This is a photo dump post from June in Los Angeles. I think the best way to do it is to go photo by photo, so follow along!
 |
| A visit from firefighters for the first graders! |
 |
If the kids filled the reverent jar at church, they could earn something.
They chose a movie night/costume party. We got to watch the Mario movie again! |
 |
| Doesn't this look fun? |
 |
| Eden's last month of dance at the park! |
 |
| I miss these days so much. |
 |
| Playing at one of the playgrounds after dance. |
 |
| Eli went on a field trip to a farm and I kept the photo of him with his new teacher. |
A parent from Eden's preschool orchestrated a birthday playdate for all the kids who had birthdays in the summer and couldn't celebrate in class. It was fun to see everyone again one last time and Eden got to hand out favors to her friends. The wagon seemed to be the biggest hit!
 |
| Piñata time! |
The boys had their end-of-year parties and Ms. Lewis came back to hang out with Eli's class (his teacher that left mid-year).
 |
Parents were amazing at this school making sure everything ran smoothly.
They planned everything including fun games! |
 |
| Dance party! |
 |
| The class with Mrs. Lewis. |
 |
Joseph with his wonderful teacher Ms. Park.
She really pushed Joseph and felt he could do the work. |
 |
Elijah got to start more contact in kung fu.
It was nice to see since Covid stopped this kind of thing. |
 |
| How'd he get in our bathroom?? |
 |
| Another installment of Noah falling asleep anywhere, even in the middle of lunch! |
 |
| Sam put him on the couch and he ended up in this position. |
One of our best decisions in Los Angeles was picking a place with a backyard. All the little creatures were fun to spy on and the kids always enjoyed being out there.
 |
| This bunny would be in our yard quite a few times. |
 |
| A California Scrub Jay! |
 |
| A day in the backyard. |
 |
| I was very impressed with what Eden and Eli built. |
 |
| Tang got quite a bit darker! |
One of the things that was wonderful to be a part of was the ward mission in the Westwood ward. Due to visa issues, our friend Al didn't have permission to be baptized even though he had a very strong testimony. Well, the day finally came when he could be! We were so happy for him!
There was a lady in our ward who since we've known her was sleeping on an air mattress, then her couch, then her floor. It was hard to hear that, and she didn't have any money for the special mattress she needed. Sam was super gracious to get it for her. We then gave her our bed frame (since we were moving soon and had a bigger bed waiting for us in Texas). She couldn't express how grateful she was for Sam's generosity! Sam shares that characteristic with his parents.
Father's Day 2023! We walked to the Apple Pan to try it. We've always passed it and decided it was time.
 |
| Father's Day presents! |
 |
| The kids each picked out a card for their dad. |
 |
| Socks with the kids' faces on them! |
 |
| Sam's dad got the same gift. |
 |
| Perfect shirt for Sam. |
 |
| Happy Father's Day! |
We had our 12th anniversary this month too and decided to grab some fancy donuts and eat out as a family.
 |
| I forgot the name of this restaurant but it was part of our American Express rewards. Fancy though! |
 |
| Fun with panorama. |
We went to Will Rogers beach as our last California beach visit. We didn't go to the beach as often as we could have (lugging beach gear for a family of six is a lot of work and the amount of sand that ended up back in our van and house was insane). Regardless, here was our last hurrah.
This area ended up being affected by the LA wildfires of 2025. It was so surreal to read about it and watch the news. So crazy!!
That was our June! Super action-packed and lots of fun. It was fun to write this and get very nostalgic. Until next time!
