First BBQ for Bobo

Bobo has never had barbecued food. Her mother fears that it is unhealthy, but she's always wanted to try it. Thus on Saturday night we decided to introduce Bobo to our barbecue. We had teriyaki chicken, shrimp, onions, red and green peppers, and corn on the cobb. It was a great meal, if i do say so myself. Everyone chipped in, and it was a great family experience. Bobo's curiosity made the meal even more enjoyable.

Also, we ended the night with another American classic. Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark. We don't know exactly how Bobo felt about it, since she must read the subtitles as quickly as possible to attempt to grasp what's going on in the movie. Let's just say that some of the gross, violent parts definitely got across, including the dissolving of the Nazi scum!

Legend Holds True

I've always heard that Asian people greatly dislike root beer. It smells like medicine to them. I have always thought of this as a generalization. But lo and behold, Bobo hates the stuff.

Feel the Burn

We stopped by our awesome health club today to show Bobo why we're in such great physical shape. We showed her our favorite weight machines where we dream of getting six pack abs.


Karen (mom) shows how to "work it."

Jammin'

We decided to check out the Farmers Market this Thursday. There were many stands, and live music made it even more fun. We enjoyed the busy atmosphere!

Shaolin: Temple of Zen

Bobo and I went to the UVU Woodbury Museum, found inside the University Mall to check out the new exhibit. It was like a window into her culture. We had a great time looking at all the photos of monks while she taught me how to say their names and their fighting styles. She said the most famous is called Tang Lang Quan (Tawng Lawng Chen for those Americans who don't understand Cantonese), or Praying Mantis Fist. I thought that Japanese would guide me through Chinese very well. Although I have had only two years of formal classes, I have tried to keep my memory sharp. Too bad Chinese is hardly anything like Japanese. In fact right now, I think it is worse because I thought it would be similar. Anyways, the Shaolin Temple of Zen was awesome. Bobo made it even better because she had a better grasp on the culture. There are two types of monks: wuseng and wenseng. (woo-sung and wun-sung) One practices medicine and meditation, the other specializes in a certain type of kung fu. They begin at the a very young age and continue until death. We also learned about the history of Shaolin and Kungfu. A man thought in order to live a pure life, one must always keep busy so not to have time for devious things. Like Siddhartha Gautama, he believed in living a simple lifestyle and being very disciplined. He led meditation for hours, but as we all know, when you sit for hours, your muscles begin to discintagrate. So, in order to stay fit but still fit the criteria, he created kungfu. Pretty sweet, huh? Seriously though, if you're in the area, check it out!

Swings and Things

On Wednesday, we decided to go to the park for lunch, and after a wonderful meal, Bobo was curious about swings. I think it is a rare thing to have so much open space for parks in Guangzhou. I was teaching her how to "push" yourself on the swing and then got really high. I can be honest. When most describe me, graceful is a word rarely used. But, oddly enough I'm really glad that we got this footage. It was a hilarious diversion to watch this over and over for a long time.




More photos:




Also, I took Bobo to see Midway, she enjoyed the Swiss houses and we drove up into the dense foliage of a park farther into the mountains.

Bobo greets Heber

We took a walk today. It is only the second day of Bobo's stay, but it is obvious there will be many questions. She is very curious, and the fam is just getting used to describing in a way that makes sense. We've learned a lot and it's been a very new experience. For instance, today we have covered:
Colleges in America, How the Shower Works, What Yellowstone Is and many of its Pictures, How a Washing Machine and Dryer Works, How a Dishwasher Works, What Sales Tax Is, Religion and Mormonism, How College and Universities are Different, How Many Hours People Work in a Day, What a Dictionary Is, What a Major in a College Is, The Differences in Housing Between China and America, Our Family Members, and other small topics.
Seriously! They have been at least a half-hour each, and many sentences spoken over and over again in order to fully understand everything.

See the world in a Yard of Dirt

Many of you who are close to us know about our yard. It's not exactly charming. But today I venture into it, and even got lost in it. It's amazing how much it can hold, and how much it attacks my allergies. There's nothing like going outside and letting your eye balls run and burn while sneezing until you get to the door. But I had forgotten how much life is in our yard. Grasshoppers threw themselves out of the way as I carefully walked through the yard of weeds. When I reached the farthest end of our yards, it felt like I had walked through a dense forest of sunflowers.

There are many different kinds of plants. In fact, I'm positive I've found the ones in The Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I'm waiting for them to become the size of watermelons and my clone to knock on the door.


Ellie is a great companion when venturing out into the unknown. The only problem is that she sends all the grasshoppers in all directions when running for the ball. Curtains Nuno was outside and is still kicking. She loves the weeds because she can hide.
Here's a tour:

This Quilt Will Never End!

Mom, the keebler elf. this was what I saw for about an hour and a half.


When imagining a tie quilt, one would think "time consuming but simple." It is a laughable matter at this point. Despite some experience in easy quilt making, this project has seemed to consume me. (And my remarkably small amount of patience.) What started as a small project has become a hysterically ridiculous war between me and fabric. Whenever I am sure the last step has been taken, something comes to my attention. Whether it is a catch in the fabric or a wrinkle... anything. It is driving me mad. Perhaps it is my neurotic nature coming back to bite me in the butt. The binding had seemed the most formidable of the hurdles to jump. The binding has still eluded me in spite of numerous attempts. It will never have an edge. That is the closest answer I have come to. When Aunt Deb explained it, it seemed so simple. This quilt was supposed to be finished by the time I graduated high school. It is now August and two weeks away from my fall term in college. I believe it is an understatement to say: it's not going so well.