Today is Tuesday

This morning, after dropping Hee at school and jogging at YMCA for 30 minutes, I went back home to work, and I remembered to go & pick up Hee at 12:25pm. However, when I went into his classroom, his afternoon classmates were all eating lunch, and he was the only morning kid there.........I forgot, today is Tuesday, and they were supposed to be dismissed at 12:10pm!!!!!

In the afternoon, I was working and playing with Hee, and I asked Hee to get ready because we were going to pick up Ha. The phone rang, no one was there. I said Hello for few times, but no one talked to me. I was patient and said: "This is Yi, whom am I talking to?" Finally, that person talked. He said: "Joshua Huang". what?Joshua?, and I asked: "what happened to you?" Before he answered, I knew what happened. It's Tuesday, they were dismissed at 2:30pm, not 3:05pm, and the time was...2:50pm...!!!!!I rushed to school to pick him up.

In the car, I mentioned that according to the weather forecast, today should be a sunny day, how come it's still raining? Ha said slowly: "The forecast said that Tuesday will have shower, and Wed will be a sunny day". Yes, today is Tuesday, not Wed..

Ha asked me: " you usually go to supermarket on Tuesday, if you forgot that today is Tuesday, did you go?" Well, no, I didn't go, and this may be the reason that I forgot that today is Tuesday.

California Capital

The day after our "snow day", before we went back Bay Area, we decided to have a California capital trip because our state capital Sacramento is not far from my parents' house.

In the picture, it is Governor Arnold's office. The guard was very nice, so we asked him if we could go in and visit. He said yes, and we went in and took few of Arnold's business cards. His secretary was chating with another person, and our coming didn't seem to bother them at all. I guessed that they were very used to it.
Even though we saw Arnold's family photos on the wall, I didn't believe that what we saw was really Arnold's office. It was so small, about the same size as my office at home. It might be his secretary's office, and his office should be behind the wooden wall where we couldn't get in.

There's a free tour, but it would take 45 minutes. Since we only paid for one hour parking, we went on our own. It's a short trip, but it's fun!

Snow Trip: 12/29/09

We went back from Elk Grove to Bay Area on 12/27(Sunday) morning because we needed to go to church on Sunday afternoon, and all of us had annual eye exams on Monday afternoon. It was raining on both Sunday and Monday, and there's a good chance that it would be snowing in Tahoe , too. Stephen had taken a week off  between Christmas and New Year, and we were thinking about the possibility of going for a snow trip during these days; therefore, Monday afternoon, after we came back from the eye exam ( by the way, all of us had good results), Stephen and Ha started studying for the weather patterns closed to the Tahoe area. The only day and time without the snow was Tuesday morning ( the best time to play with the snow is the day when the snow fell on the day before and didn't have too much snow falling when we played). We are a very flexible family, so I cooked a fast dinner, packed all the heavy clothes, packed some food for the following days. After dinner, we were on our way to Elk Grove again.

Our plan was that we slept in my parents' house on Monday night and woke up early on Tuesday morning to the Sno-Park because we wanted to play before the snow started on Tuesday afternoon.

Here are some video clips:
We woke up at around 7:30, had breakfast, and left the house around 8:30am. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V15A8PzAuX8

We had been driving for an hour, still no snow. Good highway, smooth traffic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxE71L9wmR0

Ten minutes driving distance away from our destination; however, only very little snow could be seen. We were a little worried. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhzKlk_XJAs

We were almost there; finally, we saw some snow. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMO2kH71KF4

We were in the Yuba Gap Sno-Park (for more information about Sno-Park, go to http://ohv.parks.ca.gov/?page_ID=1233) Let's play! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrFI7tufMlk

After some sliding, we worked on the snow projects. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwpsmvoRdX8 雪又綿又細，實在好好摸。

Then, we all worked together for the igloo. It's a big project. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MM-OIZ3wE

We had sandwiches, juice, crackers, fruit....for lunch, and after lunch, we headed home because we didn't want to get stuck in the traffic when it snowed in the afternoon. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HgFCrCgb2U

It's a really fun snow trip!!!!!!

Christmas Gathering

This year, we had 2 Christmas gatherings: one was on the Christmas Eve, and the other one was on the Christmas Day.

On the Christmas Eve, we had a hotpot gathering at friends' house, The food was good, and kids were so happy playing together. They even swept on the cold winter night. Adults were playing a board game after dinner. I never really knew the "real name" of the game, and it's about planting the beans. It's a fun game, and I loved it. It's great to spend time with friends.

On the Christmas Day, we had a gathering at my sister's house. She and my mom did all the cookings, and we had another big tummy night. This year, Jennifer designed a program before we played the White Elephant. Everybody needed to say something that he or she was thankful and say something that other people could pray for him/her. Whenever people said that they were thankful for the spouse, we asked them to kiss each other, here they are:

After the gathering, we went to see the decoration at one of their neighbor's house. It was soooooo beautiful!

新年暴笑賀歲片：真愛聖誕鞋山寨版

12/31晚上哥嫂來吃飯，飯後哈嘻預備了跨年音樂會（ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCTfr7-9AyM )

之後，我去切水果，忽然聽到他們叫我出來幫忙演戲，因為演員不夠。我才發現原來我們要演的是“真愛聖誕鞋”。哈哈是導演，我們完全聽命行事。他們預備的道具真的是very funny!



請慢慢欣賞：



嘻嘻（樂樂）去買鞋：http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ba2eASJ7Mx0

嘻嘻送鞋給媽媽：　http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9Y9vQDg0fQ

陳輝回家：　http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTJkZqM7UxI

陳輝家開禮物：　http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLJ4joqYalk

陳輝太太找到戒指：　http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbrfb3lFR_Q

Mr.　Grinch:　http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk2dBqGDrBA



沒看過正版的可能不清楚我們在幹什麼，因為掐頭去尾，又省略中間；不過看過正版的，應該能會心一笑。

HOC5 Christmas Musical: Christmas Shoes

活水團契Professional shoppers 合影( I downloaded this photo from a friend's website)

演出片段



























Every year, our church has a Christmas musical. It's not only to celebrate the birth of Jesus, but also to introduce the true meaning of Christmas to our family or friends who haven't known Jesus. This year, our Christmas musical was : Christmas Shoes 真愛聖誕鞋。

The story involved 2 families: One is rich but without love. The husband is busy at work, but his wife wants to divorce him because he never has time for his family. The other family has an ill mom, but they love each other, and they know that God has prepared a place in heaven for the mom after she dies. When the kid tries to buy a pair of shoes for his mom before she meets Jesus in Heaven, the husband from the other family tries to do the last minute shopping even though he doesn't know what to buy because he doesn't know much about what his family wants. During this short encounter, the husband learns the true meaning of Christmas and life.

Our fellowship had a two to three minute dance in the show; however, we had practiced it for about two months. Every Friday, we practiced about 45 minutes after fellowship time, and there were 3 rehearsals on Sunday and Thursday in December. I was touched that every family was willing to sacrifice its own family time for the show, and I believed that we have given our best to Jesus as His birthday present.

The main characters have given out their best, too. Some of them really cried on the stage, and it moved many audience. It was a blessing to be part of this musical, and I prayed that many people could know God better through the show.

After the show, the lady who's acting the ill mom sent us the following email:

Dear Team,

I have to share a true story with you. I have just realized why I was chosen to be the role of 思恩.

A few hours ago, while our family were sitting in a restaurant for a lunch, we received a phone call from Gene's dad, Chris. Gene is my son's school friend, an 8 year-old boy. His mom, who is in her mid-30s, has been terminally ill for a while. Chris told us that Gene's mom is hospitallized and she can go anytime now.

Gene, a legally blind child, is very cheerful boy with a positive attitude. He was raised in a loving Christian family. His mother was diagnosed with the last stage of cancer right after she delivered Gene's sister Gina, who is also a legally blind girl, and just turned 3 years-old last month.

Gene will be staying with our family for the next few days. What am I going to say to him?

Now I know!............

I will tell him: "媽媽在天堂裡不會再生病， 會完全健康。她會跑， 會唱， 會玩， 還會跳舞， 就像沒生病以前跟Gene在一起的時候一樣",
I will also say: "上帝會張開雙臂迎接媽媽的。她雖然不在了，但是媽媽會活在Gene的心裡。媽媽和Gene以后會在天堂裡相見的。

Our performance and the scripts are the gifts that God prepared to deliver his love, 安慰 and 盼望, at this Special Christmas time to the little boy, Gene!


Praise HIM.
Min

and a week later, she sent another one:

Dear brothers and sisters:

You are all sweet angels to Gene and Gina. Because of your love, your prayers and your loving gifts, they can enjoy their Christmas even though their mom in the hospital bed can not buy and wrap gifts for them and their father is constantly needed at her bedside. We are truly moved by your gifts and cards, some anonymous, some from friends of yours not on our emailing list. May God remember and bless your loving hearts. Gene talked to my son on their way to a park today: “My dad told me that there are two possibilities for my mother. 1. If my mom goes to heaven, it is because God needs more workers there 2. My mom gets cured, which is a miracle and which could not be done by many doctors. In this case, it will show God’s existence and power to more people. Of course, my dad and I pray everyday for number 2 . But my dad told me that he had a dream. God needs more workers in heavens…” Gene trusts God either way. With your support of prayer, on the Christmas Eve, the Shenzhou fellowship Christmas carol group went to the bedside and sang for Gene’s mom. It was a beautiful sight. She was happy and grateful.

In His love, Min Ma

May God's love reach to everyone, everywhere.