Watch, Read, Listen

September 2016 – Right after our trip to Yangshuo, I happily & luckily got to accompany Mark on a business trip to Pune, India.   India is such a vibrant and diverse country with some of the best food in the world. And let's not forget yummy masala chai (spice tea)!  And while I'm at…

5 March 2017 – Hi! Did you think we fell off the face of the Earth?  Yeah, we kind of did disappear.  I'm not quite sure I'm ready to reappear yet either. I'm still feeling bitter and angry about the transition.  I ought to lie to you and tell you it's been a piece of…

10 December 2016 – So much has happened over the past four months.  Mark and I went to India.  We walked around the Taj Mahal!!!!  We had a family scuba diving trip to the Philippines.  We got to dive through boat wrecks.  Lots of events happening at school.  Cousins from Detroit popped over for a…

15-18 September 2016 – It seems that flying on a holiday can be fun.  We flew to Guilin (from Tianjin) on Mid Autumn Festival day on Air China.  The plane was decorated and the crew had several games for all the passengers to play.  I won this small stuffed toy from one of these games.…

26 August 2016 – It's voting time at IST!  Today the elementary students will vote for Elementary Student Council (ESC) officers.  Ava is running for the communication officer position.    Here's further evidence that girls rule (literally!).  Only girls wanted to run for ESC positions! All the girls gave excellent and impressive speeches.   And…

September 2016 –   Annika's grade 8 class is off on another WWW (week without walls) adventure.  They're supposed to hike and camp on an old section of the great wall close to Beijing. She's all packed and ready to go! Here are a few photos (not taken by me) during the week: Mimi and…

July 2016 – The girls and I flew off to stay with Mark's family in Michigan for the month of July. Picking cherries… Aunt Beth and Uncle Ray's pool: Lily dressed Ava in this creative costume: It was likely to happen sooner or later…Ava's first eyeglasses.  This spring when the school nurse did her routine…

  June 11-24, 2016 The girls are finished with school for the year and we're off to spend TWO weeks in Austria – visiting Opa and just breathing the clean mountain air. Oh, and perhaps taking in a few sights along the way. 🙂 First stop- Munich, Germany.   How about a soft pretzel the…

Whenever you feel like you have something to share, just remember that to your family you can lay your heart bare. Whenever you feel that life is being unfair, just remember that Mom and Dad will always care. Whenever you face problems that you can’t bear, just remember that your parents will always be there.…

9 August 2016 – After having a luxurious couple of summer months it's time to snap back to reality.  It's the first day of school!   This is Ava's last year in the elementary school – she's a 5th grader! The 5th graders apparently "rule the school".  HA! Annika is heading off to 8th grade…