Photography class

Les bought me a new DSLR camera for my birthday and so for the past 6 weeks I have been taking a photography class to help me learn this foreign object.  This is not like any point and shoot camera I am used to.  We learned about ISO, aperature, depth of field, shutter speed...I felt like I was back in school again.  But I loved it and I love my new camera.  Now I am not like some people who think that just because they get a new camera they are all of a sudden a professional photographer...but I have had fun taking some cool pictures. 

As part of our class we went on a photohunt around some of "old town" Shanghai.  It is very interesting with the narrow alleys, people in their daily lives, and just seeing how others live.  Here are some of my favorites from the hunt...

Brycen's commercial

Oh, I know everyone laughs at me and tells me I am going to be a stage mom, but it has been really fun getting the kids into some modeling.  Besides Les is thrilled that he is not the only one bringing home the bacon...ha ha.

This commercial was Brycen's first job and he did so awesome.  We were at the shoot for 8 hours, outside in the cold, doing take after take.  He was by far the youngest but had a blast.  He was such a good boy.  He became fast friends with the guy that was "in charge" of him and although neither of them spoke the other's language you could see them communicating and laughing with each other.  In the end he made about 800 RMB ($120), of which I gave him 200RMB ($25) to spend however he wants.  He wants to buy a sword and an elephant...don't ask:)



on the set of the "faux" soccer field.  Meant to look like it is in a neighborhood.




break time




action shot



Parents visit and Halloween

My parents just left after 3 weeks in China.  Their trip started out in Shanghai, with this being my dad's first time here and my mom's second.  The weather could not have been better.  We did a lot of sightseeing, eating yummy dinners and just hanging out with the kids. 



My dad doing story time to Brycen's class



can you say "twins"



 Halfway through my parents visit they left for Beijing and Xian.  I think they were even more exhaused on their tour than they were hanging out with 2 rugrats all day:)




 

Parents in Beijing



 We had a great Halloween.  Between the school carnival and all the different compounds we could have trick or treated for 5 days straight.  I decided it was probably better to limit it to his carnival at school and one night of trick or treating with friends.  We had a blast!



Spiderman





Ladybug



Carving pumpkins with Papa





tuckered out (both of 'em)

I think my parents had a great time...didn't get too bored and really enjoyed seeing our life in Shanghai.  Thanks again mom and dad for allowing Les and I to get away for a few days and as always thanks for all your help with the kiddos!





Parent Teacher Conference

Today we had parent teacher conferences and we are so proud of Brycen.  His teacher had nothing but good things to say.  She was very complimentary of how well behaved he is at circle time and with his friends.  He knows almost all the sounds of the alphabet and can write his name.  The only thing we/he has to work on is not being shy when called on.  We could not be happier with his teacher, Ms. Alisa and his school.  Probably the best decision we have made in Shanghai.

Hong Kong

Les and I were very lucky to be able to get away for a few days to Hong Kong.  I have to admit that I was very reluctant to go to Hong Kong as it didn't sound very "exotic" to me...and we had our choice of anywhere in Asia, but most of the places we wanted to go were in the middle of their rainy time and flooding...also not very "exotic".  So Hong Kong it was!

I am so glad we went.  I probably would have been happy anywhere...I mean just Les and I, no kids, beautiful weather and sleeping in, but I loved Hong Kong.  It reminded me of San Francisco and New York with a small amount of China thrown in.  We saw all the touristy things and took the metro or walked everywhere which is also a great way to see a city.  

A week earlier Les had given me a new Canon camera that I LOVE.  I am in the middle of taking a class that teaches me all about my new camera and so it was fun to do my homework assignment in a new city. 

Tian Tan Buddah



pigs feet anyone?



fishing village  (notice the guy getting his undies out of his butt)

night view of Hong Kong from The Peak

"Dawn King" and 9 month stats

Here is my adorable, as Les calls her, Dawn King.  Her hair is sooo crazy until I do something to it.  I love it and her boingy curls. 

This little girl is getting such a fun and funny personality.  She is into EVERYTHING and if we leave her alone she is climbing onto everything.  She LOVES to eat and will smack her lips until you give her food off your plate.  Saria and Brycen play really well together and I love when I can hear them playing together in his room.  She is already saying Mama, Baba (Dad in Chinese), Dada, Nigh Night and No No No.

9 month stats:
28" (over 75th percentile)
20.5 lbs (75th percentile)

Hiatus...over!

I think I can finally say that my blogging hiatus is over.  I have to admit that it got to the point where there was soooo much that I wanted to post and then got overwhelmed with it all:)  So this post should really be titled "the last 2 months in a nutshell".  I will make it short and sweet.  I did add lots of pictures so you could see that we are alive and all doing well.

Our summer started out with a wonderful visit from Les's mom, Linda, and his sister, Cissy.  This was a great feat as Linda hates to fly.  We had a great time, despite June being the rainy season in China.  We still managed to get out and see alot.

We had a very busy summer in the States visiting and seeing as much family and friends as we possibly could.  We spent 3 weeks in Utah and 3 weeks in Indiana with a few days in Toledo at the end.   We did sooo much and had so much fun.  It is amazing how fast 7 weeks can go. Thank you to eveyone for making our summer so special. 

I love this picture of us



Cissy lovin' on Brycen and Saria



Betsy and Saria swimming...something we did alot:)



Brycen rode his first big roller coaster.  I was so proud.

Hiking to the last patch of snow on Baldy in SV with Papa.

Brycen and Saria have both been busy since we have been back in China.  Brycen started school and LOVES it and his new teacher, Ms. Alisa. 

Saria got her first job as the model for a baby carrier.  She was such a good girl.  Les was very proud that he is no longer the only one making money in this family now.

Fist day of school.



Saria's fist modeling gig.



The next few pictures are just ones that I love from the past couple of weeks.  Brycen and Saria are at really fun ages right now...most of the time. They play together really well and have so much fun.

Front row seats to the fireworks

Pixar exhibit at the Shanghai MoCA.

Best friends...best view

my skinny swimmer

My honey with an awesome view of the Oriental Pearl Tower

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Here is a conversation between my sister and Brycen:

Betsy: If you could choose to live in the United States or China where would you want to live?

Brycen: China

Betsy: Why China?

Brycen: Because that is where my dadda is.

Betsy: Ok, if you could live anywhere and your dadda would be there where would you want to live?

Brycen: (thinks for a minute) Mexico

Too funny, as we have never been to Mexico nor do we talk much about Mexico on a daily basis. I love kids!!

Fuxing Park and Photo Walk

Last weekend my friend Lindsay and I went on a photo walk. She has just finished taking a photography course and knew of some cool places to go. She is like me in the fact that she likes to just walk around in old town Shanghai and explore the little alley ways where the locals live. It is so interesting to see how they live. Whenever I am out walking I try to get a glimpse into their houses to try and get somewhat of an understanding to the way they live. I had never been successful in getting a local to let me in their house until now! I was taking a picture of a little boy playing in the doorway of his house, and I suppose the grandparents were so thrilled that I thought their grandson was picture worthy that they invited us right in and encouraged us to continue taking pictures. It was very neat. Anyway below are some of the pictures that I took while on this walk.

These two pictures were taken at a temple. These are prayer cards. People write their prayers or words of hope on these cards and then hang them from the trees and this stand. Although most of them were written in Chinese, there were a few written in English.

Obviously this is a picture of a satellite dish, but what is funny is the plastic bottle that is acting as a component to this high tech system. I guarantee they get better tv than we do:)

Here is the picture of the little boy playing in his doorway. He was so cute, but quickly became shy when I started taking his picture.



Two weekends ago we went to Fuxing Park. The parks in Shanghai are great for people watching and also seeing the locals in action. I loved this park. I would say a majority of the people at this park were in their late 50's or older. The great thing is that everywhere you looked people were dancing or singing and having a great time.

Writing with water. We stopped and watched this for a while. Les was talking with someone who told him that they write different philosophical sayings and then sit and ponder the meanings.

Les taking Brycen fishing for the first time. This was a little pond filled with tons of goldfish. Les put the bait on the rod and then Brycen caught the fish and then they made me un-hook the fish...what, why do I get that job?

The "older generation" dancing. They really were having a great time.

Playing Catch Up

I am trying to play catch up with some of the things we have been doing lately.
Les was in Beijing for 2 days and was lucky enough to go to the Great Wall for a few hours. We hate that we didn't get to experience it for the first time together, but such is life. He said it is really cool. He was amazed at how steep it was in some spots but said the views were amazing.

They had this performer at Activity Day at Brycen's school. He was pretty cool. He danced and his mask somehow kept changing colors. He would wave his fan in front of his face and voila....a new color.

Activity day at B's school. Here is Brycen and his friend Kai playing in the water. These two thought it was really funny to throw the soaking wet sponges at me.

Brycen and Les went for a boys days out to the Shanghai X-Games. It was really hot this day, so they didn't last too long, but they had a great time watching all the cool stunts that can be done on a skateboard and rollerblades.