Thursday, August 21, 2008

O, R, P, and F (keep reading to find out what they stand for)

O is for Olympics! Seems like they left as fast as they came. While they were here we had the privilege of attending some track and field events. The ticket prices we found ranged from free to $30 but some payed up to $1100! Josh also attended wrestling and boxing. It was fun to get text messages from friends saying, "Sorry I'm busy, I'm at a ____ (equestrian, diving, fencing) event."
(above) a sweet view of the buildings in the shape like a big dragon
(below) Hadassah's first Olympic experience!

in front of the Bird's Nest
(We went with our friends Jason, Angie & baby Jesh and Brian & Cheryl)

It was the FIRST blue sky day of the Olympics... 7 days after it began.

Why don't we use umbrellas in America to protect us from the sun, or do we?

the building with the pools
R is for random! Here are some random pics of the month. I had some adorable, professional pics taken of Lily and Caedmon both when they were 2 weeks old and wearing this little tag. Well, Hadassah is 3 weeks (or is it 4?) in this picture and it's not exactly professional (if you look real close you can see the lemons on the mattress under the sheet). Oh yeah, and that's my knee! Ha ha. But the point is clear, she is a precious gift from the Lord!

Hadassah just loves it when Cheryl rubs her belly.

Nothing like help from older sibblings!

Josh & I celebrating our 6 YEAR anniversary! We had a nice time walking through The Summer Palace and a charming brunch before hand... at McDonalds! (The only place open).


Maybe Chinese "fast food" isn't a good idea after all. We both ordered chicken curry and paid about 5 times we would pay in the cafeteria (around $5) (and the cafeteria food would have tasted better). But it was a spectacular view (of Josh) (and the lake!), and we had a really nice time.

Haddie, Dassah, Hadassah Bean, Punky Brewster...
only 2 months old and so many names!

Lils trying to fill mom's shoes

P is for PRESCHOOL! I need to go and register tomorrow (for Lily, not me, though I could use the language help!) (no small task, my friends said she waited in line for over 2 hours as the one secretary helped a long line of tired moms)

We're going to start sending Lil 3 mornings a week for about 3 hours each day to meet some friends and get a handle on the language. She's super excited.

F is for fun! Life has been a bit stressful, but there have been fun times in the midst.
Hadassah enjoying her rocking chair (that can hold up to 40lbs. so I guess it's Lily and Cade's too).


Cade doing a little reading before bed

so big! uh, and long!
(baby Haddie is in the 70th percentil for weight and 90th for height)

A neat park in the middle of the city our friends discovered
Check out the "Olympian bushes"!

I didn't think there would be anything living in this lake until Lily threw in part of her lunch. We saw at least 10 gold fish within seconds.

Stuck/ enjoying family time under a bridge for 40 minutes waiting for the rain to stop (which it didn't, it just kept coming down harder!)

On one side of the lake there's an outdoor swimming pood! Maybe next time since it rained on our parade.

summer watermelon

so cute!

coloring contest

all smiles

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Wo zuole yuezi!

Happy 1 Month Hadassah!
In China, a baby is supposed to stay inside the house until she is 100 days old (called "man yue"), and the mom, for 30 days (called "zuo yuezi," literally: "sit for a month"). My month is up! (Though I have to admit we were out on day 5 with a hospital visit, and I can't say I sat still since then :)

after bath time
1st trip to the doctor
Dr. Xu, an excellent pediatrician
This was the reason for the hospital visit: the familiar Billy Light. All 3 kids have had jaundice and this is part of the cure. Hadassah 'wore' this light for three days straight. Today at her one month check up she is still looking a bit jaundice (yellow), but it's clearing up
lots of visitors
(thanks to our sweet friends for all the yummy food and great gifts)!

Hadassah wearing her pretty dress from Hong Kong from Brian & Cheryl
We (Lily) tried (to feed Hadassah) a bottle last week, but I think she was a little over stimulated with Lily screaming in excitement and Caedmon trying to jump on her. We'll try again tomorrow.
I was trying to take a serious picture and Lils kept making these hillarious faces! What a goose!


"Uh oh! Caught! Maybe they won't notice!"
dressing up already
Josh went on a 6 day trip and his sister visited for 9 days to help out. We had a great time together, but it went too fast. The first night here was like Christmas in July! Sarah had barely any room in her two huge suitcases for her own things!
Thank you Mimi & Papa & family & friends for all the fun gifts!! What a treat!!
(a cute outfit from auntie Nat)
along with trend-setting sun glasses
here's baby again

beautiful outfits from dad when he returnedWe were happy to spend a whole day with our friends Abby & Hudson!


getting so big

4 days of VBS this week- with an OLYMPICS theme- the kids love it

We are borrowing our friends' car while they are in the States for 6 months.
Today was our first day to drive. We were pretty excited so we drove for about 3 hours and found a beautiful reservoir with huge mountains surrounding it. Too bad it was all marked off with tape because of the olympic triathalon coming up.

This was a different spot (2nd best) we ran around on for a while.

(I already have at least 20 pictures just like this only in different locations. What a little helper!)