christmas in zhujiajio, china

The coolest Christmas ever! We're in Zhujiajio, China enjoying the sights:

We rode in rickshaws through the alleys and by all the shops,




See how there's just enough room for one rickshaw? People just meander around in front of them and it's totally normal. No PERSONAL BUBBLES in China!


Visited a Buddhist Temple. (where the were a few Monk guys there worshipping)

A beautiful candle that was lit for prayer. I accidentally stepped too close to one, I was distracted looking upwards thus resulting in a little hole in my jacket. Oops.


Aimee in front of the Prayer Tree.





And to think that someone actually lived here once! There were pictures of the ancestors that lived there inside of little rooms off the main courtyard. You can spend hours and hours inside and still not get the entire story of a place. Absolutely amazing.


Oh! We got to ride in a Gondola! It's amazing what you can see from the water, going through the village.


The way they move is just man-power. They row in a figure eight motion and they take you upstream at a nice relaxing pace.

I didn't get this guy, he was just on top of the air conditioning unit. I remember Mom saying several times, "Don't ask 'why'...it's CHINA!" Ooooookaaaaay.





This bridge is like 400 (or something like that) years old, one of the oldest in Zhujiajio. It's a subject for the artists, many paintings, embroideries, and carvings.

(the "walls" on this bridge come up to my knees...safety is something you have to be responsible for. If you trip and fall overboard, it's your own fault!)



This was great. A lady kept bugging us to buy some fish that were in baggies. She didn't care that we already had one in our hands! You buy a lucky fish, then go up to the top of the bridge and drop it back into the water. Poor little lucky fish doing belly flops from 30 feet above the water. Here I am making my fish face, I'm concentrating really hard.

Two handsome guys in a Gondola.

Gorgeous pagodas are everywhere you look!



This guy answered his cell phone when he was paddling his Gondola--and ran into ours! We commented on how Americans have a hard time talking on a cell phone while driving, imagine trying to steer a boat with a single paddle!



We got to visit inside of a Silk Museum, hardly any electricity and no heat. There was an entire ROOM made up of this collage. This collage was only made out of Jade. Lots and lots of different colors, types, intensities, etc. of strictly jade. It was breathtaking. Oh, they had a big picture of Buddha. In front of him was a bowl that had money in it and a cushion where you could kneel and worship him. Interesting.

We got to see how they made silk by hand. What an intensely long process. Quite fascinating.



We went back through the alleys where we just had seen it from the rickshaws to all the little (cold!) shops weaving all through the city. Then onto my most favorite part...shopping!

We were famous everywhere we went. There was always someone that wanted pictures with us, and most of the time it was girls wanting pictures with Aaron!

This young artist was really cool and had some really good stuff. He was so talented and we bought this carving of the old bridge. We asked him if he would write 'Zhujiajio' on it and then autograph his piece of work. He sure did! We have this above our mantle. (I'll post pictures later)
I also got BLACK PEARLS!! Chalk one up for China!

Definitely one for the memory books. Loved Christmas!

"mr. jetlag wants to be my best friend"

Some Gilmore girl humor for you.

I know, I'm sorry that I've been M.I.A! This week I have done nothing else but unpacking, catching up on laundry and trying to stay out of the snow. (through record-breaking amounts...more on that later)

It's been a trip of a lifetime and I'll take you day by day on my China trip with me...starting with the first day of our travels:

Ryan and I had tickets on United for Economy class. Not looking forward to our 14 hour flight from San Fran to Shanghai, we dreaded this flight! (this was after our horrible flight from Boise to San Fran and stupid United being stupid) Our layover wasn't all that long, so we just hung out until the plane boarded.

The nice ticket lady at the counter approached us and asked us if we wouldn't mind moving to the exit row, because they needed to make sure that they had English-speaking people to help in case of an emergency. We said that we didn't mind, and she took our tickets.

15 minutes later, she returned them with a smile and said, "Enjoy your flight!" and we didn't notice until later that our tickets were now gold and had BUSINESS CLASS written at the top. Huh. What in the world?!

We boarded and went to our seats...sure enough. We were upgraded just like that. I can't even tell you how exciting this was, to have $5,000 seats for free!! The food was incredible, seriously rivaled a steakhouse or upscale restaurant. We had to turn away food because we were so full! Our seats could FULLY RECLINE, we had our own personal t.v. with cable t.v. and movies, all the drinks we wanted, our own bathroom, no kids so it was perfectly quiet and wonderful. It was amazing. Enough legroom for us to get up and dance..
It was heaven for 14 hours. HEAVEN! I honestly can't express through words how it felt. We were giddy! Absolutely giddy. We got to eat off of glass plates and dishes and we had personal tablecloths that were made out of satin! It was amazing
After our exhausting flight (it was nice, but it was still a long day) we arrived at the Shanghai International Airport. Everywhere we went we stood in lines. More and more lines. Customs, security, passport stuff, waiting for luggage, etc. A couple hours later, we were through! We made it to China. So surreal. I round the corner and see a guy in a Santa outfit. I just KNEW it was my Dad!

Sure enough, turned out to be him! Meeting us there was my Mom, brother Aaron and Santa my Dad. It was so fun to see some familiar faces at the end of a long long day. But it wasn't over yet! My sister, Aimee, was actually flying in also. We waited at the airport for another few hours until Aimee's flight and then we all went back to my parent's apartment.

As much as we tried, we only slept a little on the plane. This was what we looked like after our flight...sexy! I had only gotten an hour's rest before we'd left Boise because of our bags were too heavy and they all needed repacking. (see Mom's blog about what we stuffed our suitcases with)

Try to figure this out: We left the morning of December 22nd and arrived in Shanghai, China the evening of December 23rd. Hmmmm.....

And so it begins!

ni hao

Ryan and I have been in CHINA for and entire week now! We're loving it so much, but miss our kiddies terribly. Check back soon for pictures and our entire travelogue!!

We've seen and experienced amazing things thus far and I can't wait to blog them! The Forbidden City, The Great Wall, Beijing, The Olympic Stadium and other such buildings, all of the fun we've had here in Shanghai, etc.

We've been running around like crazy trying to squeeze in everything fun into every possibly second of our days. I will blog them as soon as I possibly can!

Zai Jian!

a little christmas tag

My first Christmas tag! Answer the questions and then tag a couple friends. Spead the Cheer!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper with pretty ribbon. (My mother-in-law creates the most beautiful packages, I love hers)

2. Real tree or Artificial? Love to have a real one, but we have a 24" fake one
3. When do you put up the tree? Tecnically, we put it up Thanksgiving, but this year I was too excited and had it up on Halloween.
4. When do you take the tree down? Januray sometime when I get to it
5. Do you like eggnog? Heck yes I do! Dawson and I love it.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? This little blue tent I got when I was five. I remember reading "Oh Say Can You Say?" by Dr. Seuss in it.

7. Hardest person to buy for? My brother Aaron. I don't have any idea what teenagers do today.
8. Easiest person to buy for? My kids. Carter plays with boxes...hmmmmm. That's cheap!
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, I collect them.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? a little of both11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I honestly don't remember. I'm sure it was too horrible to mention, so I've blocked it from my memory.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Muppet's Christmas Carol, definitely. (A close second is Christmas Vacation, I do admit)

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? February. I got done by July this year! And got the gifts delivered by the first week of August.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Not really, I'm a hogger and love presents.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Mom's Orange Rolls and Charlotte Jensen's bread goodies.

16. Lights on the tree? Yes
17. Favorite Christmas song? "O Holy Night" by Josh Groban. Anything by Harry Connick Jr.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Travel! Off to China in 5 days for Christmas!

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, Rudolf. (What about Olive?) You know, "Olive, the other reindeer..."
20. Angel on the tree-top or a star? Neither, ours isn't big enough to hold anything.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? Christmas morning
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? snow snow snowy coldness.

23. Favorite ornament, theme or color? I love all of them--we have a little bit of everything on our tree--Simpsons, SpongeBob, Disney, Nativity ones from the Holy Land...etc.
24. Favorite food for Christmas dinner? Ham and Potatoes
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? a trip to China....oh yeah, I've already got that!

26. Who do you tag? I tag my Mom, Aimee, Ashley (both of you!) and anyone else who needs a little Christmas Spirit today!

sweet strattons

My sweet friend tended my kids a couple weeks ago and when they were at her house, they made Gingerbread Cookies! One of my most favorite Holiday goodies!! They had such a great time and as always, they come home exhausted so I just throw them in their beds...a double bonus! My kids always love going there and constantly ask if they can go back over!

I guess that Carter just loved Emma's candy and kept stealing it from her cookies, so she just decided to go ahead and make it easier on him...by feeding it to him. What a good sport!

Totally stole these from her blog, thanks Ash! They always have so much fun at your house and I appreciate you!

first snowfall of the season

No music for this post....however, turn up the volume so you can hear Carter's precious little voice on the videoclip below!


Bluggghh! There's nothing worse that can kill my Holiday Spirit better than SNOW! I hate driving in it, I hate playing in it, it's cold, it's just awful. However, it's the most magical part of Moscow! It coats everything in this glistening and pure beauty that you can't see any other time of year.

Carter loves watching out the window and as it started to lightly snow, I caught him admiring all the action outside. Listen for his cuteness and don't you just love his little hot breath against the chilly window?!