A Trip to Muir Woods National Monument

Our initial plan was to go on a day trip with my sister's family during the Christmas and New Year break. My nephew Richard caught a cold before the planned outing date, so it was just our family plus Longlong, Guibo's nephew who was visiting and staying with us for his winter break from his graduate study at UC Berkeley.

We went to Muir Woods National Monument on December 30, 2012, a very sunny day. It was warm elsewhere, but not there. I knew that redwoods are very tall and big, but never made the connection between tall trees and their ability to block out sunlight so efficiently. It was cold and not sunny in the woods! Had I not been that cold, I would have enjoyed the walk more. But, the trees are truly magnificent .. Did I hear the melody of "This is my father's world" singing somewhere?

Lodi Lake Nature Trail

 

 We've been to Lodi Zoo a couple of times and I really liked that little yet fun place. The Lodi Lake Nature Trail is another gem that's only 30 minutes drive from home. 

The trail is easy--no slope and mostly paved. Besides the bigger Lodi Lake, tseveral smaller body of water scattered along the trail. The trail is lined with trees, cottonwood, valley oak, and a few redwood. There are more trees and bushes than what I can name. James picked up three "nice" acorns. I spotted two raccoons. At the other side of a pond, a dozen happy cows were grazing. 

The most fun part for the boys was the vine swing. It's wild grape vine, I believe. Those vines are incredibly strong. Even Guibo and Longlong (his nephew) got to swing on a vine swing and didn't break it. 

Advent and Christmas Break

The few weeks before Christmas were quite busy and even hectic, with Daniel's choir practices and performances, Daniel's Cub Scout caroling, James' Sunday school Christmas performance, shopping, baking, decorating, plus a party or two.  Having a relatively relaxed Christmas break is truly a blessing.

Daniel's choir performance at a nursing home. He was a shepherd. 

Our Advent: something old, something new

Because I couldn't find the paper ornaments going with our Jesse tree ( I did find them later), I made the names of Jesus paper rings to put on the tree. We did daily devotion based on twenty-five names of Jesus, starting at December 1 and ending at December 25.

I'm gradually adding to our family's Christmas decoration. The Advent wreath is also a nativity display. The paper nativity scene is not as good as I expected, but it looks O.K. on the piano.  The holy family craft was made at our homeschool group's Christmas party by Daniel and me. Isn't that cute? I paid material fees for James, but all he wanted to do was playing with his friends. Oh well...

We didn't do as much Christmas reading this year. Here're the books we read during Advent. I didn't read much "Christmas in My Heart" with the kids. It's a collection of short stories. I have thoroughly enjoyed them.

Family and Gifts

My sister Min's family came to our house on Christmas Eve. James had hollered a couple of times the week before Christmas demanding for his presents. Since my nephew Richard would be opening his presents from us, we allowed our kids each to open one present. We went to a really nice Christmas Eve service at a nearby church before my sister's family went home.