Christmas "snow" show

We loved going to a neighbor's house close by to watch an amazing Christmas show every weekend. We took Joel, Gisel & Isa to watch it too and they loved it as well. The girls played under the "snow" after watching a great Christmas musical show

The girls reading a story at Capella's in Exeter. Fantastic place!

A FANTASTIC time with the Clark's

Bri & Isabella loved playing "princess" together

First dinner with our friends

Unbelievable homemade baklava! Gisel is an amazing chef!

Bathtime fun

We just had so much fun with the Clark's over the weekend it was hard trying to pick & choose pictures to post! We did many cool activities and showed our friends around town. We can't wait to get together again soon. The girls really miss each other now and are looking forward to the next playtime.

Thanksgiving Dinner

We enjoyed a delicious Thanksgiving dinner at Ampee & Amee's house along with the Tym family and special guests Uncle Cliff & Auntie Ann from Alberta, Canada. Good times!

Our perfect pumpkin

We couldn't be more blessed this year!

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.