Winter has come

It is cold now - takes about 10 minutes to bundle everyone up and get out the door to go to Ashley's school. It's been a busy Fall. Anthony's parents came out for 2 weeks and we did a lot of sightseeing. It was a good visit - the weather was nice for the most part - and Anthony and I finally got to see parts of Beijing we'd been waiting to see. We also went to Xian with his parents to see the Terra Cotta Warriors. That was very fun and very neat to see. We visited the Forbidden City, Silk Market and the Hutongs.

My parents just came out last week and visited for one week. It was very good to see them and we had a good visit, despite my falling and breaking my nose and despite the horrible nasty polluted days we had. For some reason, it was really bad while they were here (of course, as I write this, it's a clear day where you can see the sun!).

Ashley is busy in school, preparing for her Winter Performance in December (she'll be a swan in "the Ugly Duckling") and her choir performance. I am excited to see her in her first performances. Anthony will miss them both as he'll be traveling back to the States. She's doing great in school and is reading books on her own now.

Ryken is standing up now - while holding on to things and cruising around while holding on. He's getting into everything he can reach and having fun doing it. He has more teeth coming in, on number 6 now. He's eating lots of different stuff and loving food.

Liz is doing great too - although she's at a hard stage right now. She wants mommy a lot and wants lots of attention - she's started throwing tantrums and fits so we're working on preventing or stopping those right now. When she's in a good mood, she's so happy and such fun to have around.

We are celebrating Thanksgiving on Saturday with friends. Anthony doesn't get any time off for Thanksgiving holiday here in Beijing, so we'll wait until the weekend. One of my friends has a full size oven, so she's cooking the turkey and we'll all bring side dishes. Should be fun.

We are not coming home to the States for Christmas this year, as we are doing to Australia!!!! I have dreamt of going to Australia for years and years and years and now we are! We'll spend two full weeks traveling around to four different places. I am so excited and am just hoping that all is healed up with my nose so there won't be any issues with flying or snorkeling!