An Advance showing of "The Nativity Story"

Garhett won a "family 4 pack" of tickets from the FISH to see the advance screening of the New Line Cinema's "The Nativity Story".

Our whole family trucked out to the Irvine Spectrum to see the movie tonight. We went to dinner at Red Robin first, then went to get our passes and enter the theatre - the PACKED theatre. Apparently when they do advance screenings they over sell the theater (to make it look full). So we had to sit separate (Ash & Dawn sat together and Garhett & I). Other than that, the experience was great.

The movie is definately worth seeing. Very little 'license' was taken. We found ourselves chuckling at the fact the movie opens with the same scripture Pastor Dave spoke on this past Sunday - of course the visual of Zachariah being struck mute was quite the opposite of the one Dave displayed at church - but the message was the same nonetheless.

What I really enjoyed about the movie is that there weren't any typical Hollywood types made up to look the part - these folks really made you feel the struggles that went on at the time. The cinematography was striking and the story was pretty spot on. Of course there are humorous parts. However, I was a bit dumbfounded at some of the parts people were laughing at - - they weren't meant to be funny - - yet our society found the truth of scripture humorous... hmmm... puzzling!

Yes, of course there were tears. I found myself wanting to stand on my seat and yell, "That's Jesus being born people. Savior, Lord, King of Kings! That's Jesus people". From that point on in the movie emotions were spewing all over the place... Joy, with the Magi presenting their gifts; Anger, with Herod thinking he could just end the prophecy; Frustration that no one would open their doors for pregnant Mary. Oh, this is a good movie. Everyone should see it.

View the trailer here.

OH, BTW - 24 fans.... The woman who plays Elizabeth is Shohreh Aghdashloo - of Dina Araz!

Yo, yo... got my 'blingage'....

While we were decorating the house for Christmas I was goofing around with an ornament my son got from his Aunt Di. I put the crome cross on a dog choke chain and Dawn did some fancy magic chain tying and then snapped a photo of me wearing some cheap 'blingage'... or is it more accurate to say, "Flossin". We all thought is was fun and games until they couldn't get the darn thing untied... first Dawn, then Mike, then Garhett and finally I asked my son's friend Janice if she is good at untangling things and thankfully she was able to untie it - I couldnt bring myself to actually go to church tomorrow wearing that silly thing - - - oh, the worse part, Dawn got a call from our friend Michelle Lasch who happended to hear the whole thing going on - - - now how am I going to live that down!

Thanksgiving with the In-Laws

The Bambricks headed north to Palmdale CA for Thanksgiving this year. We were invited to Dawn's father and his wife's house, and were joined by her sister Diane, her husband Jim and son Liam. We were also entertained with Dawn's brother Fred, his fiance' Monique and her two children, Darius and Nicolette. It was a great day - we took our 5th wheel up and stayed in that for 3 nights.

Dawn's dad does a great job preparing the feast and surprisingly - all three of the siblings got along the entire time!

On Friday we went to see "The Santa Clause III" and shot this photo of our children in the hallway of the theater, with their namesakes... Rhett/Garhett and Scarlett/Ashley Scarlett.

We came home today and decided to "deck the halls" and start spreading the Christmas cheer in our neighborhood by turning on the Christmas lights that I hung the weekend before we left and adding a boat load of newer stuff too.

What a busy holiday this was!

Toys for Tots rejects Jesus!

Found this story on CNN.COM today.... quite disturbing; but not unexpected.

Toys for Tots rejects talking Jesus dolls


POSTED: 12:04 p.m. EST, November 15, 2006

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- A talking Jesus doll has been turned down by the Marine Reserves' Toys for Tots program.

A Los Angeles company offered to donate 4,000 of the 1-foot-tall dolls, which quote Bible verses, for distribution to needy children this holiday season.

The battery-powered Jesus is one of several dolls manufactured by one2believe, a division of the Valencia-based Beverly Hills Teddy Bear Co., based on biblical figures. (Watch to see and hear the Bible-quoting dolls -- 1:52)

But the charity balked because of the dolls' religious nature.

Toys are donated to kids based on financial need and "we don't know anything about their background, their religious affiliations," said Bill Grein, vice president of Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, in Quantico, Virginia.

As a government entity, Marines "don't profess one religion over another," Grein said Tuesday. "We can't take a chance on sending a talking Jesus doll to a Jewish family or a Muslim family."
Michael La Roe, director of business development for both companies, said the charity's decision left him "surprised and disappointed."

"The idea was for them to be three-dimensional teaching tools for kids," La Roe said. "I believe as a churchgoing person, anyone can benefit from hearing the words of the Bible."

According to the company's Web site, the button-activated, bearded Jesus, dressed in hand-sewn cloth outfits and sandals, recites Scripture such as "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again" and "Love your neighbor as yourself." It has a $20 retail value.

Grein questioned whether children would welcome a gift designed for religious instruction.
"Kids want a gift for the holiday season that is fun," he said.

The program distributed 18 million stuffed animals, games, toy trucks and other gifts to children in 2005.

The company that sells these dolls is One2Believe.

Huntington Beach mini vacation

Last week the family packed up the 5th wheel and headed to Huntington Beach for a mini-vacation and spent 5 days at Sunset Vista campground... ok, it really is the parking lot just south of the Huntington Beach Pier... but it was a time away from home for re-creation.

I went to work every day and the kids and Dawn got to hang and do whatever they felt like - we picked the best week - if you remember it was in the 90's for three of the days! Wow, only in CA can you go tanning at the beach in NOVEMBER!.

I took Wednesday off and while Dawn ran some errands, I hung with the kids and caught some rays at the waters edge. I snapped thid with my new phone... Kinda fun!

Can*dian Joke

Someone who knows exactly how I feel about Canadians sent me this... I laughed for 15 minutes...


An American, a Scot and a Canuk were in a terrible car accident.

They were all brought to the same emergency room, but all three of them died before they arrived. Just as they were about to put the toe tag on the American, he stirred and opened his eyes. Astonished, the doctors and nurses present asked him what happened.

"Well," said the American, "I remember the crash, and then there was a beautiful light, and then the Canadian and the Scot and I were standing at the gates of heaven. St. Peter approached us and said that we were all too young to die, and that for a donation of $100, we could return to the earth."

He continued, " So of course, I pulled out my wallet and gave him the $100, and the next thing I knew I was back here.""That's amazing!" said one of the doctors, "But what happened to the other two?""Last I saw them," replied the American, "the Scot was haggling over the price and the Canadian was waiting for the government to pay for his."

More Bug-a-Boo

Since I already posted a photo of my beautiful daughter, the Snow Princess. I thought I would also post a photo of my handsome son, "Goku" from Dragonball Z... Yes, I made this outfit as well. I actually made it for last year, but I had to remake the boots this year!

I was pleased to see it held up during my son's attempt at eating one of the most disgusting foods on the planet. HOT DOGS.

Bug-a-boo wackyness

My wife and I, along with my brother and his family, Johnny and Jeannie and her son, worked the food concession at Revolution's annual "Bug a Boo" event, and had a great time.

We met all sorts of characters and had a great time talking with many, many adults and kids - - and some adults who act like kids...

Like our Lead Paster, Dave....

You see he was short a few cents for his bag of popcorn (he only had a $20 for a $.50 cent bag of popcorn) and when a friend helped him out with a couple of quarters, Dave thought it would be funny to stuff them into his eye sockets.

Of course, the moment he did I whipped out my daughters digital camera and snapped a shot! It isn't a great photo - but if you look close you can see the quarters in his eyes...

The he demonstrated how they fall out - when again, I shot this photo.

Revolution church is a great place. You can truely be "just who you are"...

The Snow Princess

Ashley wanted to be a "Snow Princess" for Halloween - so we searched at all the stores and even rather tasteless "Halloween Spirit Store" (bleeeeech!) for a costume that was appropriate and met her standards (and our pocketbook). None were found - so I got out my stapler, glue gun and duct tape... and viola! I created a floor length crush velour (blue) princess gown with gold and fur lined trim, a 'fellowship' cloak of contrasting white crushed velour with fur trim and gold braiding, topped it off with a white 'mink' muffler (had warmer) and there you have it. Mom added the blue crushed velour covered candy bucket - and we have our snow princess!

This just in...

I have always teased about using duct tape as an aid for babysitting... but who would have thought some knucklehead would actually try it!

This was posted on CNN.com todaya at 10:50am

JACKSONVILLE, Florida (AP) -- A woman accused of duct-taping her two children
together and leaving them home alone has been charged with child abuse, the
sheriff's office said.

Agla Nadia Vincent, 25, was arrested Monday following a seven-month investigation into whether she left her two boys, then aged 2 and 3, taped to each other while she went to work, said Lt. Annie Smith of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

Vincent was a four-year naval officer at the time and worked at the Jacksonville Naval Air Station. She completed her service and was discharged in August, naval base spokesman Rick Cruz said.In March, a witness heard the children crying and called the police. When military police arrived, they found the children taped in a bedroom with feces and cereal
scattered on play mats on the floor, investigators said.

The children were taken into custody by the Florida Department of Children & Families and
Vincent was free pending an investigation. An officer who arrested Vincent said she denied leaving the children home alone all day.

Vincent was being held Tuesday on a $5,000 bond, the Florida Times-Union reported for Wednesday's editions. It was not clear whether she had an attorney.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.