Marine Corps Ball

One of the biggest events of the year for us here at the embassy is the Marine Corps Ball. A good reason to get all dressed up.


I had some struggles with my dress, as I was just getting to the point of having a baby bump. I actually had a dress made here at a tailor shop, but it wasn't right at all. In fact, in Meeshell's tactful way, he asked that I please not wear it : ). So I scrounged around and came up with something I wore while I was pregnant with Leah, on a cruise with MB and my parents. It worked but I was disappointed about the dress.


I wasn't very excited to go but in the end I had a pretty good time. Although as the party went on (until 1am or so!), this pregnant mama asked to be taken home at around 9:45. Just can't party like I used to, I guess.


I was happy to have this guy as my date. So handsome, right?

Christmas morning

Although this picture is blurry, I think you can still see the excitement on Leah's face as she came downstairs and saw all of the presents under and around the tree. Ian was also super excited.


First stop: play with the new dollhouse and train set that Santa had left out in front of the tree. Ian actually played all morning with his trains. We had a hard time getting him to open his gifts when it was his turn.


Leah jumped right into the present opening and helped us pass out the gifts as each person had their turn.


As soon as she unwrapped her princess dress from her cousin Emily, she had to put it on immediately.


She was quick to help Ian unwrap his presents when he was taking too long to do it.


We got lots of presents from all of our generous family, who lovingly shopped, packed up and shipped to us here in Beijing.


Thanks to their efforts, the kids were able to have the same kind of Christmas celebration that we are used to having in the US. We felt very blessed.


I didn't feel so blessed to have to clean this mess up, but the kids contently played all day long with their new toys. All in all, it was a great Christmas Day.


And no Christmas Day would be complete without these lovelies. Seriously, could not stop eating them. Leah often asks when we will have Christmas again. And when it snows here in Beijing she is always convinced that Santa is going to come back to our house.

Christmas Eve night

After getting their new jammies, reading the Christmas story out of the scriptures and watching the nativity video, we continued the tradition of opening one gift on Christmas Eve.


This is a Michael thing (from when he was a child perhaps?) and one that I have tried to outlaw (I love the anticipation of gifts on Christmas morning and really like to wait to open all of the presents in the morning), but I guess we are going with it.


That's the good thing about Christmas traditions - the mixture of habits and celebrations from each parent's childhood. The kids were happy to get to unwrap some of the loot before bed.


Once we got the kids in bed, I spent time in the kitchen prepping for the cinnamon rolls for breakfast.


Michael spent his evening laying out Ian's new train track set from Santa.


Leah's dollhouse also got set up. I had fun getting all of the adorable furniture set up just right.


Everything was ready for the morning wake up. Christmas is fun for everyone, but we especially enjoyed the excitement of our kids this year as they are catching on to the idea of Christmas and all the fun that goes along with it.

Christmas Eve traditions

In our efforts to make this year's Christmas a normal celebration (even though we are so far away from where we used to call home) we headed out on Christmas Eve day to have some holiday fun.


Our first stop was at the Hilton down by the embassy which has the best train set up that I have ever seen before. The kids were in heaven, to say the least.


This gives you an idea of the scale. The Christmas tree in the middle is huge, and the train set up had many different levels and trains. There was such intricate details.


This kid was in heaven. He and Leah ran around the track, following the trains as they went along their tracks. I'm not sure the employees at the Hilton knew what to think of us and our kids. The strange thing is that we were the only ones who were there to see the trains. Seemed to me like a fun (and free!) place to bring your kids on Christmas Eve day.


Next stop was a great (American??) burger place close by the hotel. This is our newest tradition - burgers and fries (not the kind from McDonald's like in our last post) and shakes for lunch on Christmas Eve day.


The kids loved it and so did I. It tasted like a real burger. The meat here is usually a little bit or a lot different than what we used to eat in the US.


A big fat juicy burger and sweet potato fries really hit the spot. I know just where we will come next year.

Christmas shopping

We set out a few days before Christmas to do a little bit of shopping here in Beijing. We ordered most of our gifts online but needed to pick up a couple of small things. First stop: McDonald's. This isn't too far from our house and actually tastes pretty authentic.


The kids were having fun and they always get lots of attention while we are out and about. It's mostly because of their light hair, but their Chinese also brings them adoring fans as well.


He loves getting his picture taken. Can't you tell?


Next stop on the agenda was the mall right down the street from our neighborhood (where the McDonald's is actually located). There was plenty of Christmas decorations up, which the kids loved.


Some of it was a little strange, but it was mostly normal (welcome to China, where life is mainly weird with a tiny tiny bit of normal). The kids loved getting up close with this snowman.



We also had a quick photo shoot with some adorable bunnies upstairs.


We had a fun little outing together. It's nice to have some shopping options close to home and not to have to go downtown for everything.

snow

 Ok, I think I get two gold stars for taking the kids out into the frozen tundra to play.  We doubled up on clothes, with their jammies on underneath (MB thought this was overkill but I was cold!).  They kind of had a good time. 

 I don't think they understood the concept of playing in the snow.  I think they thought it was finally a chance for them to play outside, just like they used to when it wasn't so cold.  Ian looks thrilled here, doesn't he?

 They were happy to become reacquainted with the swings that they love so much.  When Leah slipped and fell, she cried because there was snow on her mittens.  Certainly no snowman making going on around here.

 Ian decided he didn't need mittens.  He didn't last very long outside.  He was crying to go back inside in about 7 minutes.  He really is my favorite child sometimes.

 Leah wasn't quite as anxious to get back inside.  She wanted to play on all of her favorite toys while she could.  Of course, while trying to get on this horse, she kept getting snow on the seat.  I helped her on up and then she was happy.

 I included this picture because it shows our house in the background.  There it is, right next door to the playground and on a cul-de-sac too.  We really lucked out.

I finally convinced Leah to head inside with the promise of some hot chocolate.  Well, some lukewarm chocolate.  My kids don't like to eat or drink anything even remotely resembling warm or hot.  They don't know what they're missing.

it's snowing

I've heard snow isn't that common here in Beijing, but it feels pretty common this year.  This week was the second time we've had snow since moving here.  And this time, it stuck around.  The kids were excited to check it out and I was happy for them to be looking at it from inside.  I couldn't take them out to play the first day (it's so cold here!) but I promised them that we could go out the next day.  More pictures to follow of the winter wonderland.  And yes, that is our patio furniture cushions that are being ruined.  What can you do?

we decorated for Christmas!

 I've had a couple of request for pictures of our Christmas tree and decorations, so here they are.  I have been trying to get things all organized and decorated (including switching out embassy furniture a few times!!) and am still working on it.  Things take much longer here to get done than they do in the US (no quick runs to Target or Walmart for everything you need), but I was excited to put the Christmas decorations up to detract from the "undoneness" that I can find myself easily obsessing over.

 The kids are thrilled with all the decorations and they keep talking about Christmas and Santa coming.  Leah continually thinks that Christmas is "tomorrow".  I'm sure when it's finally the 24th and Christmas really is tomorrow, she won't believe it. 

Wish I could show you a picture of the tree lit.  We bought lights here (no spare converter to plug in and use our lights from the US) and two days later, 2 of the 5 strands we bought aren't working.  And I bought them new, and she plugged them in before I bought them to show me they were working.  It's nice to know that the lights made in China and sent to the US are better quality than the lights made in China and sold in China.  I think this experience has taught me that even Christmas lights can be bootleg.  Oh China....

Thanksgiving in Beijing

 We had a fun Thanksgiving this year in China.  I made pie, among other things.  This was the first time I made an apple pie, though, so I had to document it.  I was a little nervous, especially when the ayi (our domestic help) kept telling me (in Chinese, no less) that she thought I really needed to cook the apples first.  I assured her that this was a recipe from my sis (thanks Catherine!) and I was sure it would work out.  I'm glad to know that I know more about apple pie than my Chinese ayi.  Score one for the United States....

 Oh, isn't that lovely?  I sure think so.  I also made rolls (the only ones you ever want to eat on Thanksgiving, the ones my mom makes.  Yum!), sweet potato souffle, stuffing, and pumpkin cheesecake.  We got together with two other families here in Beijing and had a great meal. 

Here's a shot of the kid table.  They didn't eat much beyond rolls and punch, as far as I could tell.  Until dessert time.  The saving grace was a basement where they escaped to for playtime while we adults enjoyed our turkey and mashed potatoes.  It was a fun party, until Leah threw up on the carpet downstairs.  Talk about pink punch.  A bit of a mess, but we got it all cleaned up and rushed Leah back home so the next time she threw up, she was at our house.  Another mess.  That was the start of a hellish night for the Browns.  We all got sick, and I layed in bed all night, trying to sleep, half listening out for the sounds of crying and/or throwing up from the kids.  We were running out of sheets, blankets and towels by the time morning came!  I was never so happy to see the ayi arrive and get to work cleaning the place up and washing the linens.  What a kind soul.  I won't even tell you about the 2 hours I spent laying in the bathroom next to the toilet, praying for relief.  It really was awful, but by the next day, most of the horror was gone.  Here's hoping for no sickness next Thanksgiving...

Halloween Beijing style

This year we celebrated Halloween on the 27th of October here in our neighborhood in Beijing. The clubhouse had a big haunted house, lots of kids in costumes and a costume parade that we missed.



While we were waiting for the trick or treating to begin we spent some time on the playground.



Ian dressed up as a dinosaur or a dragon, as some people guessed when they spotted him tonight.


Leah was a little tinkerbell. As I was putting her down for a rest this afternoon before the partying began, she told me she thought that tinkerbell actually had no sleeves so would I please take the sleeves off her costume. I explained that I put the sleeves on her costume because of the cold weather. Then she said ok, so I guess she got it.


The color of Leah's costume was perfect for walking around the neighborhood in the dark. She was practically glowing. I picked up most of the fabric (sequins and bright green- so awful but she loved it!) on my first trip to the fabric market. It was a great day. More about that later.


I grabbed stuff for Ian's costume from around the house. An old blue blanket (that I think used to belong to MB's old roommate a long time ago), Ian's green striped t shirt that was stained and michael's old solid green t shirt that was looking pretty rough. I was happy not to spend any money. And if we ever have really cold temperatures here, I have a warm suit for Ian to hang out in. I mean it's essentially a fleece blanket with arms and legs.


The kids did ok in the candy department. Only a few people handed out American candy. Most of it was Chinese, which they don't mind. But I have less to snack on at night (because I don't like foreign candy. Give me a snickers or a twix anyday!)



Ian spent most of the night asking me to unwrap candy as we walked to the next house. He ended up pretty dirty by the end of the night from the stickiness and the dirt, I guess.


Here's the aftermath. One filthy, sticky, exhausted kid. Leah was tired too and definitely hopped up on sugar but she was clean. By the looks of them, you would've thought they spent their evenings in different places!