Made In China

Most observant folks have noticed that nearly everything that you can buy at the store these days carries the label "Made in China."  Shoes, clothes, electronics, you name it.  Now add another to your list:  our next little tyke will carry the label for life "Made in China."  That's right, we are expecting another little munchkin the beginning of March so I am about three months along and it appears to be the real thing.  

The best part of the story is the Chinese pregnancy test that I took.  I bought a test at a little convenience store near campus.  The test had all sorts of English writing on the box so I assumed that I would be able to read the directions, ... wrong.  The unfortunate part of it all too was that there were no pluses or minuses on the test so once I took it, I was unsure of whether or not I was really pregnant.  After much consulting of babelfish with Hyrum and our vast knowledge of Chinese characters (ha ha), we dared each other to go ask the concierge at our guest house.  She was amused once she realized what she was looking at but...  Hooray! We are expecting again!  Wish me luck!

McCall

Two weekends ago Hyrum, Scottie, and I drove up to McCall after church on Sunday to join Jimmy and Shannon at Jimmy's parents cabin. We had an amazing time. Thank you Farmer's for your hospitality and fun.




We waterskied, jetskied, played in the sand, swam, and had really yummy food thanks to Peggy.











Scottie loved playing on the beach with his cousins Cade and Eli.












Scottie loves cars, trains, boats, lululu's (motorcycles) and vehicles of all kind. Here he is driving the ski-boat.

California Dreamin'

This past weekend I had the weekend off. Hyrum graciously took care of Scottie for four whole days with the help of Grandma Diane, while I went to my old track buddy, Sarah's, wedding and played with my friends Jill and JoLee. We had an amazing time. I love these ladies!



Sarah and Colin Kennedy.














Me, Sarah, Jill, and JoLee, we were all freshmen together on the BYU cross-country and track team.









JoLee, Jill and I spent Sunday afternoon at the Table Rock beach. It was beautiful.
















JoLee and I decided to spend Monday at DisneyLand. We had a really fun time, I got to ride a Segway, something I have always wanted to do, and we ran into another old track buddy, Anika who was in town for her brother's wedding.

Our Tongan Kids

Our friend Luseane has lent us her two oldest kids for a couple of weeks so we could take them to Boise for some hard work and adventure. We have had a lot of fun.


They survived the long car ride with good spirits.








They have been kept busy on the farm here milking cows, picking apricots and making fruit leather, weed eating (Eli helped our nephew Aaron), and tending the garden, but we have had some play time too.

We buried Eli in the sand at Eagle Island State Park








Chelsea and Eli also loved the park at Eagle River

















Chelsea and Eli camped out one night on the Boise river with some of Scottie's cousins and we spent some time swimming, fishing, and playing on the rope swing. They have been a lot of fun to have around!

Congratulations Matty!

We got to attend the wedding of a very good friend Matt Beecher. Not only was it a spiritual feast, but it was a whole lot of fun. He even provided Creamies for all of us to eat while they were getting pictures. They were good because it was Hot!











Matt and his beautiful bride, Summer.











We got to see a bunch of old friends from our time in Boston. How fun. Here is a goofy picture of Melyn and her fiance Kyler.













Hubba Hubba! Congratulations Matt!

Back Home

When we got home from Shanghai, we only got to stay in Seattle for a week but we made the most of our time there. Hyrum says that he doesn't feel like he really knows the area yet so we decided to take a hike up Mt. Pilchuck so he could get one of the best 360 degree views. It was snowy most of the way up which tried our littlest hikers a lot. Jimmy and Hyrum were very brave carrying Cade and Scottie the whole way. Scottie and Cade were very brave on the scary snowy slide on the way down.



Back Row: Shannon, Jimmy, Karissa, Nicole, Dad, Front Row: Cade, Scottie, Hyrum.


We had an awesome time!












We went to Lake Roesiger with the family and the Schmidts. Hyrum, Dad, and Andy floated down the river and then joined us at the lake.

Here is Anza cooling Scottie down.












Eric, Analee, and Eli checking out the view from the tree.












Karissa also got some accordion lessons from Hyrum. She is a natural!

Random Pics from Beijing

Nicole and Scottie at the moat on the northwest corner of the Forbidden City. We paused here during a great bicycle ride through the North Capitol.
Scott gets silly with a magnifying gadget while dad is trying to strike a deal at the Pearl Market in Beijing.
Take a close look at her shirt. It says "Falling in love with my boyfriend". Hyrum claims he was sitting there first.
Scottie makes a friend on Tiananmen Square.
How many people can cram under an umbrella?

Another "Spectacular Scottie the Blond Baby" show in Tiananmen Square. I think Nicole is about to say, "This reminds me of that 'The Office' episode..."

The Great Wall at Simatai

Hyrum was a bit skeptical of the Great Wall since it's *the* tourist attraction in China; we're more into discovery than tours. But we LOVED the Great Wall at Simatai. A little further out than the most visited locations, a truly spectacular setting...a mix of history tour and hiking with spectacular views.

After some really uncomfortable heat the day before, we were pleased with some cool weather for our trip to the Great Wall. It started out as misty and foggy, then turned to a light drizzle--perfect weather for a rather steep climb. Scottie made the trip from Tower #1 to Tower #12 (and back) on Dad's back; and even fell asleep for some of the hike.

We're usually a non-umbrella family...too much hassle; we'd rather get drenched. However, on the way back, we stopped for some noodles about halfway down, and were invited our of the rain into the little tin shack of the woman selling us food to get out of the rain for a spell.

The Forbidden City

Construction began on the palace complex in the early 15th century...85 years before Columbus sailed the ocean blue. Unfortunately, today was extremely hot and muggy, and we only spent a few hours at a site that really deserves a day. Scottie didn't spend so much time relishing the history...but was fascinated by apparently ancient pebbles and brick pieces among the old tiles of the gigantic brick paved square.

You might not notice at first glance, but the third picture (with Hyrum and Scottie) features two trees that have grown together as one. Two individual trunks with one branch system. A perfect marriage...

Choo Choo!

What an adventure! We just got back from the overnight train from Beijing to Shanghai. How exciting for Scottie to not only ride on his favorite "choo choo" but to sleep on one too! What fun.