Eating Out in LA!

Living in Los Angeles, you have the opportunity to eat all different kinds of foods. About fifteen years ago, my older brother Corbin and a couple of cousins went off to explore a few of the traditional LA restaurants. They went to Tommy's, In-n-Out, King Taco and then washed it down with a milkshake from Rubi's Frostee Freeze. I have tried to recreate this a few times with cousins and friends, and every time it has been a lot of fun.

Yesterday, my Brother Andy, my dad and I, decided to we would take the trip to downtown LA and enjoy some great LA Original Cooking. We went to four places, Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles, Tommy's, Phillipe's and King Taco. I decided to take a few pictures to let everyone know about our adventure.

1. Roscoe's House of Chicken'n Waffles
We left around 12 and decided to go to the farthest place first. We travelled to Hollywood and arrived at Roscoe's. Andy had heard about this place on TV and added it to our list of restaurants. Roscoe's is good southern cooking and the only restaurant we actually had to go in and sit down with a server.We each ordered a big chicken breast and a waffle. As I was walking out of Roscoe's I was already nervous about the rest of the day and starting to feel a little full.

2. Tommy's

We next travelled back to downtown LA and we went to Tommy's and ordered a Chili Cheeseburger. We went to the original shack that was celebrating their 60th year in LA.

3. Phillipe's

Another family favorite is Phillipe's. It is the home of the French Dip Sandwich. It has been serving LA the French Dip for over 100 years. This was by far the busiest place we went. Easily 100 people were in line waiting to get a sandwich.

4. King Taco

Our last stop was in East LA. King Taco is one of the best places to get Mexican Food. Although they offer tacos of Brain and Tongue we all decided to go for Carne Asada. Even though it is very spicy, it was very good.

We had a great day touring LA and eating some of the very best that LA has to offer. Andy recently went to Pink's Hot Dogs a few weeks ago and so we didn't add that to the list. Maybe next year.

We are currently having a great time in California and we return home to Texas on Saturday. Marlo will post the rest our vacation when we get back. We hope everyone had a great Christmas and have fun tonight.

My Saving Grace...

My mom came in last week to help me through Maddie's birthday and to say the least she did just that. She helped me so much and I will be forever grateful that she was here with me, keeping me busy. The day she came in I had a doctors appt. she got to go to with us to and a little baby update is that he is measuring big... 3 weeks big! I had a ultrasound and just like Maddie, has a big tummy and is measuring right around 3pds. 6 oz. already with a very large femer bone. What is it with these genes of mine? So March 2 at 7:30am we will meet this little guy!

While she was here we also got to take her to the Trail of Lights. This is our 3rd year in a row (see previous posts) and we still love it. As tradition now we have always gone with the James' and this year we brought along the Brosie's as well. We had a great time, I am always in awe at how many lights they use.

The rest of the time while my Mom was here we transferred the old nursery into a cute little boys nursery. I put all of Maddie's stuff away (clothes, blankets, shoes, dresses...everything girl). It was actually really good and almost a heavy weight lifted off my shoulders getting everything put away. I never really went in her room because of it and now that the room is transformed it feels good to go into that room and have, in a sense, a fresh start for this new baby. I was so glad to have the company of my mom there while I did it so I wasn't doing it alone. Unfortunately Jordan has been working crazy long hours ('tis the season) so I knew he wouldn't be home able to help.

I love how the room turned out. Minus a couple more things to do, it is finished! Thank you so much Mom for your help in painting my 12 ft. ceilings, your great ideas, your support, and love through that tough week.

Before

After

Happy 2nd Birthday, Sweetheart

December 18, 2006

9 lbs. 8 oz.

1st Birthday

December 18, 2007

July 2008

19 Months

December 18, 2008

It's finally here. We have been waiting for her headstone for the longest time and it's such a relief it is here before her birthday. That is all I wanted. We are pleased with the outcome and are glad that it turned out so well.

She was always Daddy's little girl.

Many Thanks...

This years Thanksgiving was full of mixed emotions for me. We were in Vegas for the holiday and had a great time with family. Jordan and I were not only excited to be with my parents and sister but this was our first holiday spent with my brother and sister in law and their two cute kiddos so we had a great time with them! We were busy and did alot of fun stuff but with that everyday my mind could not stop from going back to the fact that Maddie wasn't there. I knew this holiday season would be hard but didn't know how it would go until I was living in the moment and I have to say it was tough. As much as I tried to put on a "I'm doing great" face, I don't think I hid it that well. Thanksgiving day was by far the hardest. The 27th, Thanksgiving day, marked 4 months of her passing and with those 2 things together my emotions were on edge the whole day. It's so hard, I still hurt, my heart still has a hole in it, but I am so thankful I was surrounded by family.
I am afraid it is just one of the "firsts" we have to experience and hopefully they get better as time passes. But like I said we still had a great time.

I hope it's ok I am showing this picture because my parents are using it for their Christmas Card! But this is all of us and as you can see we are in Albania t-shirts representing my 'lil sis, Brittney, who is serving a full time mission there.

Since my brother and I are going to be with our in-laws for Christmas this year, yes it's my first Christmas away from home, we had our Christmas Eve dinner a little early this year. This was the Sunday after Thanksgiving and my mom, and Alisha, cooked a delicious meal. It was perfect to get us right into the Christmas season.

(Sorry Tyler and Mom, that you got cut out of the pic!)

After dinner my sweet parents had a gift for all of us to open. This ornament is called the "Cheer Drop", it is in the shape of an upside down teardrop and this is what it represents in memory of Sweet Maddie:

This teardrop is a tribute

to your loved one who has died,

And the emptiness and heartache

you're feeling deep inside.

But it also is a symbol

of comfort for your heart,

Taking solace in believing

that our loved ones who depart

From this earth are in heaven,

awaiting with the Lord

That day of love's reunion

when all losses are restored.

Until that time, your loved one

would urge you to take cheer...

For you still have much living

and loving to do here.

-Lisa O. Engelhardt

"May this Memorial "Cheer drop" bring you comfort in knowing that there will come a day when all tears will be wiped away and you will be together with your loved one again."

My parents got one of these for each of my siblings to put up on Maddie's birthday, December 18th, so that we will always have a part of her on our trees during the Christmas season. I loved it, thanks again Mom and Dad.

Of course I couldn't hold back the tears and this is why I look so horrible in this picture and Jordan didn't know he was in the picture, but my parents also got this memory bear for our future children to put in our tree so they will remember Maddie as well. I wish I took a picture of the top of the box it's stored in, you can kind of see it in the picture, but it is engraved with Maddie's name on it.

Thanksgiving was hard but I have to also remember it is about giving thanks and I am so thankful for family who is there to surround me when times like these are hard. And now with the Christmas season here I am so thankful that I can focus on my Savior and his life that makes it possible for me to have hope, comfort, and peace that everything is ok.

Weekend in Minnesota!

We just got back from a great weekend in Minnesota! We left the comforts of 70 degree weather on Thursday and arrived in Minneapolis on a cold 17 degree night. Our good friend Mark Madsen, who plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves, invited Marlo and I out for the weekend to visit with him and catch a T-Wolves game. We had a blast in Minnesota! The best part of the weekend was catching up with Mark and hearing what he is up to. We took a lot of pictures, so I decided that would be the best way to share what we did.

Mark is a great guy. He let us stay at his house and use his car all day! We had a great time exploring the Twin Cities!


The Timberwolves played the Celtics and Mark got us courtside seats. Unfortunately the T-Wolves lost, but we had great seats for all the action!


Mark introduced us to a couple of his friends from Boston that were in town. It was fun to see them interact with Mark. They all clearly respect him and have a great friendship with him. Here are a few of the pictures. This first is with Sam Cassell. They talked about old times when Sam played for Minnesota.

After the game, Mark introduced us to Kevin Garnett. He was very nice and he chatted with us for a few minutes before they had to leave.

Even the new UFC champion and Minnesota native, Brock Lesnar was there. (If you look at the banner in the background, each player on the team has a certain section of the arena, this is Mark's.)

On Saturday, we dropped off Mark at practice and toured the Twin Cities. Here we are overlooking the Mississippi River from the Mill City Museum. It was the old Gold Medal Flour Mill. It was very interesting and told the history of Minneapolis.

We even had time to go to the State Capital and take a tour. Here we are on the steps of the capital.

On the bottom floor, they have paintings of all the former Governor's of Minnesota. I had to take a picture with Jesse "The Governing Body" Ventura. He is very deep in thought. I think it funny they painted him with a cigar in his hand.

We decided we should check out the temple while we were there. We just drove by, but thought it was great to see it.

Overall we had a great time with Mark. We got to meet his friends from both Church and his work. Everyone was very nice. Walking around in the cold weather reminded me of why I live in Austin. But we did decide that Minneapolis is a great place to visit. We hope to come back soon! Thanks again for everything Mark!

I can breath

Gotta love primary but I am so happy to be done with the craziness!! Yesterday was our primary program and I am pleased to say it turned out great. Those that have worked in a primary presidency, my hat goes off to you all. There is so much you have to plan for, deal with, and make adjustments on the spot that it takes alot out of you! I was an emotional wreck yesterday, never going into it thinking I would be. I think all of the stress came out and just being so happy that it turned out well. Now I can breath and go on cruise control... I guess until next Sunday because you never know what's going to happen!

Lately...

This is what we have been up to lately...

On Labor Day Jordan and our good friend Paul participated in the Austin City Triathalon, and not only did they do the triathalon they signed up for the "olympic" triathalon which means the lengths of the swim, bike, and run are way longer. To say the least I was pretty impressed for someone that has never done anything like this! They finished in a little over 3 hours and are gearing up for the next one.

Then at the end of September I met my parents up in Salt Lake, along with my sister Brandy and my Aunt Lisa and cousin Heather, to go to the So You Think You Can Dance tour concert. It was fabulous... love that show. Unfortunately I didn't get a pic with everyone but we all had a great time. After being in Salt Lake for a few days I flew back to Vegas with my parents to celebrate my birthday, the big 25. I feel like for what I have been through and everything that has been going on, that I should be alot older, maybe it's just me. But it was a great birthday anyways.

A couple days after I got back from Vegas, Judy came to visit us. She spent a week with us and had a lot of fun shopping, going to Dallas to visit a great cousin, Julie and her fam, and then I followed Judy out to Conneticut for a week. Jordan's brother and sister in-law just moved there and so we went out to visit. It was gorgeous. The leaves were changing and everywhere you looked there was fluorescent orange, yellow and red with a green background. So pretty. So we had a great stay with them and their cute kids. One day Judy and I went into Boston and toured all around which was so fun, I just wish Jordan was there to experience it all as well. I had a great time with them and if anyone can get out there to see the colors I highly reccomend it!

Family Pictures

These were taken 2 weeks before Maddie passed and are SOOO grateful we have these as our last pictures as a family (another tender mercy). Thanks to Kam, she captured moments we will cherish forever.