Photo Shoot!

My good friend Crystal came down to visit us yesterday and brought along her extra fancy camera! So we decided a little photo shoot of the girls was in order considering I haven't had their pictures taken in year! I put them in dresses that of course would coordinate with my home ;) and had the pictures taken in my mom's back yard. It was a little difficult to get everyone smiling at the same time, but a few turned out beautiful!

Daddies and Daughters

I grew up with 2 sisters. So there were 3 girls in the house and then my mom....and then...my dad. My poor dad. So much estrogen under one roof is never a good thing. But he survived! And now....he has 3 granddaughters! I chuckle just thinking about it! But I know my sisters would agree, that we couldn't have asked for a better dad. He always made sure we knew how much he loved us. He planned the best family vacations every year and always provided for us - I never knew when they had money issues. He was the one who drove us girls to college and saw us off. I remember my second year at BYU Idaho, he'd just dropped me off and was ready to head back to Washington, when I realized I'd forgotten something in his car. I must have surprised him because when I saw his face he quickly dried his eyes. If he sees an emotional movie or commercial even, he is the first to get teary! This is why I truly believe that it takes a certain kind of man to have only girls for children! Dad, I love you!
Still on the subject of special daddies to girls, I come to my husband David. I have to admit that I was a little nervous when we were first married. I'd never seen him around children! But once Emma was born, my worries melted away. No kidding, that man had a list of who could not hold Emma as an infant! As I'm typing this, he's putting Emma and Claire to bed, the darling. He honestly, is one of the most patient, loving, soft men I've ever known. The love he shows for all of us amazes me every day, especially when at the end of the day my face looks like the one below, and he comes in with hugs and kisses for us all. He has a testimony and a brilliant mind that I see reflected in my girl's eyes. David, I love love love you my honey of a man! I could not ask for anything more!

China Day 2! Finally!

Finally back to China! I'm going to forget things if I don't continue!
So day 2 was spent at the Temple of Heaven. This was where the Emperor would go to pray for a good harvest twice a year. It was built in the early 1400's. This place was gorgeous! The gardens were beautiful - all the buildings had spectacular blue roofs that were supposed to represent heaven. The Temple of Heaven was much larger than the Forbidden City, I was surprised by that. But they believed that if the Emperor went to the Temple of Heaven to pray to God, then it should be bigger than where the Emperor lived. They had a really cool Echo Wall that surrounded some buildings - if you stood about 50 feet away from someone and spoke close to the wall, they could hear you. It kind of worked - and I already forget why they built that! There was even a building that was exclusively for the Emperor to change in! We walked along a peaceful sidewalk where we passed by a man playing some kind of flute. We stopped and listened and he ate it up! Not only did he play some Chinese songs, he played 'Yankee Doodle' and 'My Country 'Tis of Thee'. We loved hearing some patriotic music and he enjoyed all the pictures and video we took of him. We continued on to hear a beautiful concert of ancient music. After we finished up with the Temple we went to the Pearl Market. This place was incredible! If you looked anyone in the eye or stopped to look at something, you had to be prepared to firmly say 'no!' or barter. They always started really high and you had to give your lowest price and stick to it! I'll go into this later....it was quite an experience! Overall, an incredible day once again!







Proof that I actually used chopsticks the WHOLE time I was in China! I didn't use a fork once - that's amazing considering I'd never figured out how to use them until I got to the land of chopsticks!
Dave's brother Matt being goofy.
Bruce, me, Dave and Matt at one of the temples.

Me and Dad Coleman, he was such a trooper every day and was a wonderful resource - he knew so much about all the places we visited! I have to say he's become a real buddy of mine! He's a lot of fun!

Happy Birthday my darling Claire Bear!

I'm late in writing this up, but my middle child - my happy, funny, adorable, loveable, squishy Claire just turned 4! I can't believe my little brown haired surprise is 4 years - old already. When I found out I was pregnant with Claire I'm ashamed so say I cried! Emma was 9 months old at the time, and even though we were going to try in another 3 months to get pregnant, I wasn't prepared for another baby! But Claire is such a blessing to our family. She is such a tender heart. Although a little stinker right now and a little emotional at times, Claire is the first one to hop up when someone is crying or hurt to give them a hug. Poor Olivia, a little girl in our ward, is constantly being "taken care" of by Claire at playgroup because she just LOVES her! The same goes for her little buddy "Zulia" from church! She has to be by her side, laughing, teasing, hugging...whatever.
I love my little Claire Bear for her overflowing little self. I love her tiny nose, her little streak of blonde amidst her light brown hair, her ability to play with her fingers when all toys are taken away from her in time out, her belting out of any numerous Disney songs, her dancing with wild abandon. Her imagination is uncomparable! When she was tiny and I'd place her on the floor on a blanket - her beautiful blue eyes would follow Emma around wherever she went - she adored her! She still does! The two sleep in a twin bed - I cannot separate them! Claire, I love you so much, my little adorable brown haired girl!

Shin splints and unhappy knees!

I thought I'd take a break from China posts and complain a little bit. Before I had children I loved to run. Ok, love isn't quite the word, more like I used to tolerate running. If I needed to drop a quick 5 pounds or so I'd run. Well after coming home from China all used to walking walking walking, I finally felt like I could start up my running again. I'm not nursing anymore (thank goodness!!!) so I felt like this is it! I can really exercise hardcore and lose everything I needed to before getting el preggo with baby #4! So last week I start out nice and easy - maybe a good mile run. Felt great! Ran 4 times last week with no problems. THIS week however, I ran the same route and came home Monday with the WORST shin splints! I could barely move my legs for 2 hours that night, and only then walking stiff legged. The next day I felt fine, so Wednesday I put on the running shoes hoping that Monday was a fluke...nope...barely made it home that night too! What is going on here?! I stretch, I drink lots of water - I'm so mad! If anyone has any brilliant ideas, send 'em my way!!!

The Forbidden City part 1

Our first full day in China was spent at the Forbidden City. What an incredible experience! Before we even went in we were in awe of how large it was. The temperature was hot, the air filled with a pepper scent that we spent the whole vacation trying to figure out - it ended up being a sausage they sell on the streets everywhere. And the people! There were so many people milling around - some trying to sell these popsicles for 1 RMB - which is loosely 30 cents in USD. They had a slight banana flavor but once again, we couldn't place the true flavor. Some surrounded us just because we looked different - many took our picture. My sisters-in-law and I took a tally of how many pictures were taken of us - I think by the end of the trip we were about even. :) We walked and walked until my calves ached. It was great being allowed to walk where for centuries only the elite in China walked. In fact, if anyone trespassed back then they met an untimely death. We even got to see the throne room where the Emperor would receive guests. It really was an amazing day, in fact David and I kept commenting that it didn't feel real!

Dave and his big brother Bruce - it was nice to see him joking around with family he doesn't get to see very often. I think we all grew pretty close to each other that week.
Dave looking suave in a large doorway. He was quite a hit with the Chinese ladies, but I'll save that for another post!
I couldn't figure out how to turn this around, but it was one of the many lions in the palace. Typically you see two outside of buildings. The one on the right is the male - he has the world under his right paw. The lion on the left is the female holding a cub under her left paw. They were ferocious looking but so beautiful!
Stunning carvings in the marble of dragons. What an unforgetable day!

Forbidden City Part 2

Exquisite carvings on the temples. The more characters the higher your position was in the palace.
Celine, Heather, Dad Coleman, me and Dave on one of the bridges in the Forbidden City.
All the brothers and wives (and Celine) in the entrance to the Forbidden City.
My sister in-law Heather and I in front of a turtlish thing - I never figured out what it was for.

Dave and I on a gorgeous bridge. The weather was HOT - good thing I wore a dress! The picture doesn't show the sweat dripping off my face!

Ni Hao!

Wow! I think my brain is finally starting to register all that it had been through this past week. Talk about an experience to last a lifetime. I have to admit that going into this I wasn't as excited as I could have been. My experience with people visiting from China has been on the negative side. I saw them as a whole - pushy, no sense of personal space, rude and just a bizarre people as a whole. At Disneyland as a child I remember a Chinese woman sticking her head under my stall in the bathroom to see if it truly was empty even after I'd yelled (after a loud banging on the door) that I was in there! How could I have been so wrong? There are so many reasons why they are the way they are. I truly am grateful for this past week. I have come to really love the Chinese people. Forgive me if I ramble and continue to post pictures and commentary on China for a long time. I'm going to use this as a sort of diary so I won't forget anything important. I was just so touched and amazed at how these wonderful people exist in a country that denies them so much!
Stepping off of the plane was scary. I admit that. Before we were allowed to disembark, a handful of men and women stepped onto the plane with masks on and pointed these laser guns at everyone's head to see if anyone had a fever. We were informed that if anyone did we would be quarantined! After we were all checked and given the go ahead, we went through customs where once again we were monitored by some kind of heat sensor. David took a picture of the odd device and was immediately told to erase it with the rest of his pictures scrutinized. Looking around the airport (which was ginormous) I tried to figure out what looked out of place. I finally figured out that I did not see one child there. Weird. We waited for quite awhile for our other family member's plane to arrive then headed for the hotel. We left on a Saturday afternoon and got there Sunday evening! So bizarre!
Tomorrow I'll talk about our first full day there at the Forbidden City! I'll just say that I now know how stars feel every day (stared at and so many pictures taken of us!), that squatting to use the restroom isn't quite as bad as I thought and McDonalds in China, certainly is NOT the McDonalds here in the U.S!
My face after seeing a squatting toilet for the first time. And yes, I went.
Do you notice the trash basket next to the toilet? That's where the toilet paper went! They don't flush the toilet paper!
Our first experience on the subway - squished is an understatement...
Me, David's brother Will, Will's wife Amy, David and Mom Coleman. This was right before we boarded our plane - little did I know how hellish 11 hours on a plane would be.

Chow Mein Tomorrow! No fortune cookies though...

WOW! I cannot believe that tomorrow I'll be on my way to China! I am so excited and so nervous! We got the Visa's in the mail yesterday - that was a close one! I remember when Dave went to Japan almost 2 years ago he got his passport 2 days before he left too! Apparently we Colemans like to live life on the edge. I've got the girls ready - all the undies washed, groceries purchased, sheets changed. I've started packing myself - and get this - I told Dave I was packing my curling iron and he actually rolled his eyes and said he didn't want too much extra baggage. Ummm... has he never seen a curling iron? I said I was taking it even if I had to tuck it in my bra for the plane ride!
Monday we go to the Forbidden City, Tuesday the Temple of Heaven and the Pearl Market, Wed., the Great Wall, Thurs. Tian An Men Square, Friday Lama (Buddhist) Temple and and the Confuscious Temple, Sat. the Olympia Park, and Sunday the Xuanwu Temples, Monday the Antique District and then home! wheeeewwww!

*p.s., can you believe fortune cookies are American not Chinese? I dared Dave to ask at the first restaurant we eat at! :)

Jamie's having a baby!

I am so excited to announce my baby sister Jamie is having a baby!!! Another Conklin baby...finally!
My kid's reaction to seeing the ultrasound picture:

Emma: "I want to see the baby! When can I hold it!"
Me: "It's still in her tummy!"
Emma: "Well I can still hold it can't I?" Ummmm.....hmmmmm...

Claire: "Oh." Apparently she's not impressed with a baby that looks like a blob.

Hallie: "That's me!"
Me: "No, that's Jamie's baby in her tummy."
Hallie: "Nope! That's me!" Because of course any baby picture she sees is a picture of herself - even if it's a black baby, hispanic - doesn't matter, it's her!

Here's a picture of the blob/baby! We're so excited for you Jamie and Ben!