Lagging

It's a little after 5am Utah time and I've been up since 2am.  My luggage didn't make my connecting flight so they delivered it to the house at 3am, how kind of them.  I'm here in the States for just a couple of days before going back to Shanghai.  Then I'll be back again two weeks later.  With Jen and Will here I don't like to stay away for more than two or so weeks at a time.  Thankfully my job has been accomodating to let me come back and forth until we have the baby and we can all go back home. 

I'm hoping that Will will wake up soon. I got in late last night so he was already asleep. I want to go wake him up to play but I'm pretty sure Jen would kill me if I did. This week she signed him up for gymnastics classes. It's a class for kids 19-30 months old so he just made the cut off. Apparently he totally loves it and is always the one to volunteer to try the new moves. We will have to get some pictures posted soon. He's had two classes this week with another one on Saturday. Jen got a 10 class package and it seems like it is a hit with Will.

This is a picture from my bike race last Saturday in Shanghai. I ride on team Slice now which is made up of a group of expats from the US, Australia, France, and Belgium.  We've competed in two races now and have done well enough that we are now getting sponsored! Sponsors = free gear = happy me.  We are now sponsored by Oakley sunglasses, Giro helmets, Champion Systems uniforms, Lake shoes and NordicTrack :).  The uniform attached is cool but the new ones on the way are REALLY cool.  Our team captian used to work for Nike and for Trek and used to lead tour groups to ride at the Tour de France.  He used to attend the training camps and ride with Lance Armstrong (who is still the greatest rider whether he doped or not).  Our sponsors are all coming because of his awesome connections but I still would like to think it's because I ride a bike similar to the way Lance does :).  I love having a team to train with again and races to look forward to.  About half of our team also does triathlons.  We were all singed up for the China Ironman at the end of this month.  But of course 'China' had to happen and the race was cancelled at the last minute.  Most of the guys now will opt for the Ironman in Jeju, Korea on July 3rd but I'll be in Utah at that time.

Will should be up soon!  Time to go play.

TP's conference

TP says he's so busy at this weeks conference, and he's working really hard...

Yes, it looks like it, doesn't it? :)

He says that the Aggie-ette dancers never paid him any attention in college, but now that he's the boss they think he's cool enough for a photo. Thanks to these dancers though, his booth is the most exciting, and the one people want to visit. Good marketing idea.

These pictures I am posting for one of my friends. This is a typical supermarket, wet market, and outdoor market. In our last two apartments this is how our neighborhood was. It made for very interesting walks. Since we moved we now are surrounded by places to run, and bike. We do have a small wet market near our house, but it's small. 

TP's cycling group

He is a dedicated cycler every Tues., Thurs., and Sat. They do their quick speed stuff on weekdays, and long, tempo rides on Sat. (like 100KM+ long). This pic. is taken on race day. He is prepping for a 1/2 Ironman in China at the end of this month. TP, you look the best and the fastest!

Will can form sentences

The week before we arrived to the US Will and I were at the park playing. He was chasing the birds and yelling at them, and getting quite frustrated when they'd fly away just as he was about to catch them. Finally he got fed up with it and looked in the trees where the birds flew to and yelled out, 'Xia lai xiao niao!' (Get down little bird).

Will loves baths and always is pretty excited to play in the tub. Last night he hopped in and saw his bubble bath with a picture of a bear reading a book and Will says, 'Xiao xiong kan shu.' (The little bear is reading).

USA, and China

 Will loves ducks. He wanted to catch them.

 All Taylor's siblings together for their grandpa's funeral. They were all able to arrange their schedules to fly in for the funeral. Quite touching, really.

 Robert M. Kerr served in WWll and was honored with the 21 gun salute. Very cool.

 Will in China with his friend Oli.

 He loves to go on bike rides. LOVES, LOVES, LOVES it!!! He will often bring me his helmet and say 'qi che' (ride bike).

 A Chinese tree in full blossom. Very pretty.

 One of the first nice days in China. We didn't want it to go to waste and went to the park. Will got a little sunburn poor fella. We're not used to seeing the sun shine.

 My handsome boys before church. Wow! They both look so good!!!

 Will loves walking around in Baba's shoes. He wants to be just like his Baba when he grows up.

 He loves making messes too.

 I bought all this beautiful produce outside our apartment at the wet market (where the locals buy produce--super cheap) all for about 15 dollars US.

I bought this at the import market next to our house for the same price...

USA

 Will loves his cousins and spending time with them. He can say all their names quite well.

 Will enjoying a good ol' American summer evening with cousins and ice-cream. What's better than that?

 Will loves animals and enjoyed his trip to the zoo with best buds Sage and Stockton.

 He loved the water fountain-and getting soaked, even more. (Don't you love the ice-cream stains!)

 Pure joy.

 Another ice-cream... (I really am a good mother...)

 Tres amigos.

Will loves 'da xiang' (elephants), and will make an elephant sound complete with lifting his arm mimicking its trunk.