Annie is 1!!!

The Indian tradition for a first birthday is to have a HUGE celebration. My maid kept telling me that I needed to invite "all the childrens in the area" and that she would bake "many cakes" Well, I don't know all the "childrens" so I kept telling her that we would probably just do a small party with our kids. She and our driver came to me on the morning of Annie's birthday and asked if we had rented the party hall in our clubhouse for the party. I told her no that I didn't think we needed a party hall for our kids, we could just have a little party in our living room. They then asked if it was OK to decorate our living room for Annie. I told them that was fine, I was sure Annie would like that. I wish I had videoed them doing it. They were like kids in a candy store all excited. The driver asked if he could go buy more balloons because the package I had boughten didn't have enough in it. I gave him 100 rupees and told him that was fine and if they needed any other decorations to go ahead and buy them. About 100 balloons and alot of streamers later, they were finished decorating. They had even found some of the water balloons that ended up on our shipment over here and were blowing them up. I got a headache just watching our driver blow up balloons. Baby also brought Annie a gift that morning. Vijay brought one that night.

After eating cake she opened her presents from our family. She got a really cute swing that we had to hang in the garage, and a walker that turns into a little scooter bike. Ethan was so upset because he didn't have a present to give to her from him. He went upstairs and got wrapped up his football and gave it to her. Now that is a true gift!

A funny comment on the cake. Here, people DO NOT WASTE FOOD at all!! We gave Annie the cake and Maddie pulled a "Kelli". LOL She was crying saying that she wanted to eat some cake and that Annie would eat it all. I assured her that Annie couldn't eat a whole 9 X 13 cake. When Annie finished, we cut off a piece for everyone to have some. There was still quite a bit of cake left, and I was just going to throw it away because it was all torn apart from Annie. Well, in the madness of cleaning Annie up and getting everyone else in bed that night, I left the cake sitting out. When Baby came the next morning, she got out the left over frosting and was going to fix the cake so that we could have it for dessert the next night. She frosted part of the cake and ran out of frosting. I told her not to worry about it because Annie could just eat the other part again. The kids each had another piece of cake, and I had to hurry and throw the rest out so she wouldn't try to fix the cake again today.

Cows

So I've been debating whether it is bad to take pictures of their cows that are all dressed up. Our driver says they decorate them because they are Gods. So, finally I asked him if he thought it was alright to take pictures and he told me to go ahead so...here are pictures of some of the cows that are paraded around town. Usually led by a young boy with a flute or instrument of some sort, asking for money.

This is one that was outside our church on Sunday. Right after I took the picture the lady holding the baby came to the window to ask for money. We gave her a few rupees, and then the cow stuck it's head right in the window. I thought it was going to lick me.

Dusshera

Monday was the last day of a 10 day (i think) festival Dusshera. Our driver tried to again explain to us what this holiday is for. In our understanding, it is to pray over anything mechanical? He came this morning and did a puja on our car. A puja is a prayer/worship thing that they do. He did a ritual, painting and decorating the car with banana leaves and flowers. I had to go the grocery store so I didn't see the whole ceremony thing that he did, but Alan, Ellie and Ethan watched him. They said that he lit a fire on a banana leaf and walked around the car painting it. He put lemons under the tires and ran them over and took the car for a drive down the street and back. Then he smashed a melon that he had put paint on the inside of and now the smashed melon is ...standing guard? over the car. He also did a puja on all of the kids bikes and scooters. He said that this will now keep them safe for 1 year until next dusshera. After he was done, he told us that the car and bikes needed to rest for 24 hours. (I wonder if he didn't just want the day off? It was the India vs. Australia Cricket match)

A fun day off

Monday here was a holiday so Alan didn't have work and the kids didn't have school. We decided that we needed to go do something so we decided to go check out the safari at the National Park. For $10 we all (including our driver) went on the Safari. Tells you how good it really was. The kids loved it. We all got into a Steel caged bus and drove through some gates, that made you feel like you were entering Jurassic Park. You went through one gate, and they would close it behind you and open another gate. We saw Monkeys, Lions, Tigers, Bears, Deer, and...Termites?!? When we got on the bus, of course we were given the Royal Treatment, because we are white. We got to sit in the front of the bus next to the driver, and every time he would stop, he would wait for me to finish telling my kids about the animals before he would move on. He would look at me for my approval before he moved the bus. Also, there was a bus driver helper that kept wiping the seats and windows because it was raining hard. He decided that he needed to be my photographer so he took my camera and started taking a lot of pictures of all the animals for me...um...OK. I kept trying to tell him to only push the button half way so it could focus, and then you could push it the rest of the way to take the picture. Apparently I don't speak well enough, or he didn't, because hardly any of the hundreds of pictures he took came out. The ones that I was able to adjust in photoshop are the ones that I posted. I finally decided to turn the camera onto video so that we would at least get some pictures. He couldn't really figure that one out either, but here are a few clips he took too. At the end of the Safari one of the things that they stopped the bus for was a big mound on the side of the road. The kept saying termites and were very excited about them, but I wonder if we just couldn't understand them right.

I guess this was the Termites.

When we got off the bus, people again wanted to get their picture taken with us. I tried to take a picture of them taking a picture of Alan and the kids, but...I was trying to not step in a big puddle, so I cut out Alan and the kids. And...our driver is looking at me like I'm a weirdo.

After the Safari, our kids were "STARVING!" , but I think it was because they spotted some chips. Ellie and Maddie got a bag of chips each, and Ethan picked out a thing of corn on the cob. They roast them over coals on the side of the road. Apparently we are getting a little more brave with each outing. (Alan bought it, not me) I had to take a picture of him eating it, because for some reason it reminded me of Nacho Libre when the skinny guy is laying there eating corn. About 1/2 through eating the cob, he started to squirm and cry. I said what's wrong and he cried "MY LIPS ARE BURNING!!!" I guess they put some spices on it.

CATCH UP

So, even though it's only been about 5 days since my last blog I looked at our camera and we have quite a few pictures that need to be posted. Some of them are from Alan's trip to the Utah, some are random pictures of India

His trip to Houston/Utah was a quick one and I know his Dad wanted to take him fishing, so when I saw these pictures on the camera I wasn't suprised, and I wasn't surprised to see him asleep in them either. Trying to get used to the time change in such a short period of time is hard, but I know he loved the trip!

Alan and his dad fishing on the Snake River
Uncle Chad
Uncle Chad and Jason

Alan, I'm sure he was really fun on this trip. ZZZZ

By the time he was ready to come back to India, he had adjusted to time in Utah, so now he had to adjust back.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALAN!!

I asked Alan what he wanted to do for his birthday. His response was to relax. He wanted Bratworst for his birthday lunch, so we made hot dogs and brats. I have to say, I haven't had a better hot dog...thanks again for all the shopping you did Mom and Dad. After lunch Alan went and took a nap...I think he slept most of the day on Saturday. I finally woke him up so we could have Pizza dinner and cake. I made a German Chocolate Cake and we had some Baskin Robbins Ice Cream to go with it.

If you think Alan just woke up in this picture, he did.

Our driver asked Alan the other day how old he was going to be and Alan told him 34. I think the driver was amazed that he was that old. He said, "You just look like a guy!" I guess that means young. Alan then asked him how old he was. I would have never guessed he was that young. 27

OUR POOR COUGARS!!

I think Alan had other motives when he wanted to sleep on Saturday. You guessed it. He was up again Sunday morning 4:00 a.m. to watch the Cougars! Too bad it ended up the way it did.

TRYING TO GET ANNIE TO WALK

So, we've been trying hard to get Annie to walk, she wants nothing to do with it. Alan found this little walker at a stand on the side of the road. He brought it home to her, and she loves it, except it has now earned the nickname "The Death Walker"

As you can see she loves to push it around, but she figured out how to go around to the front side of it. If you look, you see there is nothing there to stop it from tipping over backwards. Hence the nick name. She has smacked her face on the ground a few times....and we wonder why she wants nothing to do with walking?
I had to put this one in here, just because she is so cute. Our maid and driver have both asked for pictures of her to take home. Their families both wanted to see her.

The next pictures are just random pictures that were on the camera....

WELCOME TO INDIA....

HE'S BACK!!!

YEAH!!! Alan made it back. I should have taken a picture of our kitchen when we unpacked his boxes. I made Alan take all of his clothes in a carry on suitcase so he could bring things back of us. I had a whole list. On the way to the airport in Salt Lake I talked to Alan and he told me I put WAY too many things on my list and that he had to cut some of it out. He said, "Do you know how much weight I get to bring back?" I told him yes, I knew it was 100 lbs. Then he told me that my whole list weighed in at 210 lbs. I asked him what he had to cut out of my list and he wouldn't tell me. I told him he had to tell me so I could prepare myself for disappointment. :) He wouldn't give in, he told me that if I don't notice it's not there, I won't miss it. OK OK I agreed. After his plane took off I called my mom and begged her to tell me what Alan had left behind. She told me she was sworn to secrecy, but not to worry, I got everything I really needed. OK well, I didn't really NEED any of it, I just WANT all of it. :) Long story short....I fell asleep at 1:00 a.m. waiting for him, his flight was late, and he got here at about 2:30 a.m. He woke me up and told me to help him unload the frozen meat. (Yes, if you freeze meat and pack it in a Styrofoam cooler, and check it as a piece of your luggage, it gets here, STILL FROZEN) I walked downstairs into the kitchen and saw not 2, but 3 HUGE BOXES! I asked him if he paid to get a 3rd piece of luggage, and he told me no. Unknown to me, Business class gets to take 3 pieces of luggage at 70 lbs a piece, not the 2 pieces of luggage at 50 lbs. HOORAY!!! I get everything I WANTED!!! Thanks Mom and Dad for helping shop for me.

I just have to say we had the best hamburgers for dinner last night and I had the BEST turkey sandwich for lunch today!! My kids can't wait to get Chili Cheese Dogs. How funny is that!

Our Saturday

These first few pictures are for Grandmas. I was on Skype with my mom this morning and every time we've skyped lately Annie's been asleep. Well, she couldn't believe how long Annie's hair has gotten, but I hadn't combed it and it was CRAZY! I told her I'd put some cute pictures of it from the other day on here.

It's SO CURLY!!! It reminds me a lot of Ellie's hair when she was this age, except Ellie was a Blondy and Annie has brown hair.

So, our Saturday here without Alan I decided that we needed to go do something fun. I had been recommended a place that our kids might like that was called the "Monkey Maze". It's pretty much a glorified McDonald's Playland. All padded with the ball pits. Annie loved the ball pits and carried a ball though out the whole time there. They also have a craft/painting area in the downstairs. (Right up Ellie's alley) The kids had a great time and think we need to come back here for Annie's Birthday! The next pictures are from the "Monkey Maze"


Whoa! Talking about CRAZY HAIR!! After climbing through the whole Jungle Gym, Maddie looked like a maniac.

On our way home Ethan spotted one of the many vendors that sells Coconuts. Vijay our driver heard him say he wanted to taste one, so he quickly pulled over and ran and bought him one. He made sure that we all stayed in the car, because he didn't want the vendor to charge him more than needed. 12 Rupees for a coconut drink. They have these SHARP knives that are kind of hooked and they quickly slice the top off and trim it down so they can put the straw in. Hopefully we don't all get sick from sucking on a straw that the guy touched. I tried to inconspicuously wipe it down with a Purell wet wipe, but I'm not sure it did any good. I guess only time will tell.
I think Ethan was in shock that Vijay actually got him one. We've been teasing him telling him we were going to get him one ever since we got here.
Once we got home everyone wanted to take a sip, but when it came right down to it, no one would.
Finally I took a sip and faked a smile to tell them it was good, (not really it was horrible) Ellie and Ethan braved a sip, but when they pulled faces, Maddie wouldn't even look at it.

We had a really fun day, but it will be very nice to have Alan back! He is getting on his plane tonight our time (in the morning there). Only 2 more days 'til we see him again. Annie saw him on Skype and started giggling and he put his hands out for her and she tried to leap through the computer screen to get him. She will be especially happy to get him back!

Parents Day at Indus

OK, so I lied. I found my old camera so here are some pictures of my day with my kids at school.

Parents Day is pretty much a carnival for the grades K-4. The Kindergarten had a pre-carnival activity that I got to go to. I had a lot of fun with Ethan drawing a picture to be judged about a book, and we made a picture frame together. He is a fun little boy, and when he is excited about something it makes it even more fun to help him accomplish it. I was a little late getting there (I still underestimate how long it takes to get anywhere here) but when I got there he went to each of the kids and said "Hey, this is my mom!" I loved that he was excited to have me there. Unfortunately because I was the last one there we got the last pick of colors for our poster board and frame. Luckily, "Pink is the new boy color" and I brought extra green paper for his frame.

After the Kindergarten Activity we went to lunch in the Cafeteria, and then to the carnival.

Maddie and Ethan both did the pin the mustache on the man. Ethan admitted after he ate his treat that he had cheated.
Ethan saw kids who had their faces painted and really wanted his done. This is the before.
and after. I don't really know what his obsession with owls is, but that is the only thing he wanted. He was pretty proud that when he closed his eyes it looked like they were still open.

Ellie and Maddie worked really hard at making bookmarks.
Showing off their creations
Ellie took off with her friends so Maddie and Ethan and I all had Potato Sack races. Ethan was proud that he beat me in his "Tomato bag" race.
No carnival is complete without getting your hair colored.
All in all it was a pretty fun day at Indus. Now, I hope Alan gets jealous of the fun we are having here without him.