Seize the Moment

The moment.

Last Sunday of year 2009. December 27, 2009. 1:02p.m.

Photo taken by Terry. Thanks! :)

Christmas Gifts

This is something we'd never done before: buying Christmas gifts for all the sunday school children. It's really interesting when we asked the kids what they really want for Christmas. It all started with a mechanic pencil. A 6th grader told Will that he wants a cool Japanese mechanic pencil that when you shake it, the lead would come out. He even wrote a note to Will to give him instructions on how to find the pencil online. Then, some other kids started giving us their wish list thinking we are their Mr. and Mrs. Santa.

This is the hot item the 6th grader wants, "Uni-ball gel shaka shaka mechanical pencil."

A 5th grade girl introduced me to "Webkinz" something I'd never heard of. Webkinz are plush animals that each come with a secret code. You can log in with the code on their website where you can care for your virtual pet and play different games. I picked up this little cute-innocent-look puppy just for the girl but unfortunately the girl thinks the dog is way too scary with its two big eyes popping out. I was very disappointed and now this doggie is still sitting in our living room waiting to be exchanged in the store.

What does a first grader girl like for Christmas? "Pony in My Pocket & Puppy in My Pocket." I went to the store and found the "in-my-pocket" series of toys. They even come with "Jungle in My Pocket" and "Kitty in My Pocket." Those are cute little toys for little girls.

We spent so many days shopping here and there, trying to get all the presents ready before the Christmas program on Saturday night. With an extremely thoughtful Mr. Santa, he wants to grant everyone's wish but Mrs. Santa was there to remind him to stay within the budget. We finally got everything we need after four days of shopping. Then we threw a wrapping party on Friday night, well, just two of us, wrapping all the gifts.

Here are some group shots of "before" and "after".

Before the gift wrap.

After the gift wrap. Ready to give out to the kids.

Here are the goodie bags filled with yummy treats.

We gave out the presents after the Christmas program last Saturday night and kids were super happy when they received the gifts. Who wouldn't be happy, right? Hope these gifts not only bring smiles one their faces and joy to their hearts but also make them want to come back to church every Sunday, and most importantly, to remember the meaning of Christmas.

LOVE comes to us in many ways, but none more beautiful than the gift of JESUS.

May you have the endless blessings of His love

throughout the season and in the New Year

Have a Blessed & Joy-filled Christmas!

六人小組火鍋夜

上個禮拜一大家突然心血來潮想來我們家吃火鍋
為了方便, 每次我們都在有小孩的游家或外面的餐廳相聚
這次可是我們搬來這後第一次“有朋自遠方來“
辛苦了兩家還要在尖峰時刻塞車上來
還要謝謝李家預備所有的火鍋料
還好平時房子沒有太亂....不過也是用最快的速度來個大掃除

it was a great night. great food. great company. great talk.
looking forward to our next gathering!

Nightmare

這兩天都睡得很不好, 應該說是幾乎沒睡一樣
黑眼圈應該黑到像熊貓一樣
其實好累好累, 不過沒辦法入睡
其實這真的是一件非常痛苦的事情

昨天凌晨躺在沙發上, 終於睡著了
不過卻做了一個夢...算是惡夢吧～

夢到媽媽, Ruth和我遇到美國Obama總統
（可能西雅圖在ㄧ起玩太久, 感覺又是三人一起出遊）
很興奮能夠看到總統, 所以還跟總統一起拍很多照留念
場地是在一個可以看到很漂亮夜景, 有一整遍落地窗的大樓裡

接著鏡頭就轉到一台車子裡
我是車子裡的乘客, 坐在後座
車子裡還有另外三個人, 其中一個在開車, 不過都是我不認識的人
車子開著開著經過了一個很漂亮的海邊
月光照在海灘上好漂亮
沙灘上還有好多沙灘椅
我從車子裡回頭看, 一直想記下來這海灘在哪裡
車子繼續開....離海灘越來越遠
旁邊的建築物一直變, 還看到一家Starbucks
接著竟然看到好多好多廟（還懷疑自己到了台灣...)

後來車子停下來, 停在一家超市前面, 大家都下了車
其中有一個女的, 是個白人, 說沒有人可以帶她, 她就走掉了
沒想到那台車是我的
夢中的我開始考慮要不要開車去幫這個走路的女生
我想下車看ㄧ看, 我還在下車以前用外套把包包蓋住
沒想到正要下車的時候, 這個女的竟然突然站在我車子正前方
這很像鬼片裡面鬼突然從空氣裡出現一樣

雖然還沒發生什麼恐怖的事
不過感覺像是我把自己從夢裡叫醒一樣
因為總覺得站在那裡的那個女的就是恐怖的東西
我趕快從沙發上坐起來
去把暖氣關掉, 免得聽到奇怪的聲音.....
坐在沙發上一看只有凌晨四點多
一直禱告禱告禱告....好像很久沒這樣“毛骨悚然“.....

Johnny's Birthday

Yesterday was Johnny's birthday and 6 of us celebrated his special day together at JT Schmid's Resaurant and Brewery.

It was a very interesting night because so many interesting things had happened at our table over that corner. The birthday boy had to work and the rest of us actually ate dinner first without him. The waitresses weren't friendly and attentive. The kids screamed because the meat balls were too spicy with too much garlic. David had to repeat almost three time telling the same train/santa/pizza story that happened at the park. We sure now remembered that day was the coldest day of the year. Birthday boy's ribeye steak was on the table before he got there. 85 degree cake without any plates and forks. Just so much noise and so much going on but we had a great time!

I didn't bring camera last night so I went through the photos we took last year and found this funny video. 一邊看我一邊笑....大笑...好好笑～～～～

Johnny的三個願望
第一, 我賺大錢
第二, 大家都賺大錢
第三, 我們都賺大錢

Will的祝福：希望Johnny能夠賺大錢
ManMan的祝福：希望老公可以讓我過無憂無慮的生活, 就是要賺大錢

我的旁白：這些人都愛世界....

Gracy的祝福：希望我們每年都可以跟Johnny一起過生日
aw.......so sweet....and it came true this year! We did celebrate together this year!!! =)

Ending
Jocelyn's Happy THURSDAY!! Soooo CUTE!!!

Raining Day

It started to rain again last night and good thing is I have a day off today. Of course, we slept in. I think we slept 9 and half hours straight. It's too cold to get out of bed. Getting enough sleep does make us happier, healthier, and less stressful.

With this freezing weather, we wanted some shabu-shabu to keep us warm. We went to this place called "Shabu Shabu Station" for the very first time. It has the ads on their glass door for $8.99 for lunch special. We tried both pork and beef with sukiyaki and seaweed soup base. But the $8.99 only comes with 6 slices of meat, no wonder the waitress wanted us to order the bigger plates. Overall the shabu is just ok, probably won't come back again.

Shabu Shabu Station
2803 S. Diamond Bar Blvd.
Diamond Bar, CA 91765
909.839.2560

Tokyo Shabu Shabu is another shabu place in Diamond Plaza in Rowland Heights. Lillian and I went there several times and i think their meat is probably a little better compared with the Shabu Shabu Station.

Tokyo Shabu Shabu
1330 S. Fullerton Rd., #108
Diamond Plaza, Rowland Heights, CA 91748
626.810.6037

We think the best shabu place is the one in Japan town called "Shabu Shabu House Restaurant." It's the most famous place for shabu and it's always a LONG wait. But I think they have the best meat for shabu. Maybe one of these days we will drive all the there to downtown just to enjoy their shabu shabu. =)

Shabu Shabu House Restaurant (closed on Mondays)
127 Japanese Village Plaza Mall
Los Angeles, CA 90012
213.680.3890

不過, 最省錢的方法還是自己在家吃火鍋. Time for HOT POT gathering!

小籠包+海南雞飯

從五月多到現在都很認真的工作
今年暑假也沒有放假
一直到11月中工作才慢慢放慢腳步
所以這個禮拜開始又回到我真的很part-time的part-time job
But I'm thankful that, with the budget cut, I still have a job.

昨天沒有上班, 好久沒有可以這樣慵懶
It feels good to know that I can sleep in
had my quiet time, used the computer, took shower
老公和我決定在這寒冷的天氣裏來些"小籠包"
所以我們就開到Monterey Park的"一口福"
沒想到開這麼遠竟然星期三關門~~~~~

所以改變計畫去吃"海南雞飯"
Weekday的禮拜三在Savoy生意還出乎意料的好
大客滿還要排隊, 不過真的好好吃喔~~~~~

一口福 (**Closed on Wednesdays)
153 E. Garvey Ave., Monterey Park, CA 91755
(626)307-5700, (626)625-8399

Savoy Kitchen 海南雞飯 (**Closed on Sundays)
138 E. Valley Blvd., Alhambra, CA91801
(626)308-9535

Christmas Lights

We put up the Christmas stuff last night. Now it feels more like Christmas season. We took out the snowmen, ornaments, candy house, snow flakes candle holders and placemats, and of course, Christmas lights. Now we just need a Christmas tree to complete the picture. =)

It's a sweet and warm feeling to have a home.

Bear Bank

不知道從什麼時候開始我們就有隻小熊了
It's the container for pudding/jello from the supermarket and it's also a bear bank for coins. We've been using it to collect our spare coins. It was almost full so last week we decided to go to the bank to change the coins into dollar bills. We'd never done it before and really had no idea how much those coins were.

We dumped all the coins into the coin machine and surprisingly, the total turned out to be $191.

深深體會“積少成多“的道理

Friendship

Today is a day of friendship.

六人小組自上次星期五晚上在Taiko & Guppy House歡聚之後
游家小倆口去了趟台灣, 李家小倆口去了趟紐約

（為什麼我哪裡都沒去？！）
現在想要見面可真是不容易, 因為大家的時間很難瞧
所以午餐不行, 晚餐也不行, 那只好來個前所未有的brunch
為了見面就算犧牲禮拜六早上的睡眠也是值得的～～～～
這次brunch的地點是“Costa Mesa Omelette Parlor"
超級country style的餐廳
難得早上吃的這麼營養豐盛
小小的桌子擺滿了好多好多食物
6個大人+2個小孩+1個胎兒, 擠在小小的桌子....很溫暖～～～～
It's great to see each other every single time we get together..... It feels awesome to know they are always there for us. =)

Thank You Lord for giving us lifelong friends.

We were able to attend SOP kids choir praise and worship event in the afternoon. The kids are amazing! It's such a joy to see kids enjoying in worship through music. Children are so genuine and their hearts are simple when they come before God. I had tears in my eyes so many times through that one hour event. I thank God that those kids can get to know God at this young age and they can worship Him freely without feeling embarrassed or awkward. They have the faith and confidence to claim that Jesus is the one who deserves all the praises and worship. The theme of this season for kids choir is God is our friend. "I am a friend of God; He calls me friend." The kids choir is super inspiring and my prayer is that more children will get to know Jesus to receive His salvation, and more children will be raised up to be the true worshippers for our Lord Jesus.

Thank You Lord for being my FRIEND.

晚上是我們第一次到巴牧師家吃飯
第一次一起吃飯是在corner bakery
他們是很年輕的一對牧師師母, 跟我們年紀一樣
他們的小孩真的是超級無敵可愛ㄉ, 白人小孩怎麼都這麼這麼這麼口愛啊！
我對這對夫妻充滿了尊敬和敬佩
一對白人夫妻竟然可以在華人教會裡服事這麼多年（全教會都是華人）
想到這....真想起立幫他們鼓掌
我很難想像自己可以在全部都是白人的教會裡服事
共不用說是黑人或是墨西哥族裔
所以說若不是神的呼召和感動應該很難生存吧～

文化真的是很有趣的東西
這次是到人家家裡去hang out 吃晚餐
昨晚要去吃飯前還跟老公在猜會吃什麼
很少這樣到“美國人“家裡去吃飯
結果很有趣的是竟然大大的盤子裡有ㄧ大團親手烹調的馬鈴薯泥
馬鈴薯泥裡有一些碎肉和紅羅蔔, 很好吃
吃著吃著拿出麵包和奶油
吃了兩片類似法國麵包的麵包
吃完盤子上的馬鈴薯泥
以為還有什麼烤雞或pasta之類的
沒想到晚餐就是那盤馬鈴薯泥+麵包
真的是吃七分飽.......
這就是美國人的純真和直接

飯後我們就開始聊天
這樣一聊竟然從5點的晚餐聊到快11點才回家
這兩次的相聚我都有一種感覺
就是“心會打開“的感覺
是種開心, 臉上會帶有微笑的那種感覺

Thank You Lord for this new friendship.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Christmas is just around the corner. With the holiday music and decorations here and there, the joy of christmas is in the air!