Jane's U of C graduation

On November 10 Jane graduated from the University of Calgary with her degree in sociology. We went down to be with her on her special day. Waving the mace around to commence the ceremonyThere's Jane! Right side, far end, third from the backJane shows up on the big screen as she prepares to walk across the stage Shaking hands with the Chancellor
Family photo (Fiona was at Maya's house for playtime)

Proud parents!
Congratulations Jane, we are very happy for you :-)

Tossing the hat

Fiona's third birthday

Fiona turned 3 years old on November 3rd. My how the time flies. For her special day we invited some little friends over for a party. We made some crafts, played games, had snacks and cake, plus opened several presents. Thanks to Mackenzie, Anna and Maya (and their mamas!) for coming over to enjoy the special day with us. Vivian also worked very hard making the food, plus special Princess costumes for everyone, to go along with the Princess party theme. Gareth decorated the house with baloons and streamers (Fiona is really into pink these days).
Modelling her Princess dress -- handmade by Mama
Trying on princess shoes
Happy day!
Four little princesses: our party guests Mackenzie, Anna and Maya
Sitting down for some snacks
Birthday cake from Cinderella
Enjoying a sweet treat
Group photo. Thanks everyone for coming to our party!


Here's a little video of party highlights. Includes music from Fiona's new personalized CD!

The following day we had more guests: Nai Nai and Ye Ye (Fiona's grandma and grandpa, a.k.a. Gareth's parents), plus Vivian's college friend Heidy and her family: Felipe, Philip and Dylan. Another enjoyable party, with more presents!
Vivian cooked up a bounty of dishes
Fun times with Dylan and Philip

我們在卡加利的B&B民宿開張了 Our Calgary B&B is open for business!

我們在卡加利的B&B(民宿)正式開張了。這是我們B&B的網頁 :  http://www.bbcanada.com/jayandrabbit
請大家告訴大家。若有朋友正計畫來加拿大，卡加利，請推薦我們，我們一定熱情招待！After much tidying and planning, our B&B is open and ready for business. 

All the details can be seen here: http://www.bbcanada.com/jayandrabbit
If you or anyone you know is traveling in Alberta and needs a place to stay, check out "The Jay and Rabbit"! 

Why "The Jay and Rabbit"? We chose the name because a.) it sounds a bit like a pub, warm and friendly, and b.) there are actually quite a few blue jays and rabbits living in the neighborhood. We're in the city but with all the grass and trees around it is almost like being in a forest.
The one, the only: The Jay and Rabbit guest room
Our guests come upstairs to our dining room to enjoy breakfast
Your Jay & Rabbit hosts: Vivian & Gareth 

What Gareth has been up to in Calgary, work-wise

Some of you asked what I've been doing for my new job here in Canada. Answer: I've been working as a content specialist for an international online banking company called Neteller. We've got some interesting new software and services which will be available to consumers later this year. However, as of today you can take a sneak peek at this online demo our department whipped up recently.

my new photo & video album我的新的照片和影片相簿

Here's the link to my new photo & video album. Because it's easier to upload stuff.
這是我的新相簿。歡迎上去看看最近的照片和影片。
http://chiachien.multiply.com/

My Mum, Janet Morgan: gardener par excellence

My Mum is great -- she is very good at gardening, among other things. I thought it was time to give her some credit here, and show off some of her gardening work. She surely makes our house a much prettier place to live Recently she bought a new car, a Toyota Yaris.
Here are some of the flowers she planted in front of our house
Here's what the front garden flower bed looks like
Great bunches of roses growing at the side of the houseHanging basket of flowers on the edge of the window, facing our deck: Visible when you're in the kitchen washing the dishes A nice flower bed at the back of the house too

Close-up of some flowers in the back.

Thanks Mum!

Back to work at last

Guess what? Gareth is working again at last! It feels good to go back to work at a real office job again, after a longer-than-expected hiatus (over 7 months). As some of you may know, our time spent in Canada so far has had a significant number of challenges. It isn't cheap to live here in Calgary, and often we didn't know where our provision was coming from. But on the positive side I was able to spend some of that time at home with Fiona and Vivian, helping my parents get settled into their new condo, and doing a number of repairs on the old family home. There are always some things to be thankful for amidst our difficulties.
At any rate, we are on to the next chapter. Now it seems like our life can finally begin to settle down into something normal. And the job seems very promising too. I'll be doing some writing and editing and other communications-related work for a growing Internet banking company. Looks like some good potential and a bright future there.
Thanks for all of you who shared encouragement, advice, job leads, introductions, resume revision tips, networking tips, money, free stuff, freelance editing work, prayers and other help along the way. Often I was surprised at where the help came from.
Now we will be gearing up for our summer guests: Vivian's mum, sister and two nieces will be joining us at the end of June. Best wishes for the coming summer everyone.

Mom's group媽媽們的咖啡時間

經由一個在台灣的美國朋友的介紹，認識了Melonie。Melonie介紹我到這一個很棒的媽媽小組。每個星期一早上我們會在一個咖啡店碰面，小朋友在地下室玩，每一次會有一個媽媽留在下面看孩子，其餘的媽媽就到一樓喝咖啡談媽媽經。很棒吧！讓媽媽可以有喘息的機會。
這裡的照片是在Lea家拍的。因為咖啡店在裝修，我們只好去Lea家玩。Lea是這個媽媽小組的招集人。 這是大概兩個多月前拍的。
Through our American friend in Taipei, Matt, we met his high school friend, Melonie. She introduced me to this Mom’s group. They meet every Monday morning and take turns looking after the kids when all the other moms can sit, have some coffee and chat with each other. I love the idea and I like those moms too. They are so cool and friendly. I even signed up to look after the kids couple times.
The photos here were taken about 2 months ago in Lea's place. When the "House cafe" was doing the renovation, we met in Lea's house once. Lea is our coordinator.

這就是Lea。腿上坐著的是他的兒子Login，中間是他的女兒，Naomi。
That's Lea. Her son, Login is on her laps and daughter, Naomi is in the middle.



有一對雙胞胎，我老分不清楚，雖然是龍鳳胎！穿紅色衣服的應該是雙胞胎中的女生，Georgia。孟田躺在那裡研究拼圖。
I got confused with the twins sometimes, even they are one boy and one girl. I believe the girl in red is Georgia. Fiona is trying to figure out the puzzle.

這是Kathy和他的女兒Anna，還有一個去年12月才出生的小女兒，Grace。
This is Kathy and her daughter, Anna. Anna has a baby sister now, Grace. She is only about 3 months old. (Marcia, I know they don't look like you at all, but somehow, they remind me a lot of you and your girls, Mikayla and Izzy.)



Melonie和Mikayla在左邊，Nula和他的雙胞胎在右邊。
Melonie and Mikayla are in the dark. And Nula with her twins are under the light.




我有個直覺，孟田以後應該很愛打鼓。
我以後再放一些我們平常聚會的照片。
I have a feeling. Fiona will be a good drummer one day.
I'll try to post more regular mom's group meeting photos next time.(If I spell some of your names wrong, please forgive me and let me know.)

job hunting in Calgary

Makes no difference where I go / You're the best hometown I know / Hello Calgary, hello Calgary (eeee!) / Channels 2 and 7 love youuuuu
Well I hope someone out there besides me remembers the TV jingle above. That was from back in the day when Calgary's Global station was independent CFAC, KangaROOS sneakers and fluorescent legwarmers were all the rage at school, and the city skyline looked a bit like this:
When I reached my mid-20s I was a little dismayed to discover that the fondly-remembered Hello Calgary jingle from my misspent youth was in fact part of a prepackaged image campaign used in numerous cities across North America. Hey! Awww...

Now, returning home to Calgary after an 8-year-haitus, it's surprising to see how much has changed. Of course I've changed too, mind you, and for the better. Still, it's got me thinking. Is Thomas Wolfe right? Can a person really come home again? Did I shake the dust off my sandals when leaving in '99, take my fill of life in the big Asian city, then return expecting to find a place that no longer exists any more?

Calgary is in fact bigger and better than I remember it, though the prices and the traffic take some getting used to. To address the former challenge, I need a proper job. Catch me in my natural habit of late and you'll see me e-mailing resumes with machine gun frequency, working a part-time retail job to feed the family, doing the odd interview, and wearing a sandwich board on downtown streetcorners during weekday lunch hours. OK one of those isn't true. And soon when I get that proper job, none of them will be. Wish me luck!

Happy New Year~photos from January新年新氣象，一月的照片

柷大家新年快樂。雖然已經三月了，回顧一下一月的照片吧！
Happy New Year to everyone! I know it's March now, but it's time to share some old photos from this past January.
孟田喜歡躺在雪裡做"雪天使"。
Fiona loves making "snow angels"

走累了，就趴在雪橇上讓媽媽拉回家
I'm tired. Mama, pull me home.


購物中心裡的車車，可以讓媽媽好好的逛街買東西
I love the strollers in the malls. They're the only way I can get some shopping done.

企鵝，你要乖乖，帽子不可以拿下來，媽媽會生氣喔！
Penguin, you'd better keep this hat on, or mama will be angry.


要吃完啊！很痛苦耶！吃飯對孟田來說還是很傷腦筋的一件事。
Fiona doesn't enjoy mealtimes too much.

孟田和她的新朋友Maya。Maya的媽媽也是台灣來的，爸爸是波蘭人。他們目前定居在卡加利。Maya每個星期二都會來和孟田玩。有玩伴真好！
Fiona with her new friend Maya. Her mom is also from Taiwan, ane her dad is from Poland. It's nice to see Fiona with some new friends.

"Two" 兩歲

(其實四個月前就該刊這一篇的，我實在太會拖了。不過，有總比沒有好吧！)
孟田兩歲了。我教她練習聽懂並回答「我兩歲。」用英文和中文。中文很快就學會了，英文卻一直跟著我重複「How old are you?」
我台灣的家人竟然買了一個蛋糕，在電腦前用視訊幫孟田唱生日快樂歌。還在電腦前吃了起來，讓孟田直吞口水。
因為還不知道在這裡如何幫小朋友辦生日派對，我只有簡單的請了爺爺奶奶和姑姑以及我的好朋友Heidy一家人來孟田的生日晚餐。爺爺和奶奶買了一個超大的企鵝，(還有其他的禮物)孟田愛死了。睡覺前還要跟企鵝親吻晚安。
(I should've posted this 4 months ago. Well, it's better than nothing.)
Fiona is two years old now. I've tried to teach her how to answer the question: "How old are you?" in English and Chinese. She picked up the Chinese answer pretty quickly, but it took her a while to understand that she doesn't have to repeat the question.
My dear family from Taiwan bought a cake and sang the happy birthday song in front of the computer for Fiona. Oh, I miss them so much.
We had a small party for Fiona. Grandma, grandpa and auntie Jane all came to the party. I also invited my friends Heidy and Filipe and their two boys. We have met some little friends here from the church and the mother's group I go to every Monday. But I'm not ready to throw a kid's birthday party yet. Hopefully I'll be ready next year for Fiona's 3-year-old birthday.
Grandma and grandpa bought a big penguin for Fiona, and some other nice things. She loves it so much. She even kisses the penguin good night.
孟田的生日蛋糕(看到了嗎？企鵝就躺在沙發上)
Fiona's got an ice cream birthday cake. The penguin is lying on the couch.

孟田愛死了她的冰淇淋生日蛋糕
Fiona loves her ice cream cake.

Winter Wonderland

Yes, it can get cold here in Calgary during the winter. Last week it got down to -33C at night, with a high of -27C in the daytime. On the positive side, there are a lot of sunny days and bright blue skies. Sometimes the snow sprinkles itself gently on the trees, like this: