Happy Birthday Gloria

Spent a lovely Sunday afternoon celebrating Gloria's birthday at Neiman Marcus's Rotunda. If you've never been, I highly recommend dining at the Rotunda. Beautiful architecture with so much natural light throughout the restaurant and a gorgeous view of SF.

The lovely birthday girl sandwiched between me and Margaret.

Tasty delights

Friends gathering around the guest of honor.

Trying to get the massive ceiling in the pic. 

Happy St. Maddy's Day

We kicked off Maddy's 8th birthday celebration with a trip to Tahoe, her favorite vacation spot. 

Kids tried skiing for the first time. Weather was unusually warm for this time of year at 60 degrees and the slopes were mostly covered with man-made snow. Subpar ski conditions but kids still had fun. Alicia made a stink and whined all morning but after much coaxing she persevered. 

Overly dressed for the warm weather but don't they look cute! 

With cousin Paige

Blowing out her 8 candles. Oh my goodness! My baby's 8!!!! No more booster chair for this big girl. 

DIY wrapping paper: Trader Joe's paper bags and crayons. 

All 7 Pak cousins

With Grandma and Ikey

Opening presents

6 Pak all washed up and ready for bed

Hamming it up for the camera 

Cousins Rock!

Birthday lunch at CPK

Me and my Boo

So thankful for my little Maddy who is turning out to be a beautiful young lady. God has surely blessed our family with this sweet and gentle soul who all to often will beg to read one more chapter before bed, meticulously add the finishing touches to her drawings and diligently practice her soutenous and arabesques during and after ballet class. And yes, we still have days when she tries to get away with a frown here and a pout there and there will surely be many days when we will come to butt heads but I will always love being her mom and I will constantly seek help and wisdom and patience from our Heavenly Father. May she grow to be a God-fearing woman who will be Christ-minded and never ashamed of the gospel. I love you, Madeline Grace Pak! 

Date Night

Date nights are few and far between these days. However, when the opportunity arises I take advantage of painting my face and dressing up...two things I rarely do these days. On most days you'll catch me in sweats and leggings sans makeup. So please allow me to indulge and show you a rare pic of me looking presentable.

With the hat

Without the hat

Happy Birthday Eugene! 2-5-2014

Happy birthday to my wonderful husband, Eugene. Everyday I give thanks to God for blessing me with such a generous and thoughtful man. He is the quintessential "behind-the-scenes" guy and never seeks attention nor adulation. Since my sickness he has assumed both parenting roles and does it without complaint. I am utterly in awe of his selflessness and willingness to serve our family this way. I love him so much and he is my inspiration to keep fighting. Here's to many more birthdays we can celebrate together!

Birthday bundt cake

Birthday lemon yogurt cake (first cake I've baked since Ikey was born)

God is Faithful to All His Promises

I was just reading an email message from Maddy's Sunday School teacher. Every week, parents receive a summary of the past Sunday's bible lesson. Last Sunday,  Maddy and her classmates learned that God will fight for you and acts on behalf of those who wait for Him. Every step of the way, God will fight for you (me!) and He will cast away all fears and doubt.  What a fantastic reminder to me when fear and anxiety fill my thoughts. God is in control and is faithful to all His promises. Oh, how quickly I forget and attempt to deal with my fears on my own. Inevitably, I fail because I neglect to call upon The Lord. I need or rather desire to trust in God in every aspect of my life. He has been so merciful these past months and I'm so grateful for His goodness and faithfulness. My body is responding favorably to the chemo drugs and the latest CT scan shows that my cancer lesions have either disappeared (lungs) or shrunk (bones an liver). Now, it's just a matter of maintenance and continued chemo treatments to prolong my life. Praise God! I know that there's always the possibility that my body could stop responding to chemo. I'm aware of that harsh reality but in the meantime I will do my part to maintain a healthy lifestyle and optimistic outlook. How can I possibly fail with God by my side.

Maddy's memory verse for this week: So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what
can man do to me? Hebrews 13:6

Here's a recap on the fun things I did this week:

Celebrated Lauren's birthday with friends. Had a very yummy ramen dinner. 

Enjoyed watching Alicia play tennis. Seen here with her tennis coach. 

Keeping up with an active 8-month old. 

Watched our dear Caleb perform in the Children's Theater production of 101 Dalmations. 

I leave you with this...

I have a great need for Christ; I have a great Christ for my need. - Charles H. Spurgeon