New Job!

Ryan has accepted a new position with Apple!  This means we will be moving to California soon... we are excited about fun new changes but sad to be leaving Kentucky. It will be busy around our house the next few weeks as we make the transition. Ryan starts on Sept 4!

Paradise Cove

We have really enjoyed going to Paradise Cove the last four years. Rachael has gone from just wading in the shallow areas to being able to go down the big slides. She didn't like water much when she was little but I have been persistent and now she loves it.  Here is our homage to the last four years of summer!

First Day!

So excited for second grade!

 The new shoes she picked out herself

We already took her at-home second grade pictures, because 

we needed them for her All About Me project at school.

 These two were our favorites.

Hong Kong

I got to meet up with Ryan in Hong Kong at the end of his last China trip.  Some of the highlights:

• I flew business class both ways (on a 15 hour flight).  Thank you frequent flier miles. 
• Nearly everything in Hong Kong is in both Cantonese and English, so it's not too difficult to get aroud.
• My blonde hair was the topic of conversation several times on the trip.
• First day: shopped at the outlet mall, rode a gondola to the Tian Tam Buddha, ate lunch at a neat Mexican place by the Mid Level Escalators, and rode the ferry over to Kowloon

• People in Hong Kong are very fashion conscious.  I saw tons of great shoes.  And very few tattoos or bare midriffs. 
• Second day: Disneyland! It was amazing.
• We got automagic tickets. I would totally do that again. 
• Families at Disneyland were likely to have 6-8 adults and one or two children. 
• At Disney, everything is first in English and second in Cantonese. 
• Some little girls in line for one of the rides practiced their English with us.  They giggled too much to get any further than Hello.  It was adorable.
• We watched Mickey's Philharmagic.  Never have I seen so many hands reach out to try and touch 3D objects before.
• Third day: early lunch at Yorshire Pudding, double decker bus ride to Stanley Market, and our anniversary dinner at Morton's Steak House. 
• I walked through a PETA demonstration wearing an animal print shirt. It was awkward. 
• We found The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Hong Kong.  It's next to the Maserati dealership, in case you need to find it.
• Custom printed menus at Morton's that said "Happy Anniversary."

We had a great time.  A huge thanks to my sister Lesley and her husband Chad for keeping Rachael for a week so we could take the trip.  We had an amazing time.