I Love Beijing More Than Ever

We had a great time in Xian and really enjoyed seeing the city wall and the Terra cotta warriors. It was such an amazing sight to see thousands of warriors built to protect the emperors dead body. I wonder what the people where thinking when they were building them. Then we flew to Beijing and my heart just leapt when I saw the city. It is amazing starting from the moment you step into the brand new airport they built for the Olympics. After we drove from the airport to our hotel and got checked in I was thinking "God Bless Beijing". I loved every minute of Beijing (luckily we were there for 3 1/2 days). I will be blogging more about the trip when I get home (we are leaving in 30 minutes to go to the airport) but I just wanted to let everyone know that I did enjoy China (I just enjoyed some parts more than others). I can't wait to get home and see my family but I am so grateful that my in laws gave me such an awesome life experience. I am definitely coming back to Beijing with Ryan sometime. I can't wait to see some of you when I get home.

Greetings from China!

Well we made it to China safely after 3 different flights. We first flew to LAX and then we took a long 13 1/2 hour flight to Seoul, Korea. We had a 4 hour layover in the Korean airport which is like a luxury mall. Then we flew to Tianjin where we were met by my father-in-law and then we took a ride to the University where my in-laws are teaching at. I was totally exhausted by then end of the flights but the day had only just begun in China. We have been to some small markets where they sell food and today we went to a large market where they sell anything under the sun. After being in China for a day and a half I only have one thing to say, "God Bless America". Boy I am so happy that I live in such a clean and wonderful country. I hope the baby isn't inhaling too much second hand smoke (they smoke everywhere and right in your face) and I am hoping that my body will recover from the rock hard beds. This is definitely a once in a lifetime experience (especially since I don't think I will ever come back). Tomorrow we leave at 5:30 in the morning for Xian. I hope I don't freeze to death. The girls are having a great time with Ryan so I am not worried about them anymore.

China, Here we come!

Well I was hoping to get my Christmas pictures on my blog before I went to China but it didn't happen. So I am off to China today at 5 PM and I don't return until Sunday, February 8th. I will hopefully catch up after that. I hope I survive the long flights and the food. I hope the girls survive 9 days with their dad.

It's A Girl!

We recently had an ultrasound and we found out the baby is going to be another girl. We are all really excited and Peyton and Hailey are so happy. The baby looked healthy and the due date looks to be right on (May 24th). I am hoping to be able to pick out a name in the near future (if Ryan and I could ever agree).

It's So Hard To Say Goodbye

This week we have been saying "Goodbye" to all of the wonderful people and things we have become attached to in Southern California. On Wednesday I was able to go out to dinner with a few of my volleyball friends from our ward. We had a great time eating and enjoying each others company. On Thursday Hailey and I were able to meet most of my favorite people from our ward (and Hailey's favorite friends) for lunch. We hung out for 2 hours before I had to leave and pick up Peyton from school. I could have stayed forever just talking and enjoying their company. After Peyton got out of school we headed to Disneyland to meet cousin Aurora and Aunt Natalie for one last trip to Disneyland before we move. It was really cold but we stayed until 10:30 PM because we didn't want to leave all of the magic and great company. Today we spent a couple of hours at Peyton's school during her class party where the kids ate and played games. Peyton had a fun time with her friends and said "goodbye" to her two best friends for the past year and a half.

Here is Peyton with her teacher, Mrs. Ehlert, and her best friend Warren.
Here is Peyton with her very best friend, Brooke. They have been attached to each other since we moved here last year and were lucky enough to be in the same class for both 1st grade and 2nd grade. Peyton will really miss Brooke.

We are so sad to be leaving all of our friends and some of our family but we are hoping to make plenty of good friends in Arizona and we know we are going to enjoy being near so much of our family. Thank you to all of the people who have made our short stay in California so wonderful. We love you and we will miss you.

We're Moving

No, the title is not a typo. We are moving again. After a fun year and a half in Irvine we are moving back to Gilbert, Arizona. We are not sure how long we will be in Arizona (hopefully a very long time) but we are just trying to do what is best for our family and right now we know we need to be in Arizona. We will miss our friends and our ward here in Irvine. I was just finally starting to feel like this was home but that is usually when Heavenly Father tells us it is time to leave. We have had such a great time going to Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, and enjoying the wonderful weather we have here. We hope we will be able to visit often so that we will be able to see our friends and some of our favorite places.

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

We had our ward party last night and we had such a great time. The girls got to sit on Santa's lap and were able to tell him what they wanted for Christmas.

After we ate dinner the primary children got ready to perform the nativity. The girls dressed up as angles and the boys were shepherds. Even though Hailey isn't technically a sunbeam yet she really wanted to participate so I let her.

Here is the whole primary singing their final song with us. Hailey tried really hard to sing even though she didn't know the words to most of the songs. She was so well behaved and fit in perfectly with all the primary kids. We are really going to miss our ward here in Irvine. We made a lot of great friends and hopefully we will be able to visit them whenever we make it back to California.