Our first doctor appointment upon returning to California was Emersyn’s bone specialist. The x-rays taken in Shanghai after her break showed no improvement in her bone cyst. The first solution the doctor is trying is three mini surgeries to drain the cyst. He was able to squeeze the first surgery in before we left for Nebraska. Emersyn and I showed up at the Surgery Center where they began preparing her for surgery. She was so nervous. The Center was running behind schedule due to an emergency. She had to wait an extra hour for the doctor which did not help with the nerves. The nurses were unable to get an IV in her veins, therefore, they decided she may not need it since she would be out during the surgery process.

The surgery took about an hour. The doctor put three steel rods in her ankle bone to drain the fluid. Then, he put cortisone in the bone to begin the rebuilding of the bone. Her doctor commented her bone tissue was very soft. She could have broken her leg jumping off a step or on a trampoline. Considering she was jumping on Kelly’s trampoline every time she was at Kelly’s house, we are lucky she broke it skiing in America!

Emersyn was sore the next day, but a trooper as we had to get on a plane to Nebraska. Her arms were all bruised from the IV attempts.

She had a second procedure upon returning from Nebraska and one finally one before leaving for Shanghai. The doctor was please with the results commenting he had a hard time inserting the rods into the bone on the last procedure which was a very good sign.

Average Rating: 4.9 out of 5 based on 276 user reviews.

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Aunt Nancy took the girls to Hicklebee’s children book store in Willow Glen for a birthday outing. First they enjoyed dinner at Aqui, a favorite Mexican restaurant, before their book store fun. With Border’s closing in Los Gatos, it is important for the children to have a book store still available to touch, read and see the books they want to read. Hicklebee’s has been in Willow Glen since 1979.

Emersyn picked out two chapter books on her wish list to read. Eleri picked out Knuffle Bunny Free, the 3rd book in the Knuffle Bunny series. She also came home with a stuffed Knuffle Bunny. Emmy was very cute as she said to me, “Mom, I know you don’t want anymore stuffed animals in the house, but this one is different”. And she was right…Eleri now sleeps with Knuffle Bunny and Pink.

Eleri set up a play area for Knuffle.

As always, I think of photos I should have taken for the blog…a photo with Aunt Nancy with their books. Aunt Nancy spoiled them for their birthdays!

Average Rating: 4.7 out of 5 based on 254 user reviews.

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Eleri had been wanting to do a garden in our backyard. Aunt Nancy purchased some pumpkin plants for the girls to plant. Pumpkins being a hardy plant since there is no one to take care of them. We decided the best place would be next to the house by the rain drain – at least they would get water in the winter.

Papa came down to help plant the pumpkins. He came prepared with shovel and potting soil.

Elle pulled the planting soil over to the dirt patch – ready to plant!

Papa and Emersyn’s found the perfect place to plant her pumpkin patch.

Then, Papa helped Eleri put her pumpkin plant in the soil.

A little water…

and the pumpkin plants are ready to grow!

This is the pumpkin patch just before we left for Shanghai in August. The girls were pleased with the growth of their pumpkin patch.

Average Rating: 5 out of 5 based on 279 user reviews.

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As part of my birthday weekend celebration, we spent an afternoon in Napa Valley. It is always beautiful in Napa at this time of the year and we need some California wines to enjoy all summer. Since we pay big bucks for average wines in Shanghai, it is a pleasure to get good wines for less money.

The first stop is always Gotts for hamburgers in downtown Napa. After filling our tummies with tasty food, we are ready to wine taste. My new favorite winery is Foilo Winery. Andy and Terri took us to this winery at Christmas time. Andy and I enjoyed the wine and the girls enjoyed the view.

Our next winery was Trefethen Vineyards. We purchased a few more wines to enjoy.

We love to go to downtown St. Helena for a quick shop. The day gets away from you in Napa as the wineries and shops all close at 5pm. We went to the Olive Company to taste and purchase olive oils and dips. Terri and Andy treated me to dinner at Cook, their favorite place in Napa. It is located downtown St. Helena.

Always a fun time in Napa. We have decided this needs to be a tradition we do each year before the summer gets too busy.

Average Rating: 4.4 out of 5 based on 295 user reviews.

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With the birthday parties for both girls, hosting a going away party and guests at the end of school year, I didn’t have my usual time to pack. It was actually very nice to not have the time to really think about it. I threw a few things in the suitcases and we were off on my birthday. It was my birthday when we left Shanghai and it was my birthday AGAIN when we arrived. Terri and Andy took us out for Paxti’s Pizza – perfect for three tired travelers.

As part of the birthday surprise for the girls, I arranged for us to see Mamma Mia, the Musical. Eleri loves the movie so I thought she needed to see the real thing. Emersyn saw Mamma Mia in New York with Aunt Terri. Both girls already knew all the music as it is one of Eleri’s favorite cds.

Dancing Queens

After the musical, Nancy prepared a lovely dinner for my birthday. Mimi had cupcakes and hats for everyone. I am very blessed with my wonderful family!

Average Rating: 4.9 out of 5 based on 173 user reviews.

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For the first time in five years, we are attending the last day of school. Emersyn was excited to attend the last day of school. The 5th grade class had breakfast together at a restaurant near school in Jinqiao. As one of the class Moms for the five 5th grade classes, I went along to supervise. The kids really enjoyed this activity as many of the classmates would not be returning in the fall. After we returned to the school, an assembly was put on in the High School gym with a video presentation for the year. School ends at 11:30am, therefore, I arranged lunch with our friends at Cantina Agava – a great way to spend the last day of school.

Average Rating: 4.9 out of 5 based on 153 user reviews.

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Concordia has many free dress days. When you wear a uniform, the free dress days are so much fun. Elle will enjoy free dress along with the crazy dress throughout the school year. It is also a fun recap of the year.

August 25: School Photos

The first free dress day of the school year was for photos. I would love for Emmy to wear a smaller hairband, but this is what she wears daily. She likes how the hairband keeps her hair “down”. She feels her hair is too “fluffy”.

September 7: Just Because

Elle is wearing a cute little outfit that Aunt Nancy gave to Emmy when she was 5. Emmy has on her “defy Gravity” t-shirt from the musical, “Wicked” this summer.

September 24: Jump for Tots

Only the Elementary children did the fund raiser, Jump for Tots. It is a fun afternoon for the children jumping all different types of jump ropes.

November 12: International Day

This was Concordia’s first International Day. It was well done with many countries setting up displays in the Middle School Gym. It was all done by parent volunteer.

November 16: Just Because

January 14: ES Phoenix Friday-Wacky Day

This was Eleri’s first Wacky Day. It is only for the Elementary students – ES Phoenix Friday. The Middle School students have a full week of fun dress at the end of the month. The Elementary students have a Phoenix Friday fun dress all semester. Eleri has watched her sister dress for this fun day in the past years. Eleri was very excited. She just got the boots last night from Riley – they were a hugh hit! She wouldn’t let me make her hair too wacky because Eleri KNOWS what she wants!

January 18: Just because

A chance to wear some new Christmas clothes.

January 27: Chinese Celebration

For the Chinese New Year Celebration, a school assembling is in the gym for all the students. This assembling will have the traditional Chinese dragon dance and other dances. After the assembling, fireworks will be set off to begin the New Year.

After lunch, Eleri has a Chinese party in her classroom from 1:30 – 3:00. The Chinese Moms in her class have organized traditional Chinese food and crafts for the children.

January 31 – 28: MS Spirit Week

Monday – Celebrity Day: Emersyn chose Taylor Swift as her celebrity day person. Taylor Swift is a good pick for Emmy as she sings all her songs.

Tuesday – Twin Day: Emersyn and Avery had plans to be twins today. Avery took Emmy’s other t-shirt which has New York on it over the weekend so they were prepared. However, Avery is home sick.

Wednesday – Wacky Day: Always a fun one for the kids! Emmy allowed me to make her hair fun and wacky!

Thursday – Chinese Zodiac Day: This was one a little harder for us to find something to wear. Emersyn is a dragon. Also, I wanted her dressed and ready to get on the plane for our trip to Egypt since she wasn’t coming home after school. She had her drama showcase this night. This t-shirt has a half dragon – if you look at it just right!

February 14: Valentine’s Day

Red and white for Valentine’s Day! Eleri’s class was having a little party sharing Valentine’s and treats. Emersyn is a big Middle Schooler so no party was planned. I made jello jigglers for Eleri’s party and some for Emersyn’s class as you are never too big for fun.

February 18: ES Phoenix Friday-Home Country Day

Our little American Cowgirl ready for a fun day at school.

Emersyn in her middle school uniform.

March 17: St. Patrick Day Green

Free dress day just for middle/high school students. Both girls wore their St. Patrick’s Day socks Mimi had sent to them.

March 18: Book Character

Eleri decided to go as “Fancy Nancy with Posh Puppy”. She wanted to dress exactly like the cover. We pulled out Emersyn’s poodle skirt from when she was 6 for the Daddy Daughter Dance, a black and white shirt and a big pink ribbon off another dress. See Book Week post. She also made Buddy fancy.

March 24: Support Japan

Free dress was to support Japan and raise funds for the Red Cross. For a minimum 20rmb donation, students can wear red and white to show support for Japan!

April 8: ES Phoenix Friday – Hat Day

Eleri has her hat from Thailand. It is the perfect silly hat for Hat Day.

April 12: Free Dress – Just Because

May 17: Free Dress – Just Because

New shirts hand painted in Boracay were perfect for this free dress.

May 20: ES Phoenix Friday – PJ Day

PJ day is the most fun of all the Phoenix Fridays. Eleri was so excited to wear her pajamas to school.

May 27: MS Field Day

Today, Emersyn had field day. As part of field day, the class chose a name for their team. They made a cloth swatch to pin on their shirts. The class came up with the name – Exploding Monkeys. Ms. T’s class won the team spirit award!

Eleri ready for school in her summer uniform. The shorts or more capris on her, but she doesn’t care.

June 9: Last Day of School

Another school year finished – how quickly the school year flew by – how much a couple of girls have grown over the year!

Average Rating: 4.7 out of 5 based on 220 user reviews.

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I decided the 7-11 birthday present for the girls this year would be a VERY big one if I could “get all the ducks in a row”! After seeing how much the girls enjoyed Knuffle Bunny, I thought maybe it was the right time for a dog. Last summer, I picked out our next family dog – a standard poodle. The standard poodle is a medium to large sized dog ranging in weight from 45-75 pounds. It is a hunting breed that loves to swim for our adventures to Lake Tahoe (when we move back) and most importantly, it does NOT shed.

We decided to get a puppy in America for a couple reasons. The most important one was close friends have problems with their dogs they purchased in China. Faith’s toy puddle, Penny, is going blind at the age of two. Faith now needs to get Penny home for an expensive eye surgery in the States. Jennifer’s dog, Spanky, was taking from the litter at four weeks and has many anxiety issues. The other not as important reason is we prefer bigger dogs which China doesn’t provide. A dog is part of the family for 15 years, therefore, worth the extra cost and effort to get a healthy one.

I began searching the internet in the evenings when the girls were in bed. I did not realize that when I began my search it was going to be hard to find the puppy born at the right time. The puppy had to be over 8 weeks old to fly for FDA regulations and it needed to be under 12 weeks old to not need the rabies shot which isn’t given until 4 months. I didn’t tell the girls about my idea because if I could not make it work, they would be so disappointed. I spent many late nights searching all of Northern California. I expanded my search to the Reno, Nevada area. I was about to give up when a breeder emailed me with a littler of red puppies due June 1. The puppies arrived on May 31, Emersyn’s birthday – this was the right puppy for us. In addition, this breeder has experience shipping a puppy aboard and knew all the paperwork requirements.

Part of “getting the ducks in a row” was the hurdle to get the puppy back to Shanghai. The dog and Jim would need to fly to Guangzhou as there is no quarantine in this City, but 7 days in Shanghai. We decided it would be easiest for Jim and the puppy to have Mr. Nie picked them up in Guangzhou instead of taking the train. We estimated it would take about a 18 hours to drive. This would be a long travel adventure for a new puppy. We can not get the puppy until 10 days before we departure San Francisco due to the China paperwork stamp requirement. The girls would have to wait all summer before they could get their new puppy.

The other part of getting a dog would be Knuffle Bunny needed a new home. Knuffle is sweet, but smelly. I change the cage twice a day. Also, every time Knuffle Bunny is out, he is chewing on something. One time I had no internet for a few days while Jim was away. When Jim returned, he discovered my no internet problem was due to the cable being chewed through by Knuffle. Jim had the job of finding a new home for Knuffle Bunny. A women at work heard he had a bunny to give away and asked for him – can you beat that! She wanted a bunny as a pet for her 7 year old son.

We told the girls about the dog after the Litt family left China. Emersyn was so excited she couldn’t believe we were actually getting a puppy. Eleri didn’t say much but cried in bed that night about Knuffle Bunny needing to leave. Once we get the dog, she will discover it is more fun than Knuffle Bunny.

Knuffle Bunny did seem to like Eleri the best. She was the only one that could flip him over and carry him like a baby.

Average Rating: 5 out of 5 based on 178 user reviews.

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The Litt Family – Barry, Julie, Koen (16) and Mikayla (14) – are on a China Adventure Holiday. The first stop on the tour is Shanghai at the Lyons. We have been friends with Julie and Barry since 1987 – almost 25 years! They moved from California to Colorado ten years ago. When we see them, our friendship is always the same as if no time has passed – except for the growing of children.

Barry, Koen, Mikayla & Julie

The Litt Family arrived Wednesday evening – late on arrival as this is China. We enjoyed time to visit before they all fell from jet lag.

Eleri came home from school Wednesday with a stomach bug. Not a fever, but vomiting a few times. She was better by Thursday, but not well enough to go to school. Jim worked from home as I was the tour guide of the Shanghai Shopping Tour.

We began the tour with a stop at the fabric market. Barry and Koen were easy with a few tailored shirts. Next on to the ladies – a couple dresses and a cashmere coat for Mikayla and few (well, five) shirts and a jacket for Julie. Time for lunch as shopping is hard work! We went to Taikang Lu for lunch to eat at a very Western place and enjoy the outside patio area.

We walked around the area for a little shopping of anything interesting. Scarves from Woo always make a good gift for friends at home. While shopping, Julie thought she was looking at a necklace, but it was a lighter. She burned her finger when she flipped it open. We joked the rest of the tour about “touching and playing with fire”. Next stop was the new Gap store. There are three new Cap stores in Shanghai and I have not been to any of them! The store has a some Gap shirts that say Shanghai, Beijing and China we were in search to buy.

After a long day of shopping, we enjoyed a dinner of jiaozi (little dumplings) made by our ayi. Julie and Barry loved them. The night didn’t end well as Mikayla was sick all night. Hum, we ate at a very Western place for lunch.

On Friday, I needed to be at school most of the day for Eleri’s end of the year party as the room Mom. I arranged for Mr. Nie to take the Litts to a water town. Mikayla stayed home and spent the day in bed still sick. Eleri stayed home and miss the school party since she had not completely recovered from her stomach bug. Jim worked from home, again.

While at the water town, Koen got sick. Barry wasn’t feeling the best so they came home early. Hum, not a good start to their China adventure. Either it was the food or a stomach bug, but they were dropping like flies! Julie was going strong!

It was Friday night and the adults decided to walk to the Blue Frog in the WFC (the tallest building in Shanghai) for dinner. We left our girls with the Litt teenagers in-charged. Both Koen and Mikayla weren’t feeling the best and enjoyed a little down time to watch tv with the girls. After dinner, we walked to the river front on the Pudong side to see the Bund.

Julie wanted to call to see how Mikayla was doing. When we called to check-in, Koen and Mikayla were in bed. Emmy had just tucked Eleri into bed. We laughed that the eleven year had in all under control!

Saturday is tennis day for Emersyn. Due to the rain, tennis was cancelled giving us an early start on the shopping. The shopping began at the underground market.

Playing games while waiting outside the shop.

After a couple hours, Emersyn wasn’t feeling the best as she had a cough. Jim decided to take Emmy home and Koen jumped at the chance to skip a few hours of shopping. Mikayla was dragging, but decided to keep going. After much buying power at the underground, we drove to Decathlon for sporting goods. The Litt family is an active outdoor family in Colorado – jackpot!! Julie and Mikayla have a girls camping/hiking trip planned to Pikes Peak when they get back. Julie found sleeping bags, back pack and all kinds of “needed” items to take home. Eleri was having fun bouncing and playing around Decathlon while Mikayla was beginning to “fall” since she hasn’t fully recovered from her sickness.

We needed to go back to the underground for pearls sets that were being made. I had Mr. Nie drop Julie and I off while he took Barry, Mikayla and Eleri home. A wise decision as the pearls took another hour plus to finish. Julie and I got home just in time to change our clothes to go to dinner. We had dinner reservations at Lost Heaven on the Bund. We had planned to walk and take the ferry over, but with rain and sick kids, Mr. Nie drove us. Mikayla decided to stay home as she was out of energy from shopping all day. As always, Lost Heaven was a delicious meal. There was a break in the rain to do a quick Bund walk/look. It would be a shame to come to Shanghai and not walk on the Bund.

The view on the Bund

Sunday was the last day on the Shanghai Shopping Tour. Mikayla’s beautiful smile was back as yesterday was a long day for her. Emmy was feeling worst so she stayed home with Jim. We began the day at YuYuan Gardens. At one point, Barry asked if we were seeing the gardens. No, the gardens on NOT on the SHOPPING tour! Julie had her list of things to buy and we enjoyed walking around while she looked for the various items. It was not raining for our outdoor shopping day. We did see the zig zag bridge to add another tourist spot to the check list.

We ate lunch at Din Tai Fung for dumplings – one of our favorite places. These rabbits were outside as it is the Year of the Rabbit!

Koen & Elle

After a very long shop at YuGardens, we left around 3pm to find the closest Gap store to get a few more t-shirts. We dropped the “weak” shoppers off at home while the “strong” shoppers (Julie & I) hit the underground for a few more items. Eleri has been a trooper shopping all day for two days. Of course, she does love all the attention from Koen and Mikayla.

When Julie and I got home, the four kids were playing games and cards. Koen and Mikayla are very, very nice teenagers. I hope my two are taking notes!! I asked the kids if they wanted to walk to the Blue Frog for hamburgers or order pizza. A very fast response was Pizza! They played games until the pizza arrived. During dinner, they watched tv and very much enjoyed the night in. We enjoyed the time to visit with Julie and Barry.

Monday was a China holiday – Dragon Boat Festival. The girls didn’t have school which was nice no one was rushed out the door. Jim made crepes for the gang while the Litts packed their clothes and new treasures. They left just before noon for the airport for their next adventure to Beijing and Xian. We enjoyed having them and showing them Shanghai. I am sure Julie loved it, but Barry’s wallet is bit smaller after 4 days in Shanghai!

Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5 based on 293 user reviews.

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The final concert of the year – Eleri’s music “informance”. This is an informance for the parents to see the fun the children have in music classes and not a performance. We enjoyed hearing and seeing Eleri perform her music. She enjoys music and is always singing the songs at home.

Eleri, Callie & Jazira

Average Rating: 4.9 out of 5 based on 239 user reviews.

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