Fall/Vietnam/Cambodia

This blog has been blocked in China since last spring, it really stinks. They have alot of sites blocked including Facebook, which I really miss. I have access today for the blog, but not sure when we will again, so I will put up these pictures. This year here has been really smooth so far. Lauren has a good class and they both have good teachers. I can't believe it is already Novemeber. They went trick or treating last night and had fun. Marshall was Darth Vadar and Lauren was Hannah Montana. This morning, we woke up to snow, which hardly ever happens here. Marshall's eyes were so big and he was yelling "It's snowing, it's snowing". So we all went out and make snowballs and snow angels. It is still snowing, but it is going to get to 50 degrees, so it won't last, but it will be fun for a few hours.
These pictures are from Lauren's Brownie hike a couple of weeks ago. And also from International Day at their school. The pictures in Vietnam are from the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City. It was really intersting going there. Our favorite place was Ho Chi Minh and also the cruise we took in Halong Bay near Hanoi. It was beautiful there, we were also the only ones on this big boat (see the picture of Marshall steering). There were great caves that we stopped and went into, really a neat place. Not too impressed with Hanoi, itself. The pictures in front of the temples and with the elephants are from Cambodia. This is also where Lara Croft was filmed, we came home and bought the movie to watch. The pictures from the beach were in Nha Trang, Vietnam, which was Lauren's favorite place. Our hotel was great, we even had our own pool. We didn't leave the resort for the whole 3 days we were there, it was so relaxing!
Everyone here is good, and the cats continue to get into everything. Todd is going to be doing some travelling within China coming up this month. I've been going to a migrant school with a bunch of other expat wives, to help teach English. It has been really fun. I have the 3,4, and 5 year olds, and they are really cute. We have 32 in the class.
We miss all of you and hope you have a good Holiday season!

Lauren's First Communion

On Sunday, Lauren made her First Communion at the South Cathedral here in Beijing. She was proud! After the kids went up to Communion, you could see all of them asking each other how it tasted. It was cute. We gave her a silver cross necklace before Church and she loved it. The Church gave them a picture of Mary and Jesus (Chinese), a rosary, and wall cross. They were all really nice! Lauren got to take up the Gifts.
Marshall even made it through Mass pretty well, which is amazing since we were there from 3:00-5:30. After the Mass, we let Lauren pick where she wanted to eat and she picked TGI Fridays, so we went there for dinner.
It was a great day!

Marshall's 5th birthday party

On Sunday, we had Marshall's kids party with about 16 kids from his class. Everyone seemed to have a good time and it was a good party. We ordered pizza and had snacks as well as a Scooby doo cake. Marshall had a really fun day and loved the bouncer we rented. Next week is Lauren's First Communion, so I will be posting some of those pictures then.

Pictures

It's been a busy few weeks here lately, and I think it is going to stay like that. Marshall turned 5 on April 15th and we had a little party with just the 4 of us. We are having a kids party on Sunday, he is more than a little excited. We rented a bouncer and are having it here at our house. This weekend we also have Lauren's First Communion practice and party, and next weekend she makes her First Communion.
We can't wait until Ryan, Morgan and Brad come in May to visit. We are going to have so much fun, and Lauren is so happy you will be here during her Birthday. Before we know it, we are going to be back in the US for the summer!
We are also having some work done here, so there is a steady stream or workers in and out of the house. They are trying to fix a leaky and moldy bathroom and expanding the outside patio. I have a feeling it may take a LONG time. They are moving at a pretty slow pace.
Not too much else is new, I finished my Chinese classes (120 hours) and I still feel like I know hardly any Chinese. I guess I can understand simple things if they speak slowly. I am about the level of a 2 year old, I think, with little hope of progressing. Oh well!
I put some pictures up from Easter where the kids went to an Easter Egg hunt at the school and from the day we went to the Summer Palace here in Beijing, the week before. The weather has been great here, 70's and 80's last week, but the air has been pretty bad. The kids have had to have indoor recess alot lately. We plan on spending alot of time outside this summer to clear out our lungs (I think Leslie and Ella will be up for that, right?)
Take care everyone, we miss you!