The Duong Family: This ain't the Huxtables.

It's been quite a while since we profiled Isabel's family and it's bout cotton pickin' time Long's family got its 15 minutes!

The nuclear Duong family (last name pronounced "Young"!) is made up of Anh, Lien, Long and Helen Duong. However, round these parts, you can't say family without bringing in the entire Tong family as well (a bit more on that later). Time is a bit precious these days, so I'll have to keep this short.

Anh and Lien are Long's bright and shiny parents. Anh is a retired physician and Lien is a jack of all trades, but her business card says something akin to "Senior Computer Programming Analyst." She is currently employed at the University of Florida's Infirmary.

Lien was also an on again off again restaurateur bringing Gainesville it's first taste of Vietnamese cuisine back in the late 70's with the help of her 5 sisters ... and again in the early 90's. Some of you may remember it as the restaurant that might also be a hotel, ambiguously named, "Inn of the White Lotus." One taste of the food and it was clear - this was definitely a restaurant - and a fine one at that!

Anh's "retirement" is filled with a rather hectic, "blackberry worthy" schedule which includes zen buddhist meditation and "small acreage farming" - the growing of vegetables that are native to Vietnam (and are probably suspect in the 48 contiguous).

Anh and Lien taught Long as much as his barely permeable brain could muster and are proud to call Long their son - most of the time. (jk)

Helen, Long's stepsister lives out in California with her husband Vince and their fireball Andre! Vince is active duty serving our country and has been bouncing back and forth on missions. It's been a few years since we saw them down in Florida, but then again, we probably owe them a trip out to Cali. Unfortunately, they won't be able to join us for the wedding, but we hope to see them soon (and meet Andre!)

Not pictured (but soon) is Long's father, Quyen, out in California. He's a retired landscape architect who is enjoying retirement and being a grandfather! He won't be able to attend the festivities either and will certainly be missed.

We were going to blog about the Tong family (which is held closely together by Long's mother and her five sisters - Thuy, Lan, Duyen, Am and Oanh) but there is simply no time (sorry!) You will all have the pleasure of meeting them at the wedding (except for Oanh who can't get away for the festivities).

Here's a glimpse of extended family:

Again, a good majority of Long's family including many cousins and people who say they are cousins just to be cool (it's not a problem, we think they're cool too) will be in attendance.

Man, we just can't wait until the big day.

See you all very soon!