our week

UT. is a dream. I love this land. Here are some pics of this past week. We did a lot--swimming, splash pad, playgrounds, hiking, games, fireworks, rehearsals, recitals, yummy food, running and playing at the high school track (kids loved the long jump pit), library visit, picnics, kids camping out in the basement, horses...

After Amb's piano recital. Little kids eating refreshments.

These two are like peas in a pod. They are having fun running around together.

Will likes eating some of his meals outside on the back patio for some reason. Maybe because he likes the dog, or maybe he's enjoying the wonderful weather...

double trouble 

This is where I get to ride my bike-through beautiful fields, orchards, and amazingly clean air-and emptiness. I wanted to take it all in so I stopped my ride to get a pic.

While A. has play rehearsal we take the kids to the track. They play in the long jump pit, while my sis and I take turns running laps-reminds me of my mom taking us kids to the track. We played while she ran. Sometimes we ran with her. Sometimes we raced. This time it was Will who wanted to race. He got on the track and said, "Wo yao qu bizai" (I want to race). After a "On your mark, get set, go!" He took off and ran an entire lap. Then his cousin B. raced the second lap with him. I was like, "Oh my word he just ran 800 meters like it was nothin!" He was speedy.

If you can zoom in on this pic you should-J.'s face is classic.

Will got into Amb's lipstick before the fireworks started.

J. then wanted to take a turn

I am having so much fun with this family. Lots of laughs.

playing around before the fireworks show. Aren't the mountains and green grass beautiful!

Don't be fooled. This is actually a cherry pie without the crust top. Who needs two crusts on a pie??? But it doesn't look all that appealing in this photo, but man alive! It is tasty. We made it from scratch, and even picked our own cherries from the orchard.

The cherry trucks had just shaken the trees the day before and were done with them, so we had permission to collect what we wanted--the kids loved this.

darling little miss

these are the best cinnamon rolls ever! My sis did a fantastic job.

kids enjoying cinnamon rolls. Very happy kids.

Mango quinoa black bean salad=health and happiness.

hiking bridal veil falls

enjoying the sun and cool water.

J. also enjoying the cool water. She wanted to swim in this ice water.

splash pad was a hit. Cheesy grin.

Can you believe these were only 5 bucks? I'm used to paying that much for 1/4 this amount.

On a walk outside our home, and W. pulled this.

Enjoying the wild outdoors.

Jet Lag

The past ten days have been interesting.  It all started last Tuesday when Jen and the kids were supposed to fly out to Utah.  We had coordinated our trips so that I would be able to take them to the airport before I flew out to Vietnam and Thailand.  We got a notice that morning that her flight had simply been cancelled.  Major bummer.  So I had to set off to visit customers and she was rescheduled to fly out the next day.  She got the kids to the airport and got checked in, she even took her bike, and then boarded the plane.  Problem was the plane never moved.  They sat on the plane at the gate for four hours!!!  They then had to get off the plane and go back through customs, pick up their luggage, and then try it all again the next day.  When she checked in again on day 3 she noticed that they changed her connecting flight in SFO which changed her layover from 1.5 hrs to 6.5 hrs.  She told them to change it back to the original reservation and they told her it was sold out and not possible.  Out comes the new Jen, the Jen that has had to fight her way around a city of 30 million people, the Jen that has to negotiate prices at the markets and argue with people that are trying to rip her off.  The Jen that moved to China five years ago is not the same Jen we have now and is certainly no pushover.  When they told her the flight was booked Jen let them have it.  She had booked her tickets to be on that flights and was not going to be pushed aside.  She wasn't going to fly by herself with the kids for 12 hrs and then sit in the airport for 6 more.  She told the ticket agent to find three people and kick them off the flight on to the next one.  Overbooking the plane was not her problem, it was the airline's.  After some back and forth they actually did it.  They pushed back three other people and Jen and the kids got their originally booked seats.  Great job Jen, makes me proud.

Meanwhile I was in Vietnam.  It's an interesting place.  When the customer took me to dinner I wanted to take a bunch of pictures of the menu but didn't think it appropriate as it was my first meeting with them.  This menu was unreal.  Pig brains, turtles, snakes, every organ imaginable and a whole host of items that even after nearly 8 years in Asia I had never seen before.  Thankfully they asked me to order some items so I was able to make sure that we had a few things edible.  In the end the entire meal was great and we didn't order pig brains.

I came home from Vietnam for one day and then set off on a crazy whirlwind trip to South Africa.  I flew all night from Shanghai to Doha, Qatar and then connected on a flight to Johannesburg and then connected all the way down to Cape Town.  23 hrs of travel.  I then stayed in Cape Town for 22 hours.  Had my meetings and then caught a flight to Durban.  Did training in Durban and was there just under 24 hours before flying to Joburg.  The trip to Joburg was just over 24 hours but not by much.  After the trainings in Joburg JP and I (JP is a colleague from our Paris office) wanted to go see some lions.  In Africa you don't have to go far.  Within 30 minutes we were at a lion park. 

Here kitty kitty...yeah, this is a lion!  Glad he already ate lunch!

Isn't there a TV show about these guys?

Who knew that giraffes also love Doritos??  Super long tongue, kinda gross.

Yeah, this is a full size lion walking in front of our car... never had this happen before.  They had White Lions too which I had never seen before.

When playing with lions keep your windows rolled up!  They also wouldn't allow soft top cars.

My good mate (he's Australian thus a Mate) Gus is going to be moving from Shanghai soon.  We've had some great times on our bikes around the world that I'm sure will continue after he moves.

Jen has quickly become one of the regulars on the Shanghai biking scene.  She now travels with her bike, love it.

Will in Utah picking cherries.  Haven't been with him for 10 days and he already seems bigger.

June getting caught in the popcorn bowl.

This looks like a Buddhist temple but is actually a Christian church.  I couldn't get a very good picture as we drove by but I was stunned when I saw a cross on top of what I thought to be another temple in Saigon.

We had lunch at my Vietnamese customer's home.  It was very good.  Everything was fresh and yummy.  Chicken, fish, veggies and a few unknowns.  

I'm finally on my way back to Shanghai.  Back in Doha, Qatar today.  I spent the day here.  I was going to spend the weekend here but when I realized it was Ramadan, 110 degrees, and that all restaurants would be closed for the month I decided to just stay for the day.  Changed my flight and getting out of here.  The middle east might not be my cup of tea or I'm just sick of being in hotel or airplane for the past ten days.  Almost done, one more trip next week to Philippines then off to Utah for a couple of weeks!  Looking forward to it.  

In all things give thanks

I have some time to write! Probably no pictures today. No time to figure that out. Does anyone know how to get all iphotos from my mac onto an Apple computer? For now phone downloads will have to work.

June at the park. 

I love being in the Primary and hearing the children sing beautiful primary songs. Words from one of my favorites the kids are singing now--

"He gave me my eyes that I might see

the color of butterfly wings.

He gave me my ears that I might hear

the magical sound of things.

He gave me my life, my mind, my heart,

I thank him reverently.

For all his creations of which I'm a part

Yes I know Heavenly Father loves me."

Because I have been given much, I feel so blessed. This song reminds me of that, and witnesses this to me every time I hear this song.

I have been basing some of our family home evenings on this and talking about Heavenly Father's creations, and blessings we receive.

I think Will is getting it, maybe, because he came to me the other day with a Mickey Mouse DVD and asked if he could watch it. Then he said, "Heavenly Father created DVD's so we can watch them. And Heavenly Father created TV's so we can watch them."

I do love how Will will walk around the house singing primary songs like the one above. It makes me happy.

Handsome haircut

June liked the hair wash and cut

June is talking a lot. Here is an example of some of her conversations we have.

Will and Taylor went over to our neighbors house for a late dinner visit. I didn't expect him home till later so hadn't made a proper dinner.

He left with Will. June, naturally, was upset she couldn't go along. I was going to put her to bed.

She went to the front door, opened it, looked at me and I said, "Where are you going, June?"

"See Will", was her reply.

"But how will you find him?"

"2 minutes!" she said. Kinda like, 'Give me 2 minutes to find Will, and I'll be back'.

Then she said bye.

I followed her out to see where she would go. Once she knew I was coming she freely walked down the stairs and out of the bldg and headed to another friends house...

Taylor and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary last month. To celebrate the day we woke up at 5AM, outfitted ourselves in Lycra, and biked, or I should say sped, around a 5k park perimeter for 30km at gut wrenching speeds. It was a good day.

The best 6 years of my life. I'm one lucky gal to have found him. 

What a stud

Cyclists are an interesting sort of breed. In the past, I've always been intimidated by the sport. Lean, mean, bodies maneuvering something more akin to a  'hanger'-some reporter described it a few days ago on a Tour de France stage. Shaved, muscly legs, funny tan lines. Matching lycra outfits that are actually called 'kits'-who knew? Hard helmets hiding emotionless faces, sunglasses shielding eyes you can never read.

Machines-not men. This was a subconscious preconceived notion of the sport I long held. 

It takes practice to get out there and ride with a peloton, I'm figuring out. Because of Taylor's demonic speed (when I first went to a cycling get together I was introducing myself to one of the wives and she said, "Oh! You're Taylor's wife. I know all about Taylor. Kevin comes home every morning saying, 'Well, Taylor destroyed it again today'. 'Taylor rode everyone off his wheel.' 'Taylor made a strong pull for 10k.' etc.")he is well known, respected and liked in the cycling community. Therefore, they are more forgiving of me and my technical mistakes, I feel.

Last year when I was feeling despondent because I couldn't do the Great Wall Half because of my hip a friend of mine said that sometimes when we are forced to stop doing something we love, we find something else we love even more. I would have never guessed back then it would be cycling, and I never knew I could like the sport so much like I do now. I'm thankful for my friends wisdom.

When Tricia was here visiting (which by the way was awesome. I never got a chance to blog about it, but she did a great job on her blog) we talked about the saying, 'when one door closes, another opens'. I was just thinking of this last night because of something else, but this also applies here to. I'm thankful I was open to the idea of cycling, mostly due to Taylor and his love of the sport, and his encouragement, because I found something new and wonderful in my life.

Yesterday I took the kids to a local Chinese restaurant I know and like (Will loves his Chinese food), and it was quite crowded. We were sitting at a table for four, but were only using one side since June was on my lap. Two men came and asked to sit at our table since there were no seats elsewhere. This is a typical example of how the Chinese don't have the spacial boundaries that exist in the US. At first I was a little annoyed, but in the end, I'm so glad I acquiesced and let them take those seats, because we got to know them and made friends. One door closed when that meant June had to sit on my lap for lunch, but another door opened even wider when we made wonderful friends. I'm thankful I was open to letting them sit with us, however unwilling I was at first.

Ice cream at the park is always a winner.

And to end I'm feeling really grateful right now for all the wonderful friends I've made here in Shanghai. I feel that I rub shoulders with some of the finest women in the world, and I have learned so much from their life lessons. Some of those friends recently moved on (either back to their home country or to a new work position) and I'm meeting more wonderful people. And still more of my friends will return here at summers end. The selfless acts of service I witness daily from these women have taught me and changed me. I don't think they will ever know what an influence they have been on my life.

I guess when it takes 3 days to write one post it can get quite lengthy. :)

Before our boat ride. They were real excited to get on the boat but once on June kept saying, "See Baba. Scared. Boat. Get out." 

Will joined us on one of our date nights. June was in bed.

pool fun.

June in her 'princess' dress swinging from their 'swing'.

Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, Google

My flight back to Shanghai boards soon so I've got to be quick.  Today was very interesting.  My company was invited by Google to come and give a speech about how we utilize Google Maps with our products.  Since the show was in Japan by default I was the one to go.  There were only 750 in attendance for my Steve Jobs-like speech.  I had to speak through a translator and everyone in the audience had a headset to hear the simultaneous translation.  Since I've done my fair share of simultaneous translating myself I knew what things to avoid and how to speak so it would be easily translated.  The translator was grateful and she did a great job.  It was a bit nerve wracking but Steve Price would have been proud.  The other guest speakers were quite boring and went over time.  I was given 10 min to speak.  I got up there, did my things, gave an awesome speech if I do say so myself, and was off the stage in 9 minutes.  Immediately after one of the executives from Google came back stage to thank me for coming and say how happy they were with it.  The even coincided well with a product launch we are doing in Japan anyway so it was good for us to.  Enough about that.

This was the stage I spoke on with three big screens showing my presentation to the crowd.  

On a training ride awhile back in the mountains near Shanghai

Will is wearing is biking jersey and sitting down for a healthy-sized bowl of plain rice.  My kids do love their rice.  

Bath time with Cheeks.

Swimming in the tub.

couple of weeks ago I did a two day stage race on the East Coast of Taiwan.  This is me in the red on the left sprinting to the line at the end of a rain-soaked 170km stage.

My new bike.

The diet that Jen is trying hard to get us all to do.  

Jen and Will doing their morning Rip60 workout out on the covered balcony.

June very happy to get some ice cream.

Last week was a holiday in China so I had the chance to go to Thailand and do a 5 day stage race, like a mini Tour de France for amateurs, or so I thought.  The race was stacked with pros.  One guy had a lifetime ban from pro races for testing positive twice.  His finished 3rd overall in this race.  The guy that won the race was racing the world champion and tour de france champions just 12 months ago.  It was really cool to race people at such a high level but the race was super hard.  I could fill books to give the full race report but here is the basic summary.  Every day was about 105 degrees and 90% humidity.  We were doing about 6,000 feet of climbing per day and riding just over 100 miles per day.  I had three top ten finishes on the stages and was set to finish top ten overall until the final day when I got a flat tire 40 miles from the finish.  I was able to get another wheel from a friend fairly quickly but the peloton was gone and i was left to chase alone.  I was able to limit the damage but not able to rejoin the peloton to maintain my top ten GC (general classification) position and fell to 17th.  The race was epic and a bit of a breakthrough for me.  I was able to climb and hang in there with some very accomplished riders. 

Jen and the kids have been doing well.  Will passed his interview for school and will be starting in September.  The teacher asked Jen what she has been doing because it seemed like he had been in school for a year already.  Playing is the answer.  This school will allow him to do a lot more of that.  there are no desks in the school.

more later.