Snowy Illinois!

We were THRILLED to land last night at O'Hare to lots of snow! Kaitlyn spent quite awhile outside last night helping Grandpa Weiss snowplow the driveway. We were thankful for the warm coats, hats, mittens, and scarves that were brought to the airport for us:)

Wow! We've had quite the time the past week since we left Singapore. We spent about 4 days in Japan with Klaus's. Kaitlyn had such a good time with their girls that there were many tears on the way to the airport and it's safe to say that she (and all of us) walked away with new friends. We are thankful that they welcomed us with open arms and showed us around a little! We also spent an evening with Akito and Marie Inoue and some time with Akihiro and Carrie Ito. We were treated to a nice meal at a Japanese restaurant - complete with a fish that you eat head, guts, bones and all! To be fair I need to admit that I couldn't bring myself to try it although every one else ate theirs. Akihiro gladly ate mine for me! I have pictures that I will try to get posted sometime soon.

Than it was on to warm, sunny California - oh, wait! It was on to cold, cloudy, rainy LA! I have always pictured southern California as very warm and while it was warmer than Tokyo and much warmer than Chicago we still needed jackets. When the sun did come out on our second day there it was warm as long as you stayed out of the shade - relatively speaking:) A huge THANK YOU to Justin, Robin, and co. for putting up with us for 2 days. They were brave to put up with 5 jet lagged people!

Speaking of jet lag - when you put jet lag and an insomniac person together it is not a pretty sight! Three of us are adjusting pretty well and two of us are having a harder time...

Coming To You From....Changi Airport, Singapore

I'm posting to you from Changi Airport because....

Well, because I can! We are checked in for our flight to Tokyo and the kids are playing at the indoor playground here at the airport. There is also an outdoor swimming pool, a butterfly garden, seats that are more comfortable than my living room furniture, and shopping galore! It's supposedly one of the best airports in the world and right now I'd have to agree. No one is rushing around or stressed and the announcements over the PA are very calm and reassuring and not obnoxious.

I am going to go and sit in a chair with my feet up for awhile and read:)

Signing off,

The Most Relaxed Traveler In The World

The Tree, OH The Tree!!!

WELL...


Yesterday, the tree went over.







It took me this long to be able to mention it...







All is well except the two SAS Memories ornaments I just bought the twins for our tree....(and a few cheap ornaments.)






OH WELL, the ornament

s are just THINGS, right?

I got a good jog in because of it, though!

Sunday School

A few weeks ago I took pictures of our Sunday School. Ryan had left that Saturday for a business trip and wasn't there and I believe that Ethan was down for a nap.

********

We have had fun using the Betty Lukens flannel boards along with our weekly lesson. This story was the beginning of the Christmas story lessons.

We usually sit at the kitchen table with Ethan in the booster chair and Ryan in Kaitlyn's spot. We have to keep Ethan entertained with fruit snacks otherwise he tried to run around and be disruptive=P

I JUST GOT HUNG UP ON BY A TELEMARKETER!!!

Christmas In Singapore

I still haven't figured out how to put pictures in the correct order of how the day progressed so I apologize that they are a little mixed up. We had our Christmas yesterday to give the kids a chance to play with their Christmas toys a little before we head home this Saturday. We started off with a picture in front of the tree while they were still dressed nice from church followed by swimming (yep, on Christmas!), a trip to a dumpling restaurant for supper, playing in the "snow" on Orchard Road, and opening presents before bed. Here are some pics:

This is the restaurant we ate supper at

Kaitlyn playing in the "snow" (actually bubbles) on Orchard

I squatted down to try to get a picture of Ethan and he squatted down with me! He walked all over the mall and up and down Orchard Road carrying 2 Little People, 1 zebra, and 1 stop sign.

Eating at the dumpling restaurant.

Pork and fried rice

Ryan with our pork and seafood dumplings.

Shrimp and pork dumplings

The kitchens are surrounded by windows so you can watch the chefs making the dumplings from scratch. It's quite a process and fun to watch.

A Shout Out to the Mom!

I, and I alone, put this baby together tonight!!