Ok, here is our Christmas letter that we sent this year, if you didn't get one, you should have sent me your address :) -- Just in case you don't know the answers, here they are: 1. C 2. B 3. D 4. A 5. E

Christmas Eve & Day

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve and Day at our house this year. My Grandma and Great Aunt Eleanor were able to join Marlene & Jon for the festivities. Mexican Food was the food of choice Christmas Eve and it was delicious and after a wonderful video presentation that we love to watch every year it was time for some gifts. Drew and Lauren dropped by with Cooper and Georgia that night and we loved seeing them. On Christmas Day, Santa found his way to our house, after trying to get our kids up (they finally got up at 8:30) we had Christmas and cousins and Aunts and Uncles over for Breakfast -- we had a super fun day, all in all! I loved getting to go back to bed after everyone left and sleeping for several hours! I was glad to get to enjoy Christmas with my family and reflect on the true meaning of Christmas and the love that we share as family and the love our Savior gives so freely!

 

 

Impetigo

One of the things that made my trip home from China a little bit rough was Spencer developed Impetigo. Now, I haven't googled impetigo to get a definition of what it is, but basically it is a rash that is highly contagious and can be agressive, at least it was for Spencer. When I got home from China, Spencer had a sore on his head that he had had since the 17th of November that it would almost get better and then he would pick at it and it was red when I got home. So, I put a band aid on his forehead to keep him from picking and to help heal it. Well, this exacerbated a problem. On Wednesday, I noticed that Spencer's eyes were a little pink. Thursday they were matty, so no preschool, call the Dr get a script called in for pink eye and we will move on. Not a big deal. Well, the nurse said we needed to come in, could we come in right now? Well, a bit bigger of a deal, but there is a party in two hours, better now than then. We go in and see one of our favorite Dr's and he sees the sore on the forehead and prescribes a lotion with a steroid in it, but agrees lets get his eyes better. We treat the eyes, and the next day his forehead and around his eyes, looks worse! Jake says call the Dr and get him seen today. Fortunately, pediatrician's offices are slow at this time of year, so it was no problem getting him seen by the same Dr! Amazing, we usually have to see different ones if we work like that! He sees a big problem and wants him seen by a dermatologist, but we can't be seen until Monday. We go hom with several new prescriptions and impetigo as a diagnosis. Spencer hated the medicine that were his eyedrops and the antibiotic that he had to drink!!!!! Ten days is going to be long, but he doesn't mind his ointment. . . Here is a picture of him the day after we started the meds, he looks tons better here. . .

 

And almost ten days later, or maybe it is ten days later (he still has a couple of doses of the meds left). . . He is almost back to the darling little boy we know and love!

 

My Rickshaw Ride

Ok, so when I got to China, Jake asked me how I got around. Taxis, subway and more taxis was always the answer. Well, he was a bit disappointed that I never got run around like they did in the books about ancient China, most specifically the rickshaw. So, we were traveling from the Dirt Market back to the subway and we saw a rickshaw and we had to ride in it... We actually went in two different ones, one was a motorized motorcycle/bike thing (I think the lady could pedal or just give it the gas) the other was a bicycle and trailer for adults -- they were both kind of cold to ride around in as the blankets did little to block the wind and keep the cold out. On the way back it was almost scary how close they would get to cars that were still moving and trying to maneuver and this guy, well actually the taxi drivers too were ALWAYS in a hurry! If you want to cross the steet, or get around in this country, forget everything you know about rules of the road, nothing applies. If you have a red light, and there isn't too much traffic, crowd the road with the rest of the pedestrian's and if you have the walk signal, you had better watch out for the bicycles and taxis and actually for any car on the road!! CRAZY! The roads are built in circles, throw out the grid that we are familiar with and just draw circles around the city with a few small roads in between and you have their driving pattern. It made me appreciate the US60 and nice wide streets when I got home, that is for sure.
The metro is unlike any other metro that I have ridden, they cars don't come as frequently as the ones in Moscow, and when people get on or off, you pretty much have to shove your way off, or on. They don't follow the American rules of wait and let everyone off before trying to get on, I guess it is more fun to push and shove either way. I did like there subway system though for the most part, as it was VERY user friendly and if you had a question, just stand there and you looked foreign enough someone would ask if you needed help in just minutes of standing there. The Chinese are very friendly to Foreigner's.
Taxis are WONDERFUL, if you can get over the maniacal driving that you will see, and experience. The last night I was there, we decided to take a Taxi rather than brave the cold and long metro ride home, well, there was heavy traffic, and we were getting close to our destination, when we came within a half inch of taking out a lady on a bicycle. I am not kidding, the only reason I know she wasn't hit, because she got back up and took off in a HURRY! The drivers in China, use their horns CONSTANTLY!!!!! There is no communication better than the horn there. I use my horn on occaision here, but I think that if I had to drive there it would become my new best friend!

 

 

Back to China

Ok, so I need to finish my trip to China so I can document and remember some of the things I was able to do and see. On Friday, I went and saw the Olympic venue. More specifically the birds nest and water cube! It was FREEZING!! I ended up buying a ski cap because I was SOOO COLD!! There were people when we came up from the metro flying kites, and not just one kite, but like twenty little kites, against the gray sky, it was amazing! I can't imagine trying to keep the kites in the air, and try to sell these kites to the tourist that are acosted once you come up out of the subway. I got to drive past thses two venues at night, several times and they were BEAUTIFUL all lit up, I am bummed as I never did take a picture and forgot to get a copy of one from my dad.

 

 

I also made it to the Forbidden Palace. This was the main structure in Beijing for the Emperor's. In fact it is the center of Beijing, everything moved out from this center of the city. It is amazing, how huge and grandiose it is. My mom has gone several times and seen several different buildings, and there still is more to see! It was interesting learning about how the Emperor's chose their wives and concubines, a bit different than Mulan presents. am trying to remember right now, bt the girls were selected at a very young age and it was a great honor to be considered and they all lived in the palace and those not chosen as a wife, were automatically concubines! Such a sad way to live. The gardens, were absolutely beautiful in the area and you can only imagine the enjoyment the people that lived here had. There still is original furniture in the palace and it is gorgeous. Some of the containers that were gold plated were scraped off by the western invaders and those still remain and show the wear from the scraping.

 

 

Our Christmas Card

 

Just in case you don't get a Christmas card, here is a copy of ours. I will post the silly letter later. Merry Christmas to all!

Final Christmas Projects

I got my computer back Friday, and worked all night to get my calendar for Jake's family done, and it is in the mail along with my Christmas cards today! I can breathe a big sigh of relief! Hopefully, there aren't too many mistakes in the calendar, I think both the Brown and DeGraffenried calendars turned out really cute. I need to scan a copy of my Christmas card in, the Wheeler's did them this year, and they are so cute. . .Jake was puzled why I was killing myself to get hem out, and said I shouldn't worry about it under the circumstances, but I told him I liked them enough to kill myself to get them out. Hopefully, Christmas craziness is coming to a close for everyone and we can enjoy the season! Merry Christmas, and your cards will get there a day or two after Christmas, but they will get there!

Rough Week

I haven't finished posting pictures of China, I will do that later. . .but. .
Before I start, I have to send my deepest appreciation to some dear friends, who knew what was going on, and wouldn't take my no, no thank you's to their kind gestures. the warm meals, the offers to drive for me or just acknowledegment was appreciate greatly! I appreciate all of you! I also have to acknowledge how wonderful Jake was. He was off on Monday, so he was able to do some of the running around, and willingly took off Tuesday, just because I asked, and willingly helped never complaining! Pam, if you read this, you did a great job raising a good son!

Now, I am not looking for sympathy, but someday, I want to remember that I was able to endure a really rough week! On Sunday, I got home from China, I was delayed in Tokyo, and the super kind people weren't quite sure what to do with me when they informed me that my flight was going to be cancelled, and they had booked my trip to take this all into account and I just started crying. (It's a good thing I didn't know what I was in for, or I might of just stayed in Tokyo) On Monday, my computer which suffered through a power surge, got dropped off at the computer store only to be returned on Friday afternoon. My car, which the heater hadn't been working in, got left at the car dealership and took two days to get fixed. We spent FOUR of the last five days at the Dr's offices or at the hospital, but I did get a free stay home from church pass today from the pediatrican! We met our insurance deductible for the year (it hadn't been touched until this week). Our TV went out, on my sleepless nights I had one option to try to relax to, a dvd or a book (my first choice is the internet followed by dumb things on tv). I was able to orchestrate Jake's work Christmas party (thank goodness for all the preordered catered items and preplanning from before China), and my boys will have gifts under the Christmas tree!
Our, Christmas letter, will most likely be a holiday letter, and the neighboy and friend gifts, well, people might wonder if we like them :). I know this doesn't look like much, but a tough week, it was.

The Summer Palace

On Wednesday I got to go and see the Summer Palace, I can only imagine how beautiful this place would be in the summer. Even though the leaves and flowers aren't blooming right now, it was absolutely amazing! I just can't imagine the people building and living in such spectacular buildings part of the time. This was the summer home for the second to the last and last Emperor and Emperess of China. I think the second to the last Emperor was really a puppet Emperor as the Aunt of the Emperor had walls erected around one area of the palace and that is where he ruled from. Her home was in the front of the palace and that was where all of the day to day happenings occurred. The weather was stormy that day, but I couldn't believe how many people were enjoying the area. There is a long corridor that is about 728 m and has handpainted pictures all along, about 14000! Amazing! In this particular palace you get a feel for the important things in China, longevity, friends, peace and happiness.

 

 

 

 

The Great Wall of China

One of the most important things in China for me to see was the Great Wall of China. This was an important thing to me, as I mean really, when you are in space you can see this, right?! So, we resorted to me taking a small tour (actually a man drove me and two other people out -- it is about an hour out of Beijing) and I got to see the wall. I left Arizona time at 3:45 on Sunday afternoon 6:45 in the morning in Beijing on Monday, we got to the wall about 9:30 -- it took awhile picking up the other people. I spent an hour climbing up, and I mean up (my legs were burning) the tops of the mountains and down into the valleys and back down. I couldn't help think how the warriors must have been in tip top shape, or not mobile when fighting -- the steps are very narrow and steep. I rode up to the top via gondola ride and I came down the mountain on a slide -- kind of a SLOW alpine slide, it was definitely interesting. The weather wasn't the very best, so I didn't get clear pictures, but it was warmer than it looks -- thank goodness!

 

 

 

 

Day Two

 

The second day I was in Beijing, I was functioning much better, I actually was able to sleep many, hours the night before and felt alive the whole day. We met my parents friends and went to the Beijing Planning Exhibit and that was super cool! The technology and skills that this country posess AMAZING! They had this ride kind of like California Adventure that took you through the plans for transportation in the next 50 years -- AMAZING to see what they plan on doing, and from what I hear, when they make plans they accomplish them! They also had a to scale model of the city that you could look over and see from the ground level or from above -- the vastness of Beijing is just unbelievable! The city was built with the Forbidden City as the center point many many years ago (like in 200 BC or before) -- it was spectacular. We also went to their branch Christmas party that was joined with another branch -- it felt more like a ward Christmas party with lot's fewer children. (The Chinese nationals that are members and the members from other countries are not allowed to meet together so it was mostly English speaking people) If all of the members in Beijing were able to meet together there would be about 2000 people.

The Temple of Heaven

After 24 hours of flying and waiting, I made it to Beijing! What a beautiful city, but for this Arizona girl, what a COLD city! The weather turned really chilly on Thursday, the day I flew in, so I was FREEZING and I don't think there are enough layers to keep me as warm as I would have liked, but I made it. . . The first day, because it was so cold, we went to the Temple of Heaven which if you watched the Olympics this was the site they chose to kind of be the spotlight for Beijing. It was pretty incredible, but I was COLD, so we didn't spend as long as I would have if it had been about twenty or thirty or forty degrees warmer (it was about 26 degrees with a frigid wind) -- but it is an amazing structure. While we were out, we had to go to the tailor's to pick up a pair of pants they were making for my mom, and I couldn't believe the fabric that you could choose from at this shop, in any fabric store I have ever been in, there has never been more fabric than at this little store and about ten tailors just waiting for you to have them sew for you -- amazing!

 

 

 

 

The detail on the ceiling at the temple is AMAZING, I just can't imagine having to pain the ceiling and taking such care! I also got a taste for the pearl market, but couldn't function well enough to stay awake and do any serious shopping, I will return before the week is over -- GUARANTEED!

Getting Ready for Christmas

Before I went to China, I had a list of things that had to be done to get ready for Christmas, and the minute we got home from Thanksgiving day dinner, we were working feverishly on getting things done. (Yes, I am one of those believers in waiting until after Thanksgiving to get ready for Christmas and this year it was a quick start the day of) So, we got the tree up and I went to Black Friday sales, and while at Costco, I decided that I should get a gingerbread house, I believe in easy. I have bought the gingerbread house before, my boys beg to do it, we put it off, they break into the candy and well, the candy and the house never do meet. So this year, we needed to bond. So on Saturday we built the gingerbread house, Jacob took pictures to help document the event, and we had fun.

 

 

 

So, the gingerbread house looked pretty good, and I was proud of getting the candy on the house and it being cute. My friend came over while we were decorating, so once we were done I left to visit, the next thing I know ALL of the gumballs were gone, and by Monday, no more gingerbread house. Next year, we will fore go the gingerbread house entirely!