast games... sheesh! =S

December 29: Homeward bound via the RDU
We take off today, so before I forget, I want to give a shout out (YO YO YO... whaddup!!) well, a "thank you" anyway, to my sister, HieWon and Dr. Alex, for providing rooms for us this visit. It was really great to see you all again - especially the kids (who have really come into their own and aren't scared of me anymore - yay!!!). Gordon, you are in great hands with this family - but I'm hoping you'll keep everyone on their toes in your own way *heh*. Nicholas (the big bro), take care of your sibs, and keep an eye on mom and dad. Haley (the princess), you are turning out to be such a cutie-pie!! We can't wait to see you all again soon.

*little did I know that it would be much sooner than expected... read on next post*