Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Phoenix Christmas Photos - Series 2




















She Loves her Necklace!


Aunt Lori & Angelina


She absolutely loves this Kaleidoscope

Monday, February 11, 2008

Phoenix Christmas Photos - Series 1


Mother & Daughter


Making Chocolate Pie!




Angelina cracking up Grandma!


Aunt, Uncle & Cousins


Angelina & Uncle Mike




Mommy & Aunt Lori


Uncle Mike & Angelina


Gaela & Cousin Connor


Aunt Virginia & Uncle Mike

Saturday, February 09, 2008

From Freezing to Hot & Humid - Penang

It has been an extremely busy +6 weeks since we returned from Christmas in the US. We finally moved into our new home two weeks ago and we are happy to finally be out of the cramped apartment we called home for nearly 6 months. Nothing like home! We knew it would be cold in Dalian, but had no idea just how cold. For the last 6 weeks the high has not crept above 28 degrees – in fact that average has been around 18 degrees with the lowest being in the single digits. This has created a huge challenge with the construction on the new facility as we have difficulty placing concrete slabs unless the temperature is at or above freezing, so progress has slowed compared to before the New Year.

Fortunately, Dalian has not been affected by the snow and weather that the rest of southern China has been experiencing. The news reports are accurate when they say millions of residents and travelers have been affected by the weather. Nearly all locations south of the Yanghtze River (separates North & South China) do not have heat (because they never need it) and for +2 weeks they have been dealing with a 50 year storm that has brought snow and freezing temperatures that their infrastructure is not capable of handling. Imagine Florida being hit by winter storms that the Midwest typically sees.

Speaking of New Year, we just had our chance to experience the Chinese New Year (Lunar New Year) this past week and you could never believe how many fireworks are discharged during this time. I am not exaggerating when I say it is like a war zone during Chinese New Year, we have never seen nor heard so many blasts. Beginning on Feb. 6 at 10:30pm until 12:15am it is non-stop. The horizon was the most amazing sight – for miles there were hundreds maybe thousands of fireworks lighting up the sky. Take anything you have experienced in the US and multiply it by a significant factor – ALOT just like their population.

Saturday we flew from Dalian to Penang, Malaysia to have our Chinese New Year vacation and it is finally nice to be in some warmer weather. As I write this on Sunday morning, Angelina is pretending she is a waitress asking me “do you want chicken or pasta or both? do you want french fries or apple pie? do you want apple juice or tea?” Pretty hilarious – she must be hungry and needs some breakfast!

Xin Nian Kuai Le (Happy New Year),
Angelina, Pamela and Brian