Five Guys and a Chickie

Snow has come to Beijing, not just once or twice, but a handful of times. Our previous winters we were lucky to have a hour or two worth of snowing. Enough snow was gathered to make snowmen and half an igloo.

First snowman of the season.

Duncan's igloo.

School play "Elf Jr." Guy cast as Buddy, Duncan as Mr. Greenway and Grahm as Mr. Matthews.

The boys did an excellent job!!! There was so much energy, I have never seen a crowd get so into a play before.

I am so proud of all the hours of hard work they put into getting ready for this play. I can't say enough how well they did.

The big man made a stop in Beijing to get our lists.

School Holiday performances and lunches to enjoy.

All but Drake have Chinese lessons, and every year they put on a Christmas party. We ended up being part of the entertainment. "Jingle Bells" in Chinese and English.

Seeing the sites and lights. . .

And a movie or two. . .

Chinese acrobats. Pretty amazing show!!!

We celebrated Christmas a tad early as we were leaving China. If you would like to know where we went stay posted. . .coming soon.

From the smiles on the faces I think everyone enjoyed the day.

Later that day we flew out to . . .

First Day of School is the unofficial first day of Fall, right. . .

Walking to the bus.

Drake's very first day of Kindergarten, although called Year 1! He was very excited to join his brothers. All the boys had full day kindergarten, but he is the only one who loved it.

For the first time in 16 years I don't have a munchkin by my side during the day. My biggest concern now is leaving Drake behind when he does accompany me out on outings and I am thinking I am alone! It has taken some adjusting!

Neil Armstrong visited Grahm's class and told his story of his love of flying and walking on the moon.

Golden Week in October spent camping at Gubeikou with a few family friends, many from church.

Look at him go!

It is unanimous, we like hammocks. Good morning Guy!

A friend took this awesome frog photo.

One day we all went to the Great Wall nearby and did a hike. On the trail to the Wall we passed these statues and a fun ropes course. Hard to pull the boys away from it to then hike the Wall.

Showing the process of making bricks to build the Great Wall.

Nets and rope swings what more could a boy ask for?

Snack break in a guard tower.

As many times as we come here we can't get enough!!! It is so awe inspiring!

The Wall just goes on and on.

Our little chef, likes to watch YouTube videos for new ideas. Pizza rolls, a huge hit with all the boys.

Guy and Duncan with all the Merit Badges they earned over the summer.

Grahm and Duncan made some fun pillowcases to give as birthday gifts.

Grahm's favorite sport. . . Football. . . ok then. . .Soccer!

Although he likes to be striker he is a great defender! The ball doesn't get past him and the only time the other team scores is when Grahm is on break.

Cub Scout Camp

Grahm is working on making a fire without matches.

Fun one night adventure. Drake touched a poisonous plant and it took a couple of days before going away. Lots of pain and ointment.

Color Guard

I "mustache" who took this picture!?!

Just standing by the pond brings the fish and their hopes of being fed.

This day was really fun! A friend from church put together a scavenger hunt across Beijing. Not only did we get to see amazing places, (some we had been to before and others not), we learned some crazy fun facts. Although a race against other teams there was a point we all met up at a stop and helped each other out before separating. Unfortunately our scooters ran out of battery juice before we could make it to the last stop.

We all started out together, but a flat on Duncan's bike gave he and Guy and early out to go get it fixed.

Our proof we made it to the last stop we could do before batteries died.

Dinner at our favorite dumpling place.

Raingutter Regatta

For some reason, going back generations, our family always comes in last for the Pine Wood Derby. BUT give us a Raingutter Regatta and we take it by storm. It must be those powerful lungs we beef up by yelling when we could be talking. . .

Grahm won first place for Arrow of Light rank and first place for the entire Pack. There were some close races. Very exciting event.

Duncan's group, "Mars Initiative" for the Mars Project. They presented their candidate for the first President on Mars and the issues they would address, such as . . . Social Stratification and Social Mobilization.

Won it in a landslide!