Existential Safety Commission

For a change of pace, I'm posting a music video by my brother and his band. They are called the Existential Safety Commission. Enjoy!

China...6 months late

What an amazing trip! We went from Bejing to Xian to Guilin and finally to Shanghai (with lots of small towns in between). I could write a novel about our trip, but I won't because it would never get posted. So here are some of our favorites... The Great Wall, the beautiful gardens, the majestic scenery, the Terracotta Soldiers, the delicious food (however we didn't not want anything to do with Chinese food for several months after we got back), the unique culture, and last but not least the people. We met some wonderful friends on the trip, who really made our trip memorable. We had many wonderful adventures that we will never forget.

The Great Wall

Beautiful China

The Dragon Spine Terraces (my favorite)

Terracotta Soldiers

Real Terracotta soldiers above (fake ones below)

Ancient China

Dumplings Anyone?

These dumplings were shaped like what was inside. This one was duck. Super cute.

We love China

Ryan making friends

We saw an acrobatic show in Shanghai. Amazing!

Shopping in Shanghai (I am the world's worst barterer)

Our morning calisthenics with the locals

Friends

If any of you are interested in visiting China check out ChinaSpree, great company.
It was our favorite vacation by far. You gotta go to China.

Kisses

This kiss is for Grandma Darby. We have been trying hard over here to keep posts up on our blog. Just for you. We love you!

Our Little Angel

After a day full of tantrums, it always makes me happy to walk in and see this... Our Little Sleeping Angel. After 2 years of watching her sleep, it still hasn't gotten old. She'll probably think I am creepy when I am sneaking in to watch her sleep at 16, but oh well.

Yucky!

You should see my and Ryan's skin. We look ten years younger. Last week we had a very intense exfoliating mud bath. Actually it was the San Bernadino Sheriff's Department 5K Mud Run. It was a blast. Along side with some great friends we trampled through mud pits, weaved though obstacles, ran up and down muddy slopes, and got dirt, sand, and mud in every crevice imaginable. You can see from the pictures below that we got just a little dirty. We can't wait to do it again next year. So much fun! Thanks Kent and Nellie for inviting us.

Looking Forward to a Beautiful Summer

My little brother Chris is marrying this "Beautiful Summer" in August. We cannot wait!

April Visitors

Okay, so I am trying to post at least monthly (thanks to some strong encouragement from my mother-in-law). It is going to be rough but I will do my best. I have no idea how you ladies find time to blog so frequently. You must lock your kids in the closet while you blog or something. Anyways, here is my attempt at giving you a quick update for April.

At the beginning of April my brother had spring break, so he and his adorable girlfriend Summer came down to visit. We had a great time going to Sea World, the Padres game, and just hanging out as a family.

Also in April there was a big national holiday, hope you got the day off 'cause we did. Kate turned 2!! We had a fun pool party for Kate and her friends. It was not the warmest of days to have a pool party but Kate didn't care. We could not get her out of the pool despite her purple and shivering body. Turns out she is hypercolor like her mother.

Happy belated Easter everyone. We had fun helping Kate learn all that Easter had to offer. Dying your fingers, receiving fun presents from the Easter Bunny and eating more candy in one day than she has in the first 2 years of her life. We had fun hunting for eggs (indoors- it was a little wet on Easter).

Here is our beautiful little girl and "Baby" with their matching Easter dresses.

To finish off our month of visitors, my wonderful sister and her girls came down for a week. Kate had so much fun playing with her cousins and I enjoyed every moment of having my sister around. I miss her tons!

We had a busy and fun filled April. We are enjoying our great California weather and looking forward to more fun in the sun this summer.

I promise there will still be a China post coming.