Our Side of Paradise

Gebby's funeral, Utah visit, Sequoia NP . . .

2010-09-10T13:33:00.000-07:00

Sloane and Taylor got together again after Taylor's visit to LA, this time in Phoenix for Gebby's funeral. It was a good service and it was nice to see the family again. Sloane is always happy when she gets to see Tay-tay.

Phoenix was super hot, especially outside in the sun.

We spent a lot of the weekend hanging out in Gebby's house with the entire family.

We also got to see Eli and, unfortunately, Loren.

Sloane and Taylor got dressed up for the service at the chapel.

Back in LA.

At the pond in the Japanese garden at the Torrance City Center.

Sloane was trying to feed the fish, but I don't think they liked bread.

After Summer Quarter was over we took a quick road-trip to Utah to hang out with family again.

The girls had a good time even if they were only wearing waterproof diapers.

Back in the car on the drive up to Sequoia National Park. We spent a day up here in early September--it is only about a 3 and 1/2 hours drive from our house. Sloane is chomping away on some apple slices.

We stopped at a restaurant just outside the park. This is Sloane's patented camera "smile." You can tell because both sets of teeth are perfectly visible.

We do our best to catch some candid shots of her while she is unaware of the camera, but they usually don't come out too well.

Sleeping while standing.

She settled down as soon as she got her hands on some pink lemonade--easily her favorite drink. This one was fully disgusting, though.

After about 50 switchbacks we finally got to the park entrance. It was worth the drive if only to get out of the summer heat of the San Joaquin valley. From the base of the Sierra Nevada on the western side, the park road ascends about 7000 feet. The temperature in the park is probably 20-25 degrees cooler than down on the valley floor. The trip is part of our long-term plans to visit every national park in the park system. Ambitious, we know, but probably well worth the time and money it will take to accomplish this goal.

Giant Sequoias are stunning.

Standing on a fallen giant.

Next to its uprooted base.

Driving through Tunnel Log. Grace jumped out and took this shot. There were too many cars to get multiple shots.

General Sherman is the largest tree in the world. Its diameter at chest-height is 40 feet. Its bark is 3 feet thick in some places. Coastal Redwoods grow taller, but those are up in Northern CA. We'll save those for another trip.

Sloane after the hike to General Sherman. She clung to that little baby doll the whole way.

Sloane spelling

2010-08-08T22:59:00.000-07:00

Sloane likes to spell with fridge magnets.

Lance's family's visit

2010-07-20T20:31:00.000-07:00

Last week Lance's family came to visit from Utah. Mom, Dad, Lane, Lyman, Kelli, Taylor and new baby Grafton all made the drive down I-15.

We all went to Disneyland. This is the family on the hottest-ride-of-the-century--It's A Small World. It's good for the girls.

Sloane was stoked on all the little figurines.

We waited in line at Mickey's house to get a picture with the famous mouse. They were playing clips of old Mickey Mouse cartoons so Taylor and Sloane were hooked.

We finally got there and the whole experience was a little underwhelming. Sloane didn't act very excited and Taylor was a little hesitant to approach the mouse.

Then again, Sloane always has a bit of a suspicious look on her face--especially when looking at dubious mice.
We took a reprieve from the punishing heat outside.

Sloane got a little tired.

But she perked up when we got to the Buzz Lightyear ride. This is one of her favorite characters recently.

She was more than willing to pose for the camera, but we still couldn't get her to smile.

The whole family sans Grace--she's taking the picture.

Our little family.

Buzz Lightyear is a killer ride. They give you these little lazer blasters and you go through the ride shooting all the bad guys and accumulating points. It's fun because you get to compete with your family. This is a picture of Lyman losing the competition.

Sloane liked to shoot the aliens too.

This pic is on the way out. Disneyland's Main Street is a pretty classic scene at night. We couldn't get a very good pic, though.

We hung out with Verna-Grayce, Ester, Honore, and Hester at Hermosa Beach. This beach is really fun. There are no crowds and the water is nice and clean. Sloane and Taylor love the beach and playing the sand.

Sun bathing, working on her tan.

They are cute in their sun hats.

The girls like the water too. Sloane is a little apprehensive, but she'll go in if she is with someone.

San Diego

2010-06-13T22:55:00.000-07:00

It's coming up on the end of Spring Quarter so we decided to go visit our friends in San Diego. This is Ryan, Kristen, Maggie, and Jane Lindsay. After the USA v. England World Cup match draw (1-1) we headed to the beach to cruz for a little while.

They took us to this beach called The Cove. It was a pretty happening place. There were caves, sea lions, whales, long-distance swimmers, and tons of people everywhere. When Sloane plays on the shore she is still a little scared of the waves and won't let go of her daddy.

Both Sloane and Maggie got a kick out of the water.

She got soaked from head to toe, which is okay because the water in San Diego is a little warmer than in Santa Monica. It is also a lot cleaner.

Sloane and Maggie got along pretty well.

And this is Sloane making a her patented fake smile for the camera, while Maggie rotates her wrists in excitement.

Lance took her pretty close to the water where she would get fully splashed with the water.

Sloane loves the beach.

The Cove is a pretty scenic little beach park. This is in La Jolla just north of San Diego and just west of UCSD.

Kristen playing with baby Jane.

A lonely seal.

Seals soaking up the sun on the other side of The Cove.

Sloane was stoked by the seals. She's never seen them before and was little confused at first because they mostly just lay there lazily sun-bathing. Some of them got a little feisty, though, especially when one of the younger ones would restlessly climb on top of the others.

Sloane got really focused.

New Update

2010-05-16T20:59:00.000-07:00

Mexican bbq on Alvarado.

We had a picnic just off Santa Monica Blvd. near Beverly Hills. This was some killer bbq that we bought from a street vendor. Mexican food is the best in LA--way better than Utah, Colorado, and anywhere else you might live!

It was such a nice day in LA, so we decided to have some fun outside. Daddy picked this pretty flower for Sloane.

Sloane copied daddy and picked some small white flowers out of the grass. She gave one to daddy not mommy.

Grandest wants to go on Angels Flight Railway when he comes to visit in July, so Lance decided to check it out first. This is a funicular railway in downtown Los Angeles that connects Hill St. to a business plaza. It was first built in 1901, but closed. It reopened in March of this year and we wanted to see if it was any fun--good times. Sloane was stoked and she'll remember it when she goes again in July with Grandest.

Claire hung out with us today. Sloane loves to have her around.

This is the from the top of the hill overlooking east LA.

Sloane looks bored, but she loved it, I promise.

Thanks Claire for hooking us up with some good family pics.

Earlier, we drove up to Eagle Rock, which is on the way up a small canyon toward Pasadena, to check out a bakery/diner that we saw advertised on the Food Network. This place is called Auntie Em's Kitchen. Bobby Flay challenged the owner to a "cupcake throw-down" and lost! We had to see if the cupcakes lived up to the hype. As you can see from the picture, they are HUGE--slightly smaller than Sloane's head. They sell four flavors of cupcake: red velvet, chocolate, carrot, and coconut. We ordered all but the coconut. The carrot is good because the frosting is a not-too-sweet, cream cheese one that nicely complements the rustic cake (it is full of carrots, nuts, dried fruits, and other things that I couldn't identify). The chocolate is really chocolatey. Again, not overly sweet, just good, rich chocolate flavor. By far the best of the three was the red velvet, which is also chocolate, but lighter than traditional chocolate. They must add some red food-coloring to this recipe because these cupcakes look red as fire engines. These also come with the same cream cheese frosting (topped about 2 inches high on each cupcake) but this combination works better than the carrot cake. If you like cake and frosting, you should go to this place! A little crowded, but crazy good cupcakes.

Grace's birthday is May 14th. She is a happy 30-years-old now. Friends from the neighborhood threw a surprise party and decorated our door. Thanks everyone.

On another note, Sloane fell off the couch and broke her face.

Nice shiner.

Easter Egg Hunting BBQ Party

2010-04-15T10:15:00.000-07:00

Sloane at her first Easter Egg hunt and BBQ--characteristic deadpan expression.
She was pretty stoked on gathering her eggs together.
She wasn't as fast as the other kids, but she caught on quickly and got some good loot.

We used the playground in the middle of our apartment complex to hide the eggs.

All the kids had hotdogs after the hunting was over.

We tried to get the kids together for a big group picture. These are all of her friends in the neighborhood--lots of kids her age to play with.

Sloane and Gaige decided that they had had enough of sitting down and waiting for people to take pictures.

Pool Day and St.Patrick Day

2010-03-30T14:06:00.000-07:00

Sloane and Grace went to the pool with our friends Jaime and Lauren. The weather in LA is prefect for hanging out in the pool, Sloane didn't have a swimming suit (she had one but it was too small, and she just only wore it once), also Grace thought she wouldn't go into the pool because she doesn't like to take baths, but after 5 mins of watching all her friends playing in the pool, she decided to go . . .

Sloane is ready, even though she doesn't have her swimming suit on.

She doesn't want to just watch the other kids play.

Here we are. Sloane was kicking very hard to try to keep herself afloat. She enjoyed it, we are going to come to the pool a lot this summer.

Sloane and Grace. Everyone was already tired and resting next to the pool but Sloane was still full of energy.

Nice shot of Gaige who is just one month older than Sloane.

Bentley, Alex, Austin, and Sloane were having some snacks by the pool.

Grace and Jaime, I am very lucky to have a cool family living next to us. Jaime has two little boys, she always invites us to do lots of fun things and Sloane loves to play with her two boys. (well pretty much just follow them around).

This is Lauren. Hers is another cool family living next to us. Last week Lance was in China and Sloane was sick with a high fever for three nights straight, she helped me out a lot with this. Believe me it is very hard when your husband is not around and your kid is sick. You just need to have someone to talk to.

Jenna invited us to her house for a St. Patrick's Day party but Grace forgot to bring her camera, so we took some pics after we got home. We had a good time eating all the green food and drinking green milk. Sloane even got a green hat, a necklace, and a pot of gold.

Beach Day

2010-01-15T16:38:00.000-08:00

Sloane and her friend Lorna went to the beach on Tuesday afternoon. It was nice because not a lot of people were there and they could run around. At the beginning she didn't like the feeling of sand but she definitely got used to it later.

This is a rare sight in Santa Monica--usually this place is packed.

The ocean water in California is pretty cold but Sloane was brave enough to wade through it a little.

Sloane's little footprints in the sand are so cute.

This is a video of Sloane going a little nuts running around in the sand. This was her first time touching sand with her bare feet and I think she can't believe how fun it is. It sounds like a puppy but it is really Sloane squeaking that you hear.

Happy New Year

2010-01-06T10:07:00.001-08:00

We had lots of fun visiting UT at Christmas break, it was cold but we still got the chance to see all the family and enjoy time with them. We went to Temple Square with Grandest, Grandeur, uncle Lyman, Auntie Kelli, and Taylor.

Sloane loves to hang out with Taylor. It was really cold outside so both of them had big coats and hats on.
Beautiful lights.
Three generations.

Family picture.

Uncle Loren is going to take Sloane out to play with snow.

Sloane was afraid of Shmoo at first but Grandeur and Auntie Lane showed her how to pet her. After a while Sloane was brave enough to play with her.
uncle Lance and Jacob
I love this picture of Jacob.
Sloane got lots of presents--thank you Santa.
She loves Minnie Mouse, I guess we have to take her to Disneyland soon.
Sloane and Ma Ma
opening gifts--thank you Auntie Lane
visiting Santa's place..

Happy time together watching a DVD.
playing in the snow with ba ba

Visiting friends. Sloane finally got to meet baby Kingston.

end of 2009

2009-12-15T10:16:00.000-08:00

This was our first time driving up the coast and we definitely recommend Santa Barbara. The Harbor is full of local artists' exhibitions. You can walk down a couple different piers and take water taxis between them. The city's main street leads right out to the water and is lined with all kinds of good restaurants: fish tacos, sushi, burgers, etc. Go there.

Walt Disney's star on Hollywood Blvd. So far Sloane likes Minnie Mouse and Pooh Bear. Disney gave us some good things, even if he was an anti-semite.

Sloane can't let go of her water bottle.
One of the few times Sloane has been happy during a bath. She usually looks like this:

Her favorite Anpanman (アンパンマン) jacket. When she gets this on it is really hard to get it off her back.
You! You were the one!
Happy times after a bath.

Neket.

Hold me!
Another cold day in LA.

She is becoming attached to Betsy Bear, which is okay because Betsy is small and easy to take care of.
Waiting for the bus.
Santa Monica Pier.
Free clown balloons on the pier.

Hold me!
Don't look at me!

Thanksgiving

2009-11-29T11:01:00.000-08:00

We spent Thanksgiving weekend visiting family in Phoenix, AZ. Sloane got to see her cousin Taylor and this is one of the few shots in which they're both looking at the camera.

One of the reasons why we went to Phoenix was to give Sloane the chance to meet her great grandmother Gebby. Sloane wasn't very happy but she did her best to be a good girl, even if she didn't have a nap that day. It was also important for her to were her new purple onesie--thanks to Grandeur.

She spent a lot of time out in Gebby's front lawn (rock garden) with Grandeur.

We gave Sloane pigtails for the first time this weekend. Her hair has finally grown enough so that we can do more interesting things with it.

At the zoo they had a little petting area with a bunch of goats. Sloane's cousin Jacob showed her how to pet the goats.

Then she was brave enough to do it on her own.

Sloane and Taylor on the lookout tower over the Giraffe enclosure.

She started to smile at the end of the day. But for the most part the pictures all looked like this:

The Phoenix Zoo is not as good as other zoos, but they had this cool monkey area where we could get really close to the monkeys.

Beckham and Sloane

2009-11-18T18:21:00.000-08:00

Sloane's first soccer game is LA Galaxy vs. Chivas USA.

The main reason we went was to check out #23 David Beckham.

We had pretty good seats so we had a nice vantage point to check out the goods.

It was a wild game. Both of these teams are based in LA and this was the last regular season game.
Beckham and the Galaxy won!!

Later he came up into the stands to take a few pictures with Sloane.

She was looking pretty cute that day, too.

It gets surprisingly cold in LA.

Sloane examining the pictures that our friend We took. Every shot has to be just right or Sloane won't stand for it. She demands to see each shot after it's taken to inspect the results.
I think this one turned out pretty good.

Halloween

2009-11-01T15:21:00.000-08:00

Sloane's Halloween costume: angel. We went treat-or-tricking this year with our friends in our apartment complex. We went up to meet our friends, the Floods, to get ready for the event.

Sloane was eyeing some of the other dressed up kids; this was a pretty good batman.

Jaimie's son Gage made a good-looking UPS delivery man.

Thanks to mommy for a beautiful angel costume.

At first, she didn't understand what to do with the candy, so daddy taught her that she was to put it in the trick-or-treat bag. She picked it up pretty quickly, though.

Sloane and Bentley.

Sloane waiting in line behind Claire for her candy.

Sloane in glowing radiance with Braydon.

An angel and a devil.

Shea, Sloane, Claire, and Braydon. Auntie Kathy and Zi Zhen came and joined us.

Check out our Publicity

2009-10-27T20:50:00.000-07:00

Look at our family pictures posted on a London bus stop.

Cute Sloane making a monster face.
Sloane's new album is about to drop.
They love her at the mall.
Our family in city lights.
A sexy dress of Sloane polaroids.

Sloane's new billboard.
They love us in Europe
An inner city masterpiece
Go check out this website http://photofunia.com

You can make your own, it is really fun, enjoy it.

our summer fun

2009-10-14T13:56:00.000-07:00

Lance finished his Master's this summer so we have to move from Boulder to LA, but before we moved to LA we spent time in UT and Taiwan visiting family and friends.

Sloane's first time in a Uhaul truck, she is really excited because she can sit in the front row with us.
Sloane is not really a good eater but she loves to sit in the high chair and eat with her cousin Taylor.
what a nice sharing moment.
Sloane and granduncle at Grace's grandmother's house.

The house is 100 years old. Grace's Dad grew up in this house.
Night market in Taiwan, the place where Grace missed a lot while living in the US.
Sloane and Grace's friend Sammi's daughter.
Grace's friend Sammi and her husband. We hung out at their cabin on the mountain.
There is a pond outside of the cabin, Sloane loved the fishes and kept feeding them.

Lance loved their cabin because it was much cooler on the mountain, Taiwan is really hot in the summer.
Family dinner, we went to visit Grace's aunt and their family. It was fun.
Daoist temple

Sloane and grandma.

Lance caught a small crab, Sloane was so scared to touch it but she was really interested in watching the crab run.

Grace and her little brother who is 10 years younger than her.

Summer in Taiwan

2009-10-14T12:19:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the pics we took in Taiwan. Grace's family finally got the chance to meet Sloane this summer. We had so much fun together.

Sloane enjoyed playing with the toys at the library. Grace's Mom and Dad liked to take her over there.
Sloane and grandpa

Sloane and Auntie Lesley at Changhua city where the famous big Buddha is. You can see that in the back of this picture.

Sloane loves to walk outside with her little cute purse.

Sloane wore kimono at Japanese Sushi restaurant.

She loves the big Teddy Bear.

Sloane and Auntie Kathy are waiting for the High speed Train, it just only takes 50 mins from Taichung to Taipei.
Lance's friend Ammon came to visit us in Taiwan, we took him out to eat with Grace's family and friends.

I love this pic that Ammon took. We were in the famous place called Sun Moon Lake.
Riding the Scooter in Taiwan is really common but we all agree that once is enough.

Sloane's first visit to the zoo.
Sloane got a panda backpack from Auntie lesley, She loves it, thank you so much Auntie lesley.
Sloane saw some birds walk on the ground, she is making the bird face in the picture.

Panda Panda, it was a long line outside, everyone came to the zoo for the panda, I guess.

We spent the whole day at the zoo and had lots of fun.

Back in U.S. and A.

2009-09-25T21:01:00.000-07:00

We made it back to America where after a brief sojourn at Mom and Pop's house in Provo we started our move out to L.A. We stayed at the Plaza in north Las Vegas.
It was near the Fremont Experience and one of the more ghetto places we've ever been to in our lives together.

Sloane found new enjoyment with the hose outside the Utah house. We sprayed her down with water several times. We had to let her try out her swimming suit before she out grew it.

It was a long drive to California and this was one of the rare occasions when Sloane was not crying on the road.
Farewell to Auntie Lesley at the airport in Taiwan.
We took a trip to Shan Lin Xi, which is one of Taiwan's national parks. There is this 3,000-year-old cyprus tree called Shen Mu.

Sloane enjoyed the Onigiri--it is one of her favorite foods.

Hernia surgery

2009-05-21T15:31:00.000-07:00

Lance right before he went in to the OR to get surgery to repair his hernia. They were about to inject him with a dose of Versed, which is an ultra-fast acting psychoactive drug that they give before sending the patient all the way under. This is the second surgery that Lance has had since we moved to Boulder--the first time he got his gall bladder removed. Hopefully this will be that last hospital visit for a very long time.
We were the last ones in the hospital that night so Sloane could roam freely throughout the halls. The doctor scheduled the operation for after-hours. That was good of him, but I bet the nurses were a little upset.
Sloane learning to walk with the push-cart bear.
She even stopped by Lance's bed for a short visit.
But she didn't want to stay long.

One Year Old and Flying

2009-05-09T21:37:00.001-07:00

Sloane's first birthday party. She shared it with Grandpa Gibson from the Boulder Ward. Gordon Gibson invited us to his house for a joint party/bbq. Grandpa turned 86 and Sloane turned 1 on the same day. She got to try a lot of new things today.
She got down with the honeydew and other good treats before we let her have some cake.
Grandpa Gibson and Sloane shared a cake. Sloane was super stoked when they brought it out.
She exchanged gifts. Sloane's favorite present is a card.
Then the cake...
tasted good.

She dug in with her hands.
The next adventure was a trip up into the air in Gordon's planes. He is a retired pilot for Northwest Airlines and now he lives next to a local airstrip so that he can fly his planes whenever he wants. This is Sloane standing next to the Rocket.
This plane can fly about 300 mph. It is a tight little machine.
Gordon has a bunch of cool toys at his house.
Unfortunately, Sloane didn't get a chance to go up in the Rocket. It was just a two seater--jet fighter style.
Playing in the airplane hangar.

This is the Cardinal. It seats four so we could all go up together in it.
Sloane and Grace in the back seat all buckled-up and ready for take-off. Sloane had to get strapped in because there was some pretty heavy turbulence and she probably would've bounced around without the seat belt.
We had headsets but there wasn't one for Sloane. It was okay because it wasn't too loud up in the sky.
Gordon walking Lance through the basic safety check-up.
Ready to go!!

We started up over Erie, Colorado flying west toward Boulder.
This plane is about 30-40 years old, but it flies nice and smooth. It had been sitting the hangar for a few years so Gordon decided to get it inspected and ready to fly for the birthday party. He was planning to fly to Pennsylvania in a couple of weeks in this plane. That is really far!! It has a range of about 500 miles and a speed of about 160 mph.
Sloane doesn't like seat belts no matter the vehicle. She was really excited about the plane and was jabbering almost the whole flight.
Grace about 2000 feet over Boulder.
This is right on top of the Wimbledon apartment complex in Boulder--our house!
The University of Colorado campus.
Up ahead is the runway on our descent. We slowed to about 60 mph for landing and we used about 2000 feet of runway.
Safely down.
Sloane wanted to play some more but Grace got a little airsick and wanted to throw-up.

Sloane's first picnic

2009-04-25T10:33:00.000-07:00

We took Sloane to Scott Carpenter Park in Boulder for a picnic. We were too lazy to make our own food for the picnic so we got some takeout from Chipotle instead. It was just about Sloane's nap-time but she couldn't get to sleep because of all of the distractions around her. It has been too cold in Boulder to do anything outside for so long, but this week it warmed up about 20 degrees.

A guy next to us doing some meditation. This is a very common occurrence; there are a lot of wannabe Buddhists in this town.
Sloane wants to grab mommy's sunglasses and bite them. Well, she probably wants to put them on herself, but she can't figure out how to do it so she ends up just biting them instead.

She was afraid to touch the grass. When the ball rolled off the blankets it took a lot of courage to reach out and get it.
It looks like she can catch the ball but she can't.

I told you she likes to bite the sunglasses.

First time on a swing.
Looks like she likes it.

Paris and London: final days

2009-04-14T16:18:00.000-07:00

Sloane is cute.

Atlanta airport. Lance and Sloane were both totally sick on the flight home from Heathrow. Sloane threw-up on both Lance and Grace, more on Grace. She threw-up over Grace's shoulder onto her seat, and when Grace sat back in her chair she got it all over her back. She threw-up down Lance's chest mid-flight. He had no other clothes, so he just wore these dirty ones the whole time. He is even sleeping in them in this picture.
Poor baby Sloane.

Sloane didn't really notice the planes.
On the Heathrow Connect with Grandma Crisler.
Catching our last cab ride.
We made a stop at Sloane Street. This is London's high fashion district. Harrods in also near by.

On the tube home for the last time.

Kensington Palace. This is the King's hall, near his painting room.
Princess Diana's former bedroom.
A bus.
You had wait in line for about an hour to get into this store at Selfridges on Oxford Street.
Sunny London.
Sloane's seat on the Eurostar.
She likes the bullet-train.
last happy morning in gay Paris.
Still so sleepy, and a little sick.
We went to Le Marais.
Got food at a Falafel joint down in the Jewish section of Le Marais.

Good Jewish/French eats. Frekken good. You should go.
Look at Sloane and you can see just how good the food was. Her cheeks are stuffed.

Le Marais is definitely worth a stop. Cool shops and streets.
Lots of shops like this.
And shops like this.
Along the Rue de Rivoli. This is a good shopping district.

Sloane was too sick to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower, so we just got some pictures. It was way too cold that day, too. You should go to Paris in May or June, probably much more comfortable.
Grace wanted to check out the Red Light District and the Molin Rouge. This is the subway stop, if you're interested.

It is much more exciting on the inside, I'm sure.
This guy was sitting on some street.
Paris from Sacre Coeur in Montmartre.

Pickpockets are running a new scam on this hill where they put a little piece of thread on our wrist, then ask you to pay for it while they empty your pockets.
On the road to Bussy-Sainte-Georges.
Sick of museums. More pictures from the Louvre.

Sloane and the Sphinx.
Venus de milo.

More Paris

2009-04-10T18:08:00.000-07:00

The Louvre.

Sloane and Grace were soldiers and followed Lance through a bunch of museums.

The big, ugly glass pyramid entrance to the Louvre.

Sun shining on the Eiffel Tower.
Another badness French meal. They go a little heavy on the emmental cheese, though.
But Sloane likes the cheese.
Sloane in the Louis Vuitton shop on the Champs-Elysees. She'll like her first purchase from this place.
Checking out the new products.
The Arc de Triomphe in the background. We stopped traffic to get this picture.

They charge something like $15 to go the top of this thing. We thought pictures from the ground were good enough.

The Musee d'Orsay. It is in this renovated train station. This is probably the best museum in the entire world, except for maybe the National Museum in Taipei--I suppose it depends on one's interests. This building houses much of the work done by many, if not all, of the most important Impressionists. Also, it is much more seeable than the Louvre because it is not as ambitious in scope. If you like van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, Cezanne, Gaughin, Degas, Sisley, Cassatt, or anyone else who produced art like these people did, then go to this museum. If you are into sculpture, then go to the Musee Renoir, which is cheaper and also badness.

Monet.
Monet and Sloane.

Paris is cold

2009-04-07T18:44:00.000-07:00

5am cab ride to catch the Eurostar out of King's Cross / St. Pancras station. We were excited despite the early hour.
Waiting in line for the Eurostar.
Sloane slept most of the 2 hour and 20 minute ride to Paris.

Lance even got some sleep, but the seats were a little small for him.

We checked out Notre Dame Cathedral.
Super tall and dark.
Very impressive.
Some freaky styley gargoyles jutted off the sides of this building. Plenty of them also had their heads lopped off.
We then walked over to Sainte-Chapelle, which is in a government compound.
The line to get into this chapel was absurdly long.
But it was worth it for some of the best stained-glass that we had even seen. This is the upper level of the Cathedral. It used to be that only the King could come in to this room, but it has long been open to the public. This building is badness--way better than Notre Dame, or even anything in London.
It is totally soothing just standing around and looking at the stained-glass in this place. Forget Notre Dame, just go to Sainte-Chapelle.

Rose window.
This is the lower level of the chapel.
Paris is cold
Outside the Sainte-Chapelle. This chapel has a very creative name.
Sloane's first meal in a French restaurant--she looks excited.
Some salad and crepe mixte (jambon et fromage).
Looking toward Pont Neuf, which crosses the Seine at the western point of the Ile de la Cite.
The Jardin des Tuileries. That is the Louvre in the background. It is closed on Tuesdays so we took some pictures and caught the train to Bussy-Saint-Georges. The gardens are pretty disappointing in winter. The French idea of a garden is to spread some gravel out over some dirt, then put a pond in the middle where the pigeons can congregate and the guano can accumulate.

Loren and Tomoko

2009-04-06T09:32:00.000-07:00

Toad from Nintendo with Tomoko at Coffee Republic on Queensway
xiao Sloane
She did ok with Loren carrying her.
Indian food w/ Tomoko and Loren
Sloane doesn't seem very interested in Loren's games, neither does Tomoko.
Outside the V & A.
In the midst of medieval coffins

Sloane getting to know Grandma Crisler
We did some window shopping in SOHO. It was pretty rainy that day.

We ate at this pub on Queensway. The manager asked us to leave after we finished eating because he didn't like Sloane's face.

More London

2009-04-05T21:41:00.000-07:00

We had a good time at the British Museum. It's free, so we were stoked. We were also stoked to have someone offer to take our family picture. This doesn't happen very often.

First stop in the museum: the cafeteria.
We busted out some sandwiches that we bought the previous night at Tesco. I think the simplest combination of flavors available was egg and cucumber with mayonnaise. Kind of sick.
On this trip Sloane got really attached to her mommy. That's why most of the picture of Sloane are with Grace holding her. You can tell from this one that she was pretty upset when Lance got too close.

Zhou dynasty bronzes. The Chinese holdings in the British Museum were a little disappointing. Maybe they have other things in storage that they rotate throughout their displays, but the exhibit definitely lacked the breadth and quality of holdings of the National Museum in Taipei. Then again, nothing compares to Taipei's Gugong--a trip to that museum alone is worth the cost of a plane ticket to Taiwan.
This is a Qing dynasty plate that was apparently commissioned by a foreign visitor to China. The subject matter of the picture is Christian and the Chinese artist is obviously not used to painting nude bodies.
The Rosetta Stone.
An Egyptian lid to a sarcophagus.

Down in the tube. When people still shot photos using film security guards would seize your camera and expose the pictures you took of the underground. Now I guess they can't do anything about all of the digital cameras.

Sloane with a firm grip on the tube.
Big Ben. We decided we needed to hit some of the more iconic British landmarks. 10 years ago when Lance lived in London he can't even remember coming to see Big Ben. It's just a clock.
Waiting in line to get in Westminster Abbey.

You can't take pictures inside.

The Thames with the London Eye in the background. We said London was sunnier than New York and Paris.
On a tour of the Tower of London with a beefeater.

The British military are not allowed to get haircuts.

A beefeater up close.

Outside the Crown Jewels.

Display of armor inside the Tower itself.

This is a medieval toilet. There is a hole in that wooden plank into which one evacuates his or her bowels. The refuse then descends down a shaft and collects in a cesspit at the bottom.

Sloane doing a jig.

Trafalgar Square outside the National Gallery. Also fun 'cause it's free.

We hung out with some of Loren and Tomoko's friends near Russell Square. The food at this pub was good: some of the highlights were mackerel paste to spread on pita bread, pig cheeks, and sticky toffee pudding.

If you want, you can look at Loren's face. It's on the right side of the picture.

London first impressions: sunny and nicer than New York

2009-03-31T17:44:00.001-07:00

Sloane loved the flight from New York to London.
Lance and Grace loved finally getting food and movies on a plane. We hate domestic flights in the USA and all of the supposed cost-cutting strategies.
This is outside Grandma and Grandpa Crisler's apartment in London. We rested up a few hours because we were a little tired after the flight from the US.
Palace Court is a beautiful place and it was nice to be back.
Then we hit the streets to check out this city. We couldn't resist sitting on the upper-deck of a London bus.
Our excitement was only somewhat stymied by the gridlock on Bayswater.
Window shopping on Regent Street
led us straight to Piccadilly Circus.
If you try hard you can just make out Sloane's little face between us.
First time on the London Underground for Sloane and Grace--much more comfortable than New York's rickety old subway.
Tower Bridge

We were too late to get into the Tower of London that night so we spent some time taking pictures around the outside.

St. Paul's Cathedral
This is just outside Leicester Square. We spent most of the day walking around the city and wandering in and out of different streets.
Sloane dug he tube.
Check out the creepy guy peering into the picture in the background.

A long day of travel and sightseeing. We were ready for some sleep.

First leg of Spring Break trip

2009-03-31T17:12:00.000-07:00

Sloane's first time in an airplane. She performed well--didn't cry even once on the flight from Denver to JFK.
She even got in a little nap, but she seems to have not been able to shake Uncle Lane's tongue disease.
Here is another view of this now well-documented disorder.
This is yet another first for Sloane: first time in train. This is the Long Island Railroad that took us from Jamaica Station to Penn Station in Manhattan. It was a stinky ride.
Lance in Times Square. He had to carry all of the bags this trip.

Grace got to carry Sloane--not such a bad trade. This was the first time that any of us had been to Times Square. We had a 7 hour layover at JFK so we thought we could at least check out some part of New York. It was cold, rainy, and really touristy.
Sloane liked the horses.
Grace holding her ground on the Air Train back to JFK.

Activities at Boulder Public Library and Flatiron Crossing

2009-02-24T23:01:00.000-08:00

This is the playground at the mall. It is really the first time that Sloane could enjoy these kinds of toys.

Story time at the library. Only Sloane is paying attention to the teacher.

The library playground is a little more oriented for education.

This last shot is from mommy's hand-therapy hospital in Mapleton.

Pictures of Sloane

2009-02-13T19:23:00.000-08:00

Shaving Lance's beard

2009-02-05T15:38:00.000-08:00

Lance grew this because over Christmas break he forgot to bring a razor to Utah. When we got back to Boulder he just got lazy, I guess, and decided to let the beard keep on growing.
This is a little over 5 weeks of growth.
He wanted to keep a little something to remind him of the good ole days, but I couldn't let this happen.
He looks 10 years younger without all that hair.

Babbling Sloane

2009-01-28T00:08:00.000-08:00

This is just sampling of what Sloane has been doing lately. She may sound cute, but after 2 hours straight it can get a little obnoxious. For now, though, we still dig it. That is Grace's dad laughing in the background.

Chinese New Year

2009-01-25T21:49:00.001-08:00

Today, January 26th, is Chinese New Year. We went to the university's Chinese student presentation/performance to eat and check out the festivities. This is Sloane in her best Chinese New Year outfit: red bow, red coat, red dress. The coming year is the year of the Ox, so that means Sloane was born in the year of the Rat, which on the surface seems unfortunate; however, those born in the year of the Rat are often charismatic leaders. The Rat is the first sign of the twelve animal zodiac calendrical system and Rat people therefore are naturally endowed with intelligence and tenacity. The opposite of Rat, if there is such a thing, is Pig, better known in my family as Pig-dog or Swine. It is last of the twelve. Pig people, in addition to carrying the dubious distinction of a porcine demeanor, are notoriously lazy and belligerent, though there are those who break the mold.

This is a small version of a Beijing Opera mask. All of the little kids got these presents.

Sloane with professors Terry and Faye Kleeman.

On Chinese New Year's eve, Chu Xi, parents or older family members usually give red enevlopes filled with cash to younger children. You cannot give just any amount of money. If the first number in the total amount given is an odd number, as in 100 dollars, then this sum is inappropriate. These sums are traditionally presented at funerals and are placed in white envelopes. Red envelopes given during Chinese New Year must contain even numbers, like 200, 600, etc. For Sloane this was just another thing that she could chew on.

The cash inside must have a sour taste.

Rilakkuma

2009-01-24T11:09:00.001-08:00

Thanks to Kaori for giving Sloane this stuffed animal. It is a lazy bear queen called Rilakkuma. She also has a king penguin stuffed in her shorts.
Sloane was a little suspicious of it at first. She started to warm up to the Rilakkuma after a few minutes and she really likes it now.

Martin Luther King Day Outing

2009-01-19T17:41:00.001-08:00

Grace decided we should go and do some outdoor activities. On holidays we usually just sleep in really late and when we finally decide to leave the house it is already getting dark. Today was different. We did some research the night before and scouted out a hike that we could handle. There are choke hikes in Boulder so finding a trailhead is not very difficult. The problem for us is that we NEVER hike, so we needed one for novices. Another problem with living in Boulder is that there really are no novices in the town except for me and Grace. Everybody is in the midst of training for something--whether it be a marathon, a triathlon, or some other type of unreasonable physical activity.
There is some public land in Boulder called Chatauqua Park where we decided on The Enchanted Mesa trail that eventually leads above NCAR, or the National Center for Atmospheric Research, one of Boulder's many claims to fame. We figured we could at least look the part of true Boulderites by outfitting Sloane in the latest contraption designed for families on-the-go (a demographic that we hope to be a part of someday): the Kelty Carrier. Our friend hooked us up with this device and it is pretty fun. We felt like with fit right in with all of the other hikers.
We got an early start. It looks like both Lance and Sloane are overjoyed to be out here.
Grace even got decked out in her exercise clothes. It has been a while since we've seen these.
We are missing the canopy that would normally cover Sloane's head, so we had to improvise.

It's rough being carried everywhere you go.

But Sloane put on a brave face and got back in the saddle. This hike was actually pretty treacherous at times. There was still quite a bit of snow on the ground and it has been compacted into solid ice sheets that are super slippery. Neither of us fell, but it was kind of sketchy.

This was the kind of view that novices like us deserve. After hiking for about 30 minutes we were pretty spent.
The view was decent enough--you can make out the foggy abyss of the great plains off in the distance. This type of hike triggers Lance's agoraphobia and makes us both long for the comforts of flanking mountain ranges on either side, or at least on one side and the isulating ocean on the other.
The road home is paved with blisters
Sloane enjoying a well-earned meal of peaches in the park.

Christmas break

2009-01-11T09:38:00.001-08:00

Sloane likes these Mum Mum rice crackers. We like that they distract her enough to keep her calm in her car seat.
We visited Zhu Jun's family. This is her oldest, Sidney. She also has four more: Cayman, Carter, Charlie, and Cuzco.
Sidney and Cayman in the snow cave that their dad built in the backyard. It snowed about a 18-20 inches in Provo over the break--by far the most I have ever seen there.
Kelli taught Grace how to get crafty and make some headbands for Sloane. We used to be a little against the baby headband, but these are so outrageous that we couldn't pass them up.

This is the best one.
Taylor and Sloane

Utah is cold.
Christmas morning. Grandest and Grandeur got matching pajamas for the grandchildren to wear for Christmas. That's Caleb in the background; it was his job to pass out presents to everybody.

Sloane enjoying her loot.
Grandest and Grandeur went all out this year.
Sloane and Grandest. She usually would not tolerate such an intrusive breach of personal space, but I guess the Christmas spirit got to her.
Sloane and Isaac. Isaac probably taught Sloane how to stand much better than she could before.

Uncle Butch and Aunt Jean came down from Heber to visit.
Caleb, Isaac, Sloane, and Taylor.

Thanksgiving break

2009-01-11T09:11:00.001-08:00

Sloane's first taste of water through a straw. We were sitting in Sam Hawk (one of Provo's best restaurants) and Sloane looked like she wanted to try some water. She couldn't suck it up from the normal position, so I held it for her and she seemed to do okay. If you go to Sam Hawk we recommend the Kimchee Jegae, but you can always go with the Beef Bulgogi if you are not feeling very adventurous.
This is one of many pictures that captures Sloane's masterful skills in drooling. See how she deftly balances a choice drip of saliva on the tip of her chin.
Sloane learning to play with other babies. Lyman and Kelli brought Taylor to visit Boulder over the Thanksgiving break. Sloane doesn't get to play with other kids very often--pretty much never--so this was good for her to begin to learn what it means to share. Taylor did a much better job than Sloane.
Santa was giving out free pictures on Pearl Street. Sloane doesn't seem very excited, though.
Sloane and Taylor after we stopped off at Crepes a la Cart on Pearl Street. This restaurant is good: sweet and savory crepes, tons of flavors to choose from. It was one of the highlights of the trip.
We didn't want to cook Thanksgiving dinner, so we ate at the Marriott Hotel in Boulder. The meal was crazy good--the best Thanksgiving food I've ever had. Sloane was being a bad girl the whole time.Taylor was chillin but Sloane was not happy.
Lyman, Kelli, and Tayor stayed at our friends house. Thanks to the McMurtreys for being such good hosts.

Sloane at about 6 months

2008-12-03T09:21:00.000-08:00

This is Sloane's first time in a Chinese buffet, hopefully it will be her last. Thank you Auntie Helene and Uncle Taylor for the beautiful outfit.

She got down on the cantaloupe. One of her very first fruit tastings.

baby 可以坐著洗澡好可愛囉

She is like a prisoner in her cage. She really hates to be in her crib but there is not much we can do for her.

More Sloane

2008-12-03T08:58:00.000-08:00

Sloane doesn't get the bottle very often, but she is quick to grab hold when she gets the chance.
Ever since she learned to stand up the crib is no longer a safe place; she has cracked her head many a time against these wooden slats. Notice the classic Uncle Lane facial expression.
I was trying to teach her "3 Little Speckled Frogs" but I think I lost her.
A cold day in Boulder. Sloane usually rocks some type of hat.

She started crawling at 5 and 1/2 months which means that wev'e had to start baby-proofing our place.

This is the first time Lance fed Sloane with a spoon. She is dining on Gerber's rice cereal. She didn't get too much of this meal into her mouth. But she has gotten better at swallowing stuff.

Halloween

2008-12-03T08:35:00.001-08:00

This is Sloane's first Halloween, we took her with us to the Pearl Street Mall to watch the crazies. She dressed up as a little pink bear. It was pretty cold that night, so Sloane was happy to have her bear costume and Mommy's scarf .

Here is President Bush and friends.
This is Sloane showing her support for Barack Obama. Actually, someone was practically forcing everyone to put on these stickers. She is with Lance's friend Nick.

Happy Halloween everyone. See you next year.

Silver Plume Tea House, Georgetown Aspen Festival, and Railroad Loop

2008-10-06T19:50:00.000-07:00

It started snowing in Colorado this weekend so we decided to take advantage of the last couple of days before the cold. We went to Silver Plume which is a tiny town just east of the Eisenhower tunnel/Continental Divide. This place is badness! It is a relatively authentic Rocky Mountain town--minus the silver mining of course. No vendors trying to sell knock off "gold nuggets" or any of the other usual touristy garbage. We ate lunch at the only restaurant in town--the Tea House. We had homemade scones with lemon curd, honey butter, and currant preserves. Also some tomato soup, and homegrown peaches and apples. They are supposedly famous for their pies but we had to bail before we could eat some. Just off I-70, watch close for the signs or you'll miss this little gem.

We then checked out the Aspen Festival that was going on a couple of miles east in Georgetown. There are a few places that make homemade ice cream here so we got Pralines 'n Cream in a chocolate-dipped waffle cone. This was Grace's first time with this flavor and it was a screaming success. She has figured out that foods that are sweet and rich for the simple sake of being sweet and rich can actually be a good thing.

This is Rose Street in Georgetown. A few very well preserved homes that are around a hundred-years-old line this short road. Even though this house had a John McCain sign on its lawn we thought it warranted a picture.
Mountain Man Blues Band--not their real name but catchy, yes?
On to the Georgetown Railroad Loop. This train winds up the canyon back to Silver Plume. It is about a 12 mile trip one way.
It wasn't that cold, but this old Mexican grandma sitting next to Grace kept on telling us that Sloane was cold, she even tried to pull Sloane's hat down onto her ears.
Orange leaves.

The yellowing Aspens scattered amongst the pines were very pretty.
Our train broke down, not really. One of the brakes on the wheels was stuck so it was like driving with the emergency brake on.

This is a refurbished turn-of-the-century bridge. Kind of scary.

Lance's birthday is September 27

2008-10-06T17:22:00.000-07:00

Waiting for a table at the California Pizza Kitchen. This is pretty much the closest restaurant to our house and we figured Sloane would do well at a pizza joint. She did.
Lance got one of his favorite meals--the Margherita pizza. Grace ordered Jambalaya, spicy and good. Grace finally picked out something good to eat. Whenever we go out Grace always orders some kind of exotic dish that turns out to be a disaster--not this time. I guess Jambalaya isn't that hard to mess up anyway.

Family picture. Cheaper than hiring someone. Right now Sloane likes to smile at strangers, so we can usually get some decent shots.

Shopping at the Flatiron Crossing mall. Hopefully Sloane won't pick up any of her mommy's bad shopping habits. She's probably too young to know where we were. When she gets older I'll explain to her that malls are bad places.
Grace and Sloane got gussied up in some new head wear for our day out.
Sloane seems to like the sauce. We got some Stewart's Key Lime soda for Lance's birthday and Sloane was interested in the color. We let her play around with the bottle and she probably got a tiny taste of the green goods inside.

Tickle-me-Sloane

2008-09-24T16:35:00.000-07:00

She's been able to laugh for while, but we've only recently been able to get her to do it on command. Hopefully this is the first of many laughing posts.

Sloane's incessant rash

2008-09-19T15:02:00.001-07:00

We recommend Vaseline and Aquaphor. All other baby lotions are pretty much good for nothing, at least for us.

Doctor visits, new toys, and other follies

2008-09-19T14:22:00.000-07:00

Sloane was pretty stoked to be in the doctor's office. This was before the doctor showed up, of course. That was when everything changed. We took her in to see about a skin rash that has gotten progressively worse for about two weeks. A few days ago we noticed that she started scratching at her neck and ear. The doctor said that 4-month-olds usually aren't that dextrous with their hands. So she thought that either Sloane was particularly good with her hands or the rash was particularly itchy.
Totally unaware of the impending doom that is about to walk through the door.
Our friend Ann Freeman gave us this elaborate baby contraption. Sloane can't really fit--her feet don't touch the bott0m yet--but she seems to enjoy it nonetheless.

After a long, hard day.
Sloane's swing usually gives us some funny pictures. It makes her scrunch up her face to produce this jowly effect.

Check out Sloane's first boo-boo. You can barely make it out--see the red streak just above her hair line. Sloane's mommy wasn't paying attention and let her fall over, cracking her skull on the side of the laptop. If you think this sounds bad, it happened just one day after the very same mommy let Sloane roll off the bed to floor (our bed isn't on a frame so it's pretty close to floor, but still!!). The picture above this one shows that Sloane got over both incidents pretty quickly.

Slideshow

2008-09-08T00:52:00.001-07:00

Another week in Boulder

2008-09-07T14:45:00.001-07:00

We are a little swamped with the start of school but we found some time to go out a take a few pictures. Plus, we felt like we kind of had to. People in Boulder have an obsession with outdoor activities so we paid an obligatory visit to the latest festival/farmer's market/free concert etc. We also started trying out the over-the-shoulder baby sack. This is something that Sloane can get down with.

Our return to Boulder. We say a reluctant goodbye to summer break

2008-08-25T22:23:00.000-07:00

Sloane is getting better at posing for the camera. Her biggest problem now is keeping her smile when we break it out.

We are back in Boulder for the school year and things are going well so far. Utah was fun and we'll undoubtedly be back there for numerous more visits, but now it's time settle back into our Boulder apt. Sadly, it seems the people from whom we were stealing our internet have found us out and canceled their service. This means we'll now have to actually pay to get online--it's messed up, I know.

Sloane is now more than three months old and adjusting nicely. She has recently discovered her vocal chords and likes to test them out during Sacrament Meeting or at 1am--just for fun. We tried to capture one of her performances on video but, like I said before, she is still camera shy, or maybe it's camera curious. Still, for those of you who haven't heard her talk this is a little teaser of you might get when you see Sloane in the flesh.

The last picture is with Sloane's cousin Taylor, better known as TC, or even Tack (TAC)!

One-month-old

2008-06-16T11:28:00.001-07:00

2008-06-16T11:14:00.000-07:00

This was Sloane's 1-month-old outing. We treated ourselves to some crepes down in Boulder. Chocolate Raspberry Cream and Turkey & Mozz. Pretty freken good. Afterwards, we took Sloane shopping for something to put on her head. She is still too small to fit any of the headbands--I think they look kind of white trashy anyway. Still, we ended up finding this simple white one that looks okay. She really hates wearing it, but she put on her bravest face for the camera and let us take some reasonable shots. It has been a good first month; however, Sloane has recently figured out how to get our attention through crying. She likes to use this new trick because it works pretty effectively.

2008-06-02T19:27:00.001-07:00

This is the 16th Street Mall in Denver. Denver is supposed to be one of the best cities in the country these days. We think it's okay, but there are a few too many sports bars. Anyways, it was good to get Sloane out on the town. She doesn't really fit in her car-seat yet, but she seems to dig getting strapped into it. We stopped at some random restaurant to feed her. We're still trying to master breastfeeding when we are outdoors. It gets a little tricky sometimes. Starbucks is turning out to be a lifesaver--quiet corners and changing tables in the bathrooms.

2008-06-02T19:20:00.001-07:00

This is after a couple of weeks of breastfeeding. Looks like she's putting on some weight. Not that much, though. She's almost up to 7 and a half pounds.

May 14 is my birthday!

2008-05-17T20:21:00.000-07:00

This was my birthday dinner--Four Cheese pasta. Lance's mom took me out to The Cheesecake Factory.....so good. Thank you mommy.

Also, this was Sloane's first outing. She went to see the doctor already but this time she went out on the town. Later I felt stupid because I didn't bring anything with me. No diaper bag, no blanket (we had to cover her in Lance's sweater), no nothing. I'm such a bad mother!!!!!!!!! But I'll get better, I promise.

My rule this year was that Lance couldn't spend any money on my birthday present. So this is what he came up with: he went around Boulder collecting different blossoms from trees. I like these way better than any of the other flowers he gave. Those were nice too, but these are way better. I think he had to pay a little money for the card, though. When I made this rule I thought he could write me a little something, and I was right. In the card he wrote a poem about my birthday and the month of May. He wrote me a poem before when we were dating and he drew a picture of the two of us walking through some kind of space-age field. The poem was good but the picture I thought was a little......uhhhh.
This time the poem was better.

Lane also sent me some beautiful flowers; I love them (check the pic). My parents-in-law also gave me some lotion and some really spicy crackers from Japan. Great birthday! I got a new daughter, a weeklong visit from my mother-in-law, and some cool presents from family.

Next year you can all come and participate in my birthday celebration. I accept all types of gifts.

2008-05-13T14:03:00.000-07:00

These come right before feeding time. We like to strip her down naked before she eats. Looks like she handles it pretty well.

May 9 2008 3:05 am

2008-05-12T14:01:00.000-07:00

Grace gave birth to Sloane Naomi Crisler at St. Vrain Hospital in Longmont, Colorado on this day. Her labor was less than two hours from start to finish. She pushed for about 5 minutes, then Sloane came out of her. The pic at the bottom is Sloane's very first, right out of the womb. She' s small but she's got Grace's good looks and lots of personality.

Check out our new baby girl

2008-05-12T13:37:00.000-07:00

2008-03-27T10:22:00.000-07:00

We stopped in St. Louis to check out the Gateway Arch. We wanted to go up to the top but it was like a three-hour wait. They had a Lewis and Clark museum and other sites to scope. Our last stop before coming home was in Kansas City, MO. We asked around to find the best/most famous BBQ in town and a couple of people lead to us to Jack Stack's. It was pretty good, though the sauce was little on the sweet side. Grace got beef Burnt Ends and pork ribs and Lance got huge beef ribs. Well worth the stop even if it took a few minutes of searching.

Our trip to Chicago

2008-03-27T07:39:00.000-07:00

We just got back from Chicago. It was real fun but super cold. Here is a sampling of pics.

They had this huge kidney bean-like structure in the middle of a park. The next pic is at night from Navy Pier. We were the only ones out there and Grace was pretty scared, but it was worth it for the picture.

The Art Institute is killer. It rivals some of the best museums in Europe.

The last pic is from outside the Field Museum. While we were there the weather was really nice. This is a good shot of the skyline and Sears Tower.

2008-03-27T07:34:00.000-07:00

Abraham Lincoln's house in Springfield, Illinois

2008-03-26T20:54:00.000-07:00

Our trip to Mt. Rushmore and others.

2008-03-26T20:49:00.000-07:00

2008-03-26T20:21:00.000-07:00

2008-01-21T15:56:00.000-08:00

For those of you who want to check out our other blog the link is below. It's all in Chinese but you can still look at the pictures. You might get lucky and click the right link to leave a post. If you can't find it on that blog then just post here.

2008-01-21T15:52:00.000-08:00

http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/jw!624iQJiAERk_Yzug5Btm/

2008-01-21T15:43:00.000-08:00

2008-01-21T15:30:00.000-08:00

New semester. We made a mad dash to Mt. Rushmore, I know it's not the most exciting place to go, but growing up I thought that this was an important place to visit in America. Lance said that it was in the middle-of-nowhere but we decided to go anyway. Despite 7 hours of driving, blizzard road conditions, and a sore backside we made it to that lonely rock in southern South Dakota. The Presidents are doing fine in case you were wondering. It was cold and the sculptures were smaller than I thought, but it was fun and worth the trip, I suppose.