Mommy I look like a pretty picture...

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Today Brielle came and sat next to me on the couch and said "Mommy I look like a pretty picture" then she posed. So I asked her, since she hates to sit still for pictures, if she wanted me to get out my camera. And she answered in her little voice, with a stuffed up nose (from a cold) Huuhhhhhhhhh, then she posed some more and told me to hurry. So, I grabbed out the camera and these are the pictures I took. Well, of course not two minutes passed before Ash wanted to feel special too and so I took some good pictures of both. Although, you can tell, Ash was again in a goofy mood. We love their personalities!

You know lately I've been thinking; It's been a while since I felt young. I know you're probably rolling your eyes at this point as I haven't even hit 30 yet, but really I feel old. I feel like my mind is betraying my age and I shouldn't feel so responsibly ancient. So, I've been wondering why and this is what I can figure out: We start out with energy and a vibrant love for living. Then as we grow into teens we push ourselves and our limits to expand the world around us, challenging the truths we have been given. After this as we mature, or don't as the case may be, we may come across a time in our lives when we bring children of our own into this world. Now this is the stage I find myself at; This is where we are forced to redefine ourselves as parental role models, striving to not only set the example but be responsible enough to safely lead our children through life. I think this is where I have lost my youth. In trying to give my children a love for the world, and the energy to explore it, I have given my sense of adventure away for the comfort of their well being. I am now trying to find myself in this oasis of our existence. However, I now think I see where grandparents come in, for if we do indeed loose some of our vivaciousness then perhaps in grandchildren we rediscover the joys of innocence and living without the fear of responsibility that parenting brings. I don't know, it's just a thought...

Hope you enjoyed your weekend. We celebrated Thanksgiving with a fabulous group of friendly people. I attempted, for the first time, to brine the turkey I was cooking and it turned out beautifully. We had a great weekend, complete with a family movie night (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs) topped by a hour of playdough tonight. We all had fun making some cool stuff, but I would have to tell you that Hoss's mouse looked remarkably like a pig. Although, he seems to argue otherwise;)

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's a small world ride!

You people must think I'm joking, but people do really take pictures with them constantly and they always seem to take better pictures for these random people than they do for me...frustrating!

I thought this was cool because it was written in both languages

The train ride there.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

We spent the day at DISNEYLAND!!!! It was awesome and we had tons of fun. I even got Ashlynn to ride Space Mountain with me as she's finally tall enough! Poor little thing though, she had her eyes shut the whole time:) Then when we went to the restroom after the ride she told me I needed to "wash my hands because the aliens might have touched me". I never even mentioned aliens...but I guess she just associated it with space. Anyhow, to make her feel better we went and blasted them on the Buzz light year ride afterward. She actually beat both Hoss and I with her score. And the best part was there were no lines, anywhere! We saw the parade, watched the Lion King show, rode the train and then did my favorite, Its a Small World! The girls loved everything. Oh, and too funny. We knew there would be camera-happy people everywhere and so we decided to count today; 21 different people took their picture with the girls. What are they going to think when they get around Caucasian people again! It actually gets pretty annoying. Ash was really good about it. She seems to take better pictures for them than me, but Brielle was not cooperative and we never make her.

Well that was our fabulous day! We are going to have our Thanksgiving dinner celebration with friends on Saturday (schools here didn't even give the day off today) so we are looking forward to that. And in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I thought I'd share one of my favorites I've had with Hoss. It was when we first had gotten together. We hooked up in July and then seperated for different schools around the 11th of November. Now keep in mind that by the time we left each other we had already picked out rings, so we had gotten close. He was in North Carolina and I was in Florida. I was missing him alot, and as it was also my first year out of the house and away from family I was feeling bad about the upcoming holidays. Anyhow, he managed to borrow a friend's truck and drive down for the weekend. We explored Jacksonville together and he got me through the day. My most vivid memory of the time is our Thanksgiving meal. We both didn't have money and he had spent last dime on gas to get down and I was spending the rest of mine to get him back up. So our meal for the holiday was 99 cent tacos and when we got back to the room we shared a bag of oreo cookie poptarts. Ya know, Thanksgiving isn't about the food. It's about the company. I loved that weekend. You could have stuck us in a cargo container with a box of oatmeal and we would have never wanted out. I am thankful for those moments, they make all the hard times seem like a passing breath.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

The Playroom Fort

There's that "Paquette Scowl" again.

The girls recently figured out that the floor mats could be turned into a fort and boy were they excited! They insisted I take a picture of their first fort and this is before they figured out that they could use the blocks underneath of it as stabilizers so it's still a bit saggy in front. I can't tell you how nice it is to have a playroom! I love it and so do they. Anyhow, nothing else new to report. We went to a new playplace today at a club that one of our friends is a member at. The girls had a great time, but for some reason they still had energy left at the end. I was hoping for full blown exhaustion and a quiet afternoon, but these girls are the energizer bunnies! Ash is learning addition in school and we had a breakthrough with colored straws and circles...don't ask but it finally registered so I was happy. Thank God for the teachers on YouTube who give away their knowledge for free!

I'm thanking the Lord he made you...

Hello! We had a rather uneventful weekend. We attended a Karate demonstration for Ash and hit up a mall where the cotton candy is to die for (I think I like it more than the girls!). It actually has a distinct watermelon flavor that we will brave a hours worth of public transportation for:). Then today we watched the UFC 106 and walked to a new park that Hoss showed us. It was nice and the walk there was on a pathway with trees, so it was very enjoyable. In all it was a relaxing weekend and we are ready for a busy Thanksgiving week. And so, in the spirit of the upcoming holidays (not Christmas for all you early decorators!) I wanted to post this link (I'm not sure how to load the video) of Johnny Cash singing a heartfelt Thanksgiving tune on Dr. Quinn. I used to love that show and it was one of the few we were allowed to watch. I'm thankful for everyone I have come across in my travels. I hope that your lives continued to be enriched and stimulated, and that you always have a friend to share your journeys with. May your thanksgiving table be full of memories and your heart warm with love.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA7ujUJCIdE&feature=player_embedded#

The Playgoup Safari!

My sweet girls need some lessons about looking at the camera! Oh well!

Here's some pics from our playgroup adventure. We went to a local park with Monkeys and birds and had a safari! Life is finally normal. When we arrived he had some major stuff to take care of and this weekend was the culmination of it all...Luckily for us it went well:) Anyways, now we can relax and get into the rhythm of life here and start looking forward to the holidays. This week the weather here turned and it has been nice to pull out the sweaters and coats. It's not cold in North American standards, but it did hit 52. Hope everyone is doing well. Love to all!

Like a Sweet Red Cherry

Today I promised Ashlynn we wouldn't go anywhere. This comes after dragging her around sightseeing with us yesterday and she is a homebody to the extreme. We have to bribe her to even go to the park. She just likes being home and playing with us. So anyways, I figured I would get around to telling one of our move in stories...It's not the best grammatically, but it gets the job done.

When we first arrived here in Hong Kong it was a Friday and Hoss was called away to a conference, in Bangkok, on the following Monday. I was alone for the week; feeling a bit overwhelmed and wanted the beauty of Montana back (we had just finished vacationing there), but I was trying to make the best of it. At any rate the place where we were staying had a pool and I was determined to find a swimsuit so I could take the girls, mine had gotten lost in transit. So off we go into the crowds of people and onto the joys of public transportation. (I had a fairly good idea of where I was going as one of the ladies helping us get adjusted had pointed out a department store.) So we arrived and I managed to find a suit, but trying it on was nearly impossible because the dressing rooms were the size of a bathroom stall and with me and the girls it was a little squishy. Never mind the fact that Brielle kept trying to peek under the stall to see who was next store:) So just as I'm struggling the top on over my clothes (we all know the hazards of trying on swimsuits) I have to keep reaching over Ashlynn to pick up Bri and then as I finally am shrugging on the bottoms she decides to play with the door and out it swings with me chasing it like a waddling penguin. It sounds funny, but when you are jetlagged and not into the big city life it was just another thing to add onto the discomfort. Let's just say I pulled the swimsuit off and figured it would work. Then as we were walking to the tram stop I noticed, about the same time as the girls, a Toys R Us and since I was trying my hardest to help them happily adjust to this new place, we went up to the store and looked down every aisle. Now, about this time the girls decide they are starving and have to pee so we asked around until we found a bathroom and thankfully it was right next to the food court. So, we once again squished into a stall together and took care of the business at hand. After this we sat down to a fabulously western meal of KFC. By this time it was getting dark and I was terrified I might miss the bus stop without being able to identify the buildings I needed to so we hurried off and hopped on the tram. The whole experience had charged Ashlynn and left me exhausted. She was just a talking away about the toy store and Hong Kong and going to the pool. I was trying to keep up and making sure Brielle was still snuggled into my side when I noticed the bag with my swimsuit was missing. Now with how many places we had walked, and been, I had no idea where it was or when I might have put it down and with all of the people constantly swarming it probably had been picked up right away. And also, as it was getting late I couldn't go back to try and find it anyhow. So, I will admit, this was my lowest point and the tears started falling; right there on the stupid tram. It was just too much and I didn't want to be there. I had a fabric grocery bag in my purse and I used it to wipe away my tears and hoped no one was noticing. But poor Ash kept going and I had to ask her to stop because I wasn't keeping up or giving her the answers she was looking for and she was getting frustrated. Well, kids are pretty perceptive and she looked me in the eye right then and told me: "It's ok mommy, I love you like a sweet red cherry" then she gave me a big hug. I think it was the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me. There have been lots of moments in my life but those words are something I will remember for the rest of my days. What a sweetheart. What a crazy life. I still long for the peace of Montana and the beauty of the mountains, but I am ok here in the noise of the city.

Chi Lin Nunnery

Here we are starting out on our adventure. This building had miniature replicas of old pagodas and traditional buildings to show the architecture of how the tresses and pieces were put together.

So cool and bright in the sunlight!

The front guard gave Bri a map and she proceeded to direct us the whole way.

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More pics of the pagoda.

If you click on the pic you can even see the koi fish!

I borrowed the thought of this picture from a cool one I saw that our friend Andy took.

This was the enterance to the nunnery.

I caught a cool dragonfly on this one and a bee on the flower on the next one, you'll have to click on it to see the details...

The end of the day they were all tired and this is the picture of what I term as the "Paquette scowl". It is an expression they all wear naturally, even when they are content. Too funny!

Today for Veteran's Day we went sightseeing. It was a beautiful day and we saw a park, a nunnery and the History Museum. The park was so serene it was incredible and then the nunnery was awe inspiring. We weren't able to take pictures in the nunnery but the golden statues celebrating Budhha and his followers were amazing. They were larger than life and full of symbolism. It was really cool and even the girls were completely quiet as we walked through the different halls. Then we had a picnic lunch at a different park and then headed off to find the History Museum which had a special exhibit on the last hundred years of China. I am always surprised and find it facinating to view the histroy of the world through another countries eyes. Anyhow, it was great day and thank you to all those past and present who have served. We owe so much to you.