LA Temple

Friday, August 24-Saturday, August 25--We left in the late afternoon (after work and school) stopping on the way for dinner at In-n-Out.  We arrived in the evening at the Patron Housing on the temple grounds.  A studio apartment, with a queen bed, double sofa bed, full bath and half-kitchen runs $50 a night.  We walked around the grounds before going to bed.

 The next morning, Jeremy and I did an endowment session and a couple sealings while the kids went in to the small conference/family room to watch movies.  When Jeremy and I walked through the front doors we were very surprised to be greeted by his cousin Terri (whose mother is Jeremy's father's sister Shirley) who was only there at that location for another 10 minutes.  We had chosen to go on a ward temple trip day, so it was pleasant to have several familiar faces.  As we were finishing with the endowment session, we enquired upon how to do a couple sealings of names we had brought with us.  I was looking upside down at the calendar sheet the gentleman had at the desk in front of us and noticed the last name of Higley.  I enquired as to whether or not it was Brad Higley, Jeremy's other cousin, son of Shirley and sister of Terri.  They said that it was, that he was scheduled to do a live session later that afternoon, but that he was doing proxy sealings currently and that it was his last day in the LA Temple as a sealer (because of their current move).  They were kind enough to allow us to interrupt and join in.  It was a wonderful, sweet day.  

After Jeremy and I returned back to the housing apartment, Jeremy took Allison and Madison to do baptisms for the dead (with a Spanish group) while I took Parker and McKenna to walk around the temple grounds as enjoy the videos and displays at the Visitor's Center.

We left in the in the late afternoon/evening stopping off for dinner at Cafe Rio and Five Guys on the way home.

LA Birthday Surprise

Per Madison:  I was soooooo happy and excited to spend my Saturday with my best friend, Havana. We had a blast decorating cupcakes in LA, walking through the mall, and eating at Din Tai Fung (one of my favourite restaurants that I highly recommend)! It tastes just the same as it did in Singapore. 😁 Gosh, it has been five years!!! It was great to see her again.

Per Sarah:  Havana and her mom came into LA for a weekend trip to celebrate Havana's 16th birthday.  Kayt reached out to see if we could make it into town one of the days.  It was a TOTAL surprise to Havana until she walked in the door of Duff's Cake Mix.  Pictures say it all.

  

L.A. Fun Day

For Allison's "birthday dinner" she requested to eat at Din Tai Fung.  There are a handful in Los Angeles and a few in Seattle.  We ate at the restaurant during our time in Singapore.  It is a restaurant chain that started in Taipei.  We chose to eat at the one in Glendale.

It did not disappoint.  Our favorite item is Pork XiaoLongBao, seen in the round wooden dishes, which is a steamed dumpling.  We also ordered:  Vegetable and Pork Wonton Soup, House Chicken Noodle Soup (Boneless), Pork Chop Noodle Soup, Shredded Pork Fried Noodles, Chicken Fried Rice (White), Sauteed string Beans with Garlic, Sauteed Taiwanese Cabbage, Vegetable and Pork Dumplings, Shrimp and Pork Pot Stickers, Chocolate & Mochi XiaoLongBao, and some smoothies.  They do not serve my ultimate favorite lemon grass drink.

Wanting to not waste a long trip on just a restaurant, we set out to hike to the Hollywood sign.  There are numerous trails, ultimately starting either from the Griffith Observatory or from the historic Hollywoodland neighborhood.  There are three main trails from the observatory, each ranked easy, medium, or difficult.  I learned that the easy trail from the observatory puts you at the top of a different mountain looking at the side of the sign.  Jeremy and the kids talked me out of the medium and difficult trails.  However, I didn't want anything but a spectacular view.  The trails from the other side, the neighborhood, give that.

I found that reading a few google search hiking websites was helpful to get a good idea of what to expect and where to go.  My favorite article was: https://www.hikespeak.com/trails/hollywood-sign-hike-innsdale-drive-mulholland-highway-mount-lee-drive/  

When entering the "neighborhood" there was a big yellow sign that said that access was not available to the sign.  Ignore that.  Shortly after winding through what you think is the whole neighborhood, you come to a field area and street parking.  Keep going.  Basically, we ended up parking on Mulholland Drive on a steep incline at the Lake Hollywood Park.  There is no more public parking after this.  Walking through the neighborhood, on Mulholland, to the actual trail head is easy.  Also, lots of people were around doing the same.  There is a yard or two with large signs for "No trespassing" or yellow police tape to "Do Not Cross"--pass by and under.  Next, when you think you've reached a private gate, you kind of have and you kind of haven't...proceed through the walkway to the other side of the trail.  The last 0.9 miles is a bit steep, but all paved.  Up and back took 2-1/2 hours.

Annnnd, we stopped by Cupid's for dinner on the way home.  Plus, I learned that Jeremy's elementary childhood home was literally a couple streets down, so we stopped and took a picture.

After we got the kids home and in bed, Jeremy and I "ran an errand" to hang Allison's birthday sign on the traditional high school fence.