after dim sum, we went back to chris & nadine's home to relax for a bit, and pack for linda & andy's house. we were looking forwward to spending the night with them for a couple of days, and hanging out with sean. i mean, i got to hang out with him a little bit at his birthday party yesterday, but it was mostly short bouts on the slides, riding cars with kyle, and in between meeting a lot of young parents that were friends of andy & linda's at the aptly called "jungle" in san jose. (that day, we wondered if that wild land of inflatable balls and costumed youngsters serving pizza to sugar-hyped kids is where we were headed.) it would be nice to catch up with linda & andy too, just one-on-one.
clifford said goodbye before heading back up to the city, and calvin and i dropped by the grocery store to pick up the ingredients for "pasta ala mora" - raul's family recipe, and an apple pie for dinner. and some brocolli for pasta the next day, since we wouldn't have a car and wanted to cook for them during the time we were there. it made us run late (ugh, totally need cell phone), but when we got to the door we were greeted by warm smiles by linda and andy who took our crazy bags of stuff and welcomed us into their new san jose home. someone scurried across their den, which took me aback, and asked who was over.
i looked to my left, and found the rest of the chin family staring back at me. "SUPRISE!" was yelled in unison, and then i looked to my right and a huge candle-lit dining table with white linen and crystal was set with an enormous spread of gorgeous food. there were little baby blue favors laid out in their entryway. it must have taken her all day to prepare. i immediately started crying, and couldn't stop. it was so unexpected, and so elaborate. i had never been surprised like this, and really missed being around my linda down in the pit of my stomach.
she told me that michelle and chrissy were driving up from la, and i looked at her in disbelief. it was too much! we had to sit down for dinner so we ate as we waited for them to arrive safely to san jose. the food was amazing, and i was presented a seat at the head of the table, totally speechless. as calvin gave a toast, i thought about what a good job he did of never letting on, even up to the minute we were grocery shopping for dinner that night! this is a man who can barely wait to rip open a present or tell you something, so for me to have absolutely no clue is sort of impossible. cliffy was extra sneaky and deliberately said goodbye to me too, without giggling!
i was so happy when michelle and chrissy arrived (sean was definitely done with dinner at that point, and immediately hugged michelle, and asked chrissy to play with his trains) safe and sound, and i just couldn't believe they were there. she brought good wishes from ava, sunny and chris. we ate linda's delicious dinner and caught up, and then all ran upstairs to sean's room to try out michelles new line, milang. her baby blankets have friendly delicately hand-sewn dinasaurs and baby birds stitched onto creme flannel and cotton. when she threw it onto sean's bed, we all just stood back and marvelled. linda showed michelle the different blanket sizes. calvin asked if we could order one for adults. she's just so talented! we're looking forward to when we can all buy them at baby stores. i'll keep you posted!
after dinner calvin and i opened gift after generous, well-thought out, beautifully wrapped gift from family. michelle & chrissy got him an unbelievably soft bear wool cape and baby uggs to match. i had to have everyone stick their fingers inside the uggs to feel how soft they were. linda & andy knew exactly how to start us on on the right foot, and lavished us with special onesies for easy changing, machines to warm daiper wipes, cute outfits, books, breastfeeding pillows, etc, each with a clear explaination ala linda. after everyone went home, we went upstairs, went through a huge bin of pre-organized baby boy clothes for the next year all ready and laundered. she then told me calvin's mom later expressed her thanks for all her
work and love, and wished she had her own place to host which was so
sweet.
we've been so blessed by our family & friends who have been so generous to us. gifts from our friends in nyc & sf, colleen gave me so many maternity clothes and great advice too. love for us to bring to shanghai to and to the baby.
how thankful i am this new years day!
