The Armstrongs

Uncle Rick's stepsister got married in San Antonio this past weekend. A few months ago, Aunt Anh Thu asked if she and the kids also came in for the wedding would we come meet them in there. When I initially agreed, I didn't know it would be the first weekend after moving in and how hectic things were going to be. But seeing how much I missed my nieces and nephew and the same with Ngoai and Papa, we still so badly wanted to make the trip.

We left Friday night in hopes that Andrew would sleep most of the way. Ngoai and Papa sat in the back of the car with A.J. thinking they could handle things if he got testy. Well, around an hour into it, he did just that. He was tired and wanted to sleep, but couldn't be consoled. We pulled over so I could switch places with Papa. Well, he finally fell asleep after a good 20 minutes of crying, poor kid. He remained sleeping for the rest of the trip.

Well, it ended up almost perfect timing as we were making our way into SA as Uncle Rick had caught an earlier flight and landed into town earlier than expected. He only had to wait 30 minutes or so at the airport before we picked him up. Nonna was still up after just getting back from the Spurs game with Aunt Janine and her family. Andrew woke up and played for a bit while all of us unwound from the drive and flight in.

Saturday morning, James, Ngoai, and Rick left to go pick up Anh Thu and the kids and lunch while I stayed behind with Andrew. The kids had grown so much and especially Brennan, who speaks so much better since May. Uncle Anh Tuan also made the trip in from Austin. Of course, we just all hung out and played and watched one heck of a football game. Go Horns!! That just added to a great day! It was eventually time for the Armstrongs to get ready for the wedding. The girls loved getting her hair done by Ngoai, the professional. Cara and Emma looked beautiful in their white dresses and Brennan looked so handsome in his suit. Anh Thu and Rick looked very dapper too.

That evening, Aunt Janine, Uncle Mike, and Cousins Stephanie and Thomas came over for dinner, which Nonna did another fantastic job of....so delicious!! Andrew was very nice to let us eat in peace while he hung out in the playpen. And Thomas was really sweet to play with his little cousin and even read to him a Texas Longhorns book, which a gift to commemorate Andrew's first Texas-OU game and the awesome Longhorns victory.

On Sunday, the Armstrongs were headed to a post-wedding family brunch. But first, we had another delectable breakfast courtesy of Nonna. Emma was so enthused to help make the French toast…our little sous chef. And Cara was also enthused to help feed Drew his breakfast…our little babysitter. Both girls did a great job; and A.J. ate very well for his cousin. Daddy and Nonna went to mass while Ngoai and Mommy hung out and managed to catch up on some HGTV while Andrew napped. When the Armstrongs returned from brunch, we continued to play and goof off. But then, it was time to head back home and time for the Armstrongs to head to Sea World.

Andrew did fairly well on the car ride home. He didn’t sleep much, but given that, he didn’t cry too much either—maybe 30 minutes altogether. Granted, I had to sing to him for the last 30 minutes of the trip to placate him.

We had a great weekend and had such a wonderful time with everyone. Thank you again, Nonna, for welcoming the loud and crazy Pham Family into your house and for being so gracious having so many people there. It means so much to my family and me to have had this weekend; and we owe a great deal of that to you and your hospitality.

Below is the slideshow from this weekend’s pictures. All I can say to the Armstrongs is please “come back to Texas!!” We love you and miss you so very much!

One thing that you might notice is Andrew wearing only a diaper in a good number of pictures. Andrew unfortunately experienced a heat rash from being too warm on the trip into town. Ngoai and Mommy thought he would be cold from the air conditioning, but boy, were we wrong! He really does take after me, my little space heater.