Family Photo's

It's that time again to get a family picture.  All the kids are in town and we need to seize the moment. I dread the preparations leading up to family photos.  I am terrible at matching clothes and picking color schemes and choosing locations.  It is all too much pressure for me so I dread it.  But this year, we planned a family day to Teewinkle Park and my girls helped me out, so we packed the camera and off we went. We were lucky to have Hannah's boyfriend Dallin along to shoot the camera.  After all the effort and worry, I am pretty happy with the outcome.  How could anything go wrong when you have such excellent subjects to shoot?

 

The wind was making our couples photo shoot a little extra fun.  And don't forget face stretching - ha ha.

Dallin was Brett's "sit in" and this gave us all a good laugh!

I Love My Family!

Hsi Lai Buddhist Temple

Two years ago while searching for fun things to do with my family in Southern California, I came across a description of the Hsi Lai Buddhist Temple in Hacienda Heights.  It sounded intriguing. When I traveled to Cambodia in 2008, there were so many amazing things I saw that I wished I could share with my family and the Buddhist temples were some of them.  So I was excited that we might have something this close to home.  But every time I would bring it up for a family field trip day, my teenagers would moan and complain and call me crazy.  So, I kept waiting for an opportune time to take the family.  Well, Christmas break presented just that opportunity.  Brittany and Matt were in town and Hannah's new boyfriend Dallin was visiting.  So I dragged my family on another one of mom's schemed adventures.

It was a beautiful day.  The air was cool but the sun was shining.

Everyone was happy to be outside after some cold rainy days over Christmas break.

We all got our own set of headphones and listened to a guided tour that took us throughout the temple.  I was so happy to see my family truly interested in what they were learning.  Sarah, Brittany and Matt had just completed a study of Buddhism in there school classes, so they were excited to see many of the things they have been learning about. 

The Arhat Garden - Eighteen disciples of the Buddha

In this garden is a bell that you toss coins at and try to ring.  We spent a good chunk of time (and change) tossing coins at this bell.  For the record, Matt and Brett both got three rings and Hannah hit it once. The rest of us have no merit, wisdom or fortune. 

Baby Buddha statues were all over the temple grounds.  We just couldn't resist the photo opportunities they presented with Jordyn.

They serve a yummy vegetarian buffet lunch and a few of the kids wanted to try it.  It offered some good practice with the chopsticks.  I also packed a picnic lunch so that when we were all done, we picnicked at the cars before driving home.

I'm so grateful for a willing family that lets me take them on strange adventures as this is one of my favorite things to do.  This day at the Buddhist temple will be near the top of my favorites because we were all happy, spending time together and experiencing something completely new.  Vindication is mine!

Give confidence to others,

Give hope to others,

Give joy to others,

Make things convenient for others.

-Hsing Yun

Best Christmas Ever!

Once your children have grown and left home, the best gift you can receive is when they come back home to visit.  This was really what made this the Best Christmas Ever!

         It all started with Hannah's return                                                        and then Brittany's

Spending quality family time together was a great way to start the holiday break.  Our meals together were some of the best moments we enjoyed.

Check out the cute baby in the corner seat!

Fix-it Day.

My dryer broke, so with a little help from YouTube, Matt and Brett got it back in business in no time. I also wanted to repaint Caleb's bedroom wall for our special visitor coming, so the rest of us got busy and had it done in a flash.  These were some of my favorite Christmas gifts this year!  I love my handy men and women.

Fixing the Dryer

Painting Caleb's Room

We took a night out for girls and guys bonding.

Girls night included shopping and dinner.  Manicures followed the next day.

Guys night included dinner, movie and computer gaming.  Unfortunately there is no photo evidence of the guys time together.

But, reacquainting ourselves with Jordyn was one of our favorite parts!  She is an angel!

We got to participate in Jordyn's first experience with solid food - Avocado's, yum!

This baby brought more sunshine into our home than we ever could have imagined!

On Christmas Eve, we went to visit Grandma Holbrook.  Randy's family and Kari were there. It was so nice to see everyone.  Jonathan stayed home with a fever.

Holbrook Girls

Holbrook Boys

Upon our return home, we discovered our power was out.  So we went about finding candles and flashlights to prepare for the evening.  

Brittany read us her traditional Christmas story by head lamp and Dad told the nativity story by candle light.

We couldn't cook our Christmas Eve dinner, so we went out for fast food.  That proved to be more difficult than we expected because most places were closed. We finally settled on KFC and by the time we returned with the food, the power had returned.  So we were able to finish the night watching Mr. Kreugers Christmas and wrapping presents.

Jordyn's first present

Footie Pajamas!

Christmas morning was full of happiness with all the people in the house and an adorable baby!  Everyone's family gifts were very thoughtful this year and it was fun to watch the spirit of excitement and giving.

Happy Grandpa

Brittany and Matt made these pillows for the boys.
Truly a labor of love that was well appreciated!

It wouldn't be Christmas morning without the traditional Aebleskivers.  Brittany brought her own pan and took a turn teaching Hannah the tricks of the flipping.

After Christmas our special visitor, Hannah's boyfriend Dallin, arrived and we went out on a triple date to Huntington Beach.

New Year's Eve

The day started off cold and rainy. We enjoyed a large Crepe breakfast and then Matt, Brett and the boys put together a nerf battle at the church building.  The homemade sniper rifles (sprinkler pipe) were a huge success.  I got to babysit Jordyn while everyone else battled it out.  It was a lot of fun to watch.

  For dinner we ordered our traditional Chinese Food.  The boys and I went to the Stake Dance and the rest of the family stayed home and played some games.

At midnight, Jonathan and I returned home to bring in the new year and Caleb and his friends returned home for our New Year toast. 

And of course we topped the weekend off with a visit to BJ's for Pazookies.

It is hard to have wonderful times like this end, but we are left with much gratitude for an extremely happy, joyful, family filled Christmas vacation.