Turkey 5K race & Rescue Mission Prep

This morning we woke up early to race for a great cause, the Visalia Emergency Aid Council, which provides food, clothing and shelter to about 14,000 families.

After crossing the finish line!

Helping to set-up for Thanksgiving dinner along with the Valles & Roman families at the Visalia Rescue Mission

The BEST helper around! (and she didn't eat any treats)

Two MAIN reasons we are so THANKFUL this year

Our beautiful & healthy princesses

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE!
Here's a little poem to make you smile

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have never a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!
- Unknown

Tuesday picnic

Earlier that same Tuesday we had a great time at the park. Bibi was in charge of the picnic so PB&J sandwiches and fruit it was! The girls ate all their sandwiches and had a blast playing around the park

The shirt says it all!

Last week's events ...

Last Tuesday we hosted the Shekoyan's & Veiss' for dinner. We had a terrific time together and everyone loved the food. Bibi had several dietary considerations for different members of the families so she cooked special dishes for them: a high protein/low carb entree, a quinoa entree without any yeast, gluten, or soy, a creamy dairy free carrot & yam soup and a very delicious Argentine vegetarian meat pie with flaky pastry dough. Suzana prepared her signature spinach salad and Roxana brought a finger licking pumpkin pie. Everyone was happy!

Tia Suzana's early Christmas present for Brianna ...

and Kiara (both girls loved their new princess dresses)

Craft time for the kids!

We've got a CRAWLER in da house!

At 7 months Kiara surprised us today by crawling for the first time at the Little Gym. We're thrilled for this new development though Mommy will have to watch her even more closely from now on!

Will post a video of Kiara's crawling later on this week.
Bravo Lauchi!!!!!

Hapy Bear Surgery Center building project

Well, the building project is well under way on the new Hapy Bear Surgery Center in Tulare, CA. We will be moving our office from Visalia to Tulare (only about 7 miles south from our current location) hopefully sometime the end of February 2010.

We still have tons to do but it's exciting to see the building taking shape. Here's a time lapse video of the project from ground breaking on Sept. 21, 2009 to today. Amazing how quickly the framing process goes. Enjoy!

Veteran's Day at the Fresno Zoo

On Wednesday we had a fun time at the Fresno Zoo with the girls. It was Kiara's first time seeing all the animals and she was upbeat & eager to explore everything. Brianna had a plan from the beginning; she wanted to see the kangaroos and crocodiles. We were lucky to see both though the croc was taking a nap by the time we got to his station. We also enjoyed the elephants below ...

Brianna had a blast brushing the goats' hair

Feeding the giraffe was a real treat. Brianna LOVED it!

We have the giraffe in the background and the kangaroos (not pictured) right in front of us. We also went to a new stingray feeding station. Brianna was able to almost touch several of them and see them swimming around.

Dads' Night Out

Tio Victor and & Papi took the girls mini golfing yesterday and they all had a great time. It's bound to be a Monday evening tradition now!

Planting flowers as a family

While Kiara looked at us from inside (it was a little chilly outside), the rest of us worked on planting new flowers in the big pots. Brianna helped by removing old dirt, getting new plants in the pots and then watering them. She loved it and so did we!

Sabbath School with Lea & Mia

This past Sabbath, Mia & Lea joined us for church. We had a great time learning more about Jesus!

Kiara & Brianna's development

how did I get this fat?

What napkins?

Two little teeth at 7 months

Brianna scribbling this whole page plus an additional half of the next page. She's not even four yet!

Kiara's world

Boy, I love squash!

Hey, are these rollie pollies mine? How did they get there?

Tia Gweny Pierson

Thanks to the Bieber family, many family treasures were recently uncovered. Included in the many family pictures was this beautiful one of Ken's younger sister, Gwen, taken when she was 9 years old and a few short months before her passing. We were all blown away by her striking resemblance to Brianna (hair, eyes, eyelashes, nose and skin pigmentation). Bibi was struck by Gweny's sweet beauty. What a beautiful child she must have been; inside and out! Today we told Brianna how much she looks like Tia Gweny and Bri is looking forward to seeing her soon in heaven.

We can't wait to see all the rest of the pictures dating back several generations of the Pierson family. We feel blessed to share with the girls glimpses of their roots as well as wings to fly higher than any of us ever have.

Happy Birthday, Tio Victor

This past Sunday we had a GREAT time at Disneyland celebrating Tio Victor's 30th birthday! Two other families came along for the occasion and we all stuck together throughout the day, surprisingly, for almost all the rides. Quite the tribe! We had the best day we've ever had at Disneyland. Sunday was sunny and beautiful, there were not too many people at both parks and we got a chance to relax, talk, walk, and have a picnic lunch. Great day, Tio Victor! We love you!

Halloween with friends

Camila & Brianna reading stories

Bri, Camila & Gaby hanging out

Nestor, Camila & Gaby. We LOVED hanging out with you guys! It was GREAT! Next time let's meet at one of Camila's soccer games. Camila is an incredibly gifted soccer player. She just helped her team win another championship last Sunday. Go Cami!

Halloween

Our picnic loving baby, of course, got a treat of rich milk from Mommy

Our family tradition, an almost entirely vegan fast food restaurant that's delicious, affordable & fun. Brianna even got to have a cone of soft-serve SOY vanilla & chocolate swirl ice-cream. Yum!!!

We went to Downtown Disney for Halloween. We didn't do trick-or-treat as we wanted to spare Brianna of a sugar high but she did dress up in her beautiful Belle costume and we hung out with friends, watched other people's crazy costumes and walked up and down Main St listening to great live music

More garden and picnic pictures

Huntington Library & Gardens Chinese Garden (still under renovation). We weren't particularly crazy about this garden but it's the first time we've seen it since its inauguration. We liked some aspects of it but are looking forward to seeing it finished, especially the Tea House.

Beautiful bonsai

Afternoon gourmet picnic at the garden

Peanut butter & jelly sandwiches for Brianna, gourmet grape juice, cheese and olive combo for Mommy & Daddy. Almost felt like a romantic date!

One of the best, most relaxing family times we've ever had. Loved every minute of it!