Beijing Normal

Rich was invited to present a paper at a conference at Beijing Normal in October. Rich's parents were also invited to attend and present their latest book, Choose to Learn. They had a great trip, with many unforgettable experiences. If he was the blogger, I'm sure he would share those with you! :-) It's pretty rare that a grown man gets to travel across the world with his parents...it was definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Chinaman

Rich got home from China the day before Halloween. We were all so excited to have him back! Trenton loved this little gem Rich picked up on some street in Beijing...the thoughts of where that hat had been allowed us to keep it on his head only long enough to take a picture. I would have had tons of pictures of Rich galavanting through China on this post, but, lucky for you, he lost the camera on his last day, so this is all you get! We're all hoping some taxi driver in China is doing his darndest to find out where Boise, ID is! :-) He had a great trip, and we survived the week in Provo without him. We're all glad to be home and into the swing of things again--especially Trenton. I think one of my favorite things ever is to bring an 8-18 month baby home after a long vacation and see their reaction to returning to familiarity. Trenton had a smile plastered on his face the whole night. It's good to be home!

She's no Mia Hamm

Here's a pic of Livi at her soccer game a few weeks ago. That's right, she's the one in the ponytail, sitting on the sidelines, facing AWAY from her soccer game. Atta girl!!

Fall Harvest

Ni Hao

On Friday, Rich will leave for a conference in Beijing. Since we knew that he would be going a few months ago, Rich has been learning and teaching the girls a few things to say in Chinese--the full extent being:
"Hi my name is..."
What is your name?
Do you speak English?"
Surprisingly, the answer is "yes" every time. Still not sure what Rich will say when the answer is "no." Anywho, with all the girls are learning about the Chinese language, we are most excited about Lola's progress with the English language! She started with a new speech teacher last month, and the change in her speech is miraculous. She is really motivated to practice, and has improved her "s" and "l" sounds in very positive ways.

While Rich is away, we are heading to Utah to stay at his parents home for the week. My sister Jen is coming up from Colorado, and we're looking forward to being together and letting the girls play to their hearts' content. There are also some Utah cousins the girls are dying to see! I'm a little anxious about the drive down to Provo by myself with the three kiddos, but I can do anything for 6 hours, right? Right??

Soaking up the Sun

A few weeks ago, we had some beautiful 85 degree days. Lola and I took advantage of the last bits of warmth, and played (well she played, I napped!) in the sun. It was lovely. I'm ready for summer again!