This Week In Pictures

Do you ever feel like things are going in slow motion, yet warp speed all at the same time? I remember I felt that way the week before my wedding. That is how I feel right now.

From the looks of these pictures it looks like ALL WE DO is eat! I guarantee we do eat a lot of really good food, but I also spend  time doing other things...walking everywhere, at the gym, taking the dog to the park, running, shopping with friends, doing dishes by hand;), and watching Castle (my current show obsession).

These first two pics aren't really from this past week, but someone just forwarded them to me from our church service project that you can see here. 

Total vanity of why I included these...it is not often I see pics where I am pleased with how I look but I thought these two pics were decent.

I honestly have never, even seen myself laughing before...pretty funny!

The lobby of the theater at ISB. We spent a lot of time in this theater watching music concerts, play performances, orientations, Cub Scout Pack meetings and sports award assemblies. Go Dragons!

This school will always have a special place in our hearts.

Baseball RBI!

Prom time!

 I was so fortunate to have the opportunity to serve with this amazing woman. She is our Relief Society president and I am one of her counselors. What a blessing it was for me to be able to learn from her. She invited our family over for dinner last Sunday. I am still craving her tofu! Yep, I said craving tofu...boy have I changed!

I learned a thing or two about chinese cooking. Here she is making fried rice.

Lots of yummy homemade chinese food! 

Such great women whom I will always cherish.
 Funny that my eyes are more "Chinese" than my Chinese friend. 

 Hubby has had a coworker (another secondee from the states) who has helped him with everything while we have been here. She speaks fluent Mandarin so she helped him and us out of many situations. To thank her, we took her out to a fancy lunch. E had exams that week with a modified schedule so she got to come along too.

Another fabulous lunch at Maison Boloud.

My entree of lamb. Perfect.

 After almost two years I have finally trusted to let him off his leash here next to the road. 

We had a fun night with some friends.
 D really, really hit it off with their little guy.

Donuts for dessert. E has a Popsicle that when it melts it turns to jell-o. 

Some boxes have arrived  "just in case we want to pack some clothes before the movers come". Ummm, no. Why do their job for them?

D ripstiking down one of my favorite streets. Later he crashed hard.

 A lot of the time Dad works late and E is off at various school or church activities. D and I have the opportunity to have many date nights. I love them so much. He usually chooses a french cafe.

He really likes spaghetti and iced hot chocolate.
My poor children are pasta deprived, I rarely cook it because it is not my favorite dish...sorry Mom!

My yummy dinner at the cafe...spinach salad with pears and raspberry dressing.

 This picture means a lot to me. When we first came to ISB I saw all of these enormous banners hung for the varsity teams. At the time I thought since Emma would only be a Freshman it would be a slim chance that her name would make it onto one. She did make it! I am so proud of her, not that she was on a varsity team, but because she has left a little of her own legacy at ISB.

ISB Varsity Softball team 2013!

 We love going to the Silk Market and since we are leaving there are things that we needed to buy this weekend. We picked up some sunglasses, the girls at the shop really loved my boys!

Chinese people who work with foreigners choose their own English names to use. On the left is "Carrie Underwood" and on the right is "Mona Lisa". They were so fun! The workers in these stalls work seven days a week, twelve hours a day, with only Chinese New Year off...amazing work ethics!

D still gets uncomfortable about all the attention he gets from females.
I hope that doesn't change anytime soon.

Hubby, on the other hand, doesn't get uncomfortable at all.
Here he is with Mona Lisa.

 D will be hitting a milestone at church this year when he turns twelve. He is getting a custom suit made. These women are amazing! Wait until you see what they are making me.

We totally recommend Tony's Tailor at the Silk Market!
They have made many, many shirts, suits and even a tuxedo for hubby! 

Last Saturday the air was clean"ish" so I ran outside along Second Ring Rd.
 I am getting ready to transition from mostly treadmill to mostly road running.
I can't wait to run outside everyday!

Stay tuned for a post I have been writing for the last six months: "What I Will Miss In Beijing!"

Coming Soon!

Thanks for reading!

Two Weeks In Pictures

I have tried to stop the count down until we move. Can you believe it? I am trying to stop time so I won't have to leave? Who would've thought? Sure, I am excited to start our next chapter in LA and thrilled to see family and friends. . . but our adventure here in Beijing has been amazing and there are just experiences we won't have after we leave. I hope these "week in pictures" posts have helped you to get a bit of a glimpse into our lives here.

Three Weeks From Today!

Lunch at the top of China World 3, aka Guomao.
It is the tallest building in Beijing, for now.

Our view from the top of China World 3.
We were lucky to pick a clear(ish) day!

One of the shared desserts at our sky-high lunch.

What I do on the treadmill to make sure I can have the above treats every now and then.

Lunch Date with Hubby at 798 District.

This lobelia made me miss my mom and my own backyard.

Cool doors in the 798 District.

Pals from church stuffing pillows for a migrant school.

We made and stuffed over 100 pillows for the school, along with 100 blankets.

Super cute kid with a super huge pizza pie! Kro's Nest Beijing.

E and her BFF!

Checking out cars...keep dreaming!

Last week eggs, this week homemade syrup.

Cool car at the gym aka City Wall Marriott.

These are the amazing women who have kept me sane through this Beijing experience!
Especially the one behind the camera!

We had the amazing blessing of meeting and listening to Elder Neil L Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Click here for more info on who he is and why this was so special to us.

My adorable hubby. I love him in a suit:)

We have a Yoshinoya AND Dairy Queen in our church building. We don't go there on Sundays so when this special meeting was on Tuesday night, needless to say DQ was filled with Mormons! 

This is the park that I take Jupiter every day. I love seeing so many generations gathered. The white haired man in the back is there every afternoon doing Tai Chi. He is one of my many "friends" that I see daily but never speak to...just smile. 

A blingy Jeep. Besides all the gold trim the license plate frame was bedazzled. 

Date night with the boy. He and I both love these macarons. 

E just completed her first year of seminary where she called in and studied the Old Testament with a teacher and a class from 6am -7am every day before school. Good job E!

D performed as The Monkey King in their very own version of the famous Peking Opera.
Very impressive. 

Upside Down Pineapple Cupcakes!

As always, thanks for reading!

Week In Pictures

Life is and will continue to be a bit chaotic for about the next six months. We are beginning to wind down our time in Beijing. Kids are busy with spring activities at school. Repatriating back into the United States will be an interesting and learning process.

Let's do this!

My week and a half after our trip to Australia was great! Coming back to Beijing is more like home each and every time. I hosted book group at my house. We read The Shoemaker's Wife and since it is very Italian, I decided to make all the food things that I've learned from my Nana or mom. Of course, pesto was on the list. Unfortunately, I can't read basil in Chinese and bought four containers of mint instead. Plan B was jar pesto and mint water. 

Mint, not basil! Duh, now that I know it is very obvious the leaves are too small!

Mom's Homemade Pesto

2 C fresh basil leaves

1/2 C fresh Parmesan Cheese

1/2 C Olive oil (may need to add more for desired consistency)

1/3 C Pine Nuts 

3 medium cloves of garlic

salt and pepper to taste

Blend in a blender until smooth. Freezable. Serve over gnocchi or spaghetti with fresh green beans and parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

My very favorite cookie to make is homemade biscotti. The pure almond extract makes the house smell so yummy and the butter makes them melt in your mouth. 

Almond Biscotti before they are baked.

Homemade Almond Biscotti

1 C softened butter

1 1/2 C sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp pure almond extract

3 C flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1 C chopped almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together butter, sugar, eggs and extract. In another bowl mix in flour, baking powder, salt and nuts. Add dry mixture to creamed mixture little by little until dough forms. Divide dough into thirds. Using floured hands, form 1/3 dough into logs that are the width of the baking sheet. BE SURE TO BAKE ON A SILPAT OR PARCHMENT PAPER. Leave about one inch between logs since dough will expand while baking. Bake all three logs on 350 for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for no longer than two minutes. While hot, with a sharp knife, slice logs on a diagonal to form biscotti shape. Lay each cookie on it's side and bake for an additional 10 min on 350. One batch makes aprox 4 dozen cookies. Enjoy!

Book Group  Treats

Blue Sky dad with Galaxy Soho

An example of chic Chinese head fashion

Lunch with visiting teachers. Hand pulled noodles.

And here are the noodles.

The boys in my family were thrilled to be back in China for the remainder of Chinese New Year. That means fireworks!

Friends and fireworks!

The rest of my week consisted of getting the house and family ready for me to be gone for THREE WHOLE WEEKS! I have the great opportunity to fly to the US. For a week I will be in Southern California on a "fact finding" trip to see if we could relocate there. Then I will head up to Northern California to spend time with family and friends. Yay me!

The day before I left was actually a gorgeous spring day!

He always thinks he is coming with us.

In San Francisco this would be fog. In Beijing it is smog.
We still took off on time!

We used frequent flyer points for me to upgrade to business class.
This could be very dangerous! It was glorious!

Next stop: Los Angeles!