The resort had a pool foam party the first afternoon we were there for several hours. They had two machines that sprayed soap-like bubbles in the air. We loved it! At one point Tessa turned to me and said “I don’t think we have ever had this much fun!”
A Korean couple asked our kids if they wanted to use their giant inflatable flamingo. Tessa would stand up on it and jump off. I think we had it for several hours.
The beach was small but nice. John and James snorkeled the first day and said they saw fish almost as good as when they scuba dive.
Mango smoothies every day! Every day!! (sometimes with strawberries and bananas)
The day of the CNY the resort had a dragon dance. It was loud! It was so hot we couldn’t imagine how the guys in the costumes were surviving.
John and James went scuba driving on Friday for several hours. They both are naturals in the water. Emma and I snorkeled with them a few days later but only lasted about 1/2 hour.
On Sunday John said there was a church just 8 miles away. We taxied there and took a tuk-tuk home. The kids said attending this branch was one of their highlights. I went with Emma and Eliza to YWs and the teacher gave the lesson entirely in English. It was fun to hear their announcements about a youth temple trip and youth conference. I asked the president if they usually spoke English at church and they said no, only because we were there. They said they liked practicing English with us. Everyone was so friendly. James made a few friends that are now following him on instagram. When we looked in the Primary room window, Tessa was up at the front saying the prayer. I’m glad our kids have no fear when it comes to new places!
On Wednedsay we took the hotel van to the temple. It was about an hour and 15 minutes away. The Cebu temple was beautiful and organized. I’m grateful Tessa was so willing to occupy herself in the waiting room with books, a movie and snacks while the rest of us went in. There were several couples from Utah on missions there and they were so sweet to us. Especially when Eliza accidentally left her locker key on her wet jumpsuit and put it down the laundry shoot.
The second resort we stayed at gave us free ice-cream for our entire stay. Four days of all you can eat ice-cream — a highlight for sure! We rented paddle boards everyday, swam and relaxed. We all read a ton of books (John and I for fun, the kids for school). I feel like it is the only time all year I can read for fun. But I am trying to change that and have started listening to books on audible as I cook and clean and do things around the house.
Emma spent hours in the hammock finishing a book for her Lit class.
Eliza and I loved the paddle boards. We would wait for each other on this rock while the other paddled around.
John gave us each a ride on a jet ski.
James loves sea food. We all ate way too much on this trip. The hotel knew James was gluten free and made sure he always had a fresh loaf of GF bread every morning. Unfortunately early Thursday morning both Tessa and John woke up throwing up with food poisoning (we were guessing from the Italian meal we ate the night before). They stayed in the hotel that entire day trying to regain their strength. Other than that it was a perfect vacation.
By the last night we were all well rested and talking about Mia and how excited we were to get back to life in Shanghai. This will go down in my history as a fabulous family vacation!
From the airport we went straight to get Mia. She was so happy to see us! Her teacher had been diligent with caring for her finger. The next morning real life began again with 6am church meetings.
One of my favorite things from this month was watching Emma help Tessa get ready for the ES school musical auditions, "A Year With Frog and Toad”. Not all the 3rd and 4th graders that tried out would make it, so the pressure was on. The kids were asked to come prepared and to sing a memorized song. Emma helped Tessa pick “I Don’t Need Anything But You” from Annie. They practiced every night for about five days. Tessa had the song down perfectly, with actions and expression. I waited outside the door during auditions. When Tessa came out she was beaming and said she thought she had done a good job. A few days later the cast list was posted and she got the role as a mouse! On our way home we both talked about how sad we would be next year without Emma in our home to help us with things like — preparing for musical auditions.
Mia loves watching Tessa take piano lessons. Tessa’s piano teacher is Chinese and is always nice to talk to Mia and ask her about her day. We told Mia when she no longer uses diapers that she can have a piano teacher too. In the meantime Emma has been teaching her a few notes.
The morning of my 42nd birthday Emma and John set their alarm 15 minutes early (4:45am) and put up these hearts in the kitchen. The day before they had all written things they love about me on the hearts. I counted over 50 hearts! They say things like: "I love that you want us to be healthy. I love that you can do a headstand on a paddle board. I love it when you welcome me home from school. I love it when you tuck us in at night. I love that you made me take piano lessons. I love when you joke around. I love that you always go to my performances and go out of your way to make me feel love and supported."
What a wonderful birthday present! I don’t ever want to take these hearts down!
That afternoon Heidi Miller and Cheryl Johnson had a birthday lunch for me at Heidi’s house. My friends made delicious salads and rolls. Heidi made a carrot cake - and sent me home with 1/2 of it. My driver also gave me a cake and John came home with an Oreo Cookie ice-cream cake from Cold Stone.
I had these chairs made for my birthday present. I saw them in a magazine a year ago, cut out the picture and have had it in my desk drawer ever since. They arrived that Friday.
Saturday, February 20th I was at the school (choreography rehearsal with the ensemble of the Addams Family) and got a phone call from Emma. She was screaming and I could barely understand her. She said she just got the email from BYU and she had been accepted. I put her on speaker phone since I was with most of her friends. They all cheered too. Emma is thrilled and we are very happy for her! The next day at church Emma gave a sacrament talk on obedience. She looked and sounded like like a college student and sadly it began sinking in that my kids will grow up and move out of the house.
