Poem by Matthew

Isaac

Shares a lot
Great at writing
Smiley
Great at Blockus
Spreads joy
Great brother


by Matthew


A poem Matthew wrote for Isaac. Matthew read it at Community time at school. It was a surprise. Too sweet

Spirit Week

What a week. Spirit week was a lot of fun for the boys. Monday was twin's day and Matthew and his buddy Trejan were twins and Isaac and about six other Kindergartners dressed up the same. The boys loved it. Then on Tuesday was class color day 1st graders dressed in orange and kindergartners in pink. Thankfully we had a pinkish dress shirt for Isaac. Wednesday was Sports day and that was easy. It was amazing to see all the different jerseys from around the world. Back home it is just the Seattle favorites. Here it was everything. Thursday was crazy hair day. The kids wore their hair all spiked up. It was funny. I had tons of pig tails and Doug combed his hair forward. Friday was school colors day Blue and Yellow. The crazy thing about the day was at 12:30 we had our first ever pep assembly. Then we watched the boys soccer team play a local Chinese team. The whole school was out cheering for the boys. Never have I had class canceled to watch a soccer game. It was fun. Then after the boys team the girls team played the Mom's and some teachers. I played and had a blast. It has been since high school since I have played and that is a long time ago. It put the soccer bug back into me. OH NO!!! I will let you know how I feel in the morning :)

It was a great week. We are still figuring out our flights home and will keep you posted when we do. We have a very NEEDED three day weekend.

Itinerary Home

We got our flight plans for this summer. We wanted to share them with you.

Itinerary Itinerary for SMITH/BRANDI MS; SMITH/DOUGLAS MR; SMITH/ISAAC MSTR; SMITH/MATTHEW MSTR: Date Route Flight No. Aerocraft Dep.-Arr. Duration Class Status 26JUN DALIAN-SEOUL OZ302 321 10:55-13:10 1hrs15mins Economy Confirmed 26JUN SEOUL-LOSANGELESCAL OZ202 747 16:30-11:30 11hrs0mins Economy Confirmed 26JUN LOSANGELESCAL-SAINTLOUIS AA768 757 15:10-20:35 3hrs25mins Economy Confirmed 23JUL SAINTLOUIS-LOSANGELESCAL AA2479 757 16:45-20:40 5hrs55mins Economy Confirmed 24JUL LOSANGELESCAL-SEOUL OZ203 777 00:20-05:00[+1day] 12hrs40mins Economy Confirmed 25JUL SEOUL-DALIAN OZ301 321 09:40-09:55 1hrs15mins Economy Confirmed

Yes we know it is a bit strange that we are going to Saint Louis instead of Seattle. Doug and I laughed so hard when we got this. It was laugh or cry so we laughed. We hope you all can make it to Saint Louis to see us. We will be at the airport due to not knowing anyone in Saint Louis.

They are fixing our tickets so when we know more we will let you know. We are getting so excited.

Flat Stanley come for a visit!

Our school sign






Flat Lauren was sent on her way and Flat Stanley arrived the next day. We LOVE the visitors!!!!

See some pictures from Flat Stanley's visit. (He was only able to spend a week with us and they we was off to New York)

Easter 2010

blueberry the blue jay

Now that is what we call art!! Thanks Grandma Eggs for the frosting


Thank you Easter Bunny



What is in this basket??

Easter in China was fun. The Easter bunny came to visit the boys and there were chocolate eggs all over our house. We then went to church and had a nice time with our church family. After church we went to brunch at our friends house and then off to an egg hunt. The older kids hid about 800 hard boiled and colored eggs at the school. About 60 people showed up for the hunt. Matthew and Isaac got their share of eggs and Doug and I enjoyed egg salad for the week.

We then came home and hung out and played games. Then we had our friends come over for Easter dinner. It was nice to be with friends for the holiday.

Family comes for a visit

Family Shot


my mommy

What an adventure it has been. We were so blessed to have my mom, her husband and my brother, Chris come and see us. I greeted them at our Condo on Thursday morning with my brother asking me what the lane lines were for. See here in China they pay NO attention to lane lines. I just laughed at him. We were able to take them around the towns that are by us. We took them shopping and they were amazed at how we shop. One of the funny stories was when we met up with two other teachers and their mother. We all got a ride back to school together. Yes 11 of us squished in a SMALL car. It was such a hoot. We laughed all the way to school. After spending time around our house we took off to Xian.


the birds nest!!!



Xian was amazing. The drive from the airport was fun. He bartered for a taxi and off we went. Well a few miles later the taxi stops and we sit on the freeway. Great what have I gotten my family into? Well because the cop told us we needed to use the meter and we had already bartered a price, the taxi driver had to find someone else to finish the trip without the meter on. It was crazy. Then we get to the hotel and I asked Chris if he saw all the great stores. He looked at me funny and said no he was looking at China. Crazy how being here 8 months will make you look at things differently.

The next day we biked around the city wall. It was a huge hit. The boys were on tandem bikes with Doug and Chris. Mom and John and I had our own bikes. The ride took us an hour and half. It was amazing and we saw so much. It was a blast. We then walked around town and ate at some local restaurants. Yummy.

Yes, Doug eating DUCK


Another day we boarded the city bus and off we went to the train station to catch a bus to see the Terracotta warriors. The city bus was a hoot. The Chinese did get up and offer sits to us. We took another bus to see the warriors. . The boys loved to learn about them and we had another grand adventure. Our last day in Xian we went to see the Great Goose pagoda. It had a wonderful fountain show that was linked with music. It rained that day but we stuck it out to see the show.

From Xian we went to Beijing. We had heard that there was a big sand storm there so we were very curious. No problems for us. We took the subway everywhere and Chris and Doug became the subway masters. Beijing was fun too. We saw so many great sites. We had a guide (one of my principal’s friend) for one of the days and he took us to a private section of the Great Wall. We had to pay the farmer less than a dollar each to walk on the wall. It was fantastic. Then for lunch the place where the car was parked, moved their table outside for us and cooked us lunch. Then we were off to see an acrobat show.The ride to the show was just as impressive as the show was.

We were able to see the Olympic sites, Forbidden City, Summer Palace and so much more. It was an adventure we will never forget. We have so many great memories. It was a blast to travel with others. The hard part was when we went to the airport and had to say goodbye. The only thing that made it easier to leave them was knowing we would see them again in 2 months.

My warriors

Look out here they come

Grandpa and Grandma Eggs riding on the wall in Xian