Happy 40th Birthday To My Sister Noi!

Kayley and Ella fight for Noi's attention!






Singharath Siblings! Me, Noe, Noi and Vonkey





Noi with the love of her life~Ella! She may not emotionally show how much she truly loves Ella, but everything she does is for Ella's future.


My sister Noi celebrated four decades of life August 15. I can't believe she's that old, and she acts older than her age sometimes. She is everything that Noe and I aren't, but we love her despite it all:) For her birthday, I wanted to give her something that is more precious than money or anything... I wanted to show her how much I love her and enjoy her so I took her and Ella to Southern CA for the weekend. We had a fun and memorable time at Universal Studio and at Huntington beach. She was actually very relaxed and enjoying herself a lot and that's something Noi has a hard time doing. She acts like the whole world is weighing her down and I just want her to live a little and enjoy herself more. Since we've lost our parents 3 1/2 years ago, Noi has really stepped up to the plate to fill in the void of not having our mom. She's been making us lots of yummy traditional Lao food that mom used to make for us. She's been so big hearted with our family in Laos and has been so wonderful at pooling our resources together to help any family members in crisis. She has truly been shining as the bigger sister to us. Despite her lack of emotions for us, I know deep down she has a big loving heart for us and only wishes the best for each of us. I know that I'm also not the best at showing her how much I love and appreciate all that she does and means to me and my family. I have always been the glue that have bounded my Singharath family together, and I have noticed that my sister Noi has been the super glue that cares and is keeping us together in love, honor and respect for our mom and dad. I love her for that and for all that she is to us...
Happy Birthday Noi and I hope we continue to celebrate and create more special memories in our family.

Tis Better Late Than Forgotten...Happy Birthday Martha!

Distance and miles may keep Martha and I far from each other, yet our unconditional friendship keeps us close to one another. I became friends with Martha during our last year at BYU when we were both pregnant with our boys. We hit it off right away because of our passion for food while pregnant. The funny thing is that I had met Martha a couple of years back (but she doesn't remember our meeting) but I did not hit it off with her so great back than. I think we are so similar with our personalities that it was either a hit or miss and luckily for us the second time around was a huge hit! After college we both moved to VA at the same time and became really close during those 3 years Micheal was in law school. She became my closest friend and family and we have shared so much great joy. As fate would have it, when we moved to CA she also relocated her family to the west coast (LV, but close enough)
It's so interesting how we get along so perfectly despite our strong willed similar personalities. We butt heads with our husbands but never with each other. I love her heart~ it is pure and true. She is a woman driven by her desire to please and serve those around her. Her zest for life and living is evident in her spontaneity. She is thankful for all that life has to offer her and takes everything in her life in strides. She sometimes takes on more than she can handle because her heart is bigger than her capabilities. She loves to dance to life's beat. She is crazy fun! What a minute! Am I talking about Martha or ME? I love ya girl! Your unconditional love and acceptance of me is forever appreciated! I'm thankful for your friendship in this lifetime and the next lifetime to come... Happy Late Birthday Martha! I can't wait to be in Vegas to celebrate with you and all of our friends.



Martha and I had the greatest blessing to travel to Laos together in April of this year. We were so overjoyed to run into the Latter-Day Saints missionaries at the hotel we were staying at.




Big Brother Mouse Gang...Martha was so caring and loving with the children at the school we sponsored.





Martha and Jit stopping for a bathroom break on our drive to Luang Prabang and to pose with the Little Lao Gang


Martha, Jit and Da posing with a Lao hottie at the mall!
Here's Martha begging for forgiveness for thinking the Lao guy at the mall was cute;) J/K GF!

LAOS IS WHERE THE HEART AND THE SPIRIT IS...

I don't think I could get enough of Laos yet.... At the end of May I took another trip out to Laos~ this time with my baby Kayley and sister Noe. Tui was on a business trip in Southeast Asia so he met us in Bangkok and we headed out to Laos together. We also got to see our friends Vilayphone and Ryan Cuellar who were returning to the homeland to reconnect with her family for the first time.

This trip was mainly business, but we managed to squeeze in lots of fun times and lots of exotic fruits which was all in season! Micheal and I had no intention of having a second home in Laos, but the past couple of trips to Laos made us both realize how much we enjoyed the slow paced life in Laos. On my last trip I had found a beautiful piece of land and came back to finalize the transaction. And we hope we can return soon to build our dream in Laos. I want our children to return often and to learn the language of their mom and grandparents.

I believe our future home in Laos will be a foundation for many great things I want to do in Laos for the people of Laos. It seems like such a long and hard dream, but I know I was guided by the Spirit, and things will eventually fall into place if my heart is in the right place....

GIRLS GONE GOOD!

In May 2008, I had the greatest blessing to return to Laos again! After my December trip in Laos, I had really felt inspired to do something special the next time I was in Laos. I went back with my sister Noi, best friend Martha, and my sister Noe's friends Jit and Da spontaneously went on the trip with us. It was a very meaningful and special trip for me and the girls as we wanted it to be a trip about how we can better serve and understand the plight of our Laotian brothers and sisters, particularly the children.

The trip was eventful and memorable filled with the spirit of love and giving to those less fortunate than us. We traveled by van from the tip of southern Laos to northern Laos, and it was quite an adventure every where we went. In Pakse Laos, we visited the orphanage to give the children basic toiletry necessities such as toothbrush, toothpaste, comb/brush. It was enduring to see how grateful and responsible the children were to be living there. It showed in their nicely kept little homes and beautifully maintained yards that they themselves take turns weeding.

After the very rewarding visit at the orphanage, we drove to my parents village of Paktapan in the province of Salavan. There we were greeted by the most warm and hospitable staff at the only elementary and secondary schools in the village. We brought with us a few suitcases full of much needed and to these children, even luxurious school supplies like pens, pencils, erasers, sharpeners, colored pencils, crayons, and notebooks. I did not realize that the village also had a secondary school and had only brought enough supplies for the elementary school. Back at home I still had so much school supplies (but my suitcases wouldn't fit them all) thanks in large to my sweet sister-in-law Callie who had a church fundraising event and we were able to collect much necessary school supplies.

LA'S VEGAS BIRTHDAY BASH!

WELCOME TO LA'S VEGAS!!! I turned 35 April Fools Day of this year and that ain't no joke so I wanted to celebrate in a fun and wild way! Originally, I wanted to have all my girlfriends fly out to Vegas to spend a weekend having fun and getting pampered, but my feelings on a lot of things changed after my Lao trip in December. I still wanted a Vegas theme and concluded that I'd bring Vegas to my friends where it would be more economical for us. My most cherished friends were all there to celebrate this festive night. Even my dear friends Vicky from Seattle and Martha from Arizona flew in...That is a sign of true and unconditional friendship!


It took me weeks to try to create that Vegas ambience in my home, but I had so much fun with the decorations.

My sisters and friends think I'm crazy and to a certain extent I am crazy. Growing up in a strict Lao home I never really got to experience birthday  parties so I am kinda reliving my  teen years again:)  


"FOYER EYES ONLY NIGHTCLUB"






"LA'S VEGAS CASINO" Deal or NO Deal?!









"THE WORLD-RENOWNED "LA BUFFET"
Thanks to my family and friends who helped me put together such an amazing and delicious buffet spread! I did not get a picture of the buffet table with the food.. wish I had cause I don't think I will ever have a spread like that again!

My favorite "Kow" friend Darci (aka "EKow" since she's been initiated into the Lao culture) made this off the hook delicious beet salad. I think she's beet out from making too much beet salad for me.


I made sure we did not have a huge long buffet line by spreading various appetizers throughout the casino, nightclub and lounging room.


Just like any buffets I think we all must have put on some hefty pounds, but we all manage to burn most of that dancing the night away with DJ DUI in the house!










My dearest friend Martha holding tight to me.... don't worry girl I love you too and I will never let you go either!



That's me with my Thunder from Down Under dancer Mr. Goud---and he was a GOOD dancer! Love ya!







Dang Deng! Get your handsome head out of our picture!







Taking a break to pose!









OH LA LA! Sexy mama gym buddies!

AUGUST ANNIVERSARY

What a special and perfect day today has been! I'm not one to brag about MIcheal (or am I?) but today he deserves some kind of honorable mention and acknowledgment.

Today we celebrate 14 years of still being together in marriage and in love... well, most of the time at least, and especially today! We have not had much quality time together because of all the time he's been logging in at work so it was a real surprise to me when he tells me he's taking me somewhere on our anniversary. As we're driving and I'm putting make-up on in the car (it's a bad habit of mine) he tells me not to put too much make-up on cause he's taking me to a spa. How romantic, right? Yes, if we were doing couple spa treatments! So, it turns out that the spa he's booked for me is at the luxurious Four Seasons which also happens to be located right next door to his office!! He walks me over and tells me he'll pick me up for lunch after my facial which by the way was a horrible idea cause my face was swollen after the extraction. The waitress at my favorite restaurant notices how puffed up my face was and suggests a seaweed/tofu salad that would reduce the swelling!!! After the delicious lunch at Tamerine's in Palo Alto (please try this restaurant if you are ever in the area and you must sample the shaking beef) he takes me back for my 90 minute Swedish massage while he goes back to work at the office!!!

Yes, it was still such a perfect and romantic gesture on my husband's part even if we did not get to do our spa treatments together. Despite his extremely busy work schedule, he managed to multi-task and squeeze our anniversary in between his client calls and meetings and for that I do applaud him and his efforts!

The past 14 years have been quite a roller coaster ride, and I hope to ride this roller coaster with him for at least 40 more years and all the way into eternity!

Our Only Family Video!

Ok I know how cheesy this looks... the order of my blog is not in chronological order! I have felt inspired to return to the world of blogging after having viewed a few friends' blogs. Where do these people find the time to put together such amazing blogs with telling pictures and videos of their families and lives?? I am a lame mom, but I'm trying to be better, especially at keeping more memorable records of events surrounding their lives.

So in my efforts and lack of blogging/computer experience this is the only family video I was able to obtain from our computer. It is a video of our daughter Kayley's first bath at home. Micheal always gives all our newborns their first baths. He just doesn't trust that I won't drop his precious slippery goods so he is usually the one that gives all our babies their baths till their necks are strong enough and than I take over.

Kayley has been such a JOY to our lives! She will be two in September and enjoys everything about life and living! Everyone adores her and even her sassy personality... Aaahhhh she is a woman after my own heart:) That's why she is so special to me!