Ryan's China Trip

One of the really glamorous aspects of Ryan's job is that he gets to travel to exotic (translated: backwater) parts of China. This trip was nearly three weeks in Dongguan.

Proof that some of China is pretty - this is a park (I think in Shenzhen)

This is the city of Shenzen. The building that kind of looks like the Chrysler Building is Shun Hing Square, which stands at 1260 ft tall.  It is the 9th tallest building in the world.

Most of the time he worked while he was there, but one night they went out to a British Pub, One for the Road.  (Shenzhen is not that far from Hong Kong, which was a British Crown Colony until 1997.)  This picture is for you, Declan; apparently they serve Guinness.

Ryan's favorite Breakfast of Champions: Coke Zero and Pop Tarts.  (He brought the Pop Tarts from home).

Most of the time he spent working, but he did have a few adventures, including finding Papa John's pizza and Walmart.  Walmart is the same - it smell weird and everything is made in China.

He was fortunate to have the work go well so he got to come home three days early.  We were so glad to have him home!  Like every dad who missed his daughter, he came home bearing gifts:

$

A hat and some chopsticks from the Disney Store in Hong Kong.

Girls Week: Week 2

Sunday: church as usual.  After church was over the Berea Primary had a "Sunday Sundae" activity.  The kids spent all last year memorizing articles of faith, then for each one they memorized they got to choose one topping for their ice cream.  Thanks to learning the songs, Rachael has memorized 1-8 and 13, so she got to choose 9 toppings for her ice cream.  I was so proud of her hard work!

Snow Day

Monday: School and work day.  Two inches of snow is forecast for Tuesday, so I took the work computer home.  After ballet Rachael and I went to Hobby Lobby to pick out some fabric, then to dinner at KFC.  We were on the same wavelength as Ryan; he had dinner at KFC too.  14 hours before we did.  

Tuesday: School was canceled, but it didn't snow until afternoon.  We had Alex and Blake for playgroup, then made snickerdoodles in the afternoon.  We got some new firelogs for the fireplace, too.

Chocolate dessert again!

Wednesday: Another snow day, this time because of slippery roads.  Rachael went to playgroup so I ran into work for a couple of hours.  Then on a whim we decided to get her Halloween pictures taken.  (We are really on the ball, aren't we?)  In another impulsive moment we went to Carino's for dinner.  We got dinner for both of us for $20, including dessert.  Rachael got an adult dinner, which meant lots of leftovers.  

Thursday: Finally back to school. After school we worked on a new Valentines Day pillowcase (which was suppose to be our snow day project, but we were too busy).

Friday:  It was our day to babysit our friends the Tippets, so Rachael and I spent the evening at their house.  We had pigs in a blanket for dinner (well, the kids did - I took the leftovers from Carinos) and watched a movie.  Then we read books for awhile before bed.  

Saturday: Girls day out! We went to breakfast at Cracker Barrel, or as Rachael calls it, Crackle Barrel. Rachael talked me into seeing Yogi bear (which was not worth the money) but she had a great time so I think it was worth it.

Post script: Girls Week #3 has been shortened to two days, because Ryan was able to get a flight home three days earlier.  Hooray! We love our girls time, but we are ready to have Ryan home.

Flashback Friday

2008 

Alex and Rachael at the piano

2009

And again

2011

Alex, Blake and Rachael

Please notice in all three pictures, all taken in January, that I am 

still putting away the Christmas decorations.

 

I am nothing if not consistent.

Girls Week: Week 1

Last Saturday we packed Ryan off for a three week business trip to China.  We have been keeping ourselves busy!

Sunday: Rachael got to sit on the stand at church with me while I played the organ for our ward. 

Monday: Rachael got to come to work with me.  She drew everyone in the office some pictures, which took about three hours.  She also played some computer games.  After we were finished, we went with Bishop and Louan and enjoyed a yummy lunch at Opal's. 

Tuesday: First day back to school! Rachael was so excited.  Two weeks of break would have been just about right, but it was really closer to three weeks because we had four snow days the last week of school.  To celebrate we went out for dinner, including dessert!

Wednesday: We're settling back into our routine.  We had leftovers for dinner while watching a movie.  I don't think we ate dinner at the kitchen table all this week.

Thursday: We went to the grocery store in the evening.  It turned out to be an excellent night, the store was practically deserted.  Even splurging on a couple of things for Girls Week, we still spent less than our usual budgeted amount.

Friday: Snow Day! But only for the afternoon kindergartners.  The roads got slick in the morning, but only after everyone else was at school. Rachael was really disappointed, so I offered to buy her a new movie at the store for our Friday Night Pizza Night.  She chose Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses.  It's a good thing it's Girls Week.

Saturday: we cleaned house and took down most of the Christmas decorations.  Whew! We are ready for our day of rest on Sunday.

Happy New Year!

 2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011!