Zhujaijaio, China

Sorry, it's been a few weeks since my last China post.

This slide show has all the pictures from a little water town outside of Shanghai...Zhujaijaio. (pronounced Jew-Jow-Jow) This was probably my 2nd favorite place, right behind The Great Wall. It was the neatest little town. It has over 1300 years of history. A lot of the Temples and bridges were well over 600 years old! I really liked that even though it was a "tourist" type place, everyone that was there, really does live there. This is their home! Of course, everyone had to stop and look at the kids, and take pictures. The girls thought it was kinda fun at first, but after awhile it got to be overwhelming. We rode in a Chinese gondola, went to an ancient post office, walked around a traditional Chinese garden, and shopped in the old town market. It was educational and fun! I'm so glad we got to see this wonderful place!

Fun Family Night

Now that the weather is starting to warm up, we decided to take the kids to the park for family night. It was a beautiful day!! The kids had fun getting out of the house and getting some good exersize playing on the playground. We also had a "Picanic!" (I love how Marina says Picnic) I'm loving having this mild weather and not having to jump right into summer like they do in Vegas. Enjoy the pics!

Marina would be so proud!

You Are Ariel!

Headstrong and fiesty. You have a mind of your own that's full of romantic dreams about the world around you. Exploring exotic places is your ultimate dream, and although you can be a little naive you'll realize that there is something to be gained from your family's wisdom.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Our Sunset

No words needed...

Earthquake in the Midwest??

Okay now...I was & AM prepared for a tornado to hit....but an earthquake????

We didn't feel it, but apparently everyone else here in Indy did! Here is a news story on it....

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/18/national/main4026093.shtml

I love messing around!!!

So, I did it again! I changed my background. This time I went ahead and followed Megan F's recommendation and used this cute background from Cutest Blog on The Block! I love it! I also just barely learned how to change all the colors of my text on here. Jeez...only took me almost a year! Anyways, I have listed my two favorite sites for blog templates and backgrounds on the side column. Go check them out!

My New Haircut!

Here it is! I cut way more than a foot off of my hair, and I'm lovin' it! It is a tad bit shorter in the front than I wanted, but, guess what.....it'll grow back out! That's the good thing about hair, especially my hair, it grows fast!

Remember when.....

I was going through some of our pictures on the computer and I came across this gem! It has GOT to be one of the most adorable things that Ryker has ever done. It also has another little snippet with Aspen & Marina. I am loving watching this! This was taken right after Marina was born in Sept. of 2004. ENJOY!!

As Promised!

Here is Sierra in her new glasses! She is amazed how well she can see with them! She can't believe that she can see things so far away now. Too Cute!

Marina's New Glasses

When I got home from China, I started to slightly notice that Marina was going a little cross eyed at times. Thomas never saw it, but I just couldn't shake it. So, I decided I needed to take her to the Eye Doctor. Come to find out, her eyes do cross a bit, but the doctor is hoping we caught it early enough and that we may not need to patch her eye. We ordered her and Sierra some glasses, and we have patiently (NOT) been waiting for them. As we were waiting for them, Marina's eye has really gotten worse. Thomas catches a glimpse of it every now and then, and kinda goes, "Whoa!" We try to not let her hear us be so "wow-ed" by it, though. We don't want her to grow up with too much of a complex about it. (This is a subtle hint for Uncle Tyler...LOL) Anyways, I think she's adorable in her new glasses. We got her & Sierra both 2 pairs. I'll post Sierra's pics when she gets home from school. For now, here's Marina!!

Our Cutie!

On Sunday, before conference started, we had the kids clean up a bit. Out of nowhere, Marina looks at everyone, claps her hands a few times, and says in a high pitch voice, "Alwight ebebody...wet's cwean up!" It took us a minute to figure out what she was saying, but we finally figured out that she was repeating Princess Giselle from the movie Enchanted. So, we couldn't resist getting the movie out and having her sing the song and everything. She is a little more interested in watching than singing, but you'll get the gist of it. It was too cute!

Warning: This is a little long.

Look at that Tongue GO!!

Harley was messing around with a calculator the other day like it was a computer keyboard. As she was playing, her tongue was going a mile a minute! I was laughing so hard because she didn't even realize she was doing it. So, Thomas went and got our old laptop and told her to go ahead and type away. He got the camera, and this is what he shot....just keep watching her tongue!

China Friday!!

Well, I finally got all the pics of China from my mom. She took about 2000 pics while we were there!! Youza!! So, I thought that I would do "China Fridays!" Each Friday, if I remember, I'll post about one particular thing or group of things that we saw or did in China.

Today is......The Great Wall

This was AWESOME!! I think that this was one of my Fav spots while we were there. Did you know that the cement that they used to build The Great Wall was made out of sticky rice and lye?? I couldn't believe that! Very Interesting. It was just amazing to be there and see such a huge part of history. It was began to built before the birth of Christ, too! I didn't realize it was that old.

Enjoy!!

DEBT FREE!!

I just needed to scream from the mountain tops that Thomas and I are DEBT FREE...at least, for now!!!! After selling our home, moving to Indy, and thanks to a nice settlement from my car accident we are debt free! It feels so good not to owe ANYBODY money, especially with Thomas in school. Goodness knows that we will have enough student loans to worry about soon enough. So, for now, we are enjoying a debt free life!

I also want to thank EVERYONE that has supported us in our move to Indy. It wasn't easy moving so far away from those we love & LOVE to hang out with, but I can't imagine where we would be right now if we were still in Vegas. Our families have been awesome, and we can't wait to see Thomas' side of the family in June/July!! Ryker is also super excited about his "Boy Time" he will get this summer with Grandpa, Uncle Jimmy & little Jimmy! Harley & Marina are even more excited to see their "Bosom Buddies" Madison & Jorgi! In fact, Marina woke up this morning crying this ultimate "sad" cry for Jorgi. It was so cute & sad all at the same time!

We love all of our friends and family TONS, and would never be where we are today without every single one of them!!!

THANKS A TON TURKEY BUNS!!!