hey there

We spent the next day heading back towards Sacramento.

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

It was cool to get some photos of all of the kids in 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 used to it, 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 Plug-in.

When my parents brought us 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 a 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 roll over, at the very least cause an accident. He fixed that too, we are so thankful for them.

It was a very quick trip- 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 into 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 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 let’s 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 little ones.

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

Now it’s time for us to head back to reality.

just Pray

We are almost done with this year. It’s crazy. A lot of things have changed this year, and who knows what next year will bring.

Since we were in Southern California, we decided to take Luca and the kids to the Back to the Future filming locations.

We took him to the location that the DeLorean was destroyed, and also Doc’s house. Each time we would get out – I’d play the scene so he could see it for himself. Everything still pretty much looks the same – so it makes it easy for them to see it. Luca was begging to go inside Doc’s house, but sadly we couldn’t.

We also rented an Elantra for the trip (so we can pour the miles on that vehicle instead). A non hybrid was getting between 40 and 50 MPG. I was verrrryyy impressed.

The very next day we went to Universal Studios. Its crazy to think that its been nearly 9 years since we have been here. Arabella was 2 and we didn’t have any other kids at that time.

All of the kids have grown up knowing the Grinch as “Uncle Grinch” so we stopped by and said hello (yes, they loved being decked out in Grinch gear).

We were able to go on some rides and we stayed around for a fireworks show that started around Midnight.

Elijah LOVED the Jurassic Park ride, but Ara thought the drop was a bit much.

Elijah didn’t so much love the Mummy ride (due to the dark), but Ara liked that one. So its has been a good trade off of different rides they each prefer.

Luca and Ezra were able to ride some as well, in the Despicable Me land.

All of the kids have enjoyed this experience, especially sharing it with my parents as well.

There was something about watching the fireworks go off over Hogwarts. Pretty cool experience.

Here’s to 2025!