Well, another year has come to a close. This 2009 has been a tough year for us but it's also been filled with many blessings.
"I will seek elegance rather than luxury, refinement rather than fashion. I will seek to be worthy more than respectable, wealthy and not rich. I will study hard, think quietly, talk gently, and act frankly. I will listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with an open heart. I will bear all things cheerfully, do all things bravely await occasions and hurry never. In a word I will let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious grow up through the common."
~~William Ellery Channing
Happy New Year!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
December Cruise
Last February, two of my married kids found a great cruise deal online that they booked, which would take place in December. It would remain inexpensive because we could all drive to San Diego together. So I went ahead and booked it too. Unfortunately, since that time many things have changed, and it turned out that Ed and I were the only ones who were able to go.
We got to see Grampa Hanson on the way there and even attended a ward in Beaumont that is the home ward for the son of a neighbor here in Utah. Boy is the world small.
The cruise was to Catalina Island and to Ensenada, Mexico. We'd been to Ensenada last January and didn't want to go again, so we stayed aboard on that day. It was a nice break, but Holland America (our January cruise) really spoiled us for Carnival. It was okay, but really paled by comparison. I doubt we'll ever do a Carnival cruise again.
The ship was decorated for Christmas and was very festive.
Catalina is fairly large, but the development is limited to one mile. It's filled with all kinds of cute little shops. It was VERY clean! Avalon Harbor is a fun name because it always makes me think of King Arthur.
Ed made friends with some birds.
We went on a glass bottom boat tour and watched a bunch of fish. Makes me want to see that Doris Day movie "The Glass Bottom Boat" again.
We got to see Grampa Hanson on the way there and even attended a ward in Beaumont that is the home ward for the son of a neighbor here in Utah. Boy is the world small.
The cruise was to Catalina Island and to Ensenada, Mexico. We'd been to Ensenada last January and didn't want to go again, so we stayed aboard on that day. It was a nice break, but Holland America (our January cruise) really spoiled us for Carnival. It was okay, but really paled by comparison. I doubt we'll ever do a Carnival cruise again.
The ship was decorated for Christmas and was very festive.
Catalina is fairly large, but the development is limited to one mile. It's filled with all kinds of cute little shops. It was VERY clean! Avalon Harbor is a fun name because it always makes me think of King Arthur.
Ed made friends with some birds.
We went on a glass bottom boat tour and watched a bunch of fish. Makes me want to see that Doris Day movie "The Glass Bottom Boat" again.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
A Christmas Story
My daughter Erin shared this with me, and I loved it so much I had to share it too.
A Simple White Envelope
“For the Man Who Hated Christmas”
by Nancy W. Gavin
It's just a small white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past 10 years or so.
It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas --oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it -- the overspending, the frantic running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and the dusting powder for Grandma -- the gifts given in desperation because you couldn't think of anything else.
Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts, sweaters, ties, and so forth. I reached for something special just for Mike. The inspiration came in an unusual way. Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior level at the school he attended.
Shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church. These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together, presented a sharp contrast to our boys in their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes. As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed to protect a wrestler's ears.. It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not afford.
Well, we ended up walloping them. We took every weight class. And as each of their boys got up from the mat, he swaggered around in his tatters with false bravado, a kind of street pride that couldn't acknowledge defeat.
Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, 'I wish just one of them could have won,' he said. 'They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them.' Mike loved kids -- all kids -- and he knew them, having coached little league football, baseball, and lacrosse.
That's when the idea for his present came. That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church.
On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year and in succeeding years. For each Christmas, I followed the tradition --one year sending a group of mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game, another year a check to a pair of elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week before Christmas, and on and on. The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning, and our children, ignoring their new toys, would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents.
As the children grew, the toys gave way to more practical presents, but the envelope never lost its allure. The story doesn't end there. You see, we lost Mike last year due to cancer. When Christmas rolled around, I was still so wrapped in grief that I barely got the tree up. But Christmas Eve found me placing an envelope on the tree, and in the morning it was joined by three more. Each of our children, unbeknownst to the others, had placed an envelope on the tree for their dad. The tradition has grown and someday will expand even further with our grandchildren standing around the tree with wide-eyed anticipation watching as their fathers take down the envelope.
Mike's spirit, like the Christmas spirit, will always be with us.
A Simple White Envelope
“For the Man Who Hated Christmas”
by Nancy W. Gavin
It's just a small white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past 10 years or so.
It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas --oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it -- the overspending, the frantic running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and the dusting powder for Grandma -- the gifts given in desperation because you couldn't think of anything else.
Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts, sweaters, ties, and so forth. I reached for something special just for Mike. The inspiration came in an unusual way. Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior level at the school he attended.
Shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church. These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together, presented a sharp contrast to our boys in their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes. As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed to protect a wrestler's ears.. It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not afford.
Well, we ended up walloping them. We took every weight class. And as each of their boys got up from the mat, he swaggered around in his tatters with false bravado, a kind of street pride that couldn't acknowledge defeat.
Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, 'I wish just one of them could have won,' he said. 'They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them.' Mike loved kids -- all kids -- and he knew them, having coached little league football, baseball, and lacrosse.
That's when the idea for his present came. That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church.
On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year and in succeeding years. For each Christmas, I followed the tradition --one year sending a group of mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game, another year a check to a pair of elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week before Christmas, and on and on. The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning, and our children, ignoring their new toys, would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents.
As the children grew, the toys gave way to more practical presents, but the envelope never lost its allure. The story doesn't end there. You see, we lost Mike last year due to cancer. When Christmas rolled around, I was still so wrapped in grief that I barely got the tree up. But Christmas Eve found me placing an envelope on the tree, and in the morning it was joined by three more. Each of our children, unbeknownst to the others, had placed an envelope on the tree for their dad. The tradition has grown and someday will expand even further with our grandchildren standing around the tree with wide-eyed anticipation watching as their fathers take down the envelope.
Mike's spirit, like the Christmas spirit, will always be with us.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Random Thoughts
When I talked with Erin this morning they were getting ready to head to the beach. I'm looking out my gloomy windows, wishing we'd get some kind of moisture. It's been really dry lately, and the air is funky, the fun fall colors have now all dropped from the trees. I decorated the house yesterday, and I'm trying to finish up on the tree. I don't do nearly as much as I used to now that the kids are all grown.
We got through Thanksgiving with everyone healthy. It was odd only having seven of us to dinner though. Poor Robert had been assigned to bring soda, and he bought tons of it. He forgot our numbers would be down by more than half. It was very quiet with no grand kids around. It's a good thing I only baked an 11-lb turkey (we usually have 22-pound bird). We were able to talk with Erin on the phone, while everyone was here. She had company coming over. I'm so glad they've found good friends there already. Because of the time difference, we were only able to type a line to Dave and Shannon. They are planning to go to the Hong Kong Disneyland for their Christmas trip. What fun!
Here's Paul and Kelsey (and Adam from the side)
Robert and Michelle
Ed and Kelsey cleaning up after
Like my social commentary on the cupboard? *laughs evilly*
Last night Ed and I went to the Borders in Provo to see Brandon Sanderson who was doing a book signing. He's going to be here in Orem on the 5th, but Ed and I will be driving to California that day, so it was last night or not--and I really wanted to ask some questions about the Wheel of Time series.
I am usually not into the whole get your picture taken with an author/actor/singer/well-known personality thing, so this was a first. I figure once in over half a century isn't too bad. And he's one of my favorite authors now.
As we discussed one of my questions, he handed me a card:
Just have to wait for 2010 for the Towers of Midnight to come out. *sigh*
We got through Thanksgiving with everyone healthy. It was odd only having seven of us to dinner though. Poor Robert had been assigned to bring soda, and he bought tons of it. He forgot our numbers would be down by more than half. It was very quiet with no grand kids around. It's a good thing I only baked an 11-lb turkey (we usually have 22-pound bird). We were able to talk with Erin on the phone, while everyone was here. She had company coming over. I'm so glad they've found good friends there already. Because of the time difference, we were only able to type a line to Dave and Shannon. They are planning to go to the Hong Kong Disneyland for their Christmas trip. What fun!
Here's Paul and Kelsey (and Adam from the side)
Robert and Michelle
Ed and Kelsey cleaning up after
Like my social commentary on the cupboard? *laughs evilly*
Last night Ed and I went to the Borders in Provo to see Brandon Sanderson who was doing a book signing. He's going to be here in Orem on the 5th, but Ed and I will be driving to California that day, so it was last night or not--and I really wanted to ask some questions about the Wheel of Time series.
I am usually not into the whole get your picture taken with an author/actor/singer/well-known personality thing, so this was a first. I figure once in over half a century isn't too bad. And he's one of my favorite authors now.
As we discussed one of my questions, he handed me a card:
Just have to wait for 2010 for the Towers of Midnight to come out. *sigh*
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Another Update from China
Dave sent the following via Skype:
Its been really cold here lately too. Everyone keeps saying that this is weather that we normally see in January. So hopefully it won't stay this cold too long. We stay pretty bundled up, but the classrooms are cold and not heated at all. They leave the windows open too. Students wear like three pairs of clothes and jackets in class.....kinda crazy.
But its funny. Our kids don't wear as much clothes as the rest of the students so their teachers are freaking out. They can't understand it. We try to explain that we are from Utah and they are used to colder weather than this but they still don't get it. A few kids wear the gloves but most don't. I usually have a sweatshirt on in class, so its not too cold, but way different than schools in america, and the whole leave the windows open thing is definitely different. They want to keep fresh air in the classrooms so the students don't get sick.
We celebrated Thanksgiving last week. There is a restaurant here that is owned by a chinese lady from Hawaii. She makes really good western food, and she wanted to do something big for the teachers. Alot of teachers are also from Canada and their thanksgiving is a few weeks before ours so she split the difference and did a big thanksgiving buffet. It was a lot of fun. And our friends said it was the best thanksgiving dinner they've had in the six years they have been here.
We had turkey and ham and mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie. I had never had sweet potato pie before but I had heard of it. It was really good. Much better than I would have thought. So after thanksgiving, we decorated for Christmas. The kids were way excited. Before we came out our friend bought a bunch of stuff from some other teachers who were leaving this year, and managed to get a christmas tree and ornaments and that kind of stuff. So we have a little four foot tree in our living room with lights and our stockings hung on the wall. We are definitely going to do Hong Kong Disney as part of christmas. Its not as big as other disneylands, and is mostly kid based so it works out perfectly. Shannon has a friend in Hong Kong who will let us stay at his place for a few nights and so we are going to go in two weeks. We only get Christmas day off from school for the holiday. We normally get two but one day falls on the weekend so they said that counts....funny. So it works out better to go early when we have a three day weekend.
The kids are getting really big. They have grown up a lot since we got here. Tyson is picking up more and more chinese. What we mistook for random gibberish from him one day was actually some chinese words. Alot of times he will just make stuff up so you never know what to believe, but the other day we were in a store and he was spouting off some stuff, and a chinese lady who spoke english was very impressed with him. He was saying "You are my little friend".
Savy's teachers were so excited the other day because they finally got her to eat something. For some party or whatever the kids got a big piece of cake and they were so excited to see she had eaten 3/4 of a piece. Savy told us later that she ate all the frosting off and hid the rest of the cake behind some books! Shannon and I laughed and laughed at that one. What kind of kid doesn't even eat cake?
So those are the highlights for the last couple of weeks.
Its been really cold here lately too. Everyone keeps saying that this is weather that we normally see in January. So hopefully it won't stay this cold too long. We stay pretty bundled up, but the classrooms are cold and not heated at all. They leave the windows open too. Students wear like three pairs of clothes and jackets in class.....kinda crazy.
But its funny. Our kids don't wear as much clothes as the rest of the students so their teachers are freaking out. They can't understand it. We try to explain that we are from Utah and they are used to colder weather than this but they still don't get it. A few kids wear the gloves but most don't. I usually have a sweatshirt on in class, so its not too cold, but way different than schools in america, and the whole leave the windows open thing is definitely different. They want to keep fresh air in the classrooms so the students don't get sick.
We celebrated Thanksgiving last week. There is a restaurant here that is owned by a chinese lady from Hawaii. She makes really good western food, and she wanted to do something big for the teachers. Alot of teachers are also from Canada and their thanksgiving is a few weeks before ours so she split the difference and did a big thanksgiving buffet. It was a lot of fun. And our friends said it was the best thanksgiving dinner they've had in the six years they have been here.
We had turkey and ham and mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie. I had never had sweet potato pie before but I had heard of it. It was really good. Much better than I would have thought. So after thanksgiving, we decorated for Christmas. The kids were way excited. Before we came out our friend bought a bunch of stuff from some other teachers who were leaving this year, and managed to get a christmas tree and ornaments and that kind of stuff. So we have a little four foot tree in our living room with lights and our stockings hung on the wall. We are definitely going to do Hong Kong Disney as part of christmas. Its not as big as other disneylands, and is mostly kid based so it works out perfectly. Shannon has a friend in Hong Kong who will let us stay at his place for a few nights and so we are going to go in two weeks. We only get Christmas day off from school for the holiday. We normally get two but one day falls on the weekend so they said that counts....funny. So it works out better to go early when we have a three day weekend.
The kids are getting really big. They have grown up a lot since we got here. Tyson is picking up more and more chinese. What we mistook for random gibberish from him one day was actually some chinese words. Alot of times he will just make stuff up so you never know what to believe, but the other day we were in a store and he was spouting off some stuff, and a chinese lady who spoke english was very impressed with him. He was saying "You are my little friend".
Savy's teachers were so excited the other day because they finally got her to eat something. For some party or whatever the kids got a big piece of cake and they were so excited to see she had eaten 3/4 of a piece. Savy told us later that she ate all the frosting off and hid the rest of the cake behind some books! Shannon and I laughed and laughed at that one. What kind of kid doesn't even eat cake?
So those are the highlights for the last couple of weeks.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Pics from China
Dave sent a couple of pictures from a visit to the zoo there in Guangzhou. Looks like their zoo is a little more "hands on" than we'd see in the States.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Election Day
Well, it's the general municipal election today. I was at the office at 6 a.m. (of course I woke up at 3:30 a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep). If things go well we should be done about 11 p.m.
Yay for democracy! We had an 8.1% voter turnout for the primary, and we usually double that for the the general. Pathetic.
Yay for democracy! We had an 8.1% voter turnout for the primary, and we usually double that for the the general. Pathetic.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Erin's Gone
*sob*
Yesterday we saw Erin and her kids off to join hubby Spencer in Hawaii. It's been a crazy week trying to get the last of her belonging sorted, packed, and house cleaned, but it's done now. Her renters were bringing stuff over as we were pulling the last of her stuff out. Ed's driving the truck (with Sienna for company). They stayed last night in a hotel outside of Las Vegas. They'll drive on to Grampa Hanson's house in Beaumont and spend a few hours with him and sleep. Monday she'll take her stuff to the shipping company and turn her car in on Tuesday (I think?). Ed flies back Monday night. She's close to the airport but they don't fly out until Wednesday. Spencer, as a life flight nurse, is on call one week and off a week. His week off starts on Wednesday. He's found a duplex for them, but they'll have to wait a couple of weeks for their stuff to catch up with them. At least they will be together again.
We started the day out having breakfast at Kneaders (yum!)
Erin says goodbye to Robert
Last picture outside her house
Yesterday we saw Erin and her kids off to join hubby Spencer in Hawaii. It's been a crazy week trying to get the last of her belonging sorted, packed, and house cleaned, but it's done now. Her renters were bringing stuff over as we were pulling the last of her stuff out. Ed's driving the truck (with Sienna for company). They stayed last night in a hotel outside of Las Vegas. They'll drive on to Grampa Hanson's house in Beaumont and spend a few hours with him and sleep. Monday she'll take her stuff to the shipping company and turn her car in on Tuesday (I think?). Ed flies back Monday night. She's close to the airport but they don't fly out until Wednesday. Spencer, as a life flight nurse, is on call one week and off a week. His week off starts on Wednesday. He's found a duplex for them, but they'll have to wait a couple of weeks for their stuff to catch up with them. At least they will be together again.
We started the day out having breakfast at Kneaders (yum!)
Erin says goodbye to Robert
Last picture outside her house
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Prayer for Your Man
Too funny not to share!
Dear Lord,
I pray for Wisdom to understand my man,
Love to forgive him,
and Patience for his moods.
Because, Lord,
if I pray for Strength,
I'll beat him to death.
Amen
Dear Lord,
I pray for Wisdom to understand my man,
Love to forgive him,
and Patience for his moods.
Because, Lord,
if I pray for Strength,
I'll beat him to death.
Amen
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Erin's Moving
Spencer has been in Hawaii for a few weeks now. He's making friends and really enjoying his work. But it's killing him and Erin that they haven't been able to be together as a family. The real estate market is really slow right now, so they haven't been able to sell their house. So they've reached the decision to rent it. Looks like they may have someone lined up. She and the kids will be leaving on October 24th. Ed's going to drive a UHaul truck to L.A. (it will save a lot of money on the shipping of their belonging is she can get it there herself). Ed will fly back on Monday.
Wow. It's really happening. *sob*
Wow. It's really happening. *sob*
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Trips to Gardner Village
Since we managed to sneak in one more October visit to Gardner Village before Erin's family joins Spencer in Hawaii, I've added snap shots to the longer video and added to the following that I had previously posted in September (now deleted).
In 2006, my daughter Erin and I started making trips to a local shopping area in West Jordan called Gardner Village. It was once a grist mill in the early days of the community, and the original silo is still there, including the water wheel. The atmosphere there is wonderful. They've relocated some small old homes, which have shops in them. There's a nice restaurant called Archibalds. There used to be a bookstore there called The Storybook Nook, and that's where we decided to go for the release party for the last Harry Potter book. It was perfect for the experience with the quaint atmosphere.
Gardner Villages puts up some minor Easter decorations, but they really go all out decorating for Halloween (lots of witches) and Christmas (Elves). It's always been too cold to take the grandkids, when we wanted to go around Christmas, but the fall visit has become a tradition.
One of the things I enjoy the most of watching this particular show it how much the kids have grown over the last three years. You can see it especially in Mad, who make her first showing as a newborn and sits eyeing the candy in the most recent visit.
In 2006, my daughter Erin and I started making trips to a local shopping area in West Jordan called Gardner Village. It was once a grist mill in the early days of the community, and the original silo is still there, including the water wheel. The atmosphere there is wonderful. They've relocated some small old homes, which have shops in them. There's a nice restaurant called Archibalds. There used to be a bookstore there called The Storybook Nook, and that's where we decided to go for the release party for the last Harry Potter book. It was perfect for the experience with the quaint atmosphere.
Gardner Villages puts up some minor Easter decorations, but they really go all out decorating for Halloween (lots of witches) and Christmas (Elves). It's always been too cold to take the grandkids, when we wanted to go around Christmas, but the fall visit has become a tradition.
One of the things I enjoy the most of watching this particular show it how much the kids have grown over the last three years. You can see it especially in Mad, who make her first showing as a newborn and sits eyeing the candy in the most recent visit.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Madelyn's Animal Sounds
Madelyn, who turned 2 earlier last month has started talking now, and she's learning her animal sounds.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Video of Dave's 3-Wheel Scooter
Dave sent this little video, so I thought I'd share it. You can tell that Tyson and Savy are loving it. =D
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Update from Dave's Family in China
Got this message via Skype from Dave today:
Things are going well. We finally have our first holiday break next week. We get 9 straight days off for the Mid-Autumn Festival. Our school gave us a bunch of moon cakes and giant melons. They kind of treat this holiday like we do Thanksgiving. Its a big family type holiday.Families gather from all around and get together and usually just hang out and eat Moon Cake and sit under the moon. Kind of interesting. We weren't sure what we were going to do during the break.
I think we will give the tree house trip another go some other time, as our friends decided they can't go. We are probably going to go to Hong Kong for a few days during the break. It should be fun. One of Shannon's good friends from Seattle has a younger brother there and he can show us around a bit. An interesting bit of information, if we go for a temple trip, the Church has small apartments that they rent for super cheap, so we will probly make it a temple trip as well so we can stay in a cheap place .
We just bought a 3 person scooter yesterday. It is great to get around our garden area in. So much faster and easier than walking and waiting for buses with the kids. We can only drive it legally within the confines of garden area and some small streets right around it, unless we want to get our Chinese Driver's license, which would cost us about 750 US dollars to get. No thank you! This is just fine. The kids absolutely love it.
We'll send some pics soon. We've been hoping to do some blogging, but seems like either the internet is down, we can't bypass the blocks for the internet, or we friends we are hanging out with. We've got some great pics and some great video of some stuff. But just thought I would drop a line and let you know how we are doing.
Things are going well. We finally have our first holiday break next week. We get 9 straight days off for the Mid-Autumn Festival. Our school gave us a bunch of moon cakes and giant melons. They kind of treat this holiday like we do Thanksgiving. Its a big family type holiday.Families gather from all around and get together and usually just hang out and eat Moon Cake and sit under the moon. Kind of interesting. We weren't sure what we were going to do during the break.
I think we will give the tree house trip another go some other time, as our friends decided they can't go. We are probably going to go to Hong Kong for a few days during the break. It should be fun. One of Shannon's good friends from Seattle has a younger brother there and he can show us around a bit. An interesting bit of information, if we go for a temple trip, the Church has small apartments that they rent for super cheap, so we will probly make it a temple trip as well so we can stay in a cheap place .
We just bought a 3 person scooter yesterday. It is great to get around our garden area in. So much faster and easier than walking and waiting for buses with the kids. We can only drive it legally within the confines of garden area and some small streets right around it, unless we want to get our Chinese Driver's license, which would cost us about 750 US dollars to get. No thank you! This is just fine. The kids absolutely love it.
We'll send some pics soon. We've been hoping to do some blogging, but seems like either the internet is down, we can't bypass the blocks for the internet, or we friends we are hanging out with. We've got some great pics and some great video of some stuff. But just thought I would drop a line and let you know how we are doing.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Fall Colors at Sundance
Saturday was my birthday, and I chose to go to Sundance up Provo Canyon to see the fall colors. I LOVE to do this every year, riding the ski lift. It takes about 45 minutes all told, and I love the smells of the trees and the glorious views.
Here's Ed after we bought out tickets and are heading up to the lift.
It was a little scary for me the first time I went up, but not anymore.
This is the back of Mt. Timpanogos, where there's a glacier that I think stays icy all year round.
The yellows weren't out yet, but the reds and oranges were awesome.
Rough life, huh?
Here's Ed after we bought out tickets and are heading up to the lift.
It was a little scary for me the first time I went up, but not anymore.
This is the back of Mt. Timpanogos, where there's a glacier that I think stays icy all year round.
The yellows weren't out yet, but the reds and oranges were awesome.
Rough life, huh?
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Madelyn's 2nd Birthday
Friday was Madelyn's second birthday, so Erin and I took her and Aidan to the new Pirate Island restaurant/play place.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
A Chat with Dave
I had a chance to talk with Dave on Skype today and thought I'd share:
School has been good. We both have a few crazy classes but most of the students are good, and they are so cute. I teach 10 different classes, usually about 2 times a week, and Shan teaches 4 classes but sees them more often during the week.
Tyson loves school. He is so cute. The kids wear uniforms and he got his two days ago. He was so excited when he brought it home he had to wear for pajamas to bed. Then when we dropped him off at class he was totally strutting around and showing off. I even heard a few "oh yeahs' from him. ...
When I have breaks in my classes I usually go peak on him. He has a girl in his class who is totally taken by him, and when they go on walks for class, she is always trying to hold his hand....its so cute....he usually will break it off and take off somewhere else.....not into the whole girlfriend thing, and if we ask him if he has a girlfirend he gets quite mad.
All the other students speak Chinese, but the teacher addresses the class in English....so he is getting both. The teachers have said that other students who did not speak mandarin picked it up really quickly just from the interaction with the other students....and he is trying to learn it. We have ice age 2 but found it was only in Chinese, and he asked to watch it yesterday. We told him it was only in Chinese, and he said, "Well, I want to learn my Chinese..."
We are bringing a swimsuit for him to class today....there is a cute little wading pool for the kids that they go to sometimes....I happened upon it yesterday and saw that Tyson was out swimming with his class in the nude. Yeah I saw his bare cheeks from a long way off.....He wasn't alone though, about 6 or 7 other students didn't have their suits on either....the rest of them were in their undies....this is totally typical Chinese though. I told his teacher, yeah, we just don't do that in America! We'll be bringing him a swimsuit from now on...
Little Savy though has some rough moments. She hates when we drop her off, and kicks and screams, and tells us, "I don't want to go to school." Its heartbreaking, but we don't know what else to do. She calms down after a few minutes and is fine the rest of the time, its just the dropping her off that is hard. She has a teacher who speaks english in class ,but most of the class is taught in Chinese. So she will probably pick it up the fastest....
We get a huge 2 and a half to 3 hour lunch, and we have been picking the kids up from their class and taking them home for lunch. Its been nice. Our Aiee, makes us food while she is here cleaning and doing laundry, and we always have lunch ready for us when we arrive. At lunch we have also been working with Tyson ourselves on his reading. He always acts like he can't do it, but when he actually applies himself, he does quite well...
So we are getting along just fine. We will both be excited when the cooler weather gets here. The heat just zaps us. The classrooms are kept cooled but you have to leave the classrooms and its hot. Some of my classes are on the 4th or 5th floor and its all stairs.
School has been good. We both have a few crazy classes but most of the students are good, and they are so cute. I teach 10 different classes, usually about 2 times a week, and Shan teaches 4 classes but sees them more often during the week.
Tyson loves school. He is so cute. The kids wear uniforms and he got his two days ago. He was so excited when he brought it home he had to wear for pajamas to bed. Then when we dropped him off at class he was totally strutting around and showing off. I even heard a few "oh yeahs' from him. ...
When I have breaks in my classes I usually go peak on him. He has a girl in his class who is totally taken by him, and when they go on walks for class, she is always trying to hold his hand....its so cute....he usually will break it off and take off somewhere else.....not into the whole girlfriend thing, and if we ask him if he has a girlfirend he gets quite mad.
All the other students speak Chinese, but the teacher addresses the class in English....so he is getting both. The teachers have said that other students who did not speak mandarin picked it up really quickly just from the interaction with the other students....and he is trying to learn it. We have ice age 2 but found it was only in Chinese, and he asked to watch it yesterday. We told him it was only in Chinese, and he said, "Well, I want to learn my Chinese..."
We are bringing a swimsuit for him to class today....there is a cute little wading pool for the kids that they go to sometimes....I happened upon it yesterday and saw that Tyson was out swimming with his class in the nude. Yeah I saw his bare cheeks from a long way off.....He wasn't alone though, about 6 or 7 other students didn't have their suits on either....the rest of them were in their undies....this is totally typical Chinese though. I told his teacher, yeah, we just don't do that in America! We'll be bringing him a swimsuit from now on...
Little Savy though has some rough moments. She hates when we drop her off, and kicks and screams, and tells us, "I don't want to go to school." Its heartbreaking, but we don't know what else to do. She calms down after a few minutes and is fine the rest of the time, its just the dropping her off that is hard. She has a teacher who speaks english in class ,but most of the class is taught in Chinese. So she will probably pick it up the fastest....
We get a huge 2 and a half to 3 hour lunch, and we have been picking the kids up from their class and taking them home for lunch. Its been nice. Our Aiee, makes us food while she is here cleaning and doing laundry, and we always have lunch ready for us when we arrive. At lunch we have also been working with Tyson ourselves on his reading. He always acts like he can't do it, but when he actually applies himself, he does quite well...
So we are getting along just fine. We will both be excited when the cooler weather gets here. The heat just zaps us. The classrooms are kept cooled but you have to leave the classrooms and its hot. Some of my classes are on the 4th or 5th floor and its all stairs.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Zen Sarcasm (author unknown)
It's been one of those days, so I just had to share:
The Zen of Sarcasm (author unknown)
1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me either. Just pretty much leave me alone.
2. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and leaky tire.
3. It's always darkest before dawn. So if you're going to steal your neighbor's newspaper, that's the time to do it.
4. Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted.
5. Always remember that you're unique. Just like everyone else.
6. Never test the depth of the water with both feet.
7. If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments.
8. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
9. If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is probably not for you.
10. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day .
11. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably a wise investment.
12. If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.
13. Some days you're the bug; some days you're the windshield.
14. Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.
15. The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket.
16. A closed mouth gathers no foot.
17. Duct tape is like 'The Force'. It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together.
18. There are two theories to arguing with women. Neither one works.
19. Generally speaking, you aren't learning much when your lips are moving.
20. Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
21. Never miss a good chance to shut up.
22. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.
The Zen of Sarcasm (author unknown)
1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me either. Just pretty much leave me alone.
2. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and leaky tire.
3. It's always darkest before dawn. So if you're going to steal your neighbor's newspaper, that's the time to do it.
4. Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted.
5. Always remember that you're unique. Just like everyone else.
6. Never test the depth of the water with both feet.
7. If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments.
8. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
9. If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is probably not for you.
10. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day .
11. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably a wise investment.
12. If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.
13. Some days you're the bug; some days you're the windshield.
14. Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.
15. The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket.
16. A closed mouth gathers no foot.
17. Duct tape is like 'The Force'. It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together.
18. There are two theories to arguing with women. Neither one works.
19. Generally speaking, you aren't learning much when your lips are moving.
20. Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
21. Never miss a good chance to shut up.
22. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Honor
My dad sent an email I've read before, but a couple of lines at the end of the story really struck me today. My dad was career Navy, and I started school in Korea. My sister was Navy and married a career Navy man, and my brother attended the Naval Academy. I spent two years in the U.S. Army and served overseas. Both of my husbands have served in the military (one Army and one Air Force). I have a strong sense of support for what our service men and women and the sacrifices they and their families make for us.
America is not at war. The U.S. Military is at war. America is at the Mall. If you don't stand behind our troops, PLEASE feel free to stand in front of them!
Remember, Freedom isn't Free, thousands have paid the price so you can enjoy what you have today.
It's funny that the first three words of the last line are ones I used when I created my first vote poster for our municipal election. The complacency people feel about our government can be caused by apathy or confidence that the system will work even if they don't vote. But by not being informed voters people give those who do vote incredible power
/endrant
America is not at war. The U.S. Military is at war. America is at the Mall. If you don't stand behind our troops, PLEASE feel free to stand in front of them!
Remember, Freedom isn't Free, thousands have paid the price so you can enjoy what you have today.
It's funny that the first three words of the last line are ones I used when I created my first vote poster for our municipal election. The complacency people feel about our government can be caused by apathy or confidence that the system will work even if they don't vote. But by not being informed voters people give those who do vote incredible power
/endrant
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
More Detailed Update from David in China
Dave sent this detailed email today. Thought I'd share, since the Chinese don't let them have bogger.
Well, we are back online. We just got our internet connection hooked up today. Finally! Not that we really have had much time to use it this last week. We have been non-stop busy the whole time. The plane ride over was a huge fiasco. I am still not sure what really happened, but our flight into LA was late. We were supposed to have a good two hour window in LA before we had to fly out to Seoul, but the plane was late coming into Chicago by almost an hour. By the time we made it to the Korean Airlines desk in LAX we were told we were too late to board. This was the confusing part, and I am still not sure how they wouldn't let us on the plane. But Korean airlines said that we were too late to board their flight, so they had made arrangements to put us on China Southern Airlines which was leaving in like 15 minutes. Seriously! 15 minutes. We literally ran, through the airport as fast as we could with 9 pieces of carry on luggage and the kids racing behind us. Little Savy ran so hard and so long, and eventually pooped herself out. We had agents from both Korean airlines and China Southern helping us through Security and holding the plane so we could board. It was insane! I don't know how we managed to do it. The China Southern flight was a straight shot to Guangzhou and we totally bypassed Seoul altogether. It would just put us into Guangzhou 5 hours ahead of our original flight. The other thing was that our luggage was stuck on our original flight going to Seoul. I know, I know, one thing after another. The flight wasn't bad. It was long, but the night flight allowed us to sleep a good portion of it, and the kids did amazing. We arrived in Guangzhou, and had to hang out in the airport for about 5 hours for the Korean Air flight to come in to collect our luggage. It sounds bad, but we would have had to wait in the airport in Seoul anyway, so it wasn't too bad. We were just hoping and praying that our luggage really was on that flight. Luckily after watching the luggage go round round and round, our bags made it. There was one that was ripped but it didn't look like we lost anything. I am so glad that we duct taped the crap out of them. Otherwise they all would have ripped open.
Heather from our school picked us up at the airport at the arranged time and we had all of our luggage and we were off to our new apartment that our friend Melanie had found for us. She was waiting at our apartment when we arrived. China is incredibly humid, moreso than I remember Florida being. The drivers are pretty crazy. They don't drive very fast, but you can forget about signaling or even what the lanes are. It is very unnerving at first because cars will get so close to you. Thats the way it is here though, and we are already getting used to it. Because they don't go very fast the worst that will really happen is you get side swiped and rub paint with another car. Funny. I think even Paul and Adam, our crazy drivers, would seem pale in comparison. Over the last couple of years there has been a huge influx of drivers and new cars, and that is probably what has contributed the most to it. If you come for a visit, come prepared for the drive home from the airport. The kids don't mind a bit. They love not having to wear a seatbelt! Yeah, no seatbelts here, except in the newer more expensive cars.
China is very clean though. There are plenty of old buildings that look grungy and dirty but the streets and stores are clean. They take that very serious. Much different than Russia where it was always dirty. Flowers line the streets of the highways and the vegetation is lush and green. Its beautiful here. The skies seem to always hang with moisture and pollution though, so it seems there is always a kind of grey overcast feeling to the day. The people are very nice. We have been helped so many times already that we can't help, just by random people. Savy and Tyson, as expected, are the center of attention. People will just walk up and smile and say hi to them. Everyone tells Savy that she is Beautiful. They aren't sure what to make of all the attention. Tyson gets really shy and tries to hide behind us while Savy just acts crazy, reverting to baby gaga sounds shaking her head and basically acting like she has a severe form of tret syndrome. I am surprised no one has called her a 'gwai lo' yet, which means white devil. lol
We got to our apartment, and all of the things Melanie had asked them to do when she put down the deposit, hadn't been done at all so we arrived at an apartment which was filthy and filled with other people's crap. A bustted broken up couch, a bed in the living room, nothing was clean, the toilets wouldn't work. It was mess. Luckily, Heather put us up in the teacher dorms for a few days while we had the landlord and his agency work on getting things cleaned up and fixed so we could move in. The dorms weren't very far away, and they were clean, but very sparse with no kithcen. We could at least sleep and shower and use the toilets. I am glad that it worked out like that. The beds are extremely hard. I woke up the first morning and thought I had died and was lying on a stone slab. They don't use mattresses. It feels like either boards or just the box spring. Even Tyson, who can sleep anywhere, laid down on the bed and said, "I can't sleep here, its too hard." To put it short we have had to argue and argue with the agency to get things fixed or cleaned for our apartment. They did such a poor job cleaning that we had to come in and clean for a whole day. The landlord is very nice, but the agent girl he hired doesn't want to do anything, and she fights with us mostly. Well, not us really. We have been using Heather and Melanie to help us get things arranged and since they speak both Chinese and English we have used them to do the battling for us. After a week of arguing back and forth we are finally getting things done and fixed the way we want. We finally just bypassed the agent and call the landlord when we have a problem. This is not how it is supposed to be done, but he is very accomodating. He couldn't get the tv remote to work one day, and said he would be back in a few minutes and came back with a newer bigger tv. Nice! Now we don't have to go buy one. Thats great. We spent a day at Ikea and the grocery store getting things for the apartment. Lots of little storage, as they don't have closets here. We bought some cheap couches at Ikea because we didn't think we would like what the landlord exchanged the broken one for. I am going to paint the walls soon, and we are having drapes made. I will show you the before and afters. After a week we are pretty well settled in. We still need a desk and space for my art stuff but that can come a little later. The kids love it. Tyson and Savy have made good friends with Melanies Children and they love it when we hang out togethre, which this week, we have done most of the time.
We have an Auiee, (pronounced I.E) who comes in the morning and cleans and cooks for us. She is great. We still don't know what she is saying half of the time, and we are constantly calling Melanie to translate for us. Poor Melanie. She has been our constant guardian, watchdog, and translator since we got here. She even made me brownies for my birthday when we got here. She cooks really good food.
Our sunday branch is small, and it takes a long time to get there. I guess they shorted the meetings to 2 hours during the summer and next week we will be up to 3 hours again. The members of the branch are very nice. We have even met some Chinese members who live in our community. Shannon was trying her best to figure things out at the store the other day and she must have looked lost because a Chinese lady came up to her and asked her in English if she needed some help. They got to talking and Shannon mentioned that she was from Utah, and immediately she asked, "Oh are you mormon?" She is a member of the Chinese branch. Because she is a Chinese national she cannot attend our meetings but the nationals meet separately. She took down our information and then dropped by one day with contact information for members of the branch who live close to us. We only have 3 or 4 members in our huge area, but they are so great. Brother Lau came by and has helped us sort through setting up internet and phone and helping us find our way around. He invited us to his house for Sunday dinner and it was great. They live in our same complex and have 3 children. The meal was great and we had a fun family home evening with them as well. We played pictionary and they helped us with chinese words and we helped them with english ones. It was really a fun evening. The kids made friends too. Brother Lau is the first counselor the Chinese branch. He helped me get in contact with Brother Wan, who is an artist. I went with him yesterday into Guangzhou to look for art supplies. He took me all over. He got his master's degree from the Guangzhou academy of Fine Art and as we were so close to it, he took me around and showed me the school. It was very nice. If I decide to attend that school, he said he would help me to try and get in. It is a very competitive school though, so we'll have to see, plus I need to learn to speak Chinese.
Seriously, that is our biggest trial right now. Learning chinese. Brother Lau has been over several times to help us with Chinese lessons so we at least have the basics. We just need to practice practice practice. We are off to go exploring now. We found a huge park with basketball, tennis, and some huge swimming pools close by. We need to work on getting stuff ready for school next week as well. Kinda crazy. Tyson is starting school, and Savy will be going to preschool. We love you guys.
... and will keep you posted as to what is going on. So far, we are loving it.
David, Shannon, Tyson, and Savy
Well, we are back online. We just got our internet connection hooked up today. Finally! Not that we really have had much time to use it this last week. We have been non-stop busy the whole time. The plane ride over was a huge fiasco. I am still not sure what really happened, but our flight into LA was late. We were supposed to have a good two hour window in LA before we had to fly out to Seoul, but the plane was late coming into Chicago by almost an hour. By the time we made it to the Korean Airlines desk in LAX we were told we were too late to board. This was the confusing part, and I am still not sure how they wouldn't let us on the plane. But Korean airlines said that we were too late to board their flight, so they had made arrangements to put us on China Southern Airlines which was leaving in like 15 minutes. Seriously! 15 minutes. We literally ran, through the airport as fast as we could with 9 pieces of carry on luggage and the kids racing behind us. Little Savy ran so hard and so long, and eventually pooped herself out. We had agents from both Korean airlines and China Southern helping us through Security and holding the plane so we could board. It was insane! I don't know how we managed to do it. The China Southern flight was a straight shot to Guangzhou and we totally bypassed Seoul altogether. It would just put us into Guangzhou 5 hours ahead of our original flight. The other thing was that our luggage was stuck on our original flight going to Seoul. I know, I know, one thing after another. The flight wasn't bad. It was long, but the night flight allowed us to sleep a good portion of it, and the kids did amazing. We arrived in Guangzhou, and had to hang out in the airport for about 5 hours for the Korean Air flight to come in to collect our luggage. It sounds bad, but we would have had to wait in the airport in Seoul anyway, so it wasn't too bad. We were just hoping and praying that our luggage really was on that flight. Luckily after watching the luggage go round round and round, our bags made it. There was one that was ripped but it didn't look like we lost anything. I am so glad that we duct taped the crap out of them. Otherwise they all would have ripped open.
Heather from our school picked us up at the airport at the arranged time and we had all of our luggage and we were off to our new apartment that our friend Melanie had found for us. She was waiting at our apartment when we arrived. China is incredibly humid, moreso than I remember Florida being. The drivers are pretty crazy. They don't drive very fast, but you can forget about signaling or even what the lanes are. It is very unnerving at first because cars will get so close to you. Thats the way it is here though, and we are already getting used to it. Because they don't go very fast the worst that will really happen is you get side swiped and rub paint with another car. Funny. I think even Paul and Adam, our crazy drivers, would seem pale in comparison. Over the last couple of years there has been a huge influx of drivers and new cars, and that is probably what has contributed the most to it. If you come for a visit, come prepared for the drive home from the airport. The kids don't mind a bit. They love not having to wear a seatbelt! Yeah, no seatbelts here, except in the newer more expensive cars.
China is very clean though. There are plenty of old buildings that look grungy and dirty but the streets and stores are clean. They take that very serious. Much different than Russia where it was always dirty. Flowers line the streets of the highways and the vegetation is lush and green. Its beautiful here. The skies seem to always hang with moisture and pollution though, so it seems there is always a kind of grey overcast feeling to the day. The people are very nice. We have been helped so many times already that we can't help, just by random people. Savy and Tyson, as expected, are the center of attention. People will just walk up and smile and say hi to them. Everyone tells Savy that she is Beautiful. They aren't sure what to make of all the attention. Tyson gets really shy and tries to hide behind us while Savy just acts crazy, reverting to baby gaga sounds shaking her head and basically acting like she has a severe form of tret syndrome. I am surprised no one has called her a 'gwai lo' yet, which means white devil. lol
We got to our apartment, and all of the things Melanie had asked them to do when she put down the deposit, hadn't been done at all so we arrived at an apartment which was filthy and filled with other people's crap. A bustted broken up couch, a bed in the living room, nothing was clean, the toilets wouldn't work. It was mess. Luckily, Heather put us up in the teacher dorms for a few days while we had the landlord and his agency work on getting things cleaned up and fixed so we could move in. The dorms weren't very far away, and they were clean, but very sparse with no kithcen. We could at least sleep and shower and use the toilets. I am glad that it worked out like that. The beds are extremely hard. I woke up the first morning and thought I had died and was lying on a stone slab. They don't use mattresses. It feels like either boards or just the box spring. Even Tyson, who can sleep anywhere, laid down on the bed and said, "I can't sleep here, its too hard." To put it short we have had to argue and argue with the agency to get things fixed or cleaned for our apartment. They did such a poor job cleaning that we had to come in and clean for a whole day. The landlord is very nice, but the agent girl he hired doesn't want to do anything, and she fights with us mostly. Well, not us really. We have been using Heather and Melanie to help us get things arranged and since they speak both Chinese and English we have used them to do the battling for us. After a week of arguing back and forth we are finally getting things done and fixed the way we want. We finally just bypassed the agent and call the landlord when we have a problem. This is not how it is supposed to be done, but he is very accomodating. He couldn't get the tv remote to work one day, and said he would be back in a few minutes and came back with a newer bigger tv. Nice! Now we don't have to go buy one. Thats great. We spent a day at Ikea and the grocery store getting things for the apartment. Lots of little storage, as they don't have closets here. We bought some cheap couches at Ikea because we didn't think we would like what the landlord exchanged the broken one for. I am going to paint the walls soon, and we are having drapes made. I will show you the before and afters. After a week we are pretty well settled in. We still need a desk and space for my art stuff but that can come a little later. The kids love it. Tyson and Savy have made good friends with Melanies Children and they love it when we hang out togethre, which this week, we have done most of the time.
We have an Auiee, (pronounced I.E) who comes in the morning and cleans and cooks for us. She is great. We still don't know what she is saying half of the time, and we are constantly calling Melanie to translate for us. Poor Melanie. She has been our constant guardian, watchdog, and translator since we got here. She even made me brownies for my birthday when we got here. She cooks really good food.
Our sunday branch is small, and it takes a long time to get there. I guess they shorted the meetings to 2 hours during the summer and next week we will be up to 3 hours again. The members of the branch are very nice. We have even met some Chinese members who live in our community. Shannon was trying her best to figure things out at the store the other day and she must have looked lost because a Chinese lady came up to her and asked her in English if she needed some help. They got to talking and Shannon mentioned that she was from Utah, and immediately she asked, "Oh are you mormon?" She is a member of the Chinese branch. Because she is a Chinese national she cannot attend our meetings but the nationals meet separately. She took down our information and then dropped by one day with contact information for members of the branch who live close to us. We only have 3 or 4 members in our huge area, but they are so great. Brother Lau came by and has helped us sort through setting up internet and phone and helping us find our way around. He invited us to his house for Sunday dinner and it was great. They live in our same complex and have 3 children. The meal was great and we had a fun family home evening with them as well. We played pictionary and they helped us with chinese words and we helped them with english ones. It was really a fun evening. The kids made friends too. Brother Lau is the first counselor the Chinese branch. He helped me get in contact with Brother Wan, who is an artist. I went with him yesterday into Guangzhou to look for art supplies. He took me all over. He got his master's degree from the Guangzhou academy of Fine Art and as we were so close to it, he took me around and showed me the school. It was very nice. If I decide to attend that school, he said he would help me to try and get in. It is a very competitive school though, so we'll have to see, plus I need to learn to speak Chinese.
Seriously, that is our biggest trial right now. Learning chinese. Brother Lau has been over several times to help us with Chinese lessons so we at least have the basics. We just need to practice practice practice. We are off to go exploring now. We found a huge park with basketball, tennis, and some huge swimming pools close by. We need to work on getting stuff ready for school next week as well. Kinda crazy. Tyson is starting school, and Savy will be going to preschool. We love you guys.
... and will keep you posted as to what is going on. So far, we are loving it.
David, Shannon, Tyson, and Savy
Monday, August 24, 2009
Update on Dave's Family in China
Finally got an email from Shannon. Seems the kids did really well for that very long trip. Unfortunately their apartment was nowhere near ready for them to take over, and it took a lot of talking (obviously with others doing the translating, since they don't speak but a few words in Mandarin at this point). They were put temporarily in the school's housing which was clean and roomy. They expected to be into their apartment in a few days. Their friends who are already living there took them out to dinner at a real Chinese restaurant, and the whole dinner for the large group was only about $7. Not bad!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Texting and Driving
This is so true. I've got family members who insist on doing things while they are driving. It's so scary!!
Click here to view video.
Click here to view video.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Good Bye
Well, Dave and his family should be in the air right now on their way to China via LA and then Seoul, South Korea. It's going to be a very long flight with two small children. They've worked furiously over the last two months to get most of their belongings sold or (at the end) given away. They got the rest of their possessions in 9 bags and some carry-on luggage.
They spent last night with us and then went this morning to finish up a few things this afternoon. This is a picture at breakfast this morning.
Papa got to watch Savvy and Ty while Mom and Dad were busy:
Shannon was worried that the bags might not hold up and might also be too heavy, so we spent a bit of the afternoon wrapping the bags in duct tape and weighing them out front.
Farewells:
This one really got me. These two little boys, born two days apart, have been such great friends. It's sad that after over five years they'll be separated by so many miles.
Dave, Shannon, and Ed pushing the carts with their luggage.
Checking in at the airport. I've never been with anyone traveling with this much stuff before--but it's everything they own.
Ty and Savvy waiting for all the red tape to get done.
Ready to go through security:
Bye you guys. You'll be missed. *hugs*
*sob*
They spent last night with us and then went this morning to finish up a few things this afternoon. This is a picture at breakfast this morning.
Papa got to watch Savvy and Ty while Mom and Dad were busy:
Shannon was worried that the bags might not hold up and might also be too heavy, so we spent a bit of the afternoon wrapping the bags in duct tape and weighing them out front.
Farewells:
This one really got me. These two little boys, born two days apart, have been such great friends. It's sad that after over five years they'll be separated by so many miles.
Dave, Shannon, and Ed pushing the carts with their luggage.
Checking in at the airport. I've never been with anyone traveling with this much stuff before--but it's everything they own.
Ty and Savvy waiting for all the red tape to get done.
Ready to go through security:
Bye you guys. You'll be missed. *hugs*
*sob*
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Grandkids
It's hard to believe that this time next Sunday Dave and his little family will be flying to China. We had everyone over for a final family dinner. The grandkids had a lot of fun playing and eating. I try not to think about it too closely because I start getting misty.
Spencer is counting his last days in his old job and is looking forward to his new job in Hawaii. They had a garage sale Saturday and did really well. Erin's feverishly getting rid of stuff, because it's expensive to ship stuff over there. Who knows how much time we'll have with them . . . *sob*.
Here are some pictures from today.
Tyson and Aidan
Adam sneaking in for a picture with Savanna and Sienna.
Madelyn (aka "Lizzie")
And playing Rock Band:
Spencer is counting his last days in his old job and is looking forward to his new job in Hawaii. They had a garage sale Saturday and did really well. Erin's feverishly getting rid of stuff, because it's expensive to ship stuff over there. Who knows how much time we'll have with them . . . *sob*.
Here are some pictures from today.
Tyson and Aidan
Adam sneaking in for a picture with Savanna and Sienna.
Madelyn (aka "Lizzie")
And playing Rock Band:
Friday, August 7, 2009
Camping with the Cousins
Wow, this has become quite a walk down memory lane. When we lived in California we were only three hours from Ed's brother Richard and his family. Their three daughters were close to the Erin and Shanna's ages, and their two boys were close in age to our three boys. Poor Dave was just the oldest boy, but he got on well with the girls. We loved to go camping together. It's one of the saddest things we lost when it was necessary to move for Ed's health.
One of the things we loved to do was go rafting down the American River. The area in Sacramento isn't the part that has those incredible rapids. There's just one between the bridge in the south and Goethe Park--the San Juan. Every time we went down it, it was different, depending upon what the water levels were. The American River is wide and fairly shallow. We would drop Ed's motorcycle at Goethe Park and drive up to the bridge (cannot remember it's name now) where we'd haul the food and life vests and rafts to the water. It was a leisurely float down the river and would take about 3 hours. There was a sand barge in the middle of the river at one point that we would always stop at. The kids would run to the top of the barge and quickly float (in deep water) to the end. They'd grab the land, run back, and float again. When we got to Geothe Park at the end, we'd play on the beach while Ed took his motorcycle up to get the van, come pick us up, and we'd go back up to get the motorcycle. We always ended the day by stopping at A&W for a gallon of root beer.
(Click on the photos to see a larger version)
This is Me, David, Shanna, and Erin (from back then left to right) by one of the rafts.
This is the sand dune with David and Shanna on it.
This picture is Erin just as she's about to land on the sand dune after floating down.
When Ed's brother Richard and his family would come we were sometimes able to take them rafting with us.
This above picture includes our god daughter, Dessa (front). That's Carole in the back with Robert on the right.
Above is Richard on the left, his daughters Sharon and Christine (can't tell for sure), and Erin on the right. Erin complains that I always get goofy pictures of her, but she's the one who's always making goofy faces. ;)
This is a picture of my sister-in-law Carolynn and our babies at the time, Evan and Paul. That year the San Juan was really high and rough. It was always an adventure to go over it because of the drop, even if it was really a small rapid, relatively speaking. I remember as we went over it Carolynn's back was to it and my eyes got huge when I saw how big it was. We both screamed really well and the four of us were doused with water, but we kept the boys in the raft and didn't flip over. Phew.
This picture is from sand dune with Dessa, Christine, and Shanna sailing past us. Carolynn and I are on the dune and it looks like Robert is getting ready to get into the water again.
The kids were always very tired at the end of the day:
We were excited at first when we moved to Utah and thought we could raft down the Provo river. Our one and only rafting trip lasted 5 minutes. The river is too narrow and full of debris. A hidden stick poked a huge hole in the raft. *sigh*
The following pictures are from a trip we made to Yosemite with the cousins. Ed's sister, Sis, was able to join us for a few days. It was so much fun!
We also went camping at Calaveras Big Tree. Love that place! Ed and I actually went there on our honeymoon and stayed in a little rustic motel in the town of Arnold.
This dance floor is the base of a tree that was 1300 years old. Those Sequoia Redwoods are amazing.
One of the things we loved to do was go rafting down the American River. The area in Sacramento isn't the part that has those incredible rapids. There's just one between the bridge in the south and Goethe Park--the San Juan. Every time we went down it, it was different, depending upon what the water levels were. The American River is wide and fairly shallow. We would drop Ed's motorcycle at Goethe Park and drive up to the bridge (cannot remember it's name now) where we'd haul the food and life vests and rafts to the water. It was a leisurely float down the river and would take about 3 hours. There was a sand barge in the middle of the river at one point that we would always stop at. The kids would run to the top of the barge and quickly float (in deep water) to the end. They'd grab the land, run back, and float again. When we got to Geothe Park at the end, we'd play on the beach while Ed took his motorcycle up to get the van, come pick us up, and we'd go back up to get the motorcycle. We always ended the day by stopping at A&W for a gallon of root beer.
(Click on the photos to see a larger version)
This is Me, David, Shanna, and Erin (from back then left to right) by one of the rafts.
This is the sand dune with David and Shanna on it.
This picture is Erin just as she's about to land on the sand dune after floating down.
When Ed's brother Richard and his family would come we were sometimes able to take them rafting with us.
This above picture includes our god daughter, Dessa (front). That's Carole in the back with Robert on the right.
Above is Richard on the left, his daughters Sharon and Christine (can't tell for sure), and Erin on the right. Erin complains that I always get goofy pictures of her, but she's the one who's always making goofy faces. ;)
This is a picture of my sister-in-law Carolynn and our babies at the time, Evan and Paul. That year the San Juan was really high and rough. It was always an adventure to go over it because of the drop, even if it was really a small rapid, relatively speaking. I remember as we went over it Carolynn's back was to it and my eyes got huge when I saw how big it was. We both screamed really well and the four of us were doused with water, but we kept the boys in the raft and didn't flip over. Phew.
This picture is from sand dune with Dessa, Christine, and Shanna sailing past us. Carolynn and I are on the dune and it looks like Robert is getting ready to get into the water again.
The kids were always very tired at the end of the day:
We were excited at first when we moved to Utah and thought we could raft down the Provo river. Our one and only rafting trip lasted 5 minutes. The river is too narrow and full of debris. A hidden stick poked a huge hole in the raft. *sigh*
The following pictures are from a trip we made to Yosemite with the cousins. Ed's sister, Sis, was able to join us for a few days. It was so much fun!
We also went camping at Calaveras Big Tree. Love that place! Ed and I actually went there on our honeymoon and stayed in a little rustic motel in the town of Arnold.
This dance floor is the base of a tree that was 1300 years old. Those Sequoia Redwoods are amazing.
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