Wrapping things up

It has been so nice to be healthy, finally! So, this week, we were out and about every day, just because we could. But, our biggest day, by far, was Friday. But first, I thought I would share a couple photos from last week.

This is Janie with her first day of rash. It only got worse from here on out. It was all over her face, back, tummy, legs, and arms. Her rash stayed longer, but I really think mine looked worse. I don't have the "cuteness" factor that Jane does that allows her to get away with almost anything. Rash on Jane? "Oh, poor little thing!". Rash on me? "What the heck is that?". Love handles on Jane? "Cute, I love the chub!" Love handles on me? Um.... not so cute.

I think her legs were one of the worse parts. Luckily, this looks a lot worse than it felt.

This is what Jack and Jeff did while I was sick in bed last week. I don't know which of my boys enjoyed it more.


This is the airplane they made, and it actually flew pretty well! It's amazing what these guys can do with an empty cereal box!

Friday was a day of fun, starting with Jack, Jane, and me ALL going to Jack's school for a special "moving up" ceremony. Jane was loving that she got to be there with all the big kids, and Jack was loving the BIG bouncy castle! This is him with three of his classmates (not that you can see them very well!): Ori, Omer, and Scarlett. They were having WAY too much fun to pose for a picture.

After some fun on the playground, there was a short program where each of the classes got up and performed. Jack's class sang two silly songs, one with Scarlett's Dad playing the guitar. Jack was loving being up on stage, and was doing a great job of getting the actions right on cue. I was a glowing parent in the audience, of course, and Janie watched with admiration until she couldn't resist anymore and had to run up to the stage to participate as well. Luckily, with the "cuteness" factor in full effect, everyone just smiled and thought she was great, as did I.

This is Jack sitting with his class before they performed. Attempting to start from the front left (and curving around): Taj, Jack, Omer, Oliver (mouth open), Vegas with Teacher Nat, Dylan (can't see his face), Jennifer, Ori, and Scarlett. They are quite a diverse group, but they always seem to get along really well.

After the performances, of course they have to honor the graduates and the "moving ups", so this is Jack holding up his certificate when they called his name. It's a terrible picture, but I thought he was so cute, nonetheless. You can see his other teacher, Gilly, clapping in the background.

We enjoyed our morning at the school visiting, playing, and eating. Yes, this is him with cotton candy at 10am! He was hesitant to take this picture with Teacher Nat until we assured him she wasn't after his cotton candy. He was still pretty distracted, thank goodness Nat understands four-year-olds!
And this is Jane enjoying the festivities! It was so nice to be in an environment for families. Jane could run and play and I knew it was safe, clean, and no one was getting huffy about her doing as she pleased!
After the big day at school, we headed over to Scarlett's home with her parents, as well as Dylan and Oliver with Dylan's Dad, Graham (he's a stay-at-home Dad). Heather and Jim have a home with a backyard, so we set up the pool, stripped the kids down (none of them had bathing suits!), and let them play. At this particular moment, Scarlett and Oliver were playing inside, but these three sure were having a good time. I got to visit, eat lunch, and have a "cup of tea" (since I don't drink tea, it means I get to sit and enjoy while they have a cup of tea!), with Heather, Jim, and Graham, and have adult conversation. It was awesome. These three are so wonderful, I felt very grateful to have friends who value family like I do. I'm sure I have a lot to learn from these wonderful Brits!


We got home from Jim and Heather's just in time for Janie to take a short nap, then we were off again! We spent the afternoon with Cyan, Cyrus, and Narissa. We met at a play land in the Paragon that we recently discovered. It was HUGE, almost too big, but the kids had a great time playing. I got this picture of Jack as we were waiting for Narissa's food at Burger King. Jack is holding one of his favorite foods, "muu bing", which is essentially grilled pork on a stick. He eats 2-3 of these in a flash! Luckily, you can get these almost anywhere, so it's a great food to get "on the go", which we do quite a bit here.

Saturday afternoon was a big time for Jack because it was the first birthday party in his class he could actually attend! He's been invited to four, and has had to miss them all! So, he was especially excited about this "slay the dragon" party for Ori. I was happy to see there were many parents there who stayed to enjoy each other's company and help with the games. And it was a good thing too, because I counted 25 children at one point! The group in this picture was just a small portion of who was there by the end! Besides the kids from Jack's class, there must have been the entire Israeli community of Bangkok (that's where Ori's family is from). It seems like there's a pretty tight-knit group, which I think is fantastic!

The whole party was very well planned out, but with the rain outside, Shira (Ori's Mom), had to make some adjustments. With all those people in this small building, it got to be quite hectic. If you can spot the birthday boy, Ori, in the Orange stripes, you will see how he was for about half the party. Shouldn't the birthday boy be smiling? It was kind of sad, but overall, I'm sure he had a good time, I know my kids did! I was amazed at how Shira kept her cool through the whole thing! Jack loved playing musical chairs, but it is sure hard to explain when he got "out"!

This is what Janie loved about the party. Yummy food that was right at her height. I had to work pretty hard to keep her away from all those cookies! You'd think after two hours, she'd lose interest. Nope!


Well, there you go. A couple of crazy days, lots of pictures, and even with all that fun, really, all we can think about is our trip HOME! I wrote a list, in no particular order (besides the first one), of some of the things we are excited for in Utah. Many will seem silly, but you'd be amazed at the things you miss when you are far away!

1. Family and friends (of course, the whole reason we are going!).
2. Breathing clean air, very deeply.
3. Running on the Jordan River and Provo Parkway trails.
4. Jeff being off work (yay!).
5. Red Vines, lots and lots.
6. Good Watermelon, it's just not the same here for some reason.
7. Car seats (although it will be super hard to convince Janie of this).
8. The mountains.
9. Cool mornings.
10. Normal grass.
11. Cars stopping when I want to cross the road.
12. Mexican food.
13. Shopping at places that make clothes for people taller than 5'2".
14. Nice sidewalks.
15. TJ Max, Gap, and Old Navy.
16. 4th of July.
17. Finding shoes that fit a size 10!
18. Backyards.
19. Safe playgrounds.
20. English, English, English.
21. Using a debit card, almost anywhere.
22. Less traffic.
23. IKEA, all my kid spoons have disappeared!
24. Good diapers.
25. Not having to shove my way onto an elevator or train with two kids in tow.
26. Sitting in the front seat of a car.

Jeff's addition: Macaroni and Cheese.

3 more days and we are on our way! Please pray that the flights go well and that our kids will take long, long naps! We love, love, love you all.