Cha-cha-cha-Changes!

It’s a week of intense middle-class suburban changes! We bought our first mini-van on Monday on on Thursday we moved Mina into a toddler bed! She loves it! Anything “big girl” she is eating-up. She also is loving potty training. Not to say that she is fully potty trained, but earning jelly beans for each “success” has been a lot of fun. (P.S. Gorgeous Quilt by Grandma Cathy)

Here are the girls settled in their matching beds. These girls just love each other. Marie is a very loving and obedient big sister, and Mina is the perfect excited “happy to be here” & “I like to watch and learn everything” type of girl. They are very different but a perfect pair.

 

Also, Marie had her optometry exam yesterday. They dilated her eyes. She later fell asleep with her big glasses in the living room. She later woke up, sat straight up and stared at me with her huge dilated eyes which were even more magnified by her glasses. Not until I realized she wasn’t blinking did I know she was actually still asleep and laid her back down and took off her glasses. I wanted to get a picture of her huge eyes but just ended up disturbing her out of a nap and getting a picture of these brutal glasses-marks. Oh well! She was cute!

Lastly, pregnancy is going good. I have to start going in for “stress tests” twice a week though. I don’t really know what it means, but I do assume I get time to read a book while my belly is being monitored for a half hour. Is that weird I am more excited to have time to read a book than find out what I am doing at the hospital? Nah…

Let Freedom Ring

Happy 4th of July everybody.  We started our celebrating early.  Went went to the local swimming pool that has a perfectly sized water slide for our girls…even if the elephant slide freaks them out a little bit.  Looks like we may have started our day a little too early for Mina.

We played and played most of the day.  When evening came we gathered at the beach for some weenie roasting and fireworks.  Rachel and Chelsea, best friends that love to be pregnant together.

Sometimes being forced to eat dinner is a bummer, when you could be running around the beach.  Right, Marie?

But eventually your parents stop paying attention and you can slip back to playing!!

But once the marshmallows enter the picture Marie is suddenly interested.

They were so cute we had to stay out way past their bedtime.  Happy 4th of July everybody!

Thailandia

Sisters gazing at the sunset.

 

Oh no you didn’t!

 

Comfortable?

And my personal favorite…what a beauty.

ELEPHANTS!

 

A Swift Night in Bangkok and on to Chiang Mai

 

Our only night in Bangkok we stayed at a nice place…. in the middle of the ghetto. It was late when we got in and being completely drained we let the little, slightly pushy, old lady at the airport send us to what looked like a swanky joint. And though it was, certainly quite fancy for the price we paid, when the shuttle picked us up and took us through some sketchy, graffiti laced- wild dog roaming areas. I thought at one point they would just stop the van and kick us out on the street, until we pulled into this gated compound-like area with a very nice hotel in the center. My favorite part was the rooftop breakfast. Our first intro to Thai food and for me, papya. Weird huh? You would think we would have had that before, but no. Very yummy.

A bus, a shuttle, and two good little travelers later… We enter Chaing Mai!

 

I’ll admit, the name “Princess Hotel” did slightly appeal to the girls. They could sit in the lobby all day long and be happy on their “princess beds.”

 

They enjoyed street side fruit shakes and lots and lots of bartering. I think Mina is a natural. Marie… likes to shop, but will need a future husband to do the bartering. Marie just loves it all!

 

The plaza across from our hotel, sharing a drink with my cuties.

Vacation of a Lifetime

Our two week vacation started off right- at the New Sanno! We just waltzed right in and they had a room open just for us. How lucky are we?

Even more convenient is that the Tokyo Temple was built in 1980 and 5 minutes down the road the New Sanno was later built in 1983. Tokyo could not have made it more awesome to attend the temple in Japan.

 

This day was especially nice because I was able to hire a sitter from the local ward to watch the girls while Brett and I went together.  Mina and Marie played with them across the street at the park. Cute as can be.

The fountain of the New Sanno. President Madsen was nice enough to take all our luggage to our next hotel- the Kanto Lodge at the Yokota Air Base. Sunday was fun to go the ward near the temple. And seeing as I am camp director I was able talk to the girls of the Tokyo 1st ward and psych them up for camp.

 

My little skirt loving cutie.

Monday morning we gathered early for roll call at Yokota and go on a free hop to Singapore! This is Mina getting comfortable. The flight was so awesome. 2 hot meals, 3 movies… and flight attendant comes around with a basket of full size candy bars. It was then I knew it was Heaven.

 

We arrived in Singapore only to try to head straight to Bangkok.

This is what we call a good omen.

 

So if you are slightly offended by my love of stereo-types, this blog is not for you. Our first lesson of Thailand was that no one believes in waiting in line. After 3 years in Japan, our minds were blown. But Brett took “care of it” and soon enough mina was on her way to Bangkok.