"Ask and Ye Shall Receive"

"Ask and ye shall receive" Have you ever thought about what that quote really means? Tonight, I am shown the true meaning of that quote. I am not one to ask of things from others. Those whom know me well know I'd rather give then to receive from my family and friends. I find greater joy and no expectations as long as I am the giver. It takes a lot for me to get out of my comfort zone to ask even family and friends for favors, let alone friends from Facebook.

It has been my goal and desire to return to Laos this summer to start on a 3rd Jai Lao school on behalf of the Jai Lao Foundation. Jai Lao got our third school plans submitted and approved for construction in a Kkmu village just 50 kilometers north of Luang Prabang city. Next step would be to cross the T's and dot the I's and start the ground breaking work of the school. That's almost impossible to do when you're ten thousand miles away so I knew I had to go at some point to oversee this project for Jai Lao. Then my trusted SUV's transmission decided to give up on me right when I was about to purchase my ticket to Laos to go on the trip in July. The unexpected $5000 to get a new transmission made me re-evaluate my plans to go to Laos on this mission for Jai Lao.

Being one of the Board of Directors for Jai Lao, we hold the sacred responsibility of self-funding our trips to Laos to volunteer to serve and oversee projects for the Foundation. I have been blessed with time as a stay at home mother to fulfill this calling for the past two years embarking on three missions for Jai Lao thus far. I was going to post phone my fourth mission to Laos for Jai Lao till November when the rest of the Jai Lao Board of Directors and other volunteers plan on embarking on this mission, but I felt a pressing urgency to go to Laos to start on our projects ASAP.

I did the unthinkable. I posted on FB asking if anyone can sell me their buddy pass to Laos. $1400 just to Bangkok was quite steep for me in light of our auto repair so I thought I'd just ask, cause I've always been told it doesn't hurt to ask. Within an hour or so someone responded to my request right away. She said she has one buddy pass for me and is looking for a second one for my sister who was planning on going as well. Later, to my amazement she confirmed two buddy passes on business class on the exact dates I needed to go on the trip (June 3-13) Tomorrow is her birthday and yet instead of she has given others, my sister and I, one of the greatest gift we've ever received from anyone. One of my favorite quote is "Tis better to give then to receive" and I believe Monii exemplifies this greatly by with her giving heart... and her gift of giving will give us the opportunity to serve the people of our homeland to build a school and a foundation for a better tomorrow.

I wish Monii Khounpaseutha very very happy birthday and may she continue to be blessed and receive all the fruits of her giving....

Spring Break 2011, Park City, Utah

I am attempting to blog again after over two years of just Facebooking. Just a week ago I decided to deactivate my personal FB account because I just had too many FB pages to manage. First, there is my Jai Lao Friend, then there's the Jai Lao Foundation fan page, and then Tippy and I started the Banana Leaf Catering Co. fan page for our catering business. Also, I know how very short term my memory is and I want to remember special moments spent with my husband and kids when I am old and sinile. But by then will I even remember my password to get into my blog? Another reason I want to start blogging again is for my kids and grandkids to be able to go back and read little stories of our lives. I will not even try to recover two years of birthdays, anniversarys, milestones, vacations, etc. because it would prove too difficult and crazy for me to attempt. Moving forward is all I can do at this point.

My first entry back is our family's spring break vaction to Park City, UT. I won a week's stay at the Larsen's cabin here at Micheal J's Boy Scout auction for just $500! It's quite large with 6 bedrooms and I am wishing either all of the Reagan's or Singharath could be here to enjoy it with us. Originally, I was supposed to come here with a few other families in our ward, but things happen and here we are alone in this huge cabin. It was a very nice ten hour drive here. Of course it was nice for me for I slept and was transported to Utah almost in the blink of an eye. I am so grateful for Tui's stamina at staying awake to drive by himself in all of our roadtrips. After a long drive, we were rewarded at Red Iguana Mexican food in Salt Lake City which was absolutley delicious and authentic! Very well worth the long drive.

It has been years since we took our kids skiing/snowboarding. This will be Kayley's first ski trip. Tui signed both girls up for ski lessons. I can't believe how pricey skiing is. It's no wonder we don't go every year. I opted not to ski but I hope to weather the cold to capture some cute pictures of the kids skiing. I'm excited that Tui and MJ will be snowboarding together. Tui has lost so much weight since his surgery that he's very happy to try boarding again with less weight to bear down on.

BOO!!!

Halloween!!! Its finally time for the scariest fattening holiday of all!!!! Halloween!!! Its Kayley's first actual Halloween and Elvis's too. He had fun and probably got A LOT of attention with all the people around. He liked to wait patiently by the door like a little adult. Kayley really enjoyed herself too. Although I wasn't with her I passed by her and she looked SOOOO happy. I was a devil witch for Halloween. Many people asked me what that is but I have no idea whatsoever!!! Kayley was originally a snow white princess but the weather was not too hot so she ended up being a cute little baby zebra. Ella was also supposed to be a princess but the weather changed it so she became a cute little mouse (not those horrible, nasty kind you find in your house!!!). Micheal J was a punk rocker drummer sort of thing. You can't really name it exactly but you can see his pics and you can name him yourself. And of course we had to have someone at home handing out all the treats because last Halloween we left it out and when we came back it was all gone. We put a lot of candy in it and we usually don't have a lot of people who come trick or treating at our house. So we think that someone came and took all our candies. We dared not do that again so my dad stayed home and handed out the candy.

This year was different from all of the other years of trick or treating. The whole family didn't go together. I went with my friends, Micheal J went with his friend, and my mom went with my aunts, Kayley, Ella, and Elvis. I know that Kayley and Elvis sure had a fun time. As you can see in the pictures shown, Elvis is waiting in front of a door patiently. Isn't that cute!? Originally, Kayley was supposed to be Snow White but, like usual Halloween was cold so we had to change her costume quick. Luckily, we had a big selection of dress-up clothes. I got the warmest costume I could see and gave it to her. I think it was cuter than her Snow White costume. ~~Lela

Thanksgiving Break at Newport Beach

The kids have a whole week off from school at our San Ramon Unified School district so we took advantage of that and went down to Newport Beach for some R & R and sunshine! We literally just chilled out at the beautiful Marriot Resort. A very fun part of the trip was being able to visit with Tui's old missionary companion Matt Wood and his lovely little family. Of course no southern California trip is complete without eating at Roscoes Chicken and Waffle!!!!

Tui thought it would be funny to have me pose in front of this cute boutique with my namesake:)


I was enjoying so much relaxing I had the kids do the dishes after dinner... My Ompa Lompa Lela worked her magic with the machine!

How Kayley Feels About Christmas....

Our sassy baby Kayley is two and 3 months at Christmas this year. She is starting to understand the meaning of Christmas....presents, lots of presents, Santa and "thrismas tree." Amazingly, she never once tried to open any presents underneath the tree!!! She waited patiently for her turn to open up her gifts, but she opened her gifts with such enthusiasm and sheer delight.

Daddy's 37th Birthday!

Happy Birthday Daddy! You are officially 37 years old! For the dinner feast we had Italian food my dad's favorite. Too bad he couldn't cook because he makes awesome spaghetti. Everything else was excellent. I knew my dad really enjoyed this Italian feast. It was the bomb!
Present time! It's probably the best part of your Birthday. Daddy didn't get a lot of things but he got pretty good things like coupons,pens,a watch,his favorite kind of soap,C.D,gift card,root beer,etc. After some television we had cake. The actual cake was great but I wasn't a big fan of the frosting. The only person who really liked the frosting was my little sis Kayley.
Overall the Birthday was great and everyone enjoyed it. I'm especially glad my awesome dad enjoyed it! Happy Birthday daddy and you are totally the bomb!!!!!

Elvis, Birthday boy, and I and sleepy...

'08 CHRISTMAS!

The past couple of years we have been away during this time of the year so it was really nice and relaxing to be home for Christmas this year. This is our fourth Christmas without my parents. Each year gets a little bit less sad without them home for the holidays... With all my family there I felt Mom and Dad's love and presence everywhere in our home. In the smile and laughter of each of my siblings I see and feel my parents. I hold close these treasured moments to have my family all together. Mom and dad's most prized gift was to have all of us in front of the mounds of gifts which is nothing without the love we have for one another.










My brother and his girlfriend Phab adores Kayley... wish Talay was here with us too:)










This is what Mom and Dad would see as they are looking down at us.... I hope we make you happy and proud!










Uncle Sak and his nieces and nephew and of course Elvis, the newest addition to the Reagan family!