Quality time family and friends

On Sat, we hosted mom's cousins for our annual Christmas gathering.  So fun to hang out and eat.  Mom has 18 1st cousins on her mom's side and 12 on dad's side - so many cousins!  We're at "only" 8 1st  cousins so far  :) 

Special father-son night out to celebrate Gpa's bday!  

FFF - Monopoly ... mom's not in the pic because she went bankrupt early on.  We thought she was good with finances.  Congrats to Ethan for the big win! 

One of my favorite hobbies - making Star Wars characters and then painting them to look more realistic.  

After spending ALL Sunday competing with our robots 8a - 5p, my team (Tyler) won't 1st place at the tournament of 16 teams!!  Last tournament, we made it to the championship round but lost.  

Sat morning ice staking class with my buddy - mom signed up for the adult class too.  We're all learning together.  

Sushi date with mom - she loves to chat and ask lots of questions.  I just want to eat my salmon sashimi ;) 

In & Out treat with dad 

Sleepover fun with my schoolmate/neighbor 

These "gentlemen" are all ready to see a nutcracker performance in Fremont. 

YouTube Holiday Party for the Adults, Star Wars for the Kids

Mama and Dada had a date at the YouTube holiday party at the De Young Museum.

They asked a professional poet to spontaneously write about us.

Of course they pigged out on sushi and so many treats.

They're so fancy and while they were away...

We got to watch Star Wars, Episode 7, The Force Awakens. Mari and Teddy's 1st time!

Mama got to test drive my First Tech Challenge robot that simulates a Mars mission.

Mom learned how to make macaroons at work.   Lucky us she brought some home to share.

Thanksgiving 2018

Child labor meal - E making mash potatoes, T prepping green beans to be blanched and M putting on the turkey rub.

Pumpkin pie for the bday boy during our Thanksgiving dinner. 

Thanksgiving celebration with Dad's side of the family.

Post Thanksgiving dim sum brunch with Chings. 

Payday ...time to track my savings, spending and donations. 

Watching Wreck it Ralph, just the 3 of us, no parents.  Mari - thanks for the popcorn treat!  

2nd grade field trip to Santa Cruz, where air quality is so much better! 

Silly 2nd graders so happy to play outside again.

Nutcracker performance practice (I'm in the pink, 2nd from the right) 

Family movie outing to see "Instant Family," highly recommended! 

Ready for Christmas.

Installing Nest lock. 

First Taco Bell meal

While Mom was in Austin for a business trip, Dad took us to our very first (won't be last) Taco Bell meal.  Boy have we been missing out! 

My Girl Scout's Habitat for Humanities project ... we built a real playhouse!  I learned how to use the power drill to construct the house, staple gun to put shingles on the roof and painted a cupcake for our sweet playhouse.  Busy work day but so much fun! 

My yummy cupcake with sprinkles 

How many girl scouts can you fit in the cupcake playhouse?

Poor Teddy had his first "sick" visit to the vet.  Minor skin infection ... should be back to normal in about a week. 

Uncle Michael and Auntie Sarah - thanks for a bringing over a yummy dinner.  So nice to hang out! 

Child labor ... actually I volunteered so don't need to call child protective services. 

Speed tournament - part of Dad's FFF activities for the evening 

Robotics Competitions

Ethan and I had Robotics Competitions all day, coding and building our robots to complete the challenges and missions.  Ethan does First Lego League, and I do First Technology challenge. We've been meeting several times a week pouring in tons of hours these past 2 months.  

My team won 2nd place! A few of us went to celebrate at CPK.

Family strolls after dinner. 

I'm glad Mama and Dada can have breakfast dates at Google.

Mama's FFF was at Beastea where we played Jenga and also did exercises on thankfulness.

Mama also had us take the "5 Love Languages for Kids" test.  Interesting how me and my siblings all have "Quality Time" as our #1 love language.

Soccer season has ended with Mari and she was bawling when she found out the last game was cancelled due to poor air quality. She still got a pizza party, trophy, and awesome new soccer ball.  Looking forward to next season!

We got to hangout with A and C who are our God-Cousins.  Dada and Uncle Andy are God Brothers. Love their new home!

Here's the adult table.

Dada got to hangout with Auntie Tracy and Uncle Michael in SF.  He loves being with them and getting into great conversations.

Dada had a fun offsite doing Shibori (japanese tie die) and hearing awesome talks from his teammates.

Love our Unicorn pancake Chef!