Here are some random photos. Lots from summer.

A few funny conversations with Will lately-

We were at the store one night checking out, and all the candy is on children eye level. Will was asking for a lollipop, and then gum, and then a toy, and I kept saying, "No, not today." As we were leaving he gestured with his hand to all the candy and said, "Mom, when I have a wife and kids, I can buy all this junk, and stuff."

He always tells me that he's going to have 33 kids… Not sure where he came up with that number, but he uses it often.

The same day as the 'junk stuff' conversation, in the car he said, 

"What day is it today?"

"It's Thursday", I said. Then he replied groaning, 

"Ahhhh, when is it going to be Sunday?"

Then we went through the days of the week, and that Sunday was coming up and he said, 

"It's so far and so long to Sunday. I want it to be Sunday so I can worship God."

This quite surprised me because he's always fighting Sunday morning because church is "boring". We had a good laugh at that one though, and then talked to him about what it means to worship, and it doesn't just have to happen on Sunday in the church building. Funny kid.

First day of school. It's hard to choose the exact picture I want from the thumbnails, so in this pic June has some food in her mouth. Will insisted on the tiger face in every photo.

Will made this at school last year.

The first mile of my 10k race. It was fun to be in the lead pack, if only for a mile :)

All alone. I came in 4th, but as you can see, it was by a long distance. 5th place was minutes behind.

Taylor's race at Dishui Lake, being interviewed. His team took first. I was training there that day, running around the lake while he raced, so I was able to watch the majority of his race. Every time I saw him he was on the front pulling his teammates, or tiring out another team. Impressive. Will and June had a bike race that same day. I think T wrote about that already.

Go team!

He spent a lot of time in the front working for his team. They took first, mostly because of all the work T did at the front. This guy impresses me because he doesn't race for his individual glory, he suffers for the team. He's a real team player!

One of my favorite pics from the summer. With Nono and Nona. These are special people. My grandpa just celebrated his 90th birthday. Doesn't he look fantastic?!! His eyesight is still great, although my grandmother's is not. They walk 3 miles every day, go to the temple every week, and go to bed early everyday. Good healthy lessons for us all. Oh, and they are taking English lessons.

costumes at Grandma P's. These costumes were a hit! Vampire, and Ice Princess.

camping in Fairview. Will said, "Mom, what's my friend's name? The one who runs with me?" (they like to run together)
"Bailey? She's your cousin."
"Oh ya, her. She taught me how to climb trees". 

My favorite sister. She knows and thinks exactly like me.  There's always good conversation and laughs when we get together.

cousins waiting for their turn on the 4 wheeler.

June and Jamo at Bear Lake. Best friends.

You wouldn't believe how hard it is to get 6 kids smiling in a photograph. I was getting so mad. June thought it was hilarious. I love Cole's silly smile.

Ogden Temple Open House. Beautiful. Will says to me still,  "In God's house there are lots of stairs"...

Will on his graduation day at the Wonder Center with his teacher. 

Best friends.

cousins enjoying a bedtime snack. 

overlooking Bear Lake. Isn't this a cute photo of my most favorite people? I love summer. I loved being on vacation with T, He didn't actually have to work in the office this time around.

I love summer in Park City

Some of my favorite ladies. I love summer nights with family.

Shanghai reunion. Of the 6 families here, only 2 have repatriated. I'm looking off at Will who wouldn't join.

My Grandma. She's 93, and still doing well.

Will's graduation day at Wonder Center with his teacher. This wonderful woman is pure gold! I will miss her, and hope she really will make it back to Shanghai and open another school that my kids can attend…Will standing tall and proud!

Bear Lake is beautiful.

Thanks to the small thumbnails I can't see well when I pick a photo, so in this pic, none of the kids are looking at the camera except 2.

June's turn on the 4-wheeler. She wasn't sure she wanted to give it a go with Uncle Joe, but she was fine with Auntie.

I think this is heaven.
 I was able to go on a 10 mile run with the deer and cows here in Fairview. I was warned beforehand not to go off  the main road because this was the first day of the hunt. 

cousins in the mountains

pretty smiles

saying our goodbyes for the summer

It's so hard to say goodbye. Don't worry, we'll be back!

Change of Season

We've had a bit of change lately.   As summer starts to roll into fall, one of my favorite times of the year, it seems like a good time to update the blog.  

Will switched schools from last year and June has now started school. She was happy that she gets to go to school with her brother but she gets picked up after lunch while Will stays for the full day.  Last year Will's school was supposed to be 60% in Chinese and 40% in English but he reality seemed to be more like 90%/10%.  This year there is no option - it's 100% in Chinese.  Its an international school but the teachers are all Chinese and all of the instruction is completely in Chinese.  Will and June have a leg up on most of the other students because they have spoken Chinese in the home a lot.  Most of the other students have had limited opportunities to learn and speak.  The teachers have told us that both of them often act as translators for the other students so they can know what is going on.  After a few weeks we have already noticed that June is speaking a lot  more Chinese than she used to.  Yesterday Will was walking around the house singing a song in Chinese that he learned at school.  Will be interesting to see how things shape out at the end of the school year.  So far neither of the kids seem to mind at all.

Will turned 5 last week and he was oh so excited about it.  We had a few friends over for cake, but no ice cream since Will is not a fan, and the kids had a great time.  

After nearly nine years with ICON Health & Fitness I had my last day at work on September 18th.  It has been a great run but an opportunity came knocking that I couldn't turn down.  I start my new job tomorrow at Specialized as the China GM.  We will still be based in Shanghai and this puts us here for likely at least five more years.

Jen ran a 10km race this week and it was one of the first running races that she has done in many years.  It was an all women's race with 2,000 ladies lined up.  She fought her way to the front of the race and the gun went off.  A lead pack of 6 women quickly established and they went out fast, faster than she had planned on.  Without having run any races for a long time the pacing was a bit of a guess so she just went out with the lead pack.  1st, and 2nd place in this race won a free trip to Milan, Italy so the motivation was high.  Unfortunately there were three other runners that were a bit quicker today and she came in 4th.  No trip to Italy but it was a great event to start to get back to racing.  She is preparing for her first 70.3 half ironman in Taiwan in November so she has been doing a lot of the swim/bike/run lately.  The best news is that her hip is no longer giving her any problems and she is training pain free (well, minus the normal pain from training…)

Today Jen got released from nursery and put in the primary presidency as a counselor.  I got released as branch mission leader but am still a primary teacher.

Will's 5th birthday.  Jen spent a lot of time to make a special Batman cake for his school party.

Last day at work with ICON.  Yes, in China I am the shortest guy...

First day of school.

June just striking a pose.

Cake cutting ceremony to celebrate the Tour de France being won on a Specialized bike at the China Dealer Event.  On my right is the founder and CEO of Specialized.

Selfie with the new company.

Jen during her 10km race.  Small pic but the only one we have. 

TP in another rainy race last weekend.

Will & June on way to church.

Will & June just being Will & June.

Tour of Xinjiang, and it's a Will Day!

Adding "Will" to the window in honor of "Will" day.

June fit right in at school.

It's a "Will" day at school. He shared a treat, and a favorite story with his school.

Taylor spent last week at a 5 day stage race with his team. It was a 5 hour flight to Urumuqi, and then an 8 hr train ride to Northwest China, nearly to the border of Kazakhstan. He actually did take a short drive there one of the days.  The terrain there is more like Nevada, or parts of Utah.

Lookin' good in red. Team uniform.

getting a proper bike fit.

At the tour. Lookin' good and strong! And professional!

TP at the front pulling his team-doing all the dirty work. He was a 'worker' at this race for another strong rider on his team. He's basically protecting the blue and yellow jersey, and protecting the other strong riders on his team behind the blue and yellow jersey. I think they were very thankful for him. He has an amazing ability to suffer at all costs for his team. It's really quite amazing.

At the front, again. He spent most of the race pulling the entire peloton. 

Any guess on which team won the entire 5 day stage race, and grabbed the yellow jersey, and all the other colored jerseys you can win?

Will with friends at a birthday party. Will especially liked the magic show.

June and friend, Ford. Aren't they cute.