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.

Alan's headed home!

I'm a little jealous that Alan gets to go home to visit for the weekend. He has a meeting in Houston, and we had a few things that we left undone at home so while he is in the states he is headed home for a few days. When he first told me he was going I was really jealous, then as I started to think about it I realized it benefits me. I packed all of his clothes into a carry on suitcase and now...he can bring back good stuff for me! I just hope this week goes by fast, and that he has a fun time with family. Unfortunately he took our camera with him so no picture posts for a week or so. Sorry

GO COUGARS!!!

I am so glad for Alan's sake that we got a Slingbox before we came!!
Alan woke up Sunday morning at 4:00 a.m. just to watch the game. I knew were going to get killed so I slept in until half time!! Boy did I miss out!! Needless to say, I did get to watch the first half because of course Alan DVR'd it, and we watched it over and over! Gotta love the Cougars!! And gotta LOVE SLINGBOX!! (except when the commercials play for things back home)

Ganesha Festival Videos

So we finally got our unlimited Internet so I can upload video. This video is of the day people were taking their Ganesha statues to the lake to put them in. I was standing at the bus stop inside Adarsh Vista waiting for my kids to come home from school. The people danced like this all the way to the lake. Now that I watch this video I have to laugh because I recognize some of the people dancing. The man in the red shirt and tan pants with the bandanna on his head is our Adarsh Vista 24 hour electrician.

Once we got back to our house Vijay, our driver, asked if we'd like to go see the lake where they put Ganesha. We drove and picked Alan up at work and went to Ulsoor Lake.

This is video of the road going to Alan's office. We are turning onto Old Madras Road and then we turn into the RMZ office.

This is at Ulsoor Lake. Vijay told us that usually you put your own Ganesha Statue into the lake, but last year a small boy drown in the lake so they had a lot of security there to put them in the lake for you this year.