Happy Birthday Joshua!

Getting older = no fun, unless you have a fun party and awesome friends to celebrate with! Josh and I were in Utah for his birthday, meeting with a birth mom and enjoying some of the Westover family. We had a February Birthday party at Bob and Linda Westover's house for all of the birthday's during that month. It was quite the scene with nearly 40 people squished into their comfy home. We had a great time and as always at Bob and Linda's house, had some amazing food! The next day, we celebrated Josh's birthday with a PB&J party. It was great to have loved ones there with us.

Christmas Tree

We LOVE the holidays! There are so many wonderful things about this time of year and picking out our very own Christmas pine is one of them. The smell that fills our apartment is worth the clean up after the holidays and worth dealing with the occasional 8 legged guest! 

We finally bought some Christmas decorations for the first time but made the mistake of getting the tree after. We envisioned our tree to be much smaller than it ended up being so our poor red and green ornaments look disproportionately small. Still, we had fun decorating and are loving the holiday spirit it brings into our home. 

China

Josh and I went to China over Thanksgiving break for two weeks! It was amazing and a trip I will never forget. I had my expectations and could not help trying to imagine what it would be like but as per the norm, it was nothing like I thought it would be. There were things I loved and loved less about the trip but in the end it was well worth it.

The trip itself was not actually planned until roughly 2 weeks before we left. It was a very last minute decision and my thanks goes out to Mrs. Kirk for subbing for me, John and Yu Miao for hosting us and our families for being okay with the switch for Christmas so we could see my family over the holidays.

The flight was a 16 (yes 16) hour flight. Sitting one cramped spot for that long on a plan is not a dream but was made much better by my hubby working some magic and getting us a row with an empty seat, leaving us the only two and a little extra wiggle room. The food was also yummy and fun, especially when they brought out some Hoggin Dogz ice cream! We watched some movies, played a ridiculously long game of chess and slept. After the airport there was more travel...but a taxi, train and bus ride later we finally arrived in Guangzhou.

In Guangzhou we spent time getting to know the community we were staying in called Clifford Estates. There was plenty to do in this "small" community with its own restaurants parks and hiking trails. We rented bikes one evening and explored the park near out apartment. We shopped at the market and sampled the yummy fruit. This was quickly becoming a cultural experience rather than a vacation. The pollution, noise and feel crowded feel of China was not my favorite. I was not used to SO many people but I loved traveling with Josh and seeing things I would never get to see in the US.

We did venture outside of Guangzhou for my favorite part of the trip to YangShuo. Getting there was half the adventure! Enduring the crowds, the buses and the subway was well worth experiencing 11 hours on a sleeper train. There is nothing quite like sleeping to the hum and unique rhythm of a train while passing miles and miles of unknown landscape.

YangShuo was beautiful and we stayed at some pretty cool places. Our first night was spent in a little boutique hotel right in the middle of a primitive and very rural town. It was right out of National Geographic! The hotel itself was made up of small bungalow type rooms equipt with only the bare essentials. I was grateful for a heater from the looks of the place and we used it! It rained that whole first day and it was cold. I loved it! We explored the beautiful property, talked to the locals, sampled some freshly made food and snuggled in bed to pass the time. The next day, the weather cleared and we were able to hike and go on a bamboo ride down the river. One of my favorite things about this place was the orange juice. It was like nothing I have ever tasted and it was cheep and plentiful since growing little "cuttie" oranges is what these communities do for income. The second night we stayed closer to town a few miles away from our fist hotel. This one was beautifully decorated inside and much more luxurious. I wanted to stay there forever!

We headed back to Guangzhou the next day and enjoyed the rest of our vacation with John and his family. It was a wonderful trip! I am so excited to go back one day.

Alaska

Camping in Palisades Idaho

Palisades Idaho has been a camping destination for my family for years. It's beautiful scenery, big lake and convenient camp sites have suited us well growing up. I have many memories there and have been excited share this place with Josh. For our Miller family reunion this year, we decided this would be the perfect place to all get together. Angie and Don brought the camper they bought from our dad a while back and my mom and dad brought their spacious new camper so we could comfortably fit the whole family, grand kids and all. It was a little colder than we thought it would be but despite the rain and the chilly weather, we had a blast! 

This was the perfect time to celebrate Father's Day. Not only because we could my dad for getting all of the camping stuff together but because my dad loves being outdoors so the cards and gifts were the icing on top of an ideal get away. 

Palisades is so beautiful! Josh is great at taking pictures was able to captures some of the scenery around us. We went boating even though the weather was not super warm. After riding in the boat for about 2 minutes I was freezing! Most of the family went to the beach to lay out in the sun while the kids played in the mud and got filthy! A few others (dad, Josh, Dane, Brock and Camille) went for another ride in the boat.

I was surprised to find out that Dane and Josh actually got in the water to ski!! Josh was so cold that his toes were white after getting out of the water! Crazy boys.

Meanwhile I had fun watching the kids get covered from head to toe with thick, sticky mud. Lydia got the messiest for sure!

We went on a beautiful for-wheeler ride where we saw lots of beautiful scenery and got really dusty!

After all was said and done we had to end the trip with some square ice cream.

Upper Silver Lake

Spring Camping

Josh and I absolutely love camping! We had been waiting for warm enough weather to break out the camping gear for the first time this year. Because we live so close to a camp ground, it didn't take long to pack all of our camping gear. Before long we were all set up and Josh was serenading me on his guitar. Our tent is great because its mostly mesh all around and at night we can see all around us, including the beautiful starry night sky. There is nothing better than Spring camping!