Photos From Trip

The three girls get kisses!



Eli dancing with the dolphin.
Here is the pier in Bintan.
Here is a group-shot of the trapeze performers.
Rachel, Nicole, and Caitlin were in a fashion show.
Lonnie's favorite spot.
A really big lizard-over 2 feet
I'm king of...this big rock!
The kids had such a wonderful time.

My man at the beach
This is little India
.Nicole will probably kill me for putting this in, but she spilled her curry on her lap. It didn't really look like that...

Indonesia and Singapore Favorites:

Last Wednesday, we returned home from a 10 day trip to Indonesia, and Singapore. We had such a lovely time. I thought I would write down some of the highlights.

The first thing that must be mentioned is the Singaporeair plane. Everyone was so happy and excited about this. The attendants wear pretty Singapore dresses, the food is edible, and everyone had their own entertainment screens. Happy flight!

We went to a Club Med Resort on Bintan, and Island of Indonesia for one week. It had a beautiful private beach, good all-you-can-eat buffets, and plenty of things to do. What more could we ask for?

Jay and Eli spent the week playing for part of the day with the children's club. They did all sorts of activities, like swimming, playing at the beach, and one day there was even a parade and real elephant rides. They did archery and trapeze as well. But, I think their favorite part was learning to snorkel with Mom and Dad, and swimming, swimming, swimming. They were fish! It is fun to see how well they can swim, now. Better than me, I think.

Rachel, Nicole, and Caitlin had a wonderful time with the teen club. They had so many fun activities. They spent many hours perfecting their trapeze skills, and got quite good. Rachel and Nicole were in a show one night with their trapeze tricks. They did a lot of snorkeling, sailing, and sports. Even some Yoga. They were very involved with the performances as well, which included a fashion show, singing on-stage, and a play. The staff were very sad to see them go because of the great help they were in making things fun.

Mike and I, as you can see, actually had some free-time to relax, and get to know each other again:-) What could be better than that? We did snorkeling, sailing, and Mike taught me how to play tennis. It was fun for us to do things with the children, like snorkel, and watch their shows. There was even a chance for a walk along the beach in the full moon.

One morning we signed up for an excursion. I think because I always wanted to do this when I was young, we went to "swim with the dolphins". We were picked up at 8:00am, and drove on the very windy roads of Bintan for about an hour. This was an adventure in itself. The people of Bintan are very poor, and we saw some very humble circumstances. We also saw a bare-foot, bare-chested man with very large hair walking down the street with a machetti!! Every time we went into a town, we stopped at security, where they used mirrors to check for bombs under the cars. Wow, it was a different world! Well, we finally made it to this sad little dock, and climbed in a boat. It was a fiber-glass boat. Most of the chairs were broken,and there was hydraulic fluid leaking from the steering-wheel. We went very fast, over lots of choppy waves to a small island. It was a very exciting ride. Almost too exciting! Well, after all this, we arrived to our destination. A very run-down tired looking beach where they kept the dolphins. We actually got to get in with them for about an hour, though. We had a wonderful time playing and interacting with the dolphins. They kissed us, hugged us, and even danced with us. They did tricks for us, played catch with us. We even held one (they are very heavy). I think it's something we will always remember!

We had a wonderful experience attending Church in Singapore. We met with a branch the first Sunday, and it was terrific! We had no idea if we were going to find it or not, but we did. And the next Sunday, we went to a hotel, where they were playing Conference from the week before. It was really neat meeting with the Saints in Singapore, hearing the same thing we would hear in the U.S. or anywhere else in the world, like China.

Singapore is a huge beautiful country/city, with 4 million people and a huge Asian mixture of people. The stronghold the government has, is paying off as far as a nice, clean city goes. This is the place that will flog you for chewing gum, or not flushing a public toilet. There is a death sentence for drug possession. We weren't afraid of that law. We felt safe in that we brought no gum, and prayed the toilet wouldn't have flushing problems...just kidding. We really didn't worry about it. We'd heard it referred to as Disneyland with a death penalty. It sort of felt like Pleasantville. We had fun shopping, and we did some sight-seeing. A really fun thing, is that we were able to meet with a couple who served with Mike on his mission in Korea. Mike and I went to dinner with them, and I heard a lot about that time in his life. We, of course spent way too much at the bookstore, and stuffed a couple of food items into our bag, though they didn't have as many items as I'd hoped. I think the true highlight of the trip was eating at Carl's Jr. Not once, but twice. We ordered Hamburgers, fries, and a shake. YUMMY!

We all had a wonderful vacation and are now trying to get back into life!

Pearl Farm Day Trip

I went to see how they grow pearls with the International Club. It was very interesting. This photo is how they implant the pearl with tiny pieces of membrane from another clam to start the formation of pearls. They plant several into each pearl. Its is a pain-staking process. In one full work-day, 2 people can do about 120 clams.



This photo is the farmer lifting a rope to show us the implanted clams. They put 2 or 3 three clams in a net bag and hang them from a rope going across a pond. Each clam must wait for 5 to 8 years before the pearls are ready.


Here are some opened clams. People sit on small stools and remove the clams from the shells into buckets. Men come by and scoop up the clam shells and carry them to big piles.




These pearls are not polished or cleaned. They are in a bucket a worker has just dumped pearls into.
This little boy is one of the farmers child. He was very interested to see his photo.
Here is a mature rice field almost ready for harvest.

September 19, 2006

I thought I'd first share some of the "Do you know what I saw" conversation my friends and I have had this week:

In an airplane in China, they tell you what is going on in Chinese, and then they read a card in English. You can rarely understand it, but my friend heard this in the middle of the flight," Please sit down and fasten your seatbelt. We are preparing for take-off." A while later, everyone heard " We will be arriving somewhere at sometime." obviously, they were supposed to insert the correct city and time!

There was a lady mowing her lawn in a fancy skirt and sandals.

There was a woman driver with her car stopped in the middle of a busy road. Cars were making their way around her. Getting closer to her, you could see why she was stopped. She was busy text messaging, of course!

A truck was stopped in the middle of an intersection, under the power line. They were repairing a traffic light. The power was still on. There was a man balancing on a 20 foot ladder sitting inside the bed of the truck. The ladder was being held up by the electric cable.

Always something exciting.

Back to our life. Last week on Thursday, I was in my friend's car. I'm used to being in our van, with the sliding door. So, I didn't think to check before I started opening my door. A motor scooter was driving past very close and very fast! My door touched her bike. She over-corrected and tipped it over, breaking the mirror, and she scraped up her leg a little bit. I felt so bad! I got out, and wanted to tell her I was so sorry, and of course, pay for any damage. Well, she just kept yelling and yelling at me. Her friend came, and they spoke such rapid Chinese, I had a hard time understanding. They told me that they wanted a little bit of money to start, and I should give them my address and they would come for more. I said I wouldn't give them my address(I've heard horror stories about that) but that if they took official receipts to my husband's office, I would pay them. The little bit of money they wanted was 2000rmb! That is a HUGE amount of money! I laughed. They could easily by a new motor-scooter with that amount. Anyway, My driver and my friend's driver eventually settled on 500rmb. This was also very high. But, I had been standing there for over an hour, and needed to pick up the children. I couldn't see how to get out of it, so I paid. I cried all the way home! But I didn't cry in front of them, so I thought that was pretty good. I decided later that it could have been so much worse, and that I learned a lesson, and they had a really nice shopping trip with the money I gave them!

Well, you would think that was enough! But, for the first time of the week, Mike was coming home at a decent hour. It was raining, and the person behind them rear-ended them! And...It was in that same friend's car! We had traded, so that she could take some company around town that weekend. Mike spent over an hour at the police station, and didn't come home early. I'm just grateful he's OK.

The good news is, this week nothing has happened so far!

The kids have been so busy with sports. Rachel went to Shanghai this last weekend for Volleyball,and Rachel and Nicole go this weekend for Rugby. The girls and I are still at our morning runs. They are getting better and better. They will outrun me, I'm thinking, by the end of the year. Eli's favorite after school activity is cooking class, on Wednesdays. He comes home with yummy treats. He feels so big when he makes them (there isn't any real cooking involved). Jay loves basketball day. He was a lion in an assembly today. He really did a good lion imitation. Caitlin and I have started writing back and forth to each other in a journal. She saw this idea in the Friend, and it has been lots of fun!

We have been to the tailor the last couple of Tuesdays. The boys are having suits made. Those of you who know Jay, will know how very excited he is to have his suit. Eli is also excited, and can't stand that he has to wait. He really wants to watch them make it!

Well, just over one week to our big trip to Singapore and Indonesia! I think we are all very ready. Especially Mike. He has been working so long and hard these last few weeks. He will be so ready for a break!

Love to all of you! We miss you.

Please take a walk with me...

On a Thursday morning last week, a group of ladies from the International Club went on a walk to "explore" Nanjing. It is a monthly outing that I have wanted to join, and since Eli is now in school, can. It was a two hour plus walk, starting out along a river, and ending up at Lion Tower Hill. We saw so many incredible things, I thought you may like to see some of them:




These ladies are separating the good veggies from the bad at the wholesale vegetable garden we saw.

And the owner of this bike is ready for his delivery.
These men are laying cement for this road.
I absolutely love this picture. Chinese doors are so intriguing to me...What is behind it?

There was so much to see and purchase, if we wanted, at this market.
Meat anyone?
Dumplings for sale





A man offered the 7 of us a ride in his...um, vehicle, so how could we refuse? We tipped him nicely. Can you see the crowd we drew?













After cheating a little (because of our ride) we arrived at our destination...the foothills of Lion Tower, to eat our packed lunches, and talk about our very adventurous morning. It was a wonderful morning. Thanks for joining me!

Lucky Eli gets to add the chocolate chips.
Here, we are making those yummy cookies.
The breath-taking view that makes the stairs worth it.
Here is the mausoleum.
Heading down for my second climb.
Mike looking like a "biker" on our bike ride. It is VERY HOT and HUMID

Love to Dance

The time is flying by again. Why is it that as soon as school starts, the weeks just pass before your eyes? I never thought that when I was in school. A few things that happened this last week:

On Wednesday, I had a friend who was sick. I decided to make some soup and breadsticks for her. I asked the driver to please take me to the store, and then pick up the food when it was ready, and take it to my friend. When we got to the house, after going to the store, Jiang asked if he could please watch me cook. I thought he was joking, but no. So Jiang came in, while Wan (our ayi) was ironing clothes in the kitchen (it is not lost on me how spoiled this all sounds, having an ayi and a driver). They both watched me make the chicken vegetable soup, and the breadsticks. They were intrigued, and discussed every move I made, especially with the breadsticks. They have never seen an oven work. I was like their child, as they watched proudly, making comments and talking about me as I went. They were making jokes about coming to work for us when we move back to America, and we were teaching each other words in Chinese, and English. The breadsticks were a hit, but Jiang didn't want to try the cream soup. He informed me he doesn't eat milk with vegetables. Hmm...

On Saturday morning, Mike and I decided to wake up early and go for a bike ride to Purple Mountain. It isn't too close, so I guess only Mom and Dad Russon can know to be impressed by our ride:-) Anyway, don't be too impressed, the mountain isn't like the Wasatch Front or anything. Its more like really big hills. Well, we had a great time. We went to Sun Yat San's mausoleum. It is a pretty impressive structure, and beautiful, with the trees and the view. There are 400 stairs leading to the tomb, which my friends and I have been known to make an exercise excursion out of by doing the stairs several times. I did them twice that morning, but Mike refused. He just didn't see the enjoyment. We got back in time to get the kids breakfast, and I can't wait to go again!

On Monday night, for Family Night, we watched part of the Founding Fathers movie Mike's Grandpa Smith gave us for Christmas. It was great. We are also learning the Pledge of allegiance. Eli was supposed to share a food from the USA today at school, so we all made Toll House Cookies as well. It was great having our "Patriotic" night, and we will continue for the next few Mondays. While the kids are learning all sorts of wonderful things about the world, they aren't getting all of our U.S. history, and we don't want them to miss out!

Tonight, Mike had meetings, so he stayed late to work. Poor guy missed out on our dance party. We turned on our recessed-blue (yes, blue) rope lights and danced to the great 80's music that Emily burned for us, as well as some Bangles, and show tunes. Poor Mike! We all know how he loves to dance. This, at least, I am proud to have passed on to my kids...They all LOVE to dance, like their Mamma! We may not be good, but we have heart.

Play Ball

Mike had promised the boys all week to ride bikes to the school and hit some balls and play catch. Jay has a strong arm, and he was worried about the windows in our neighborhood:-) The boys were beyond excited. Jay had planned out what he, Eli, and Mike were going to wear, down to the caps. The boys came in at 6:20am, ready to go! They were disappointed to have to wait. Well, I thought that Mike would want to take the boys himself, but I was mistaken. I was quite honored to be included in this male ritual, that is until I learned why I was invited. Mike was to be the pitcher (obviously, he doesn't remember I played pitcher on the 53rd ward women's softball team 15 years ago...Or maybe he does) Eli the catcher, and Jay up to bat. I, was apparently brought along to be the outfielder. Yes, the outfielder on a full size pitch. And, did I mention that Jay hits hard? Well, I certainly got my exercise for the day!!!! We started our playing, when the guard came over to ask us to move our bikes. You need to know, that there were no cars in the parking lot. He wanted us to take them all the way over to the back of the school to the bike park. We made a compromise and parked them in a parking stall. This way, he didn't lose face, and we didn't walk our bikes all the way over there for nothing. We had a great time playing. You know, everyone got a turn to hit, except me. I wonder if I'll be lucky enough to be invited again??!

** I think it should be noted that Mike and I saw a bike with three huge TV's strapped on the back. I realize that the record is 4 TV's on a scooter, but points need to be given for a man-powered machine, so a special category should be made.

Jay, Caitlin, Nicole, and Rachel were all asked to speak in church today about how they grew spiritually over the summer. All of the girls wrote their own talks, and all of them did a great job. Some of the BYU group came this week, so there was a larger crowd than expected. Instead of the 15 of us that had been coming, there were about 20. Anyway, their talks were full of experiences they had with all of our family back home this summer. Thank you for being such wonderful examples, friends, and mentors to all of us. We love you!

The first week of school...

This has been a very eventful week for us. We started it with Jay’s seventh birthday last Sunday. He is very happy to be seven. He had some great celebrations in Utah with Grandparents, and we had a cake and some presents for his birthday, here. On Saturday, Mike and I had taken him for a pizza lunch, which was fun. Jay is growing up so fast. He is such a sweet kid. We all love him.

On Monday, school started. On Sunday, Michael had given each of the children the traditional Father’s Blessing, and everyone felt ready. Every one of my children is in school all day now! This is one of those days you don’t really see coming so soon. Eli was so happy to go to the same school as his brothers and sisters. He has loved every day so far. The first day, I had to insist I take him. He was sure Jay could just drop him off! I don’t think so! I had shed my tears Sunday night before I went to sleep, so I didn’t make a scene and embarrass him on his first day. I was worried about being lonely. I was so busy this week, there was no time for loneliness!

The children all had a great week. I think they are all looking forward to the many activities they have coming up. They all signed up for their after-school activities for the first quarter. Eli is doing a group game class, and a cooking class. Jay is doing Student Council, and a basketball class. Caitlin is doing scrap booking and computer club. Nicole is doing Student Council, volleyball, rugby, and yearbook. Rachel is doing Student Council, volleyball, and rugby. They will all stay busy! Rachel, Nicole and I started our running training this week. We get up Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and go at 5:45 for 45 minutes. To start we are running one minute, and walking the next. We will keep building on that.

The first while after we got back, I was struggling to adjust to the China scene, again. I didn’t expect this, as I had been doing just fine before the summer. But this week, I really have overcome my first initial culture shock. I think it really did the trick when I went running on Tuesday morning, after the kids went to school. It was already really quite hot, and so humid, but I really thought I could do it anyway. I ran my favorite route, to the cemetery. First I ran past the little cottages, usually so full of life. They were all rubble. I was saddened by this, and realized how blessed I am to be in a large beautiful house. They are filled with transient people from the country, and when the construction is finished, they move on. I ran past an old man who just looked right at me and laughed (crazy lady). I ran past the dump baking in the humid heat. Wow! That was potent. I had to move out of the way of a man and his water-buffalo, walking down the street. There was a woman pulling her greens for sale in her handcart, and a man pulling an old beat up window AC in his. By the time I got to the cemetery, the old me was back! I was happy to be here in China. The place where every sense is awakened, and something to learn around every corner. Of course, I had to walk home, because I don’t think I had an ounce of liquid left in my body with that heat!

I started a very challenging exercise class this week, joined a great charity organization, started on the school parent committee I’ve agreed to be on, and had lots of fun with my kids after school. I also found a great Italian Ice-cream shop, and while Mike and I were on our date, were lucky enough to run into the Nanjing Police Talent night at the park. At least, that is what we think it must have been. We saw about 20 policemen marching and doing fancy drills with their whistles. Wow! It was really hard not to laugh. Later, some of them sang, and then there was a brass band. We wondered if there was an unusual jump in the theft- rate that night.

We are all ready for this next year, and look forward to the adventures it will bring...

Summer 2006 Photos

Like I said, I didn't use my camera near enough this summer, but here are some fun shots we did get...

Rachel and Nicole's young women project they did this summer. Special thanks to Becky, Catherine, and Grandpa Russon!
Snug as 3 bugs.
Give me 2 thumbs up buddy! (We actually saw someone say that on an episode of Maguiver we watched today!)
Hanging out at the Pineview Campsite

Happy Birthday Chad! Hi Karly!
Look Dad, I'm driving a Ford!
We love cousins!

Summer Photos

Here is a great photo of our attempt to "swim" in the Great Salt Lake!
Here are some fun pics of the alpine slide. Nicole!
Rachel!
Erin (Nicole's friend from Michigan)
Jay, Anna, and Amy
Lonnie and Jay
The ride up the mountain was great!

We had an amazing summer!

We just got back two days ago, from visiting family in Utah. It was such a wonderful trip. Six weeks of fun and playing! Michael needed to stay and work, so the first four weeks, we stayed at my Mom and Dad's house, and split the time between my family and Mike's. We stayed with his parents for a while when he came. We did so many fun things...to name a few, there were trips to St. George, the Alpine Slide, swimming, Cherry Hill, Lagoon, shopping (this should be in italics...there was a lot of shopping), birthday parties, yummy food, waterskiing and camping, girls camp, the big young women's project, family reunions, parades, a 5k and 10k, training for the runs, did I mention shopping, or eating? The list could go on and on. Obviously, we had an incredible summer. The best part was just spending time with our family. It is always my favorite thing to spend time with our brothers, sisters, and parents. And the children sure do love their grandparents, and cousins. It is so much fun to see them all growing up. We feel so blessed to have been able to spend a large period of time just getting to know everyone more. We also had a visit from Nicole's friend Erin, from Michigan for 10 days. That was so much fun. We kept her very busy, and it meant so much to Nicole.

Well, I know I have some pictures. Not near as many as I would like. I was so terrible at remembering to bring my camera on all of these fun things. Anyway, I still haven't found it in my unpacking. So, pictures will have to come soon. We had a long, long, trip home. The children were very good, and it was wonderful to have Mike along to help. There is just no way of getting around the journey, but it was definately worth it. We came home to our new house. Poor Mike had to go to work the next day, so he was off, and we got busy with the boxes, and suitcases. The children have been such good sports about all of the work. We've made good progress with a lot of the boxes, and the 14, yes 14, 50 lb. suitcases. We used up every pound! Luckily, Mike has elite statis, so the couple of bags we went over, weren't charged to us! I'm hoping to finish up the house this week before school starts.

It took me a little bit to get back into the Chinese speaking again. Luckily, it's coming back pretty quickly. Mike and I went to the store yesterday to get some food and stuff for the house. I think I had gotten used to the smells after being here for a year. Wow, were they potent yesterday! And the crouds! It's impossible to even describe them. We're back!

We had a terrific summer, enjoying our family, friends, and the ease of America. Just the break we needed. I feel like we are ready for another year of China. Is China ready for another year of us????