I think Tanner looks like his grandma more than anyone else in the family. They smile the same and have the same eyes.
Friday, April 1, 2016
Sunday, March 15, 2015
OUR CRAZY DOG
So almost two years ago, on Barry's birthday, to honor him, we made mini cheesecakes (cheesecake is his and Hunter's fav dessert). Then after the boys' Chinese lesson that hot July 28th Shanghai day, we stopped by the pet store for the boys to get their "dog fix", my way of prolonging the inevitable...
I didnt want a dog. In fact, I loved that these dog store visits happened to be at a VERY expensive french poodle store. I always told the boys that dogs there were outside of our budget, but we could visit, get it out of our system, then move on.
On this day, when all the wealthy dog owners (Chinese love poodles, particularly brown poodles, and we westerners joke that the brown poodle is the only breed China makes, so it seems).
I joked with the shop owners and the dog owners who truly feel 7,000 usd is reasonable for a pet "do you have any 2nd hand dogs", funny, no? Except the store owner didnt laugh. She glanced at a fellow employee and then said "yes, today we do!".
This dog passed all my excuses that kept us from having a dog: 1. she didn't shed- Hunter has allergies. 2. She looked incredibly happy. 3. Tim's favorite... she was FREEEEEEE.
Wait. What? I'm not a dog lover.
Here was the clencher. When I asked her name, they said "TianTian", which happens to be the same "Tian" that is part of both of my boys' names... and also another word for Heaven.
It was indeed my heavenly brother's birthday, and here was a dog named Heaven, essentially...
K, wait, the story even gets better.
We bring Tim back to see the dog (he already said he didnt want to take the car there, because he wanted to walk the dog home, lol. He was set. He kept holding back his boyish excitement the first time he played with this crazy brown haired poodle fur ball).
Then, Tim goes to pay for the dog's leash etc. And sure enough Barry's funeral song plays over the dog store intercom (mind you we are still in China when this is happening), Sara Mclaughlin's "Arms of an Angel"...
It was such an emotional day.
Fast forward. It was still hard after taking her home, there were times I still wanted to give her to other people (China dogs are used to going on balcony patio mats, so TianTian helped herself to every small area rug she could find. Nice. ), and she was loud. She was so over the top energetic, that I felt exhausted just looking at her.
But then again my brother was that way too. He had a bounce in his step when he walked, was always energetic, loved everyone obliviously and wholly... to the point that it almost seemed over the top.
So I kept her. And after that first year, I feel madly in love with this, "our crazy dog".
TianTian gets a funny look when she is incredibly cozy. Her left eye gets very cozy. Her right eye always stays wide and alert (mind you, with 5 kids, she's always ready for excitement), like the two different eyes should be on two different dogs.
She's a shameless face licker.
She blocks the light like this when she wants to nap.
She wants to make sure every passer-by knows that he belly is fully prepared for rubs on your way by.
She is high-maintainene. She loves attention. If you are trying to work or something, she will paw at you till she gets that rub.
She has never bit anyone the kids. Even when they mess with her. She doesnt like delivery men, but be international dog code... She bit a delivery guy who let himself in. Good girl.
She jumps high (no pic tho), like past my waist high. And thats a real pick me up when opening the front door.
And her coat is down right mangy. We get it brushed and groomed all the time, along side our hoity-toity other fellow brown poodle owners, only to get back home and have the boys thow her in the shower with them. She's one of us, and we love her to the end. Thanks Barr, we love the gift you gave *us* on your big special day (Barry would have been 40 this year in 2015).
Monday, March 2, 2015
Feb 2015
TANNER'S BDAY
Tanner had his 9th birthday on Feb 3rd. He was home sick that day. Made this Bday wreath to celebrate HIM!
He was home sick so he didn't get his bday pizza cookie in class yet.
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HUNTER'S BDAY
On Feb 6th Hunter had his 11th bday.
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VISITING SUSAN
The scary text that had me on the next flight out of Shanghai right back to San Francisco.
Her heart was only working at 29% at this time, doctors later called it "Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy", also known as "broken heart syndrome", where the heart literally shuts down after the loss of a loved one. Susan certainly has been broken a bit since the loss of my dad. They had been married over 30 years.
In this picture, and at that time, she couldn't breathe without support, they said she only had a couple of days to live. We thought her new diagnosis ALS was spreading beyond (she has already lost use of her legs) to her chest. She had pneumonia and a collapsed lung to top it off. She had a "do not recusitate" band on her wrist and was ready to go home, to the Home with a capitol "H".
Later we learned that the ICU had accidentally given her a medicine that was on her charts as "allergic". Angry? No! I call it divine intervention that she is still with us!
It was a very scary time for me. Susan is all I have left... My mom passed in 2011 and Dad last October.
I had been enjoying our almost weekly calls since dad's funeral. With her diaphragm not working properly, they were brief calls, but so powerful. She said things that changed me every week. Thoughts on the atonement, how to love people.
One of my favorites- a tribute to her always (ALWAYS) positive outlook on life "I'm doing just fine. I miss your dad, but I'm fine. It's a dark time, but it's the good kind of dark. Some things, like seeds, can only grow in darkness." She went on to say that she knew the Savior etc. I loved sharing this with my friends. They love the "Susan updates".
So you can imagine how thrilled and over the moon I am to still have Susan a little longer. The ALS is terminal, but miracles are boundless, and for some reason, the Lord saw fit to answer the prayers of hundreds of people around the world advocating to keep her with us.
In the meantime, got to have goofy time with my pretty sister, who has always been cooler than me:
We ate some pretty nasty loaded fries that had us both feeling grumbly tummies after lol. But they were just as tasty as they look in the pic. Holly could do an ad for those nasty fries and get lines to wrap around the building with this pic.
And my wonderful brother Calvin who took me to the airport at like 4:00 am, only after being up past midnight together rescheduling the flight. How did I get so lucky?
We look alike, Cal and I, we have my dad's face shape, so did my brother Barry... We miss him, he's got our Dad up there now.
...And we are so grateful we didn't send him Susan this month! Feeling exuberantly blessed, guys.
Ps. Airline food. How do they get away with this main dish lol:
WREATH MAKING
Here are some friends of mine that came over to make wreaths with me in Feb while the kids were in school.
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HUNTER'S SCIENCE EXPERIMENT
How much salt can make an egg float in water?
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HAPPY VALENTINES DAY
(The little girls folded these little felt circles and pinned them into pipe insulation we taped together lol).
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BEST SALMON!
Lime honey burnt butter salmon... Google it.
To. Die. For. Add a little greens and quinoa, done!
Love my tacky wipeable IKEA placemats?
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SHHHH... MY KIDS KNOW HOW TO CLEAN!
This month the girls are learning to load the dishwasher (plate holding, what goes on top/bottom etc).
Tanner and AnnaLeigh are learning to "knife pillows" (when you slice them with your forearm to give them that picturesque look lol). Now they obsess over it and are constantly fluffing them.
What kid doesn't like to make a parachute out of garbage bags?
Their new thing, after watching the 2014 Annie movie, is to sing "it's a hard knock life" while cleaning, cracks us up.
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HOLIDAY NAPS
Their favorite place to nap is on the couches. It's bright so they put their blankets over their heads and zone out.
Here TianTian is joining in on the girl napping time... On top of AnnaLeigh. Crazy dog...
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HOLIDAY TRIP TO BEIJING
My all time fav way to travel is by train. The humming of the image and lulling motion of the train in movement- it's like being rocked to sleep as an adult!
When my brother Todd came in town several years ago we traveled by train to BJ. It is appx 30 usd more expensive than a flight, and now they have a 5 hour speed train.
But the SH to BJ over night train is a priceless experience in my book. And our family of 7 LOVED it. It was a tiny cabin, with 4 beds. But guess what? We got to take our little YuYu, Bc we didn't need documentation for the train Bc with her age, she rides for free.
Our first full family trip!
We got in around 9:00 am, our bestie family friends, the Petersons, hosted us and we took a few elevator selfies that weekend. Because that's what normal people do.
We bought crazy hats and gloves
These two above and below are photo bomb dares we challenged the Peterson teens to...
And there is our long awaited Great Wall photo with the kids. We've been in China 7 years, and can't believe this is the first time we've brought the kids to see the Great Wall.
one last sight-seeing... From the BeiJing Olympics Swimming events:
And I loved the time with my long-time Shanghai Bestie, Jane. So glad they are still in China!
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FAMILY HOME EVENING- GAMES!
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COOKING AND OTHER CHORES
I love to cook for the holidays and eat lavishly! Cottage Cheese Enchiladas (allrecipes.com- must try!), homemade Spanish rice, veggie lasagne with roasted pumpkin and sautéed veggies, and alas crescent rolls.
Did I mention it's the holiday season for Chinese New Year... And the boys borrowed the kitchen timer for the wii?
Messy unstaged laundry room. Cubbies to the right for school uniforms for the 4 at Ycis. Stool for hair braiding after showers. And while I never thought I'd get down to the last load... I did, it's in the washer, I've re-washed it twice and it's still down there now, probably will rewash it again... Because that stinkin timer is missing still and I forget to switch it to the dryer before it mildews... That last load always mocks me lol.
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WE FINISHED READING THE BOOK OF MORMON
It took us a few years to get there, lots of pushing through with these little ones. We started with reading a verse a day when Hunter barely started to read. Now we are on to a page a day, and barely finished cover to cover. Here we are celebrating at our favorite restaurant, Latina.
Hunter finished reading it on his own the week before we left for the house boat trip with Tim's family. He couldn't wait to report it to his Grandpa Calton.
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