Tibet and Everest

Here are some photographs of my trip with the CDIS Senior class to Tibet and Mt. Everest...

This was the view within five minutes of takeoff from Chengdu. Pollution keeps us from these amazing views.

The team (minus Alvin) arrives at the airport.

Many of the "sacred" objects throughout the streets of Lhasa.

Thanks to these incent smokers, the town of Lhasa was not lacking in the fragrance department.

The view from our favorite restaurant of the trip.

The team at Potala Palace (Alvin included). 

China makes sure the flag is front and center.

Dedication from a Tibetan Buddhist.

A view of Lhasa.

Prayer wheels

This boy received a "health" blessing from a monk. The black smudge on the nose is the sign placed on his body.

Hyundai Santa Fe receiving a monk blessing.

Tibetan Man

Tibetan girl

Tibetan woman with her prayer beads and prayer spinner

The Tibetan Buddhists in Lhasa are "Yellow Hats"

My first view of Mt. Everest

Luckily the clouds stayed away early int he morning.

Our second view of Mt. Everest

The clouds begin to roll-in and make our trek to Base Camp seem like a bad idea.

God had other ideas and the clouds vanished... What a view!!!

Pictures do not do the magnitude of Mt. Everest justice.

I am almost taller than Mt. Everest from this view.

The team at Mt. Everest minus Alice, Rosemary and Eun Song.

The guys joined me in removing our shirts at Everest. Joy was not allowed to look!

The name of Everest to the locals.

Night Night

The Perdue house has been battling a nasty stomach bug.  Brynn's bug hit on our "fun" family night out Friday. I am pretty sure we are permanently banned from Decathlon (sporting goods store), Pizza Hut and a taxi. Aubrey was the next victim, but bounced back quickly.  Last night Matt became our third victim. We need him him to get well for his trip to Tibet and Mount Everest. He is leaving Saturday morning. I am praying I get skipped this time around!

I found this  video Matt took of Aubrey the other day. It made me smile today (which I needed between grumpy kids, sick husband and tons of laundry). She showing off her new trick!

Playground and Holiland

I can't believe we are in our last few weeks in China. I want to post more about our everyday life, so I won't forget and can come back to the blog and remember our time in China.

A normal, warm weather day for us is spent outside. After Aubrey's morning nap, we usually load up the double stroller and head out.

Today we went to Matt's school and enjoyed some time on the playground. Brynn and her friend Peyton played in the sandbox and Aubrey chased a butterfly (it was sooo cute).

We enjoyed a rather random picnic lunch of boiled eggs, raisins, crackers and an apple, which we all shared. There were slim pickings today and thankfully I will go on our bi-weekly shopping trip tomorrow to Auchan and Metro.

Since our lunch was pretty sad, we stopped by our favorite bakery, Holiland, on our way home. I counted 8,  and I am not exaggerating, bakery/sweet/juice shops on our fifteen minute walk home. China is a funny place!

Yes, those are puffy wet eyes you see on Brynn. She was not happy about leaving the playground. She got to choose her treat and it was no surprise she picked the pink, pig cake. The other ear is already in her mouth. They are called cakes, but they are not sweet at all. To me they don't taste nearly as good as they look.

Here is the after picture. She said "My pig made me happy".

 Aubrey shared a berry smoothie with Mommy.

 That made her happy too!

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Saturday in Zhonghai

Aubrey's favorite toy is becoming her pink ball. Along with saying mama, dada, bye bye, she can now say ball. Matt will tell her to go get her ball and she will find it anywhere in the house.

The Hong Qi is our local convenient store. We typically get our bottled waters and soft drinks at this one before dining on Korean and Noodles/Rice.

Waiting on our Korean dishes after soccer practice.

Matt's favorite dish in China. It is basically Chicken Fried Rice but comes EXTREMELY spicy and with fermented black beans!

Matt's third bottled water!

Brynn's favorite Korean dish is Gimbap or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimbap

Sarah's favorite dish is Bi Bim Bop or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibimbap

Aubrey enjoys riding in the front of the double stroller, so she can take in all the views. She is also not able to pull Brynn's hair like she does when she rides in the back.

The best part of Brynn's soccer game is her dribbling skills.

Brynn scores a goal!!!

Aubrey at 10 Months

It is hard to believe that Aubrey is already 10 months old. She is a busy little girl and her personality is really starting to shine. Here are a few things I want to remember about Aubrey. (I do this because I am not good at writing in her baby book).

Aubrey does not like to wear a bib or be fed with a spoon. This makes for some pretty messy meal times. She basically skipped over pureed food and enjoys real food. Some of her favorite foods are: Oatmeal, Yogurt, Rice (this maybe b/c she lives in China), Edamamme and  Green Beans (she especially loves her house helpers).

She is officially a walker! On the playground this week she decided it is not as fun to sit in her stroller or be held by mom, so she just took off. She has not stopped since then. It is funny to see this bald baby walking around after her sister.

Aubrey is a great napper. She takes two long naps a day and goes down very easy. We will not talk about her nighttime sleeping. However, we are making some progress. Aubrey usually wakes up at 5:30 as happy as can be. I think she just likes to have some undivided attention with her daddy before work.

Her favorite word is dada. She also will say mama and bye bye. She chatters all the time and she still will growl at you from time to time. Aubrey LOVES her daddy. She takes off towards the door when she hears him come home from work.

Aubrey's eyes are still blue, but we don't think they will stay.

Aubs really doesn't have a favorite toy. She prefers anything that her big sister is playing with at the time. She has taken years off my life by always putting things her her mouth. She can find the smallest piece of fuzz and get it to her mouth before I can get across the room to sweep it out. She has tried to eat a caterpillar and I am frequently fishing out stickers, old crusty food or leaves out of her mouth.

Aubrey and Brynn are really starting to play together. They will go back to Brynn's room and spend 30 minutes playing. It is funny to hear Brynn tell Aubrey what to do and shush her when she starts to cry. I heard Aubrey wail while I was writing this post. I went back to Brynn's room and Brynn was dressing Aubrey up. She had managed to get the outfit over Aubrey's head and one arm in :)

Panda Bear, Panda Bear....

Happy Easter

We are winding down our Easter Celebration as everyone else is just beginning theirs. This morning the girls enjoyed all of their Easter basket goodies. Brynn loves her Fancy Nancy Easter book and Aubrey has enjoyed reading her Pat the Bunny Book. 

Before fellowship we joined several families for a yummy Brunch. Matt was excited because someone brought made-from-scratch biscuits and gravy. (made-from-scratch biscuits from me = hard bricks)

 Me and the girls on our RIDE. Not many people get to ride a scooter on Easter Sunday! We have the best driver in China!!

 With full bellies, we made our way to fellowship. Not sure how it happened, but Brynn ended up on stage singing "Zacchaeus was a Wee Little Man" with another little girl and then requesting "Row Row Row your Boat" as the next song (maybe next year)!

 

Aubrey had a great first Easter. She enjoyed some chicken and dressing, green beans and new potatoes for dinner.

 Aubrey has also decided she needs to start walking to keep up with her big sister. This week she has taken a few steps. Her crawl is still her favorite mode of transportation, but I think we will have a walker soon.