MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Blogging is so 2007....

I'm not gonna lie, I really don't like blogging. Takes too long, there's too many steps involved in getting pictures on, and you can't add that many at a time. However, it's also a good way to keep in touch with family and friends in a deeper way than facebook or twitter etc...

So here you go, three pictures of a family shoot we had with Matt and Melissa McIntosh. They're pretty awesome photographers and wanted some more urban lookin' shots for their portfolio, and you can't go wrong with us if you're looking for photogenic peeps.

The end.

(I know, pretty lame, but at least we have a post for December!)

Nearly a month ago we went to Utah for Nancy's wedding. YAY! We had so much fun visiting family and friends! Here is just a small sampling of pictures chronicling our adventures...

First off we stayed with Nate and Mandy. Here are Ashlyn and Edie making silly faces for me.

Jaxon got over his fear of dogs. He even shared his fruit loops!

Michelle and Nancy and some pre-wedding silliness

Awwee...so cute! Congrats to Adam and Nancy! And check out that bouquet! I made that!

My little sweeties. I don't know why, but I seriously love this picture!

Princess Lilly always perfectly posed. Annie did an amazing job on these skirts, huh?

Jaxon. Steve. James

I know you wanted to see a close-up of Nancy's flowers. Not gonna lie, I was pretty proud of myself. I had never made a bridal bouquet before!

After all the Tang's parted ways, we went and spent a few days with Adam. Look at how he has the kids mesmerized with his sweet helicopter.

On the drive home we stopped in Cedar City to see Kim and Phil and their sweet little baby. He was born 2 months early, so at 6 weeks, he was still less than 6 pounds! Such a cutie!

Then we went to St. George to see Ben, Jena and their beautiful baby girl. Check out that awesome playroom! I could not keep my kids out of it. I don't blame them!

Phew! Now that my September post is done, we'll see you next month....maybe....

First Day of School

Yesterday was Ashlyn's first day of preschool. She was so excited. She actually woke up and got herself dressed first thing in the morning. What was more impressive is that her outfit didn't look like someone threw up paint all over it like it usually does when she picks her own clothes. She even tried to fix her own hair. I love that she was so excited to go to school! My little girl is growing up way too fast. When we dropped her off she gave me a hug and a kiss and ran off to play. When did she get so big?

JUNE

Here is a recap of what fun June brought us....

I actually got Ashlyn to wear the dress we bought in China, and if I may say so, I think she looks super cute. She just needed to be putting up peace signs instead of the one finger to really get the look right...

Bubbles! We bought these bubble guns in China, too! The kiddos LOVE them! And they actually work! Bonus!

Scrub-a-dub-dub. There were some cave-man drawings in the hallway by the kid's room so I put them to work cleaning them off. A couple of magic erasers and a spray bottle of water did the trick quite nicely. They even cleaned a few of the door jams!

POOL TIME!! Ashlyn was finally brave enough to go down the water slide all by herself (with the floaty ring). Fun times at Grandma's!

Ryan. Amber. Staci. Tami. Kira

SHOOTS! We took Mike's shotgun out for a spin. I hadn't been shooting for a couple years. I forgot how fun it was! Here is Amber. You can see the little orange clay pigeon in the distance.

Jason. Mike. Spencer running away.

YUM! We went blueberry picking. We took Jet along with us. The kids had so much fun filling up their baskets!

Amber and her gang were there too. And some random kid who thought our group was fun.

Spencer. Trevor. Staci. Jason. Ashlyn. Jet. Brooklyn. Brinley. Allie. Amber. Heather. Jaxon. Kid in Red

Happy Father's Day! A few days before Father's day we were in Cost Plus, and we entered a drawing. They took Jason's picture with Ash and Jax, and put in on display with the other dads. the day before Father's day we got a phone call that Jason won a basket full of goodies!

On June 25, Jason turned 30! Look at all those candles! We had a little party, and even Nancy and Adam came to help celebrate! (oh, and to plan their wedding, too)

BEACH! After Nancy and Adam left, Andrew and Liew came to visit. We went to the beach on of the days and the kids had so much fun digging in the sand...and the dad's did too! But I think Jaxon had the most fun watching the sea gulls. This is right before he took off after one.

And a trip to Balboa is not complete without riding a ride in the "fun zone". Those kids sure love carousels!

And that's it! Phew! I feel like we are almost caught up. Good thing we aren't too far into July yet!

CHINA! Days 4 - 12

Alright. This travelogue was taking WAY too long. So, here is the rest of the trip...one picture per day...

Day 4: We met up with Jason's aunts and uncles and went to the Hong Kong temple. After the session and lunch we headed up to see yeye's (Jason's Dad's Dad) grave.

Heather. Annie. Nancy. Auntie Fanny. Auntie Grace. Uncle Tony. Dad T. Jason. Clarence.

Day 5: We took a ferry to Cheug Chau Island. Dad T used to work at his dad's jok shop here. It was a super cute little island to hike around. Probably my favorite place in Hong Kong. Here are some of the dragon boats.

Day 6: We bussed to the Shenzhen airport and flew to Xi'an. We stayed at the Shuyuan Hostel. It was super cute. Highly recommend it. Here is the wall all lit up. So pretty!

Day 7: We took a bus to see the Terra Cotta Warriors. This is one of the pits. You can see how massive this room was! All those little soldiers are life-size, to give you some perspective. If you ever get a chance to see them, take it.

Day 8: We rode bikes all the way around the Xi'an city wall. That was pretty stinkin' fun, too, although it gave us some sore booties. I think it was about an 8 1/2 mile ride.

Day 9: We took a sleeper train to Beijing! We started off the day at the silk market. Great place to do some souvenir shopping. Then we went to the Temple of Heaven. I guess the emperors would come here to pray for good harvest. This is what's pictured. Then we went to see a Chinese acrobat show. Also a must-see.

Day 10: Tienanmen Square and the forbidden city. We also ate some nasties at the wangfujing market that night, but you'll have to check out Annette Bailey Tang's facebook pictures to see all the disgusting things you can buy.

Day 11: Last day! We went to the Great Wall. If you zoom in on this picture you can find Dad T, Nancy, Annie, and Jason. 10 points if you can spot them! This was definitely the highlight of the trip. It is so amazing to see how long the wall is. It seriously seems to go on forever.

Day 12: We flew back to the good ol' USA!

CHINA! Day 3

Thursday, May 20 we went to Lantau Island. Here, at the Po Lin Monastery, is the Big Buddha. And by big they mean GINORMOUS.

The "original" Tangs: Jason, Dad, Clarence, Nancy. You can see the Big Buddha way in the background and the gazillion steps you have to climb to get there.

Just in case walking down all those stairs didn't hurt our old knees enough, we had to finish them off with some sweet jumps.

Jason being, well, Jason.

They have those "stick your head in the hole" picture things in China, too!

Outside the monastery were these random holy cows. They fit right in with the Taxis.

The best part was definitely the "toilet" signs. Not only were they entertaining to look at, they also spared me from using my only Cantonese phrase. Chee-saw hai bin do (Where is the toilet)?

And this work of art was inside one of the restrooms. Isn't it great? However, 99.9% of the restrooms failed to provide hand-soap, leaving this poster useless. Good thing I always carried my trusty hand sanitizer!

After some debate, we decided that the tram would be the best way to get back down the mountain. We took a bus up, and while the views were incredible, the winding road was too much for some of my fellow travelers to handle. This is one of the cars we passed. The views from above were even more spectacular. I never tired of the beauty of this region. So green and lush!

When we got back to the metro, we were feeling a little bored, so we entertained ourselves with some silly pictures.

love those camelbaks!

How many different shades of hands in one family?

Since we hadn't done tons of walking, we decided to head over to the Temple Street night market. This is the only picture I took there. Oops.