Rj & Celeste opens presents

Rj & Celeste opening presents from Lolo Rino & Lola Lita

 

Salamat & Thank you

We just wanted to say "Thank you" to our White Elephants. There is a little something for each of us to enjoy. Looks like we are ready to kick the new year in with some mind exercises and a great way to inspire Rj to pick up the coins. Let's invite the White Elephant again next year. :)

The Boiling Crab

To celebrate our Love of 10 years and Marriage of 5 years Ryan and I went to the Boiling Crab. I heard about it first from my coworker Zinna, then I saw a picture posted by my cousin April in Facebook of one of the food items in the menu. I found a mission.

Monday after waking up from doing a 16 hour shift we headed out to Garden Grove in search of the restaurant. We saved out appetite especially for this...and MAN WAS IT WORTH IT! 

They are known for the crabs but since they ran out we settled for 12 Oysters, 1 lb of crayfish, 1 lb of shrimps ala "shabang" with corn and potatoes. They don't have rice but its ok with them if you bring your own. I think this would be a good place to try with our family and friends. Be ready to use your hands. As Ryan said the food is "Toe curling-better than sushi good". 

SO when are we going ? They are open New Year's day - door open at 3pm.

The Meaning of the Candy Cane

Many years ago a candy maker wanted to make a candy that would symbolize the true meaning of Christmas-Jesus.
The hard candy was shaped like a "J" to represent that Jesus is our rock of all ages. The candy was made of white to stand for the pureness of Jesus. The red represents the blood that Jesus shed to save us from our sins.
So the next time you see a candy cane take a minute to remember the real meaning of Christmas.

A Surprise at Work

December 27 - a date that is hard to forget for 2 main reasons
1. Its my Grandma Gloria's birthday
2. Its also our wedding anniversary-5 years today

Unfortunately its my weekend to work and since I had taken off a couple of days last week due to Celeste being sick I decided to just suck it up and go to work. Little did I know that I would get to celebrate the 2 reasons this day is special to me.
A coworker of mine went to Portos and got some good stuff for us. I ordered the Cheese rolls that I remember eating at Grandma's funeral. I ate one in honor of Grandma.
Then a little later another unexpected something...Ryan came to visit me with 5 heart balloons for the 5 years along with roses and my favorite drink from Starbucks.

It sure made my work hours go by faster. Even though we didn't get to go out for our anniversary its was still a happy one for me.

Celeste's recent visit to the Doctor's

After a couple of days of fevers I decided to take her in to get checked thinking its probably just another ear infection. When we got to the clinic her fever was as high as 105.

The Dr. did the usual check-yes the ears a bit red but he also did some blood tests and urine tests. We stayed a couple of hours in the clinic waiting for her fever to go down after some meds. Here are some videos I took to make the time go by a little faster.

Here she is tap dancing after the fever had gone down enough so we could go home. After the 3rd night going to urgent care we found out that all that fever would be followed by a full on body rash which all leads to roseola-its a virus and once the rashes appear we are in the clear. Whew! Rj had the same thing around this age.  Thank goodness it was nothing worse.

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Event #1: PWUASSC Christmas Party:
We had a good time and so did the kids. Rj & Celeste spent most of the time on the dance floor -dancing of course while we were all eating. They were the best kind of entertainment -at least for me. A little later Mom was sworn in as the new president of the club. Then the Chua sister did their "Sexy" dance and taught all the guests how to do it. That was a big hit. Even Rj is almost mastering the moves.

Celeste thinking: "I know this guy. Smells like Lolo and sounds like Lolo-it must be Lolo."

Rj got a Cookie Monster doll from Santa.
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Event #2: Rj's Christmas Program at Harbor UCLA Children's Center
The program was full of laughter and some tears (mostly from the youngest performers) and made for a good time.
Rj with his best friend Tyson

Rj & Celeste at the stage

Kaiser 4000 Evening Shift Xmas Party

Tired and weary, we are all in need of a party to celebrate the season but no one has the time to get together during normal hours so to remedy that situation we decided to get together at Denny's last Friday night after work which was after midnight - technically it was early Saturday morning. There was enough of us to have a good time.

The crew: Magdalena, Elodia, Daniela, Tina, Marianne, Kathleen, Lilia, Goriana ...

& of course Me

Marianne tells some pretty good stories and jokes too.
It must have been really funny!
Tina and her meal with 3 eggs

Tired and now full we still had enough time to take a couple of more pictures and remember the good company. Hopefully more will be able to join us next year.

Remembering last year

2 minutes in Celeste's day

Rj sings

Costco...

Went to Costco and found these:

1. High School Musical Dolls 

What is the big deal on these guys?

 I saw part 2 and it seemed like they were bad actors. 

I must be getting old.

2. Red Velvet cake: I managed to pry these off my hands and not buy it-

but I must confess my taste buds are curious.