It's the time of the year to count our blessings again! Thanksgiving is indeed a virtue. I have to thank my dear wife for reminding me of that and keeping track of this wonderful blog. 2007 is yet another year where God's blessings exceeded our expectation. =)

On Church: We witness the baptism of 4 teens in John Fellowship and the growth of their friendships. It has shown us that "success" in ministry is not what we do or don't do, but through the power of prayers that we bring people to Christ. Thank God for a wonderful team of counselors, serving with them has been a joy in 2007!

On Marriage: It's been 2 years since we tied the knot. Learning the principle of "Two becoming one" has been a pleasure. Spring has been considerate, supportive and wise as usual, thank you wife! One of my favorite proverbs coming from Spring this year: "We now adults ga la, so toughen up and learn to deal with problems that adults face!". Oh, and she's starting the pick up the ability to read my mind... which can be dangerous.

On Fun: 2007 was a fun year! We had a good ski season, where we managed to hit the maintain about 5 times. Last year I predicted that Spring would conquer black diamonds in 2007, and she did not disappoint! And of course, what's a "fun-filled" year without a vacation? The trip to Spain and Portugal definitely left many good memories for us. Mmm.... did we mention the yummy food?

On Career: We continue to enjoy our work. Ben's super thankful for the support that he receives from his company in pursuing his degree and the chance to attend the conference in November 2006. Spring on the other hand, got her wish in moving to a Business Unit Analyst position.

On Major Mistakes: People make mistakes. I do that lots. Driving the Mazda3 into an ultra-deep puddle is one mistake that I'll never make twice (see June entry). Seeing my near-new Mazda3 in the salvage yard is a sight that I will not forget. The sight of the Mazda3 surrounded by cars that had been crushed in traffic accidents made me thankful for being alive... as not too many former owners of cars in that yard could probably tell the tale without a single broken bone.

SEPTEMBER 2007

It's our 2nd year anniversary :) Wow... it's been 2 years already!! After a busy summer, we both felt the need to just clear our schedule for the weekend so we can spend some quality time together. We went to Kananaski for an afternoon of white water rafting, it was fun but not as difficult as we thought it'd be. We just took it easy that weekend to enjoy and appreciate having each other in our lives.

Amie and Allan's wedding is finally here! Amie's whole wedding planning process isn't exactly the smoothest but the big day came and everything went well :) Spring was a bridesmaid and she had a great time going to different places with the wedding party to take pictures. It was an honour to witness their first kiss at the park, after much peer pressure from the wedding party!!! Fall colours are so beautiful... shaking the trees to get the leaves falling on Amie and Allan is also fun....

AUGUST 2007

Spring went horsebacking riding with her mom. Her mom's first time! She took her back to the same ranch as the one she went to earlier this year. They had a new guide and she was equally fantastic! The weather was nice and toasty and the scenary was once again breath-taking. It's so relaxing to sit on a horse and let it take you through the trees. The guide let our horse galloped a short distance and mom kept control of the horse and did really well. They had a really good time that afternoon...

We went to our church's summer conference for a weekend, then it was Vivian and Ivan's wedding later in the month.

Spring went wall climbing for Amie's bridal shower and she was exhausted after just 1hr!! She's really not as fit as she was... playing tennis didn't keep her in shape! Amie's friends all met at our place for some games and gift openings, it was an honour to be able to host her bridal shower here.

JULY 2007

After being advised that our car is a total loss and had to be written off, the insurance company asked us to return the rental car in 3 days. We immediately kicked off the search for a new car. Test driving and researching cars are one of Ben's favorite "past times". The process for finding our new car was exciting and the time crunch seems to add to the excitement. We bought a car over the phone and we drove up to Edmonton the same week to pick up the car. Did we mention the insurance gave us a chq for the value of a new car? The accident occurred in the 23rd month of us into our ownership and the insurance policy's waiver of depreciation clause (which expires in the 24th months of ownership) makes the insurance company obligated to pay out the cost of a new car.

It's the wedding of our buddies - Connie & Jack. We're so happy to see them tie the knot because they are such good fit for each other!

Rebekah came visit from Montreal and stayed at our place for a week. It's always such a pleasant to have her around. Our life style seems to gel quite well, we don't seem to have any conflicts with having each other around at all :) She's always a welcomed guest and as usual, we had good sharing time with her. Best regards in her marriage with Ian, her ministry and her studies in Montreal!

John Fellowship also had a great time at our place as we had a farewell BBQ for Christy who will be leaving us to HK for a couple of months.

JUNE 2007

Flood!!!!!... Flood Damage!!! Mazda 3 got flood damaged as Ben had to drive through a puddle of water on the way home. Car stalled twice and Ben found a dry spot and left it there overnight. Panic comes the day after when we found out it can be fatal if water gets into a running engine. Hopefully we can bring it to the dealership and they'll fix the problem thoroughly so future problems are eliminated… Poor us, left with 1 car for who knows how many weeks. Here's a picture of what the flood looked like (our car is not in the picture) and a picture of the watermarks on the engine...
The incident kinda killed the idea of buying used cars in the future, you just don't know what the car's been through!!

Sis is moving into her new house and got possession of her 1st car :) Congratulations!!

MAY 2007

Dr. Kitty Cheung came visit and Spring met up with her a couple of times. They went horseback riding on a weekend and it was beautiful! The guide let our horses gallop, which was sooo much fun, thanks Kitty!! John Fellowship came over to our house for sleepover so we can keep each other in check for 30 hr femine...
Here's Ben making omelette for breakfast on the weekend :)

NOVEMBER 2006

Ben's got a surprising invitation from his boss to attend a conference in San Jose =) . It is a surprise because developers don't usually travels at his company. But when he got the invitation, he didn't ask questions...


So Ben took the opportunity to do some site seeing in San Francisco, Alcatraz (used to be a famous prison), and Golden Gate Bridge... etc. (top left) The conference center is pretty nice too! (right)

Driving in downtown San Francisco was a little crazy, but Ben managed to weave through the city with help from the GPS. He paid a visit to the Cheesecake Factory (with co-worker) when the conference is finished. It is located on the roof of Macy's, over-looking Union Square. Waited 45 minutes for the table! But it was worth it.


Beginning of November, we hosted our fellowship (~10 teens) in our house for a sleep over. We all had a really good time. Before they left, they made a big snow Doraemon in our back yard...

APRIL 2007

Ben was busy working away on his assignments and presentations as his course comes to an end in mid-April. 1 course down, 6 more to go… (yup, still a long way!!!!)

We headed to Spain and Portugal in mid-April for 2 weeks, and the trip marks an exciting end and beginning for both of us. She starts a new role when we return from the trip so she's been busy training passing over her tasks to her replacement before her departure. She's been in her role for almost 2.5 yrs now and is ready for change. Spring's very thankful for her boss Bryce, who is so supportive in her career development. For Ben, he has a new subordinate starting after our trip.










Highlights of the trip: 8 cities (London, Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, Sintra, Seville, Valencia, Toledo) in 2 weeks, night trains (sleepers and regular), lots of good food (seafood, suckling pig, tapas, our Portugese meals were pleasant surprises). Surprisingly one of the best days was our one and only beach day at Valencia. It was such a hot beautiful day. As Calgarians, we're so beach-deprived. We were at the beach front of the venue where the American Cup (the sailing/yachting competition) was held and we could see the sails in the water as we were sun-tanning. Unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures that day since we didn't carry our camera with us. We've scratched up the lens of an older camera before when we were at a beach and we don't want to to happen again... We were quite ready to come home by the end of the trip after venturing 8 cities…

MARCH 2007

Skied for the last time this season on Spring’s birthday. Spring progressed into the easy black this winter. Not too bad considering we don’t really ski a whole lot. Ben tries to be a little adventurous by going between the trees on the sides of the runs. Spring would of course follow along behind. We got lost in our quest to be adventurous and ended up in this deep snow area with dense trees around us. A really steep slope was a head of us so the only option was turn around, take off our skis and walk back to the ski path. But before going back, we decided to settle down and munch down our lunch there while enjoying the scenary.

FEBRUARY 2007

School is in full swing for the both of us. Not much going on, just the usual. We made a pact to not celebrate Valentines Day ever again – just a waste of time and energy for us. It’s Valentines Day for us everyday anyway, we’re so fortunate.
Spring started working out with Ben! What a break-through for a person who hates cardio exercises!

JANUARY 2007

Ben got a once in a lifetime chance to be sitting at a prime spot at a Flames hockey game.

Got really sick this month… man… Spring got this nasty nasty viral cold. She was down for a good week with fever for a couple of days at the beginning, she can’t even recall when she had a fever last time. The nasty fever soon turned into a messy cold with runny nose and continuous cough. Ben, being the loving husband, refused to let Spring sleep by herself in the guest room. Before you know it, he was down as well, for a good week with the same fever and coughs. What a month, both of us has never been this sick for the longest time.

DECEMBER 2006

Johnny, Christie, Jennifer and Gary got baptized in December. We are so comforted to see our teens grow up and commit themselves to Christ. Here are some pictures of our Sunday School class and baptism.

Winter in Calgary… not much to do except skiing. Got the Sunshine card again this year, after a couple of times, it’s pretty obvious we need a change next year! We love the feeling of being up in the mountains, puts you in such a good mood to be going down the slope with breath-taking scenary.

We invited our parents to our home for dinner for Christmas. It’s a home-made Japanese dinner. It’s simple but yummy, good job Spring for the menu idea and food prep and Ben for frying the chicken skewers.