silly boys

Watch how Carter gets up on things nowadays. He certainly doesn't do it the easy way or what makes the most sense! This was a couple weeks ago for Family Home Evening.

If you throw a silly Dawson into the mix, he runs in front of the camera while you're trying to snap it, resulting in the "deer-in-headlights" expression.

Another funnyism:

This morning Ryanna exlaims in a panic, "Mom! We totally forgot to leave Santa cookies and milk!"

Wow, now that was delayed.

my own little calvin

I have to entertain from the hours of 3pm-8pm. From the time she gets home from school until the time she goes to bed; I have to entertain my own daughter! She gets bored very easily and can drive me crazy. She can read any book (up to the Harry Potter range) and does that every afternoon for a couple hours. It doesn't seem like a long time...but it can be.

Last night, it wouldn't do. She could no longer entertain herself. When Ryan got home from school, he and I were catching up on our day together. Ryanna kept wandering into the kitchen where we were and kept asking for someone to play with her.

Us- "Ryanna, we've already played for today. Go play in your room with your brothers because you don't have very long until you go to bed!"

Ryanna- "But I don't WANT to! I'm bored, you need to play with me."

Us- "No, we've already played today. Now it's your time to go play."

Ryanna- "Oooooookay, but I'll just go get into more mischief!"

It wasn't a warning, it was a threat!

did you know?

I'm stuck thinking about one hundred. One hundred. That is a substantial amount! I think it's cool because:

-it's the square of 10
-it's the atomic number of fermium

(seriously, who doesn't know that?)

-it's the boiling point of water at sea level in Celsius degrees

-it's the sum of the first nine prime numbers
-it's the number of days until Ryan's graduation from law school!-it's also an 18-gonal number
-it's the emergency number to call police in Greece, India and Israel
-it's the name of one delicious candy bar

Only less than 2,400 hours left until we see that legendary diploma that we've been working for nearly a decade to get!

The countdown begins...

will he or won't he?

I love Groundhog Day and the movie and everything that surrounds today! However, I do NOT love winter, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for NO SHADOW!

all about aaron

Guess what I heard? Drum roll please...............

Aaron got accepted to BYU-Idaho!! I'm so excited and thrilled for my kid brother to be old enough to graduate from an international school and then come back to America to go to college! He is good at so many things...what will he major in? Will it be:

Stable Management

Boxing

Outdoor Education and Leadership

Professional Paintballing

Sports Medicine

Explosive Physics

(especially with some duct tape and a Whistling Pete)

Gaming Technology

or something musical? Can't wait to see!

I'm so proud of you Aaron!

an olympic story

After we got done freezing to death and enjoying the Forbidden City, we got into our taxi and searched for somewhere to eat. We ran to McDonald's and ate their versions of fast food. It was mostly the same, the burger had a slight difference to it, and the french fries are sticks of mushy grease. However, the ice cream is the exact same. It's nice to savor the familiar sometimes!

We got done eating and squeezed out of the restaurant. (you have to turn and walk sideways down the rows to get out because everything is smaller over there--no space is wasted.) Sometimes the restaurants are three different levels, you order on the first level, walk down the second level to sit down to eat and then the restrooms are on the top level. Interesting.

We piled into our taxi and drove to the Olympic Green. It was amazing to see the places that we have only seen on t.v.! The courtyards, the grounds where a million people walked during the summer days of The Olympics. Truly awesome.





Here's the Bird's Nest Stadium! It's huge! Did you know...
-seats 80,000 people (original design tried for 100,000)
-has a 24-hour rainwater collector that purifies it and then uses it for inside and around the Nest -the design helped in using the famous retractable roof which has since been removed
-all 110,000 tons of steel used for the building were made in China (making it the largest steel structure in the world)
-on May 14, 2008, the grass field of 7,811 square meters was laid in 24 hours
-was built on the axis to ensure health and harmony for Olympic competitions
-cost $423 MILLION dollars


I certainly didn't realize it, but right next door is the Beijing National Aquatics Center, or better known as Michael Phelps' playground! Er, I mean the Water Cube!

It's so neat to research the history behind this structure also! Here's some cool stuff:
-the bubbles on the exterior are exact replicas that of bubbles in an experiment done by the designers (they sliced through bubbles made in soap foam, because they wanted the sporadic look)
-seats 17,000 for different events
-costs money to go inside and tour (and we had more fun to do so we didn't go in)







And then my stomach started to hurt I could hardly walk. I remembered eating those couple french fries and those couple of bites of ice cream. I don't have a gall bladder (so I can't digest fried foods very well) and I am lactose intolerant (I didn't take my enzymes like I should have) That spells trouble.

I needed a bathroom and FAST. I think I scared the taxi driver because the stomach cramps were so painful and I was breathing loudly to help me feel a little better. He knew that I needed to find a bathroom. Close to tears and muttering prayers under my breath I ran inside a KFC...

I DID NOT find this:

I DID find this:

Needless to say I survived having diarrhea in another country with a squatter toilet.

the forbidden city--part two

We stepped through the Gate of Terrestrial Tranquility and entered into the Imperial Garden! This is amazing because it's only 12,000 square meters and talented designers were able to make such an elaborate garden in such a small space.

It was built in 1417 in the Ming Dynasty and was just for the Imperial family to reside. Inside this hall, the Taoist God of Water was worshipped because he was supposed to protect the Forbidden City from fire.

It was really interesting the way that harmony was maintained with all the structures. The trees are ancient and have so much story to tell. Here's an ancient Incense Burner!

At each of the four corners of this garden are four pavilions, representing the four seasons. The most famous of these buildings is the Pavilion of Myriad Springs located in the eastern corner.

We called this the "Love Tree" and actually is such! These four hundred year old consorted pines actually grow like this, and they believe that it's the symbol of unity of the Emperor and Empress.

These giant rock formations were imported from a sea bed and are "modern art" and are throughout the garden. You can see random carvings in it of animals or symbols
In the biggest piece of rock is a cave going through it. (they call this a "mountain")

The Pavilion of Imperial View is built upon this "mountain". It was used for the Imperial Family to enjoy the view of this magnificent place. Such history and amazing stories.

I wish that I hadn't been frozen from the neck down so I could have enjoyed it more!

It was an awesome visit!

the forbidden city--part one

This was definitely my most favorite part of Beijing! The history, the culture, absolutely everything about it sparked my intrigue and I found it to be so fascinating. Absolutely amazing! It's surrounded by 26-foot-high walls, and has a 170-foot-wide moat.

Here's a reference guide for you:
A. Meridian Gate
B. Gate of Divine Light
C. West Glorious Gate
D. East Glorious Gate
E. Corner Towers
F. Gate of Supreme Harmony
G. Hall of Supreme Harmony
H. Hall of Military Eminence
J. Hall of Literary Glory
K. Southern Three Places
L. Palace of Heavenly Purity
M. Imperial Garden
N. Hall of Mental Cultivation
O. Hall of Tranquil Longetivity
Talk about Fung Shui! The axis line runs through the entire City, and extends throughout China. The Bird's Nest was actually built along this axis line to help Olympians with peace and health for their competitions. Cool, huh?!

Construction for the Forbidden City began in 1406 and lasted 15 years. It required over one million workers!

After being the home of 24 emperors—fourteen of the Ming Dynasty and ten of the Qing Dynasty—the Forbidden City ceased being the political center of China in 1912 with the abdication of Pyui , the very last Emperor of China.

We're standing in front of the Inner Golden Water River. Huh, didn't even know it. It was frozen solid.

One of the Glorious Gates, can't remember which one honestly. I get turned-around pretty easily. You're supposed to step over the gate threshold with your right foot for luck or something, I was a rebel and stepped with my LEFT foot. Ha!
Me in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. In the beginning it was used for court proceedings, but in the later years, it was only used for ceremonial purposes; such as coronations or imperial weddings. It's the tallest building in the Forbidden City, raised 98 feet taller than the others.


Before the Beijing Olympics last year, the government came in and repainted and resurfaced a lot of the City because it's a huge tourist attraction. Some places are "brighter" than others.

These pots were gigantic! I imagined they were used to heat water in, there was a place to light a fire underneath each of them. The Chinese love their tea, maybe these were their teapots.

The Throne in the Hall of Preserving Harmony! It is the ceremonial center of Imperial power and the largest surviving wooden structure in China. In the Ming Dynasty, the Emperor held court here to discuss affairs of state. During the Qing Dynasty, as Emperors held court frequently.
(sorry it's a little dark)
Don't mind me being a dork, look at the structure's colors behind me.

This is the Throne in the Palace of Heavenly Purity. The Emperor, representing Yang and the Heavens, would occupy the Palace of Heavenly Purity. The Empress, representing Yin and the Earth, would occupy the Palace of Earthly Tranquility. In between them was the Hall of Union, where the Yin and Yang mixed to produce harmony. (sound familiar?)

This is an example of the paintings seen in the Ming Dynasty. Lots of golds portraying wealth and fortune.
Part of the Imperial Way, the steps that only the Emperor could walk (and occasionally some others at very certain times in history) is awesome. This is why it's so incredible:
-elaborate and symbolic bas-relief carvings
-carved from a single piece of stone 54 feet long, 10 feet wide, and 5 1/2 feet thick.
-it is on the axis that passes through the Forbidden City




And there's a PERFECT spot to sit down! They have only two exits from the courtyard into this huge garden; and the hoards of people are funnled through them! When my Mom visited the first time, there was a man just sitting here and people were tripping over him to get out the door. So, get out of the way, Aim!