Tracy and Katie

I'll try and condense 2 weeks into 1 blog, but it's going to be a long post.

Katie and Tracy came to India to visit us at the end of May. It was so fun to have someone come so we could show them what we do, and how crazy this place is. We had many adventures and took many many pictures. I've put some of the pictures into collages so that I can post more of them on here.

When they arrived ViJay and Baby were so excited to meet them. Alan had been telling Vijay how mean his sisters are, he told them that they might hit him if he's not careful. He asked me one day if they really were mean. I told him he'd have to be the judge. When it came time to pick them up at the airport he had it all planned out. This is what he wore to the airport.

We went non-stop, shopping around Bangalore and visiting many temples.

We also went on a train to Hampi. It was a fun experience that was new to us too.

Hampi is an old ruins city from the 14th century that was burned down by the Muslims. It reminded me of the part on Jungle Book when the monkeys take Mogli to the monkey village.

We also went to Mysore and saw the palace. On our way there Alan spotted some men walking camels on the side of the road, and one thing led to another and...

Once we got to the Mysore Palace, Katie and Tracy again braved the camel and the elephants.

Another very fun thing we did was take dolls to the orphanages. Katie and Tracy had their primay and Activities Day girls make yarn dolls to give to the children. It was so fun to see their eyes light up when we gave them the toys and a treat.

On the 2nd weekend they were here we went to Kabini and went on a Jungle Safari. It was really fun to see all of the animals in the wild. We weren't able to see too many because it started to rain, and got a little cold, but it was still fun. Next time I'm going to get a picture of the elephant crossing sign.

After a fun 2 weeks, the kids and I jumped on a plane to Salt Lake for the summer. I dreaded traveling the whole way by myself with 4 kids, but they were excellent and I can't complain one bit!

Need to post

I haven't posted anything in a long time.
We are now visiting home for the summer. The last 2 weeks that we were in India, Alan's sisters came to visit. It was so fun to go around and show off where we live. Tracy kept a really good blog of the trip so anyone who wants to see what we did for those 2 weeks can link to her blog. I will try and post about it later so I have my own record for our journal, but for now her link is Tracy and Chad on my list of friends.

My Kids

I just have to write about how much I love my kids!! They have been so great in coming to India and adjusting!! It amazes me everyday how much they have learned and how they have adjusted to being here. Don't get me wrong they are extremely excited to come home to visit this summer, but not having ever moved when I was little, I didn't know how well it would go. My kids are AMAZING!!!

Heading to Dinner

The other day we gave Vijay the night off because it was his wife's birthday. We decided that we wanted to go out to dinner to "The Only Place" so we took a Rickshaw

Ethan, Solomon, and Shravia's Birthday Party

Baby and Vijay both have kids who's birthdays are on May 9th. Since Ethan's birthday was on the 7th we decided to have a combined party at our house for all 3 of them.

Solomon (Baby's Son) turned 11

Shravia (Vijay's Daughter) turned 3

Ethan my favorite son turned 6!!! WOW!!!

It was really fun to see how excited they were to get a few gifts. We ordered cheese pizza and some Indian food so that everyone would be happy. Turns out they all liked the Pizza. Solomon played the Wii with Vijay and loved every minute of it. Then he let Lakshmi have a turn to sword fight Vijay.

I caught both on video, but it's having a hard time uploading. I'll post it later.

Happy Birthday Ethan!!

I can't believe how quickly time flies by!!! Ethan is already 6!!! We had a fun weekend filled with Birthday parties!

On Thursday the 6th they celebrated at school because they had a field trip planned for the 7th. It was so fun to go into his class and take a cake and goodie bags. The teachers told us at Parent Teacher Conferences that Ethan has many friends, and I believe it! He is so outgoing and loves to be around people. They also told us that there is one girl inparticular that he hangs out with. Liselotte is a cute little girl from Germany. She was the first person he gave a goodie bag to. It was pretty cute.

On Friday we put candles into his breakfast because we knew he wasn't getting a cake until his friend party on Saturday.

We also went to dinner at Chili's Restaurant and Ethan opened his gifts from our family. Vijay and Baby also brought him gifts on Friday and gave him a birthday hat. Baby was very excited that she had written the card all by herself. Ethan has been trying to teach her how to write.

Saturday morning we had his friend birthday party at the Monkey Maze! I think they all had fun. We ate McDonalds and played on the Jungle Gym for 2 hours. Then we came home and had our combined party with Vijay and Baby's families (See other post)

Dinner with Blacketts

We met a new LDS family that has moved to Bangalore. They are living in a different branch here, but their kids also attend Indus International School with ours. In fact, one of their 5 sons is in Ethan's class.

They invited our family out to dinner at their house last week and our kids were so excited to see A TRAMPOLINE!

When we were getting ready to come home, we walked out to the car and saw all the frogs that come out at night here.

Zachary, Ethan, and Nathan posing for a picture with the frog. None of them wanted to get too close. As soon as we snapped the picture, they all jumped up and ran away.