Mom: When are you leaving?
Me: Early Wednesday morning.
Mom: Do you need a ride to the airport?
Me: No, it’s too early. I was just going to take a shuttle.
Mom: I can take you.
Michelle: I can take you.
Me: You sure? It’s early.
Michelle: Yes.
Me: Okay then we’ll do that.

This morning the conversation was quite different.

Me: Don’t forget we have to go real early to the airport on Wednesday.
Michelle: Awww, man!
Me: Did you just offer to take me after my mom offered so you’d look like a good wife?
Michelle: Yeah. Can you take a shuttle? And also tell your mom I took you?

Here is the reason we went up to San Jose for Thanksgiving. This is my niece, Myla, who just turned one not too long ago. Her upper teeth are probably due out soon so she likes to chew on her tongue.

Myla with her mom and the bunny we got for her.

Here Michelle is telling her the importance of online web presence.

Kids like me, and I think it’s because I look like a cartoon.

We made her play with the bunny every chance we got so it would become her favorite, and then we would become her favorite. Muahahahha!

Myla plays like a little boy. She doesn’t like to sit still and only has one speed, extreme. I was fascinated by the fact that she can mimic just about any sound you make. She can pop her lips, click her tongue, and do whatever that thing is called in the video.

Now that we’re done looking at my adorable niece, let’s talk about family and food.

People ask whether spending time with my niece makes me want to have kids any sooner. Playing with kids is pretty fun, but part of the fun is being able to say, “She pooped. Playtime timeout. Someone take care of this.” What you don’t see in all these pictures is all the hard work the parents put into raising Myla. You also don’t see the loads of stuff they have just to accomplish that task. Hard work is hard. As I am having a difficult time taking care of myself most of the time, I don’t think pushing up kids is a great idea.

Instructions on how to finish her almost-ready-to-eat meal. That’s right. She made a meal just for us that she had no intention of eating herself. I should have more week day deliveries.

Water the lawn? Please, Mom. I’m not a child. That was taken care of the very next morning…because it rained.

I went over to my parents’ place and found this on the dining room. These are all photos of my niece, Myla. If you look at their computers and phones, the backgrounds are photos of her as well. It seems petty for a grown adult to try to compete for attention with a baby, but I figured how to deal with it.

I’m currently planing on printing a lot of photos of myself, leaving them around their house and  changing all electronic devices to display my face.

I sent a sandwich for you with dad. Ask him to save it for you in frig if you’re not in the office today, or he’s liable to give it away – 3 pieces of bacon!!

My mom’s the best.

We made a stop along the way at Casa de Fruta. It’s a little tourist trap with an old, Venetian-style merry go round and a place where you can pan for gold. They also have a wine store, a place to buy dried fruits and nuts, and a candy/ice cream store. It’s totally worth a stop if you have little kids in the car that are driving you nuts.

They also have a whole shelf dedicated to hot sauce.

There’s also a train for taking photos.

This is a sign in my brother’s neighborhood. While I was reading it, I jumped the curb  and drove through his living room. Why would they make a sign with so many words?

This is my niece, Myla. She is the reason we made a trip up north. At two months old, she is pretty boring.  She eats, sleeps, and poops. Even her parents do things to make her more exciting, like dress her up as a sandwich.

Here is Michelle, chatting with Myla about her plans for a summer internship at Woo! and negotiating the pay rate for such a highly desirable position.

I’d ask you to stay turned for more exciting things, but there really wasn’t too much going on this weekend. It was good to spend some quiet time with the family, which is now one person bigger.

There was beer pong.

There was also flip cup.

The losers got spankings.

The crappy gift exchange brought out 20 lbs. of taco sauce.

It also brought out a lot of light sabers.

There was time with the cousins.

We even threw a Hannah  Montana themed party for a very special person.

And there she is.

I saw UCLA lose to Washington. Got a great program with good years ahead.

I learned that nuns really like boba.

I don’t have any pictures from New Year’s Eve that don’t have someone looking a little drunk, passed out, or just raging. Those pictures will remain under wraps. I personally behaved this year, unlike some other years past.

Check out some of the photos from our wedding. All photos are by our awesome wedding photographer, Raya, unless otherwise noted.

Our first look. Michelle’s first words to me were, “I’m so glad you showed up.”

Guys I have known for way too long.

The gorgeous bride with her bridesmaids.

Being married under Hometree. Apologies to the bridesmaids and groomsmen on the ends. Fisheye lenses are not flattering there. On the up side, look how great Michelle and I look. Photo by David C. Lee.

Our wedding coordinators at Bash Eco Events put together Michelle’s image beautifully. People were calling it, “The Best 6 -Year-Old Birthday Party Ever.”

Photo byDavid C. Lee.

Sweet.

Yeah, we even brought in Coolhaus. Our friends, who don’t live in the LA area are still talking about the truck.

And of course there was dancing. A few wine bottles made it onto the dance floor, which meant even more fun.

So a big thanks to all the friends and family that were able to make this day so special. We had awesome vendors to make it all come together. I’m glad I can finally put the whole wedding behind me and just an old, married man.

Here is the backdrop of our photo booth, ivy intertwined with pom poms and twirly whirlies.

There were plenty of fun props to play with for the photos.

It was also nice to have a non traditional photo booth, because you can cram more people into the frame.

Some people started getting amorous.

Most of the people just had a good time being silly.

Even some of our older friends and relatives got in on the fun.

This is super impressive timing to get all four of them in the air like this.

A fight did break out over people hogging the camera time.

Some people were naturals when it came to photos. It’s like art.

There was even a light saber battle or two that night.

Michelle’s family loved the photo booth.

Cheese! Is this thing working? There we go!

I’m high on life.

Making love to the camera.

Everyone enjoyed it until the very end of the night.

I was super happy about the way the photo booth turned out on my first try. I’d love to set this up for some other event some time. If anyone has an occasion, give me a holler. I’m much less expensive than those other guys and probably the best looking photo booth operator you’ll find out there. For now, please enjoy the some more of our photos on our wedding website.