This is how we decorate

Brycen and I invited his friends Leah and Joey over to decorate sugar cookies before Christmas.  I had the cookies all cut out and baked so all we had to do was make them look pretty.  A nice soft sugar cookie with lots of frosting and sprinkles is my FAVORITE!   We have a big round table with a built in lazy susan in our dining room that acted as the perfect cookie decorating spot.   We had all sorts of yummy treats to decorate with....sprinkles, skittles, M&M's and gummy bears.  We blasted Mariah Carey, decorated, ate pizza and the kids played. It was such a fun time.  I can't wait to do it again next year....wherever we are:) 

Merry Christmas

We had such a good Christmas this year.  We started out by going to an English speaking church service.  We were going to enjoy a nice dinner out after church but the kids weren't behaving very well so we just came home and ordered McDonalds.  Santa and I had a great time putting out the presents and setting up the tent (ha ha...I never knew until that moment that Les had never been camping). 

I was sooo excited for the kids to see what Santa brought that I hardly slept that night.  The kids were sooo fun the next day.  I loved seeing the excitement in their eyes at all the fun stuff they got.   We met some friends for brunch at a nice hotel here and was surprised when "skinny Chinese" Santa showed up.  It was classic! 



Santa not enjoying my humor at his mad tent skills:)





Lovin' the white chocolate covered fruit.





Scared to death of Santa. 



Love affair

Nothing can come between a little girl and her food.  This girl loves to eat!  She is not quite a year, has only 2 teeth and eats anything and everything.  

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