Thirteen and a teenager!

The fun, rhyme invite is done by Jim. I had a hard time finding a good skating photo of Emersyn. This photo is from Hong Kong when Karin and I took the kids across a couple islands to go ice skating.

Thursday night was the MS Band Concert, therefore, the party fun needed to be ready on Wednesday night. I made cupcakes for Emersyn to share at school and a cake for the party in the afternoon. The girls came home from school to do the fun part – the frosting and decorating.

The beater eaters!

Emersyn did all the decorating herself. She did a very nice job with the writing.

This year, I had Jim get streamers in America – a simple item that is expensive in China. The house was party ready for the teenagers.

Emersyn’s actual birthday is on Friday for a fun day at school. The MS students had field day…in the rain. Emersyn’s friend’s decorated her locker with a poster and candy!

I picked up the girls from school with the help of Faith’s driver. The girls came back to the house to change and put on their “neon” gear and load up on glow sticks. Emersyn and I ordered the glow sticks off Taobao. Taobao is the Chinese version of Amazon with better prices. Our first time using Taobao which is not easy as all the boxes are in Chinese.

I took the girls to the Mercedes-Benz arena. This is the same arena we saw the Adam Lambert concert in March. A full size ice rink is in the basement of the arena. The rink opened about two years ago – there is a whole mall and everything under the arena.

They had a blast. A few of the girls had not ice skated before so they were fun to watch.

Kaitlin

Eleri on a popcorn break.

At 7:15 the first session ended, we went back to the house for birthday fun – pizza, cake and ice cream. We purchased pj’s at Justice this summer for the sleepover birthday fun.

Anna, Daniela, Katilin, Ruth, Emersyn, Avery and Elyssa

Pizzas were ordered from our favorite place, La Casbah, across the street. The girls were all having fun and on sugar highs before we even got to cake and ice cream! Emersyn blew out all the candles in one blow!

Ruth & Emersyn

Jim served his crepes for breakfast – all the girls were impressed with his crepes! Roxi loved all the powder sugar that fell to the ground.

Birthday recap:

Emersyn’s Pajama Birthday Party

Emersyn’s Sleepover Birthday Party

Lasers, Tag and Emersyn’s Birthday Party

Emersyn’s Birthday in Hong Kong

An American Girl Birthday Party

Fairy Gardens and Emersyn’s Birthday Party

Emersyn’s Fairy Dust & Magical Wishes Birthday Party

Average Rating: 4.7 out of 5 based on 295 user reviews.

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It’s official, we have a teen in the house. Emersyn turns THIRTEEN today! I couldn’t be more proud of the person she is becoming.

We started the morning off right – with presents.

Eleri gave Emersyn this cute card (more of a book) she made. Here are a few of the pages from her birthday book.

Spelling is not one of Eleri’s top subjects!

Eleri’s present was a glass box she purchased this summer in Los Gatos. It was an expensive box Eleri purchased with her own money. Emersyn always liked the box so Eleri gave it to her. She also gave her 125rmb.

From us, Emersyn picked out a few hand bags in Bali that were her birthday present along with many pairs of earnings. However, she still needed something to open on her birthday. I found these book ends/vases at my favorite store, Spin.

It is Roxi’s birthday, too. She is two, but in dog years, she just passed Emersyn at Fourteen!

You have to love these faces!

Average Rating: 4.7 out of 5 based on 216 user reviews.

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Emersyn’s last band concert of the school year. We had her family birthday dinner at Haiku, a sushi place in Jinqiao. Emersyn now loves sushi. Jim joined us for dinner, but had to miss the concert for a work dinner – double dinner for him tonight.

We arrived at the band concert and Eleri found her friends…classmates with older siblings that are at every band concert, too.

Combined 6-8 Grade Band played two songs:
Cool Cat Shuffle
At A Turkish Market

Middle School Band played four songs:
The Explorers (Concert March)
Festivo
Comedy Classics (Happy Days, Jed Clampett, The Brady Bunch, Bewitched, Adams Family & I Love Lucy)
The Last Stagecoach Heist

The evening of music lasted about 1 hour and 30 minutes. Eleri sat with her friends which makes the band concert more fun for her.

Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5 based on 161 user reviews.

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It’s Concordia Idol night. Emersyn began the school year declaring she was going to play her guitar and sing for Idol. She had only been playing the guitar for three moths when she made this declaration, but she was determine.

This year the performers had a “run through” after school with pizza for the students. Eleri and I met Jim at the Kerry Center for an early dinner. We wanted to get back to school for a good seat for our performer. She text me she would be the last performer closing the show!

The host of the show were students who introduced each act. The judges were Mr. Umphenour, Ms. Poppell and Ms. Lewandowski. Mr. Umphenour is an 8th grade teacher. He leads the dive trips to Thailand and the Leadership trips, both of which Emersyn attended this past year. Mr. Umphenour had the role of Simon…he had a hard time giving negative comments to the students! Ms. Poppell was Emersyn teacher for 1st grade and 6th grade. Ms. Lewandowski is a 7th grade teacher.

Judges – Ms. Lewandowski, Ms. Poppell & Mr. Umphenour

Emersyn sang, “Drops of Jupiter” by Train. She had a small microphone problem…as in none. The student hosts forgot to set up her microphones. After a quick stage set, she was ready to sing.

Emersyn listening to the judges comments…with a big smile.

[quicktime]http://lyonfamily.tv/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Concordia_Idol_2013(s).m4v[/quicktime]

After Idol, the 7th/8th graders had a social in the cafe. Jim, Eleri, Roxi and I went back to Faith’s house to “hang-out” until the social was finished. Roxi had been in the car all evening with Mr. Nie – since 2:30 when we left Yanlord for school pickup. She was happy to go sniff a new house.

Concordia Idols of the past:

Click on the link to see 2012 Concordia Idol. Concordia Idol 2012

Click on the link to see 2011 Concordia Idol. Concordia Idol 2011

Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 based on 186 user reviews.

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Last year on the dive trip, one of the students had a birthday so his Mom sent a brownie mix. Of course, there is no oven on the boat. Jim, being the good Eagle Scout, made brownies in a wok. Jim wants to continue the tradition this year. He was going to pick up a brownie mix in the States, but he forgot. While I was at City shop, I picked up the brownie mix and frosting. One brownie mix cost 59rmb ($10) and one can of frosting cost 38rmb ($6). I picked up two boxes and two cans of frosting for a total of $32 for brownies!!

I know the kids will love this sweet treat on the dive trip!

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Eleri had her informal Music performance tonight. Jim is somewhere in China on business. The girls and I went to the Kerry Center for a quick shop at the Gap since Bindi had said they had some cute shorts. Eleri needs shorts, but she didn’t like any them – so Eleri! After much discussions (both girls wanted something different), we decided to have an early dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen (CPK). It has been at the Kerry Center for over a year, but we have not been. We don’t even go to CPK in California. After dinner, the girls did a quick change before going back to school. Eleri looked adorable in a dress Faith gave her. It is the end of the school year and the girls never have any shoes that fit. Eleri is wearing a pair of Emersyn’s heels. The shoes are big, but Eleri loves that these were the only shoes that fit..with heels!

I do have to add, Roxi is “hanging” in the car with Mr. Nie. SInce I have no ayi, Roxi hangs in the car when we are gone too long. She is loving the “hanging” with Mr. Nie time. We were back to school for the 6pm performance.

The performance is informal in the motor skills room. The 3rd & 4th graders show us the kind of music and fun they have been doing all year. Eleri’s music teacher is Ms. Camp – she is fun.

Eleri’s class skipped and stopped to music.

Eleri skipping and clapping with Josie.

Eleri’s class did a line dance.

After the performance, Eleri wanted to play on the playground. She was swinging in a dress and heels!

Eleri was all smiles showing us the fun she has had in music this year.

Average Rating: 5 out of 5 based on 195 user reviews.

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Mother’s Day – the reason this day is so special are a couple very special girls.

Jim is in Mexico for Nicole weddings. The girls and I had a slow morning together. Emersyn made me a wonderful imovie. It was fun seeing how much the girls have grown and changed over the years. Emersyn was up late last night putting the imovie together for me. Eleri made me a card and scrap book. I just love my homemade cards!

The girls served me a light breakfast of Mini Wheats since we are meeting our friends, the Bishops and the Jenkins, for a Mother’s Day Brunch. A new Marriott opened in Jinqiao we were giving a try today. The only problem with brunch is that I always eat too much!

ELeri is a bit picky about her clothes, but on Mother’s Day, I get to pick. I bought her this beautiful dress last summer and she had not worn it..so it was my pick.

Emersyn has very little “dress” items so we go with anything she can find.

Since Jim wasn’t here to take a photo of me with my girls, I took one with each. We aren’t all dressed up very often!

Brunch was very tasty, of course. We had two tables in the corner all to ourselves. We stayed until the end, 3pm, enjoying good food, champagne and our friends. I am one lucky Mom!!

Average Rating: 5 out of 5 based on 278 user reviews.

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Nicole and Michael decided on a destination wedding in Mexico. They chose a nice resort in Playa Del Carmen, south of Cancun. The only challenge was getting Mimi and Papa there and back unscathed. I had the “sonly” duty to escort them. Unfortunately, Brenda and the girls were not able to go due to school and the cost flying from China. So the adventure begins.

Mimi and Papa at SFO prepping for take-off

We had an 8AM flight direct from SFO to Cancun. At the airport, we met up with Nancy and Ernie, as well as, Alison (bridesmaid) and her SO, Mike. I was fortunate to get an upgrade to first class so Mimi was in row 1B. She had a nice breakfast on the plane with a mimosa while Papa and I were in the back. After arriving in Cancun, we had a short wait for Brendon to join us and we were off to the resort.

Mahekal Resort

We arrived at the resort to be greeted by Pat and Mac, our Texas cousins, who directed us to Happy Hour! Papa was thrilled to get two beers for the price of one! At Happy Hour, we met up with more family and friends. After we were all settled, it was off to dinner and finally bed time! Oh, by the way, I was sharing a room with sister Kathy…we both laughed as we have not shared a room in more than 30 years!

Friday, Rehearsal Dinner Day

Friday morning was another perfect day. Justin and I had planned to go diving so we were off to Cozumel island with his friend Shea for a dive adventure. So now fast forward to Friday evening rehearsal dinner.

The Lyon trio at Happy Hour…again!

Mimi and Papa all ready to party

Mimi and Papa with Nicole and Michael

Mimi and Pat

Papa with Mac

Nancy and Ernie

Texas Cousin Brook with husband Bret

Brendon

The rehearsal dinner was a blast. Great food and even better company. There were many stories told, laughter shared and even a few tears of joy. The evening ended up with a street party in front of the restaurant where everyone was going strong!

Saturday, Wedding Day

Papa spent the day in a way anyone should in Mexico – relaxing by the pool and getting ready for the wedding.

Then, we were off to a seaside ceremony officiated by Justin – there is a long running story behind this. While I don’t know all the details, I guess at one point there was a joking conversation between Nicole and Justin that if Nicole got married, Justin would do the honors. Fast forward to Nicole and Michael getting engaged and the conversation turned to reality.

Justin ready to officiate

The wedding party

Mother of the bride

Mimi & Papa

Texas Family

And finally, it was show time. Nicole looked gorgeous as she entered with both her Mom and Dad giving here away.

The Kiss

Nicole and Michael with Giselle, Kathy, Rick and Mimi & Papa

Nicole telling us the the party has begun!

Justin with nephew Dylan tearing up the dance floor

Sunday was another fabulous day that we all needed to recover from the party that lasted well into the night. Everyone enjoyed a “goodbye” breakfast, but many of us stayed on until Monday taking advantage of the nice Mayan Riviera holiday.

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The Caribbean is one of the best diving areas in the world. With Nicole’s wedding, I thought it would be a great opportunity to dive in Cancun and Cozumel. Justin is also a diver, as is his friend, Shea. Our research led us to dive in Cozumel. We took the ferry across to Cozumel island where we were met by the dive company on the pier. It was a bit chaotic and had all the feel of a Chinese fire-drill as there were 15 divers on the boat. Finally, we were on the boat off to the Santa Rosa Wall (a 32 meter deep site) and Paradise Reef (a 15 meter deep site). Here are a few photos.

Justin & Shea

Santa Rosa Wall

Justin

Shea

Paradise Reef

On Sunday after the wedding, I had the chance to dive the Playa Del Carmen side at Islote (a 30 meter deep dive) and Shangri La Reef (a 14 meter deep dive). Justin was off kite surfing. I went out with the dive shop at the resort – all 4 of us! Very nice to have a small group to dive with.

Islote

Shangri La Reef

Average Rating: 4.4 out of 5 based on 244 user reviews.

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ES Field Day was a beautiful, blue sky day in Shanghai. Eleri’s team was Japan, therefore, she needed to wear red and white to match her team. She found a red shirt and the only sports shorts she has are her “Black Dog” shorts. She only wears jean shorts. She skipped off to school ready for a fun day.