For our summer fun in Nebraska, we flew to Denver. Grandpa rented a Tahoe truck big enough for all seven of us plus our luggage. We piled into the big red truck to drive home. Our first stop was pizza in Ft Collins. We love BeauJo’s pizza. Our timing was perfect to get a nice table outside. We enjoyed the cool Colorado breeze and fresh air after spending the day flying and driving. The next stop was the fireworks shop in Cheyenne. Fireworks are illegal in California. Fireworks are allowed for a certain time around the 4th of July in Nebraska. Fireworks are legal all year in Wyoming. The shop is a big shop and Grandpa spoils the girls with fountains, smoke bombs and sparklers. The smoke bombs are their favorites.

The girls have fun with the sparklers. This year, we purchased the extra long sparklers which was a big hit.

Grandpa has his blow torch ready for the firework fun.

The girls like to put many smoke bombs together to create a colorful wave of smoke.

The clean-up crew…

On the 4th of July, we always go to Russ and Gaylene’s for a bbq meal and fireworks. Grandpa always brings his homemade ice cream. The girls love to help make it. Both girls are surprised by how much cream goes into making ice cream!

Dressed and ready for the 4th of July!

Russ has all the best toys. Russ and Gaylene’s grandchild are closer in age to Eleri. She has fun playing with Chrissy’s girls. They had a blast on the bumper boats.

Emersyn had fun driving the golf car. Russ has two golf cars for driving around the property…or more for his grandkids to drive around the property.

After delicious hamburgers grilled by Russ, we went to finish off the 4th of July with our other cousin’s, Rena and Michelle. Their children were just finishing their stash of fireworks when we pulled up to the house. We had more to share.

They had the outdoor fire pit ready for smores which are always a treat!

Michelle had the biggest marshmallows I have ever seen. Eleri loved just eating the toasted giant marshmallows.

Average Rating: 5 out of 5 based on 223 user reviews.

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As part of my birthday celebration, we planned a road trip to Napa Valley for a fun day of wine tasting and shopping. At the last minute, we changed the road trip to Sutter Creek. Terri and Andy like the small wineries in Sutter Creek. We started the day off with lunch in Amador City at a small cafe, Buffalo Emporium, known for their hamburgers. The hamburgers were ok, but the pies were worth the stop. The locals knew to order their pies before the meals. By the time we finished our lunch, there was only ONE berry pie left. It was delicious! Next time, we will get there early just for the pies!

After lunch, we went to one winery – Ario. Andy and I enjoyed a few glasses of wine before we went to Sutter Creek for a little shop.

The little shop turned into a LONG shop at Terri’s favorite shop, Unique Boutique. Eleri was a super shopper while Terri and I shopped and tried on clothes. We left very late for our dinner reservations. We had dinner at Volcano at the Union Inn. It was another fun birthday celebration!

Average Rating: 4.9 out of 5 based on 221 user reviews.

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It is Father’s Day. We haven’t spent Father’s Day with Jim since we moved to Shanghai. School is out at the beginning of June and we are back in America. This year, Eleri and I spent Father’s Day in California to celebrate the day with Papa. Emersyn was with Jim on the dive trip in Thailand.

Eleri all dressed for brunch at Aunt Nancy’s. Nancy always has the best food!

It was a beautiful afternoon on the deck at Nancy’s house. Papa enjoyed his day with his family.

Average Rating: 4.4 out of 5 based on 288 user reviews.

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The photos of free dress for the year is always a fun recap of the year to see how much the girls have changed. Emersyn has finished 7th grade and Eleri finished 3rd grade. How quickly the school year has gone, again.

June 11: Last Day of School

June 7: ES Just Because

June 6: ES Just Because

May 27-May 31: MS Spirit Week

MS Students have spirit week at school. It is always fun to dress in unusual ways.

Monday – School Spirit Day: Emersyn wore Cal blue and gold under her gold vest.

Tuesday – Wacky/backward Day: Now that she is a 7th grader, she can’t be to backwards!

Wednesday – Sports Jersey Day: Of course, Emersyn is wearing SF Giants – Jim’s jersey so it is just a bit too big!

Thursday – Crazy hat/tie Day: The tie is wood from Nepal – just fun.

Friday – MS Field Day: Emersyn was on the yellow team and her birthday!

May 21: ES Soccer Day

Soccer Day is an all day event at SAS campus.

May 3: ES Field Day

For field day, Eleri was on the team Japan. She needed to wear red and white to match her team mates.

April 22: Green Day

Free dress was green for green week at school – living a more “green” lifestyle. We do our best as a family. We use reusable water bottles. The girls have 100% green lunches with reusable snack boxes instead of plastic bags, silverware and cloth napkins.

March 12: Just Because

A “just because” free dress day to bring smiles to a couple of girls.

February 28: Free Dressed Earned

Free dress for 7th graders only today. The 7th graders earned a free dress day by contributing the most funds to the charity of the month, Heart to Heart. Emersyn has been selling cupcakes – that makes me the baker!

Eleri in her uniform.

February 22: ES Book Parade

Eleri’s book character this year was the little sister in the book, “Big Sister, Little Sister”. It is one of Eleri’s favorite books.

February 7: Chinese Dress Day

Chinese Dress Day at school for Chinese New Year. Emersyn wore a traditional skirt from the Yunnan Area.

Eleri wore a costume from a performance at Dulwich when she was 4. Eleri was a sheep herder for the CNY performance. The dress was big for her when she was 4, but I was surprised it still fit. We cut the elastic out of the pants because it was too tight.

February 5: Just Because

It was a cold, rainy day in Shanghai, but you can’t tell from what the girls are wearing!

January 15: Just Because

A free dress day to wear some new Christmas clothes – new jacket, new shirt and new necklace!

No photos of Eleri as she was home sick all week with a fever.

December 12: ES Free Dress Only

A free dress for ES (Elementary School). It may be winter in Shanghai, but you can’t tell from Eleri’s choice in clothes…except for the Uggs. After wearing her Uggs all day INSIDE, we have declared she may not wear them to school anymore. Eleri has always had hot, little feet…her feet were sweating in the Uggs. By the end of the day, her socks were wet and her feet smelled!!

November 20: Just Because

The girls love “just because” free dress days!

October 26: National Dress Day for International Day

International Day at school – red, white and blue! I have a small bag of accessories from Claire’s. I always buy a few fun items after the 4th of July for 50%-75% off. The glasses are from the Expo – not practical, but fun for photos.

September 18: Just Because

Free dress day and Eleri wanted to braid her hair to create the “Santa Cruz Sandy” look. With her hair now short, we weren’t too sure if it would look good AND it is too short to hide in pig tails or something. But, it turned out fun and Eleri loved it!

Emersyn wore regular shoes for the first time. She doesn’t think the hiking boots are a fashion statement, but they protect her ankle.

September 12: Photo Day

The ONLY day I get veto power on hair and clothes. I braided Emersyn’s hair and she wore it down (not in the usual pony tail). She has this amazing, beautiful hair that is in a pony tail EVERY day. They both looked adorable for photo day!

Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 based on 153 user reviews.

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It been one of those crazy end of the school year. Hosting a party forces me to completely de-cuttler my home…it is good for me, but it takes time. The last few weeks have been cleaning and preparing for parties – birthday, going away and year end parties at school. Emersyn turning a teen party on May 31, Faith’s going away party on June 8 and Eleri’s class year end party on June 10. I am a Room Mom for both girls, but the MS parties do not require as much work. When the parties are on the same day, I need to be at Eleri’s party.

We finally began packing on Sunday, June 9. I was pulling clothes for the summer and helping Emersyn pack for her dive trip. I know one day when we move back and the end of the school year will come with no stress or drama, I might miss it…but, probably not!!

Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 based on 281 user reviews.

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It is time to say good-bye (Zai Jian) to another good friend – the Bishops are moving to Michigan. We HAD four families that spent many school days and holidays together – the Bishops, the Jenkins and the Humes. The Humes left in 2011 for Michigan and now the Bishops are following. It is down to Jennifer and I – we will need to find some new friends.

I completely forgot about flowers for our party as I have been so busy with school and de-clutterin my house. Mr. Nie has been driving everyday for the past month with no weekends off. I gave him Friday off since Jim was out of town AND he needed to drive this weekend. In addition, Monday – Wednesday is Dragon Boat Holiday and Mr. Nie will have to drive the holiday, also.

Rain is forecasted for the entire weekend. It down poured rain all day on Friday. Saturday brought more rain, just not as heavy! We moved the party inside and opened up the doors to the covered decks. Most friends that have been to our deck parties all said they didn’t even noticed we had other decks.

Brenda, Faith & Jennifer

Jim, Scott & Dan

Faith kept the party small as she only wanted her “good” friends at the party. Faith knows everyone and the party list could have been very large!

I asked for a family photo to be put into a Chinese silk covered album. Everyone left beautiful messages for them to always cherish.

The party went strong all night with the last guests leaving at 2:30am. We were moving very slow on Sunday!

Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 based on 284 user reviews.

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The 3rd grade was working on persuasive speeches for their final presentation at school. It is good practice for them to stand before a crowd and present. Eleri was nervous, but she presented well. Eleri’s persuasive speech was on why you should not smoke. The students typed their speeches and put together a slide show for their presentations. At this point, I think Eleri is better on the computer than me!

I do not have many photos as I was video taping her speech for Jim to see.

Eleri also put together a visual presentation.

Eleri with Sophia & Carlie

Another great learning experience at school!

Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 based on 286 user reviews.

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Eleri has decided this year to celebrate her birthday in August because she wants a swim party. However, she wanted to share cupcakes with her classmates she has spent time with this year. Since it is the end of the school year, life is just busy. Ms Burns picked Wednesday as the day for sharing.

On Tuesday, I baked my chocolate cupcakes and Eleri came home from school to frost and decorate. She decorated each cupcake a special way for every student in the class.

The school has these big windows across the classroom which are great for letting in the light for the students, but make taking photos very difficult.

Eleri with Carlie, Lulu, So Yeon, Lisa, Anna & Josie

Eleri couldn’t get the candle to blow out!

Finally!!

Of course, the cupcakes were a big success!! Now, I can put my mixer away until August for Eleri’s party. After April’s charity baking, I am ready for a break.

Average Rating: 5 out of 5 based on 209 user reviews.

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Emersyn received an invitation to fill out an application for National Junior Honor Society (NJHS). I THOUGHT if she had an invite, she must be in, but I was wrong. There were 110 students eligible based on grades. An invite went out to 80 students, in which 40 applications were returned. Many students did not fill out the application as they did not have the required activities. NJHS is about leadership and service. Emersyn had no problem filling out the leadership with the dive trip, Leadership class, 36 Hour leadership weekend and the Yunnan trip. In addition, she has been the lead in every class project this past year. She has done community service with her bake sales for Baobei and Heart to Heart, both she did individually. There were 11 new students inducted for the 2012-2013 year. Needless to say, we are very proud of her!

Emersyn received this email…

Dear Emersyn,

Congratulations! You have been selected for membership in the Concordia Chapter of the National Junior Honor Society. Membership is one of the highest honors that can be awarded to a student. The National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) strives to recognize the total student: one who excels in academics, leadership, service and character. Our Faculty Council based your selection upon teacher input and careful consideration of these areas.

Membership, however, is more than an honor. It incurs a responsibility and an obligation to demonstrate those outstanding qualities that resulted in your selection. I look forward to your participation and contribution to the Concordia Chapter of the NJHS.

In recognition of your selection, you are now a full member of the Concordia Chapter of the NJHS and entitled to the privileges and responsibilities that such membership entails. The next NJHS meeting is at 12:00 PM on Wednesday, May 29, 2013 in room P203.

I would like to have you and your family as my guests at a formal induction ceremony at Concordia on Sunday, June 2, 2013 beginning at 7:00 PM. Additional information will be provided to all confirmed participants as soon as final preparations have been confirmed.

Once again, congratulations on your selection into Concordiaâ€™s chapter of the National Junior Honor Society.

Sincerely,

Terry Umphenour
NJHS Faculty Adviser

The ceremony took place in the PC Lounge beginning at 7:00 PM. Required attire was formal attire of navy blue/black slacks or dress, white button down shirt with collar. This was easy as this is Emersyn’s required band attire.

The members all received a certificate and a medal for their achievement. Mr. Lewis, the MS Principal, handed out the certificate.

Our honor NJHS student!

A few of Emersyn’s fellow 7th grade friends were honored into NJHS.

Taylor, Ruth, Emersyn, Taylor & Hayden

Average Rating: 4.4 out of 5 based on 298 user reviews.

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Planting time to make the deck look nice for Faith and Dan’s going away party on Saturday. Eleri and Jim ventured to the flower market. They spent less 100rmb for flowers for the pots.

When they returned home, Eleri was ready to help plant.