The night before the night we left for the U.S., the kids’ maternal grandparents, aunt Neo, uncle Trung and cousin Bong came to see us for the last time.  We all enjoyed the sweet family gathering and baby James definitely benefited from it by getting over his mild fever. Lam’s sister gave her some jewelry gifts and we ate grandparents-funded Burger King burgers home-carried by David.

Under the soft lighting and confined space of our temporary apartment, the family admired Jacob’s active playfulness, James’ first few steps and Bong’s dances.  The next morning, grandparents came back to see us because they simply couldn’t stay away from the kids.  Lam visited her friend Kate for the last time (Kate suffered a slight hang-over from her birthday celebration) and we truly started packing for our “journey to the West.”