Just the Beginning!

Gonna show Tom some extra love this week!
He'll find this when he opens his lunch!

 

Late Treats

Wanted to give out some treat trays this Christmas, but 

 didn't have the time to get them done.  No worries!  

Just made them after all the holidays !

Tom suggested we make manju. Here is the anko or an, as we
call it,  made from cooked adzuki beans and sugar.

To make the manju dough, start with sugar,

add sweet rice flour,

and water.

Mix well and cook until it is super thick and molten hot, then,

let it cool on a bed of cornstarch.

There's a certain technique to forming the manju, part
of it involves eating some!

We also made caramels from Cathy Mendez' recipe-so good!

Tom, Emi and I wrapped up the caramels, which
also involved eating some!

Ready to go!

Kimo requested we make thumbprint cookies, so we did!

Added chocolate chip cookies to the tray...

Last, some fudge.

                                                                                        

Finished trays!

                        Then to celebrate the New Year, we went to eat dim sum.   

Took care of the soy sauce.

Glad the bill is in Chinese, the total would be too shocking for us in English!

Another good year with this guy.
We've had some trials in our family, trials that are new to us. These trials have
tested us and stretched our limits for the better. We have learned to be
thankful thru them and trust in all of Heavenly Father's promises
that they will be for our good.

 

Christmas 2025

Had a wonderful Christmas this year!  

Did a bit of service, hosted the missionaries for dinner 

and enjoyed being together as a family. 

Remembering the birth of Christ was wonderful!

Emi broke her favorite mug several years ago,
so I hunted the internet to find her another one.

Radical new weapon or meat injector-you decide

This little grunting toy was the hit of opening presents
(I knew it would be)

Oh, my goodness! No one signed up to host these elders, so we did!

Played some silly games with them.

Fun hearing them all talk, made for a lively dinner

Grateful to be able to host them

Took our turn manning The Giving Machine set up down in Old Town

Kimo's Spanish came in very handy!

Emi liked holding the sign

Vibrant blue sky!

Pretty Tree

 

T-Day 2025

Told the missionaries at our ward that if they didn't have anywhere 

to eat for Thanksgiving that they could come to our place.  It was a 

backhanded invitation meant to accomodate everyone and it

turned out to be really nice having them join us for our meal!

We made another gratitude tree this year, writing on leaves telling Heavenly Father what we were grateful for.  Always leaves a good feeling to do this! (pun intended)

 

Trays

Once you notice something needs doing you can't ignore doing it.

The Sacrament trays were looking scruffy, but not any more!

So shiny!