Hey again

It’s that time again. MLK Jr. day.

We took our kids to the Church MLK Jr. visited when he came to Portland. Portland may not have a bunch of history when it comes to things like this, but whatever it does have lets celebrate.

A few years ago we made this trip, but it was over COVID and the wife was with our newborn in the car. I walked up to the outside (seen below where the kids are standing) and someone asked me – “Can I help you”

“Uh, yeah – maybe” and then I explained that I was hoping to see the room where MLK Jr. took the photo. I showed them my phone and then they said “yeah sure! It’s right in here”

And then I looked at the photo and tried to line up my shot to how the photographer would have seen.

History comes to life.

(Above: the photo of MLK Jr. and the church elders, and then the same photo of the room, but in 2021.)

We let the kids see the outside (because nobody was at the church this time. We then took them over to the MLK Jr. tribute /statue they have in Portland which is located a short distance from the church.

We were even lucky enough to see a peaceful protest that day. People walked the streets, right by his state and shouted about civil rights. All these things have taken center stage with the new president (nobody should be surprised by this).

Coming closer to the end of the month, we were able to go see the Chinese New Year lions and dragon dance (hosted by the kids school). It was fun.

Arabella took Korina along as well (that’s the person in the photo holding Ezra)

And that was mainly it.

Oh! I almost forgot.

We kidnapped my father in law and took him to dinner. Wanted to get some more photos and let the kids have as many memories as they can with him.

Get to know him – spend time with him. That kind of thing.

And you’ll notice I also posted a screenshot of the Gulf of Mexico. Why? Well, Google announced they are going to rename it to the “Gulf of America” as Trump as said it will now be known as that.

Yikes.

He is also renaming Mt. Denali in Alaska to Mt. McKinley and the maps will eventually update for that as well.

What can you do?

Isn’t it crazy to think that I have a brother that just turned 48? Where has the time gone?

{[end quote]} “Returning hate for hate only multiplies hate, adding a deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” – Martin Luther King, Jr”

just Pray

hey there

We spent the next day heading back towards Sacramento.

We checked out the air museum that we took Ara too when she was small and when Elijah was just a baby.

It was cool to get some photos of all of the kids at the same place.

Ezra enjoyed his morning breakfast (donuts).

Luca finally got to see my dad’s truck. He talks to him as much as he can on Facetime – asking about his truck. He always asks him to go outside and show him the truck. Now he was able to see it in person.

And finally, Luca had another birthday. I don’t know how that happened, but it did. He is now 4.

INSANE.

The next week I was back to the grind of the week. They had a lunch meeting at work as well. Below is a photo of our small group getting lunch. We went into the office to help the director fill out thank you cards. A good 4+ hours of writing, when you aren’t use to it really gives your hand a workout. Just sayin’

Then we booked a car rental to head down to Sacramento to pick up the Volvo. The what? Yeah, we sold the Tesla. We had an opportunity arise to sell the car and make enough to pay off the money we spent to replace our roof. We jumped at that. Plus the Tesla was a bit small for the kids in the 3rd row. When I say a bit, I mean it was very crammed for them.

So, we got a used Volvo XC90 Plugin.

When my parents brought to their house for us (before we arrived) they noticed it needed new brakes. My dad, picked up the dime and put a new set of brakes on. He said it was dangerously thin. While he replaced them there was some rear bolt that was super loose. He said if it were to have fallen off the car would have lost its rear tire, which could have caused the car to flip, or rollover, at the very least cause an accident. He fixed that too, we are so thankful for them.

It was a very quick trip- in fact we went up on Friday, got the car Saturday and came home on Sunday.

Not sure how long we will keep it, but it will do for now.

Donald Trump was elected. Again.

First time we get a felon as a president.

Ah well. What can you do?

We spent time back at the house getting caught up on the sermons that New Hope had while we were traveling. We also got notice that TikTok was banned.

See the image above? It is all politics.

No more than the next day, everyone was notified that TikTok was back and saved by Trump! What would anyone ever do without it?

I think we might just be better off without it. Anyway…

Fun story about the image above. I replaced a screen on our Android device. Why? When I got in the car to buckle up Ezra, I forgot we had the phone on top. So it went off and smashed to pieces. Mainly because it didn’t have a good case, but still.

Annoying.

I really gotta stop doing that.

The last time it happened my phone was spared from any real damage thanks to the Mous Case I had on it.

until next time

just Pray

Hey there!

We started off 2025 in California.

It feels good to be back. Just wish it were affordable to live here – as does the whole family.

We spent the day going to various BTTF sites. We went to the Twin Pines Mall, Marty’s House, the Tunnel from BTTF where Biff tried to run over Marty. Luca really liked going to all these places. The other kids did not have much memory of going before, so they enjoyed it too.

Since we made the trip to Griffith Park anyway, we figured lets check it out. And the view didn’t disappoint (but it never does).

The next day we again parked offsite, took the subway to the Universal City stop, then went to the park. This time we noticed there was a sign outside that said the park was sold out for the day.

Luckily we had annual passes. We went to the turnstiles and they then proceed to tell us ‘uh, this is a blackout day for you’ so after talking with guest services, we had to change our pass type because Costco’s passes are less than the least pass you can buy anywhere.

A bit annoying. My parents offered to pay for the upgrade since the kids were all but in shambles. Ara was tearing up, Elijah was trying to put on a happy face and Luca just wanted to get going.

Ironically, we skipped the Harry Potter land the first day we were in (as we anticipated doing it on the 2nd day) so if we didn’t upgrade, we wouldn’t have seen it. What makes it more interesting, is when they opened the Harry Potter land, we had an annual pass. They had a preview day on one of our last days we could go, but we didn’t see it quick enough and the spots were taken.

Moving on! We got to visit Hogwarts. It is a fun part of the park – we also took the kids swimming gear because they BEGGED to get wet.

Overall, it was a blast. Everyone enjoyed it from my parents down to the littles.

Before we left, I was sure to snap one of those photos by the iconic Universal Studios Hollywood sign.

Now its time for us to head back.. to reality.

just Pray