Disneyland with the Malaman Family!

My sister, Mandi, and her family came for a visit Thanksgiving week.  We had our Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday and went to Disneyland together on Thursday (Thanksgiving).  Here are some highlights!  (And Mandi, I caught Logan looking in a couple of these!)

Thanksgiving with Friends

We invited our friends, the Livingston's and the Hicks', over for Thanksgiving dinner. We had a wonderful time and really enjoyed spending the holiday with them.

Thanksgiving Day

We had a lovely Thanksgiving Day. John and the boys prepped the green beans for our favorite green bean dish. It's one John saw Giada De Laurentiis make on the Food Network a few years ago, and we've made it every year since then.

Turkey Bowl

Our ward held it's second annual Turkey Bowl Thanksgiving morning. Michael enjoyed some flag football while AJ played on the playground equipment with some of the other kids. He also played video games on Aidan Eddy's DS lite. I had fun chatting with the ladies. It was a nice start to Thanksgiving Day.

Greedy Hands, Impetigo, and Field Trips

Lots of things are happening in the Nguyen home, as it is usually a busy time of year for everyone.

On Tuesday, November 25, I went on a field trip with Michael to the Castaic Lake Water Treatment Facility. It was fascinating! I enjoyed it a bit more than the kids, but Michael and I had a good time together. Here are a few pictures.






On Tuesday night, a couple of blisters (that I thought were cold sores) popped up on AJ's bottom lip. They didn't bother him much, so I bought some over the counter medication to address any discomfort and sent him to school on Wednesday. When I was quizzing the kids on Dolch List words (sight words), I noticed another child had a similar looking blister. On Thanksgiving, the blisters spread. There were a few on his chin and a couple near his nose.




We took AJ to the doctor on Friday. The doctor said it was probably impetigo, so she took two swabs and sent them to the lab (one to test for Herpes, which causes cold sores, and one to test for impetigo). She also sent us home with an anti-biotic. The next morning, he looked much better. On Monday, she called and told us that AJ has impetigo caused by the strep bacteria (the same bacteria that causes strep throat.) I called the school to let them know and they informed the teachers to be on the look out. They also pulled the boy (who had the blister on Wednesday) into the nurse's office to see if it was impetigo.



Thanksgiving was quiet in our home, but good. We had a nice dinner with our favorite dishes. John, Michael, AJ, and I went to see Bolt (Jacob and David were not interested in seeing it). I enjoy Thanksgiving more every year, because it reminds me to take time to reflect on the innumerable blessings my Heavenly Father has given me, but it does make me a bit homesick. I think of all my family and close friends and miss seeing you during the holidays.


On Friday, November 28, it marked the 10 year "anniversary" of Jon's death. It was a bittersweet day, but I am grateful for my testimony of the gospel and my knowledge that I will see him again. I am so grateful for the blessings of the temple and that my parents were sealed for time and eternity, knitting us into an eternal family.

On Saturday, Michael, David, and I played Greedy Hands. I won and scored high enough that I sent a copy of our scorecard to the greedyhands.com website to join the 10,000 point club. Everyone in our family, except John and Jacob, really like Greedy Hands, and we really enjoyed playing with everyone when we were in Maryland.