Memorial Day Weekends

It was supposed to be a sunny weekend as the weather channel predicted, but unfortunately we got a little bit thunderstorms here. So we actually didn't do anything fancy.

We went to a garage sale on Saturday organized by the Islamic school. The event was quite dull since not many people showed up mostly because of the rainy-cloudy day. I sold some kuih at the event, and very content to help the organizer.

There was this sister who shared the food table with me. She sold brownies, cupcakes, cookies and balloons, but they were so expensive! One balloon for $1, one chocolate chip cookie for $1, one cupcake for $2 and one brownie for $3!! (Even Amin pun terbeliak mata) I on the other hand, sold my kuih in the small container (which contained 6/ more pieces) for $1-$2 only. So when the customers came to our table, most of them bought my kuih :D I could even count how much that sister made that day (I guessed around $7 only!!) :S

Me and sister Ambara.

My kuih (Map by Amin)

Amin and his 'little brother' wearing the same shirt color! :P

Then on Monday, we had a little bbq at the backyard of our house. Amin grilled some steaks, corns and veggies, while I made mashed potatoes and gravy. It was the first time we tried to grill steaks, and it turned out a little bit overcooked and burned (silap budget timer :-|)

But it was soooo delicious.... yum yum yum (jangan jeles Janet)



Oppss terhangus...

My Visit to Bend OR: Day 8

So the next Friday, we went to the Painted Hills: "some of the richest fossil beds in the world.."


This area is covered with the volcanic deposits since millions years ago. And now you can see layers of different colors (/different combination of minerals) that make up the hills as a result of a long long period of erosion.


Besides Niagara Falls, this is another spectacular view I ever witnessed :)



Janet said "Baby dah sampai Painted Hills!"

First time they drove their Lancer to the Painted Hills.

Another part of this area is called the Painted Cove. It's covered with piles of different colors of soft claystones. The surface looks like a bunch of popcorns as a result of millions years of erosion.




The lavender color soil is actually the deposits that came from a volcanic mountain 100 miles aways from this area.


Rehat sekejap :D

A nearby lake.

The next stop was the Pilot Butte. It is just a hill in the middle of Bend, and many people walk/ jog up there to see the view of the whole town. We on the other hand took an easier way: drove all the way up!



This is Bend.

And from here I saw their tiny house (guess which one?)

All in all, it was a great trip that day. It wasn't something fun, but it would be a day to remember :D

Up and About

Ok now that I have time.. mari kite review ape jadi the last few weeks.
First thing first, May 2nd was the big ultrasound day. The appointment was at 1 PM, we were a little bit late *biasa la zuhri lambat*. We got there at 1:10, register then terus masuk bilik scan. It was so lengthy and since the room was so cozy I almost felt asleep. Halfway thru, my bladder was full, the technician ckp kena empty bladder so that the baby can move around. After gi toilet, I sat for another ultrasound. In few seconds, the baby flip upside down and viola the technician showed us the *boy* part. Hehehe sukanyeee.. I can see the cute little *turtle* (that's what the technician used to refer it to). Zuhri was so very happy, he really really wants a boy all this while. Alhamdulillah...I'm happy as long as the baby is healthy. And now kitaorg pening pikir nama baby pulak.

Later that day, we picked up gem. She flew from KC to see me and nak tolong masak heheh. She wasn't in a good mood when she landed sbb bag dia hilang. The week with gem was so memenatkan. Saturday masak2 for kenduri, Sunday gi Crater Lake, the weekdays tak buat ape sbb keje, Friday went to Painted Hills, Saturday to Sisters and shopping2 around town. And Sunday, Gem flew off. Gem writes a lot more details about her trip, so baca la eh. All in all gem looks the same, bulat2 jugak. hehehe.. she might be a little bit more annoying than before sbb dia chat dgn amin all the time. Pening guwe. But we had a great time..

For mother's day (since I'm a mom-to-be), zuhri bought me a painting. Mahal jugak tu $100, beli tepi jalan je pun heheheh. Tapi lawa la. Boleh la hias rumah yg kosong ni.

On Wednesday 06/14, I felt the baby kicking for the first time. Woohoo...felt a little freaky at first. But it was alright. Tak sakit pun.

Ok la thats all for now. I will post pictures etc later.

My Visit to Bend OR: Day 3

First place to see in Oregon ---> Crater Lake!!

I was so excited for the trip because it was sunny that day, and for sure we would be able to go to the top.

The long 3 hours driving to Crater Lake (Are we there yet??).

Thick snows accumulated from last winter.. see it blocked the view of the mountain behind.



Finally.... we saw the spectacular view of the Crater Lake.

Subhan Allah!

Then... slim Janet and Zuhri, their first visit to the Crater Lake.

Now... the very pregnant Janet (aka bulats :D) and Zuhri, with the baby boy at the Crater Lake.

Some explanation of the Crater Lake at the souvenir shop (How? When? Why?)

A replica of the lake and the Wizard Island.

A closer look... Wizard Island.

On the way back... bye bye c ya again!

I felt sorry for Meng and dik Noii because last year when they came here, they didn't see anything :-| (Lucky me :D)

My Visit to Bend OR: Day 2

I helped out si Janet and Zuhri cooking for the gathering that afternoon. They only invited 3 families and their Purdue friend (sorry lupe nama), so supposedly we didn't need to cook that much. I was happy to help them out, and I cooked most of the food: ayam percik, karipap and kuih bakar. Si Janet pulak, I don't know if it was the pregnant hormone, but she had been bossing around the kitchen pot pet pot pet ade je yg tak kena :P (You guys know how annoying that was. Aku pun kena la tunjuk muka seposen aku, maklumlah org pregnant, malas la aku nak fire dia balik hehehe.. ) Zuhri plak masak nasi and acar.

Funny thing was that they didn't have enough plates and serving plates. So in the middle of cooking, aku and Janet went out to TJ Max and Linens N Things to buy the serving plates and spoons. Then sambung masak balik. And at the end, we managed to get everything done (cleaning the house and serving the food) before the guests came.

The guests: Susan and kak Nita (and their kids)

Me and the very pregnant Janet.

After the meal, we all baca Yassin and then solat Maghrib.

The ladies: kak Mai, me, Susan and kak Nita (si Janet amik gambar)

Alhamdulillah, the gathering went very well. We all prayed for Janet's health and her baby boy :D

My Visit to Bend OR: Day 1

Amin sent me to the KC airport at 8 am. I thought that there would be a lot of people queued up to get their boarding passes and to pass the security screening, but it was not as bad as I expected. I got to the waiting area before 9, and my flight was scheduled to depart at 9.40 am to Denver CO (pretty early!) I slept all the way in the flight, so I didn't take any pictures hehehe.

From Denver, I had to take a connecting flight to Portland OR. I didn't have much time over there, just had lunch bihun goreng, and went to the restroom, and then the officer called for boarding time. Anyway the trip wasn't that pleasant. The flight was bumpy all the way to Portland, and when I got there, I felt sick and I had a headache already.

Then I had to walk down the hall to another part of the airport wings to catch my connecting flight to Redmond. Yuppp I was so tired, and I couldn't wait to get to Bend. Janet told me to look for the mountains on the way to Bend. Here are some pics I snapped:

My last connecting flight to Bend.

The still snowy mountains.

A really big snowy mountain!

Redmond (finally!)

First time I saw the pregnant Janet :-|

Cultural Day @ The View

I was involved with the Cultural Day 2 weeks ago organized by the Islamic School of Greater Kansas City. My fellow Malaysian sisters volunteered to set up a booth, basically displaying stuffs from Malaysia and I made some traditional desserts for samples.

Since we expected many people to come to the free-admission event, we assumed that the event would be in a huge hall at the community center and we would get a big display table. But when Amin and I got there, we were so overwhelming with the setting and the crowd. Yupp they got a big hall, but the display booths were set at a narrow corridor while the big hall was used for people to watch the stage performance.

I was so frustrated with the setting. There was no room for people to stop by the booth, and it was hard for us to answer their questions. It was like at 'pasar' in Msia.

The only good thing was that lotsa Malaysians showed up at the event. It was like a small gathering for us :) Also, all the display tables were beautifully decorated for the occasion. Bravo to the volunteers!

The Malaysian booth.

Kuih I made for samples: karipap, kuih bakar pandan and kuih rengas.

One of the performances by the 3rd Grade kids from the Islamic school.

The Malaysian sisters.