Category: Uncategorized

28 December 2015 – Busy Painter Annika: Ava and Anna worked together to cover the papered door in a unique abstract splattered-paint-sort-of-manner way.  Great job girls!!!! And here's Annika's rather unique creation: a representation of the exterior of the "Doctor Who" TARDIS (which happens, for whatever bizarre and odd reason, to be in the shape…

December 2015 – Do you see these little Christmas trees?  This is apparently how Chinese people who probably know very little about Christmas trees and traditions decorate trees for shop displays.  I found these poor little trees ….wait…don't they remind you of the Charlie Brown Christmas tree??? in a local mall just before Christmas.  I'm…

9 December 2015 – It's that time of year- for the IST Elementary Winter Show.  This year's show is called Time Matters. (time matters referring to the time signature of the songs) Ava is participating in the Elementary Choir: Grade 4 got dolled up for "Rock around the Clock" song:   The grade 4 kids…

13 January 2016 – It's my birthday!!!  Happy birthday to me!!!! ETA: I just realized after finishing this post last night that I completely forgot to add the part about Mark making me an absolutely egg-cellent (get it? LOL!) veggie & cheese omelet for me.  I didn't even hear him get up and start cooking! Along…

Our friends, Shell, Clint, Alex & Kate, stopped by our neck of the woods in China while on heading to New Zealand from the USA.  Our awesome friends had rented our home in Potosi for the past three years while we've been living in China.  Clint works at Deere and they were expats…in the USA.…

Christmas time in our Tianjin house  Here's the lovely bouquet of flowers I created. I really love going to LiYuan flower market and buying different flowers and creating my own bouquets. One little tree with new felt poinsettias the girls and I made this year: Panorama of our house: Watching Mark and the girls chill…

17 December 2015- I'm sure if you read my last post you'll have read about my not-so-subtle frustration with our diving trip to the Similan Islands. Let me put the Thailand trip in a very positive light. I also think that by now you also know that we enjoy attending cooking classes while traveling.  We…

December 2015 -  I'm laughing at myself as I realize that it must appear to others that we're always on vacation if you just look at the photos on our blog.   Just for the record, we're not always on vacation. However, we do try to get out every few months (especially to fill up…

November 2015 – Smattering of photos taken through November….. Annika, with Ava's help, using the perfume kit they received over the summer (from Cousin Vicki): I find it funny that you can buy Monrovia brand pots at the local flower market.  The only places where I've seen these pots is when buying potted plants.  These…

November 2015- Have you ever seen Chinese paintings before?  I think they're quite beautiful.  I especially love the natural subjects and settings that are featured in many of these paintings.  The paintings are simple and elegant. They take the essence of the subject and let it shine.   I'm learning gongbi.  It's a style of…