Hsi Lai Temple

 We are studying China, and I wanted the kids to have a "being there" experience.  We have a pass to the Huntington Library, and they have a beautiful Chinese Garden, so I packed up a few Chinese picture books, some art materials, picked up Grandma, and we were off for a relaxing afternoon at the Huntington.  We get there, and it is closed onTuesdays!! :(  

So, I knew there was a lot of Chinese influence in that area, so we started googling.  After only a few minutes, I found this website and decided it was worth a try!

WOW!  We found a great place to spend the afternoon learning more about Chinese culture, especially Buddhism!  I love unexpected adventures like this!  Everyone there was very friendly.  We missed all the guided tours, but got a brochure with some information, and gave ourselves a tour, which is sometimes easier when you have an independent 3 year old in tow anyway!  I was surprised how much freedom we had to explore the grounds.  We went inside all the shrines also, although no photos were allowed inside.  But I can assure you they were just as ornate, if not more so, as the outside!

They were getting ready for their Chinese New Year Celebration, and the courtyard was all decked out…  (Do you see the Monks?  They were all over.  It is a Buddhist Monastery also.)

2015 is the year of the Ram and Charity loved all the lambs!

We were excited to see this exhibit dedicated to Temples of different religions, and there was the Salt Lake  LDS Temple!

The boys liked seeing all the people holding hands around the world and pointing out the different people represented.  I was glad there was an emphasis on respecting other cultures in their displays.  This culture is very different than ours, and it was good for the boys to see how they respected us, just as we should respect and understand differences in things we are not accustomed to.  They also had an elementary school on site, and we saw a bulletin board with a Cub Scout pack that was affiliated to this temple.  The boys liked seeing how similar these children were to them!

It was a great Chinese Adventure, more than what I was hoping for!

First Gymnastics Meet

Tanner was asked in July to be on his gym's gymnastic competition team.  He has been working hard for the past 8 months!  He has had enough medical problems in that time that it would have been very easy to give up, but he persevered!  Even before the meet we were so proud of him, but he proved his hard work by getting first place in pommel and parallel bars, and second overall!  Way to go Tanner!  It was so fun watching him and a great experience for Tanner!

His team...

We were warned that boys meets can be pretty long.  These 2 monkeys kept busy climbing in the cubbies we were sitting in front of and eating lots of snacks...

Disney Darling

We went to Disneyland this week with my BFF from high school/college.  It was a perfect day and no one got the measles ;).  I didn't get too many pictures cause my camera was dead and the camera on my phone is not very good, but at least we got this one….

After waiting in line for 30 minutes to Meet Minnie, we better have gotten a pic!

And a few others...

 On tea cups with Claire...

Pinewood Derby

Hunter has been watching his brother participate in the Pinewood Derby for 3 years and finally got to officially participate this year.  He won most creative car and came in 5th out of like 30 so we were feeling pretty good about that!  He had a great time!

Priesthood Preview

Look at this handsome bunch of "Almost Priests" from our ward!  I had all these boys for 2 years as cub scouts and it is so fun watching them grow up!  Glad that Tanner has such a great group of boys around him!