Preview of Thailand...

I have a special treat for you today. I have really discovered my artsy side living here for whatever reason. I love finding new ways to be creative and mostly to remember memories in a fun way. Well, I found a new hobby...one that I can't do often, because I don't have enough time! But it is a lot of fun. I downloaded a new App, iMovie. It's a video editor with a lot of neat effects and things you can do with your videos. The day after my sister and brother-in-law left, we headed to Thailand to get new visas. We were there for almost 2 weeks over Christmas. We were bummed at first that we would be there over Christmas, but it really turned into one of the best trips we've had here. We had a blast, and I will have many posts following this one of all we did. For now, I wanted to wet your appetite with a trailer of what is to come. Hope you enjoy my new hobby :o)

Goodbye for Now

Our trip came to an end with my sister and brother-in-law and looking back, though it was so short, it was truly so sweet. We really had such a great time getting to show them our city and just hanging out. We got to do everything we wanted to and simply enjoyed having family here to laugh with. I don't know what we're going to do later this year when we're laughing with our entire extended families. I imagine Caden now literally bouncing off walls. Oh my. That will all be to come, but I'm so grateful they could take the time now to be with us for the holidays. Theses memories will last a lifetime.

So, my mom sent this giant Reese Cup pack from Cracker Barrel. He's still eating them!

Group shot. Guess I should've covered up Grady's feet. He still has his GA pj's under his clothes. I feel like Caden could pass more as Tiff's kid than mine!

Their last day we took them to a famous spot in our city that is in the center of our city. When we got there a couple was taking their wedding portrait. People here usually have a photo taken before the wedding then display it outside at their venue. Chances are this girl will wear a completely different dress the day of her wedding. All the dresses are rented. I love the photographer's face as he holds the bouquet.

One last group shot.

I love this photo. It shows history in the midst of modern life.

As we left, we got Mike's Christmas gift, the whipping can I talked about in the last post. He's trying it out here to make sure he really wants it. It definitely has a learning curve, but he caught on quick. We ended up getting him a nice wooden one.

Caden and Grady loved Aunt T reading them books, and so did I. It was nice to have a break from giving them 24:7 attention.

Love you guys so very much and can't wait to see you again soon!!!

A Day at the Park

One thing I love about living here is all the great parks and history here. It seems like these places have always been here yet modern life is coming in too. This is one of the further away parks, but it's so pretty and huge. It has some beautiful scenery. We decided to take Tiff and Mike to experience it :o)

One popular thing on sidewalks here is people will draw/paint traditional characters with water and mud. It's so pretty. It may not last very long, but it's nice to look at while it's there.

There's also tons of dancing, shows, martial arts, badminton, and other forms of exercise going on in these parks. It's very entertaining.

A lot of ladies like to use scarves, fans, and other objects while they dance.

Here's a video of them dancing with their fans:

The hole in the middle of the picture is a long tunnel through the mountain that takes you on the other side of the park.

Grady just chilled the whole time in his warm ski suit. I love that his hand is on his cheek like he's bored. Probably is.

It's been over a year since we've been to this park, but Caden immediately remembered jumping off this wall to his daddy. Amazing how the memory keeps track of certain places.

A group of guys were really amused with this flying contraption. Mike thought it was really cool, so Britton went over and asked where we could buy something like this (from the internet here in case you're wondering). Tiff captured this really awesome shot.

So a bunch of people in places like this always 'exercise' with this whipping can...that's what I call it. It's quite entertaining and what we got Mike for Christmas. I really want to get one as a stress reliever! This lady was really getting at it!

Family shot

More family! We're all so happy :o)

Next, we headed over to the toboggan...a mini roller coaster down our mountain. More like a joy-ride. Caden loves it because he can ride down with all the adults.

There goes the instructor, Mike, Caden, and Britton.

Here's 2 short videos of us riding the toboggan. It doesn't look fast but it was!

I love this shot of the misty lake with the red building

And this shot of such a peaceful place. Can't believe this is 15 minutes from my home!

Last, we headed up the mountain in these cable cars. Mike and Tiff got stuck rode up with Caden :o)

At the top of the mountain we walked over to this cool pavilion to see an overview of the city.

It always seems like when we go here it's cloudy...all 2 times, ha! It's still really pretty. This looks like the great wall. It's not.

Panoramic view of our city. I'm sure it's crazy awesome on a sunny day.

Mike and Tiff at the top of our city. Love you guys!!!

Looking through their eyes

So, I've loved that some of our family has gotten to see our city. I mostly love getting their perspective. The things that shocked us over 2 years ago are just normal to us now. A lot of things still gross me out, but I'm used to it. The day after Britton and Mike got back, Tiff and I did a little shopping around town. It was fun watching her watch me and her surroundings.

One stop was to our local grocery store. I have several stores I go to, but this is probably the closest one to my apartment. I can get some pretty normal stuff, but there's also some pretty crazy stuff as well. Here's our veggie section, chicken feet, eggs galore (you pick the ones you want, put them in a bag, and get them weighed), and our rack of hanging dried meat...yuck! The smell is ingrained in my nostrils.

I'm surprised I haven't ever posted a picture of our rice bins here. Where we live, rice is pretty much the people's water. You can get all kinds of rice in these bins or get a giant fertilizer sized bag of rice. There's also the live chicken section and live fish section. Tiff took all the photos of stuff she found interesting, and now that I'm looking at the stuff...it is pretty interesting.

We went to our favorite mall that has an H&M and a UNIQLO, both European stores along with Carrefour, my favorite import store that just increased their import section as well! I wanted to get a vest from Britton for me for Christmas :o) But the store we went to didn't have the right size. They said their other store had it. Normally I wouldn't go to that much trouble, but I googled the place she said it was and it was actually closer to my apartment. It was truly fate. I had no idea what I would find...

Here's the 2nd mall we went to. I love all the Christmas decorations.

So, we were leisurely walking through the mall because I wanted to explore what all was there since I had never been. I saw an ice cream stand and started freaking out that I saw mint chocolate chip ice cream!! Tiff laughed at me and said she didn't think someone could get so excited. Then we turned around. There IT was!!! An opening soon sign was hanging up with the glorious trademark Burger King!!! Tiff asked me is there a Burger King going up here? I said, 'What?!' I saw the sign and started squealing the.rest.of.the.day. Really. Ask her. I think the rest of their trip I would randomly squeal and say, 'A Burger King might actually open in our city!' You can't trust a sign. Just cause it says it doesn't mean it's happening. Case in point - the first mall we went to had a Starbucks opening soon sign then a week later it was gone. I didn't believe it til the whopper was in my hand. Well just last week, this Burger King opened!! Already! I know. What's the big deal? It's everything when what you've had for 2 years is KFC and Pizza Hut. It was a huge red carpet event...I will post separately on it later. I'm glad Tiff was there to experience it with me, and I'm sure is still making fun :o)

So, we left the mall, with my new vest, full bellies from a coffee shop, and many texts to all my foreign friends about Burger King! Love my sister!

That night we all went out. We were going to go to a new restaurant we found with awesome fish and chips and quesadillas (and that's pretty much it). It's a little far but worth it. We finally got there, and it was closed that day! Grrr. So, we went to our newly renovated KFC. Hooray (much sarcasm inputted). Grady also pooped in the middle of the process. That was fun. The new KFC really was nice though. I love that it was getting cold enough to bundle Grady up in Caden's old overalls that he wore when we first came here. So cute and crazy!

There was a giant lifesize lego display next to the KFC. Mike loved it cause he loves legos. Caden loved it cause he saw 'Santa.' Sometimes he's freaked out by Santa and others not so much.

We finally got to KFC and got all of our food. We finished eating, but Caden didn't eat his corn on the cob. He went to play at the playground, so I figured I would give it to Grady instead of letting it go to waste. He's never had corn on the cob, but he was ready for it. And didn't want to wait...that seems to run in the family. I guess he thought I wasn't going to give it to him, and started pitching quite the fit. I love his crying face. I know that sounds bad, but it's so cute. Britton and I both smile when he gets upset because he's super sensitive. Hopefully he'll grow out of that. Tiff snapped the perfect picture of his face while we were all laughing.

He figured out that I was going to give him the corn, and he could hardly control himself.

Finally. I think it was more of a teething toy than anything. He didn't eat much of it and mostly just sucked on it, but it was a new experience nonetheless.

After the corn, we headed to the very tiny playground, but the boys loved it.

When we left KFC, we ran into this dance group. This kind of dancing is done every morning and evening, everywhere. It's a little dark, but I love that the instructor lady put the biggest smile on her face when she realized Tiffany was filming her.

We walked home, which really is a fun walk. You see a lot of the city, and it's nice just to walk. Poor Tiff. I literally walked her all over our city that day. We pooped out when we got home. We all especially loved our rainbow bridge.

Sweet Times

Our trip with Tiff and Mike continued, and it kept getting sweeter and sweeter. Mike and Britton went out for a few days to see more of our country and how people really live. Since that includes sleeping on hard beds (more like plywood), no heat, and eating some pretty distingusting creatures, Tiff and I stayed home with the boys. We mainly just watched movies curled up on the bed with the heater blasting. It was so relaxing and was so sweet just hanging out with my sis.

Just before Mike and Britton left, we took them on a short tour through our old neighborhood then to one of our favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurants. It was their first time using chopsticks (here anyway), and they both did so great! They also thought the food was yummy, which made me happy :)

Once the guys left, Tiff and I took the boys to our nearby playground to let the kids get some energy out. Love both their smiles here.

One of the movies we watched was White Christmas...a Christmas tradition especially for us. Our favorite song is this scene when they sing, "Sister, Sister, there were never such devoted sisters..." I could sing the whole thing if you'd like :o) Yes, it's strange that we're watching on the computer and not on the TV directly behind the computer, but our local dvd player is stupid and doesn't play all of our dvd's correctly, so we improvised. I'm so excited I get to watch this again in person with my sister next Christmas!! And my mom can watch it with us too! The next night we watched the new Sound of Music with Carrie Underwood. It certainly wasn't the original but still entertaining. Sadly enough, we had to watch both of these movies split up, because well, I have 2 very rowdy boys.

Once the guys got home, they were revved up because they played a local card game where the losers had to do push-ups. Apparently, Britton and Mike both lost a lot, but it seemed to motivate them to do more. Aw, testosterone. 

Another night, we made s'mores!! I asked my mom to send us the goods of preparing s'mores and boy was it good! We made our own 'fire' by turning on the gas stove, using chopsticks (I knew those things would come in so handy), and we made perfectly toasted, golden-brown marshmallows between Hershey's chocolate and graham crackers. Mmmm mmm good. Um, yeah we did that a few more times.

Now, that's what I'm talking about. I think I'm gonna have to made 'some more' tonight!

Christmas on the Computer

Well again there's no pictures of Tiff and Mike, but we had a ton going on at the beginning of their trip that included a lot of other things going on. One thing we had to do was, of course, open all our gifts! How greedy are we?! Anyone who knows Britton knows he can't wait to open gifts and begs like a little kid for them to be opened until he actually can. When my parents sent tons and tons of presents, we found a time to skype and had Christmas morning a little early (then again on Christmas Day, then again after Christmas with Britton's family!). It stinks not to be able to have Christmas in person, but we are thankful for skype to be able to see them. AND Tiff and Mike were here, so we still had family in person with us :) Enjoy these crazy and funny photos!

My mom sent us all Christmas pj's (you may remember them from a few years ago). It was a tradition growing up always to wear Christmas pj's, and my mom got me and Britton these several years ago. She bought some for Caden and Grady to match, so we were one big hoodie footie red family. These pj's have seriously saved us, because it gets so cold here. It's super cold in the states too, but the people here don't seem to believe in central heat or insulation, so our houses just feel cold all.the.time. The feet in the pj's can actually zip off, and there's also thumb holes in the hands. Love it! Britton being Britton...

We all got up and started sorting the gifts. Caden was slowly getting very excited to open them all. I love Britton's face as he eats a pop tart.

Grady finally got up and was way more interested in eating a pumpkin muffin than his super cool pj's. He sure looks cute though. Don't worry, the kids' hoods zip off, so they don't sleep in them.

Let the opening we begin. We set the computer up and called my mom and dad. I love that Grady is to the side playing with his new shoes and the box they came in. He also got some new shoes that light up like Caden's! They are hilarious to watch. They really light up a room.

We made a horrible mistake letting Caden open a giant Buzz first. He was ungrateful and awful for every gift he got after that. This Buzz did everything, and all Caden wanted to do was fly him around the room. I feel like each holiday he gets a bigger Buzz. It's quite funny. Who's gonna find the next bigger Buzz? 

When I was pregnant with Caden some good friends got him his own monogrammed stool puzzle. Caden loves his stool and still constantly plays with it. He even learned how to spell his name with it. The stool has also been a seat at movie time and a step up for washing hands. It's really become a sentimental piece of furniture. So, those same friends were so sweet to give Grady his very own personalized stool to grow with. I love seeing his sweet little body in front of this stool and will love watching him as he gets way bigger and tower over it.

Caden got some new 'Sully' (from Monster Inc) slippers. We can never have too many slippers in our cold house! He is certainly a little monster!

When we finally finished opening, the place was a mess.

our dorky, happy family

Note to self. Do not put Grady on your shoulders. He will literally pulls chunks of hair out. And enjoy it.

When you live in our city, you can confidently walk out the door looking like this. I love Mike's face of, "Great, I gotta walk down the street with this guy."

Once the guys left for the day, Grady and I put on our super warm and new pj's. We waited for Britton to leave since Grady's are Georgia pj's (given by Tiff and Mike!). He's actually sleeping in them as I type. What can I say...we love comfy clothes.

Thanks Mom and Dad for spoiling us once again!