Nathan's 1st Birthday!

Well, I'm finally getting around to writing a bit, as we've been resting at Joyce's condo in the wake of Chinese New Year celebrations. We lived at the home of Amy's youngest aunt, San[1] A[1]yi[2], from the evening of 2/5 until returning to our home at Joyce's on 2/8.

Before leaving to celebrate Chinese New Year with many relatives from Amy's extended maternal & paternal families, we had to attend to an important celebration within our own small family unit - Nathan's 1st birthday! A handful of Amy's ex-classmates (tong[2] xue[2]) from her old high school here in Taiwan came to honor Nathan with us at Joyce's condo, bringing a delicious mango & strawberry mouse cake & showering our little man with his first hong[2] bao[1], or "red envelopes." Many thanks from us to these good friends, Cynthia, Jenny, Peggy, & her husband, Scott. Photos of this occasion have been posted for viewing at http://picasaweb.google.com/jamie.parker

More news later - I'm off to get a few items at the closest neighborhood convenience store, High Life (sorry - an Internet search for a website representing this chain of stores was not successful).