New Year and a New Look

I just had to post this picture. Both Lydia and I got a new look :) for the New Year. Her glasses are so hip, I just had to get a pair to keep up. And we decided to go w/ "fringe" for Lydia. She was totally fine w/ the bangs as long as we agreed to keep the rest of her hair LONG. What a little cutie God has given us!

Christmas Highlights

It's hard to believe that New Year's Day is already here. Here are just a few pictures of some of the highlights of Christmas 2008 for our family.


On Christmas Sunday, Pathway Bible Church kids acted out Luke Chapters 1 and 2. Micaiah, Mimi, and Lydia were angels. Micaiah and Mimi also had the opportunity to use their piano skills to play a few Christmas carols for us to sing.

This year I got smart. We bought a pre-made gingerbread house and just enjoyed decorating it. That was PERFECT for our kids as their attention span couldn't have lasted much longer.

Christmas morning was nice and quiet (well as quiet as life with 4 kids can be). My parents and sister Cheryl joined us. Later Uncle Michael joined us for dinner. It was raining the entire day, so we spent a lot of time playing new Wii games (we didn't hear any complaints about that!). I just was thankful to have such a day to hang and spend time w/ family. God is good.

One Groomsman, One Ring Bearer, Two Flower Girls, One Squirmy Baby and One Tired Mama!

This past weekend, our family had the privilege to be part of the wedding of our good friends Mike and Christi. Mike and Christi were very brave and asked 6 children to be part of their wedding day! But all the children did a great job. Lydia and Mimi had a great time dressing up and being part of a such a special event. Micaiah, at 8 years old, declared that this was the last wedding he would EVER be a ring bearer in (he's been in probably 6 weddings so far?!?), but he willingly agreed he would do it for such a special couple. These are just a few of my favorite photos from the day.

Back To Bethlehem

Last night we took the kids to "Back to Bethlehem" at the Church at Rocky Peak. Our friends the Grandi Family and Mieko, Max, and Hana all joined us. If you haven't been, it's really a great experience (and free too!). Everyone gets a handful of shekels to spend while traveling through the recreated town of Bethlehem. The kids had a great time purchasing spices, bread, nuts, etc. and learning about how Bethlehem might have been at the time of Christ's birth.

Lydia really enjoyed petting the donkey and the live sheep but she was always watching her back for the Roman guards! If you're interested, there's still four more days. You can check out their website at http://www.rockypeak.org/ministryhighlight.asp?ministryHighlight_id=22.

Rabbit's Favorite Carrot Soup

Lydia's favorite animal is a rabbit. She's always loved bunnies, so when we found this book called "Rabbit's Favorite Carrot Soup" at the library she was pretty excited. The end of the book has a recipe for carrot soup and she decided we should try to make it. She has been really interested in helping in the kitchen lately. The next morning we went out and bought the carrots and celery. We spent the afternoon peeling, boiling, and blending. We had carrot soup for dinner and Lydia was very proud of herself. Only problem, the kids hated it - including Lydia! But this was one meal I didn't have to convince her to finish. She just quitely sat there. Sipping very very slowly (it took her over an hour to finish one small bowl). But every time I took out the camera she put on a smile as if she really loved this carrot soup. It really is pretty tasty, just not to my kids liking (their tastebuds are so Asian!).

I think she was headed to Cancun

While I was talking on Skype with a friend, Kari and Lydia decided to take off to play in the other room. Ten minutes later, when I went to go get her, I found Kari ready to head out the door. She had her camera around her neck and Mike's cell phone in her hand (he forgot it today). As I scooped her up, she proceeded to show me the nickel she had packed away in her mouth for safe keeping. Hmmm... I think she was headed to Cancun so she could splash in the clean warm waters rather than splash in our toilets which are not nearly as nice.

A Time To Rest

We took a three day trip down to San Diego just to get away. It's always nice to have time just to focus on our family. We spent some time at the beach, a day at Sea World, and a day just hanging out with my brother Eric and his wife Tamara. Kari did great on her first road trip and even enjoyed the shows at Sea World :) - though she wasn't so keen on the getting sprayed in the Soak Zone!





Feasting on Ramen, Udon, and Sushi Rolls at Teri Cafe!
Too bad Lydia was too wiped out for feasting!