The 4th of July

July 4th 2009

Independence

Day

Or to be more precise, June 27th 2009. Last Saturday we all gathered for our annual 4th of July China Moms get-together. It was great afternoon filled with hot dogs and popsicles and fun. Emi and I arrived late and missed the swimming, since we were waiting for the washer repairman. But at least we made it in time to eat!

The girls all posed for their 4th of July portraits, and this year I gave them kind of an antiqued wash look...for a vintage "Americana" feel....to be exact a "Chinese-Americana" feel!

Emi

Abbey

Anna

Paige

Claire

Megan

Madison

Emily S. and Rebekah's picture would have gone right here, but the LA girls couldn't join us....we missed them.

Here are some of my favorite photos of the day.....Like Paigee...starting to look like a pre-teen!

Although she still has her sweet little baby face look too....here she is "feeling the light"..... I had to add this one because Christi wants me to make her look about 5 in all her pictures!!!!

And adorable Claire modeling poolside....

Here's Abbey with one of the model poses she does so well.....I love the light on her face....Polly says she looks mean...but I think she looks "cool"!

I love this one too.....

And Anna with blue lips and nose from her popsicle...

As you can see, Anna will not be outdone by Abbey...she has her "poses" too...here's her "pin-up" pose!

Emi enjoying her popsicle.... and yes, it's "Emi" now...not always Empie...she is 7 1/2!!!!!

And, of course, a group popsicle shot....

Last, but not least, Maddie, who always likes to pop up in front of the camera.....

Have a great holiday!!!

Sweet Peas

I have truly neglected this blog. But in my own defense it has been a very busy...no crazy.... three months. I have taken so many photographs I am overwhelmed with where to start posting. I know I haven't even posted Easter photos...and I have so many cute ones! I promise to get more organized...and post everything...although maybe not in order. In the meantime, here are a few pictures Emilee and I took of the sweet peas Auntie Denise brought us for Mother's Day. Their fragrance was absolutely GLORIOUS. Luckily, I had just ordered a special ring which allows me to attach my old 105 micro Nikon lens to my Canon 40D. While a little limited in function, it did take some pretty images. A big thanks to Auntie Denise...those sweet peas were like music to my soul....

This one has a little added texture.....

And here's another I had fun playing with....

More soon....I promise.....I hope.....

Mulligan's

Saturday Fun

with

Sarah & Matthew!

One of the most wonderful things that has happened to us since starting Emilee at Hillcrest Academy has been our friendship with the Watts family. From the very first few days of Kindergarten, Emilee and Sarah have been "BFF's" and that includes Sarah's twin brother Matthew as well! They are quite a trio! For Christmas they gave Emilee an all day pass to Mulligans. So before it expired, we all met up to spend a Saturday afternoon. Check out the fun below...

First up were the racing cars...here's "Emilee Andretti"...in car #1 of course!

Perfect sign for siblings!

Next up were the Blaster Boats....here are the girls waiting in line.

And one of Matthew too...

Matthew "blasting" the girls....they came off the ride soaking wet...but not him!

Here's Emp after getting "blasted"!

And Sarah too!

B.F.F's....as you can see in this picture, Emilee just adores Sarah...

Matthew and Lynn went over to Lazer Extreme (for the second time)...

And Cindy and I and the girls headed into the arcade (to dry off!)....

This was my favorite game...

Matthew soon joined us and was very intent on beating that high score....

Sarah watching as Emilee drives "Spongebob Raceboat"....

Spongebob Raceboat....

Wishing for some of that candy....

The Prize counter....you only have to spend about $20.00 in tokens to win a plastic spider ring....cool, huh???

Afer the arcade we all went to Don Jose's for a great mexican dinner...love their chips and salsa.

Thank you so much, Cindy and Lynn, for Emilee's pass and the super fun day!

I couldn't resist adding this picture of Emilee and Matthew....it's just too cute!

Flashback Friday

It's the First Day

of

Spring!

So here's little 3 year old

Empie Rocket...with a rose just for you.

Museum Day

Mission

San Gabriel

Archangel

"Pride of the Missions"

It was a lovely way to spend a Saturday. Emilee and I made a trip to San Gabriel last weekend to meet my friend Lisa and her family at the Mission. Lisa and I met up at the ice skating rink in Blue Jay many years ago, and have remained good friends despite hanging up the blades. And although we don't see each other but sometimes once a year, we vowed to change that this year. So why San Gabriel Mission? Because her son's name is Gabriel and we wanted to show him "his" mission! I hadn't been there since I was kid, but it really hasn't changed much.

Mission San Gabriel Archangel is the fourth of the California missions, founded in 1771. Father Antonio Cruzado, the church building designer was born and raised in Cordova, Spain. The Moorish influence is evidenced by the buttressed walls, vaulted roof and fortress like appearance of the church. The walls are original, more than four feet thick, with sections through the buttresses as much as seven feet thick. It took 26 years to build the church, from 1779 until 1805. The church is 150 feet long and 27 feet wide, with walls 30 feet high. It will hold about 400 people. An earthquake in 1812 destroyed the bell towerde. Restoration took until 1828 and the bell tower was replaced with a bell wall, or campanario. There are six ancient bells in it.
The mission is one of the best preserved, with many of its original features still intact, including a hammered copper baptismal font, a gift from King Carlos III of Spain in 1771, and six altar statues brought around the Horn in 1791. The altar was made in Mexico City and brought to the mission in the 1790s.

As you can tell, I love California mission history. It was instilled in me by a neighbor, Jesse Kistler, that we had in Huntington Park when I was about Emilee's age. She wrote a book called "Tales of the Mission Bells" and she used to often read it to me. I hope to instill the same love of California history in Emilee as well.

So here are a few pictures from our day:

Here's the Emp...waiting at the entrance (her "Mission Attire" is courtesy Auntie Denise...who always picks out the perfect thing!)

No Mission is complete without a statue of Junipero Serra...







Courtyard outside the church...

This is the grave of "Antonio" which dates back to the 1700's...he is the only Indian buried in the Priest's cemetary. As that sort of thing was just not done, he must of been thought of very highly!

One of the more recent murals...

This is the wine making room....can't be without that!

Inside the museum building...

Emilee inside the church...the windows are green glass....

After our tour of the mission we had planned to go for Dim Sum (yes, we're very multi-cultural!...San Gabriel has a very large Chinese population...hince, many good Chinese restaurants) however the restaurant we had picked out was closed for remodeling. So we saw a place right across the street called "Pizza Place CA" and decided to try that. Wow...it was delicious! We had great lunch, courtesy of Lisa's wonderful Mom, Betty.

Here's Lisa and Philippe's beautiful daughter Natalia....

And Emilee's new partner in crime....Gabriel.

Emilee getting a ride...

Our final stop of the day was IKEA...Emilee and Gabriel's favorite new store. Emilee said they really like it because it is "so HUGE!!!".

We decided our next mission visit would be to one that I've never been to before...Mission San Fernando!

Stay tuned....