Tag: parents

A little bit of bragging … and a lot to be thankful for.

Because Ed is such a modest guy, I am taking the liberty of spilling the beans on a very exciting thing that happened two weeks ago. He was in Germany visiting some of his European clients … BMW, Audi, Porshe, and Volkswagon. During his meeting at Volkswagon, the one of the directors was so impressed with Ed and his extensive knowledge that he asked Ed to return to Germany this week to be a Keynote Speaker at the Global Volkswagon conference in Hamburg! It was a really big deal. Such a big deal in fact that we ALL (all = family & every friend who heard about this!) insisted that he return to Deutschland to make his presentation.

The downside? The conference was during Thanksgiving. So we made the best of it. We got together with all of our parents the weekend before an had a lovely dinner at the Facey Parents house. Afterall, there was no way my mom was going to let him go without her stuffing this year!


That’s Dad carving the duck my mom made.


Our awesome parents with Ed!

Thanksgiving Day was delicious as usual, but we definitely missed Ed. The happiest part of the day was when I got a call from Germany …

And of course … here is me with my family!

Each year, I feel like the holidays get better and better. I am so thanksful for my wonderful family & friends!

p.s. Ed’s presentation went great! He’s on his way back from Germany as I write this!

Dad’s 60th is a success!

Today we celebrated Carrie’s Dad’s 60th Birthday with a bang! He has been planning this extravaganza for a long, long time – and our family was lucky to reap the rewards of his plan! Basically, we all checked in to the Disneyland Hotel on Monday night, enjoyed a delicious dinner at The Storybook Cafe, and woke up early this a.m. to go to the park. As hotel guests, we were granted access to the park an hour earlier than the general public. Then, at 5pm, we headed over to Goofy’s Kitchen, for a buffet dinner and party with some dear friends. It was a blast. We get to spend one more night here at the hotel, and tomorrow we’ll return to the park for another complete day of fun! Lucky us.

We’re beat, so it’s off to bed for us … but check out the album for Day One of the extravaganza!*

Dad’s 60th Birthday

*11/6/08 – the album now has photos from both days. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Yesterday we had a very special luncheon to celebrate Mom’s Birthday (which is on March 3rd). We wanted to make it as special as she is, so we went to a beautiful restaurant in Topanga Canyon called Inn of the Seventh Ray. The restaurant is gorgeous, all outside, next to a creek. It was the perfect place for her. Our pictures of the place couldn’t do it justice, so we grabbed a few from the web:



The food was delicious too – and afterwards, we had to celebrate with a little birthday cake. You’re never too old to blow out the candles and make a wish!

Our gift this year was to make a book for her. Our goal was to compile as many pictures of significant moments in her life as possible. We found quotes appropriate for each decade and wrote a forward to the book. It was a wonderful experience for us both going through the photos and learning so much about her life – and we were so happy that she loved the book too.


Overall, it was a wonderful day spent with our family! Happy, Happy Birthday to you, Mom!

The birthday keeps rollin’ on!

Now that we’re back from our Palm Springs weekend, we had one more round of birthday celebrations for Carrie to go. For the final bash, we had to get the parents involved, so we all met up at PF Chang’s for a massive and delish meal.

Before the meal came presents! From Carrie’s parents came this great card showing everything that had happened in 1976 and the most awesome polka dot purse.

Ed’s mom got Carrie this really cool Luvcat wallet:

Ed’s dad knows that a Target gift card is a surefire hit with Carrie!

Everyone had a great time and came away with really full stomachs, as you can see…


As they say in all of Asia during birthdays, long noodles for long life!

Go Mom!

Everyone knows about Ed’s mom’s way with people and the impact that she’s made on so many people through her work at the Stramski Center, a part of Miller Children’s Hospital in Long Beach. Tonight, she was awarded with the very prestigious Geraldine A. Stramski Spirit Award – and she and her associates on the Cleft & Craniofacial Team were recognized in a big way tonight by the Steel Magnolias at their huge annual gala.

This was the real deal – a fancy black tie affair complete with silent auction and martinis that flow through ice blocks!

We had the pleasure of spending the evening with a bunch of family and family VIPs. Ed’s mom, Ed, Carrie, Shannon, Ed’s aunt and uncle, Elder Yang (a dear dear friend of Ed’s grandmother), and Ed’s mom’s best friend Kathy and her husband were all present.

Ed is real proud of Mom!

Us and Elder Yang!

Carrie and Shannon

It was awesome to see Ed’s mom get this recognition – she got some good screen time on the short movie they made about the honorees, and her acceptance speech was wonderful – plenty of people complimented her on her words afterwards and she was quite an eloquent speaker!

Way to go mom! We’re so proud of you!

Some more pics from tonight…

Uncle is at his post capturing every moment!

We won carwashes tonight at the silent auction!!

The award and the bouquet we got for mom:

See the complete album here.