Family Pictures

Here are a couple of the Calder family pictures we had done... none of these are my most favorite ones, but they are close enough. And yes, that is my belly when I was 28 weeks.

Four years!

We hit the four year mark! The time really has flown by. Last year at this time so much was different- we had NO idea if we'd make it into dental school, if we did we had no idea what part of the country we would go to, we didn't know that Thomas would be dancing again and we were not planning on going to China, neither of us had graduated, I was not hugely pregnant, we were in a singles ward, and my house was not stacked from floor to ceiling with moving boxes!

All the changes are good changes and I couldn't be happier! I love Thomas so much more than I ever dreamed could be possible and look forward to all the adventures that are coming our way.

Help! Moving advice please...

So as we approach our move to Virginia we are wondering if anyone has moving/packing advice for us. We really need advice on where to get good free moving boxes... ??

Beijing (April 27- May 7)

We have been back from our month long trip to China for a week and a half and I figured I would finally post about it. Warning... these posts will be long, but hopefully there are enough pictures to hold interest!

We had a bit of a rough start... one of the engines of our plane from San Francisco to Hong Kong exploded (literally) during our flight and we had to turn around, further lengthening our horribly long trip. We stayed in the Marriott for about five delicious hours then boarded another plane for 14 hours to Hong Kong, then another five to Beijing. This was not fun for the pregnant one, to say the least. However, we made it and were excited to finally be in China!

Here is sweaty Thomas at the Marriott... we were exhausted,

and a little on edge after the whole engine explosion thing!

Beijing was fabulous! I don't have the room or the patience to write all about it, so here are a few of the highlights... Below are some pictures of us walking around Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. I was able to go twice- I went with the team on Thursday but Thomas was asked to do a radio interview along with our cultural advisor (who spoke Chinese), so he couldn't go. We were able to go back alone the next Saturday. It was really fun to see the way the ancient emperors lived. That place is humongous and I was severely tuckered out by the time we were done each time!

Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Square

The Forbidden City... and Mao posted outside

A view on the inside of the Forbidden City... the place goes on forever!

In the gardens

A visit to the "Birdcage" and the Watercube

On Sunday we went to the Great Wall of China! There are several famous sections near Beijing and we luckily, we visited the steepest part of the entire wall. We were given about two hours to hike up to the top and back and I didn't think my pregnant body would make it up to the first pagota, which was not far up. The stairs were some of the steepest I have ever climbed. Believe it or not, I made it up the whole thing- straight up and straight down! The way up wasn't so bad and Thomas let me put my weight on him as we walked ahead of me the whole way down. The area was beautiful and it was pretty amazing to see so much history!

Here we are at the bottom before the climb. Trust me-

the top is not even close to being in view. It goes up two mountains- 2000 stairs!

Halfway up... You can see a big section of wall that is on the other side of the river behind us.

While in Beijing we did a lot of shows (Thomas dancing and me teching, of course). We performed twice in an amusement park as part of the Beijing Arts Festival (this park was awesome and totally a rip off of Disneyland), twice at a beautiful performing arts center, and also at two cultural exchanges with Chinese dance academies.

Thomas soloing away (as usual) at the Festival

The festival handed out clappers to the audience which made for a loud applause!

In the park after a show

After the shows we had time to walk around the amusement park and Thomas rode a big rollercoaster while I sadly watched. It was pretty entertaining though... Disney-esk castle and all.

Beijing Dance Academy cultural exchange

At the Chinese Minority University cultural exchange

While in Beijing we definitely experienced some of the quirks of China...

As we sat on our bus in a typical Beijing traffic jam, we saw these people selling odds and ends and live turtles to people in the street! I wish you could see the wee turtle in this picture...

Ah, the Squatty Potty. We found that it was the toilet of choice in China. I chose to take this picture of a VERY clean example, for my stomach's sake. Most were absolutely filthy and definitely not comfortable for a pregnant woman. We also found out that toilet paper and soap are precious and rare comodities...

Yes, that is a wee chicken's head for dinner. We encountered many unusual things to be devoured in China... Chicken's feet, whole shrimp and crawdads with eyeballs and legs intact, but mostly we were served delicious meals with only occasional surprises.

Dinner at a Hot Pot- raw meat, veggies and noodles dumped into a steaming pot to get cooked before our hungry eyes!

Well that is enough for now. More to come!