Did you think I would EVER post again?

Please tell me that being a bad blogger doesn't make me a bad person... Today at church I had a friend as me if I had a blog and a bit sheepishly I admitted I did, but hadn't posted anything since we first moved here. So on this Sunday afternoon, between Sunday lunch company and Sunday dinner company I thought I would put up a little blurb on my blog.

I can't even begin to catch up on the million and one adventures we've had while living in China, so I'm not even going to try to recount them all. Suffice it to say we have had some wonderful experiences and I am at a place where I can honestly say I will miss living in Beijing. Of course there are some things I will not miss AT ALL, like the pollution or the random piles of trash on the street or the fact that cars do NOT yield to pedestrians in any shape or form. However, it's amazing to live in a place where there are countless adventures within an hour away. I have come to appreciate a new culture of people that I previously had little understanding of. There is a certain novelty about living in Beijing that makes each day a new experience.

This kind of talk makes it sound like we are wrapping things up here in Beijing... and that's not totally untrue. When we first got here we were planning on staying for a year, two semesters of school (Feb 2013- Feb 2014) But a while ago we found out there is an early end date option for the Fall semester which means Ryan could finish up the beginning on December and we could make it home for Christmas. We had planned to do things this way without telling anyone on the homefront and just show up on doorsteps as a Christmas surprise, but as it turns out, we are going to be moving home earlier than even we thought (mid-endish or November) to make it home for a sibling's wedding. So our Feb. end date has all the sudden become a November end date and that's going to be here before we know it. As excited as I am to go home to BEAUTIFUL America and be with friends and family, I sure am going to miss Beijing!

Our plans from there on out... we will spend about a month in Utah with friends and family and then move forward into an internship of which is currently undecided. By the summer of 2014 we will be back in SC to finish our last year of Ryan's IMBA and then from there we will just have to see what life brings us.

As for now we will continue to enjoy life and all that comes with it one day at a time and maybe, just maybe I will get better at this blogging thing :)

I LOVE these boys!

This kid has so many facial expressions! I can't get enough of 'em!

I love this little man and he sure does love his Nanners monkey

Ryan's class took a trip to the Great Wall. He got permission for Dylan and I to go with them, but of course that morning I woke up with the flu :( Ryan was kind enough to take a bunch of pictures for me

Dylan and I were able to get to the Great Wall with some friends a few weeks later

He was a great hiking buddy!

This stud muffin's all ready to go to church. What a good look'n kid!

The Old Summer Palace
 There is no shortage of beautiful places to be seen in Beijing

Dylan sure has a way of making the girls swoon :) 

It never fails to amaze me how much they stack, balance and tow on their bikes. This load was bigger than some of the cars on the street.

This boy LOVES noodles!

"Hey mom, I found this left over piece of cake."

It's delicious! 

Dylan and I are on a multiple entry tourist visa which means we have to leave the country every 90 days (poor us being forced to travel :) ) So for our first visa trip we jumped over to Korea of course! We had a blast exploring places and meeting people from Ryan's mission! It was so incredible to finally get to see so much of what I've been hearing about for years!!! 

Such a beautiful hike

Sleepy angel

We were able to explore a Buddhist temple on Buddha's birthday. That was super cool! 

As part of Buddha's birthday celebration they had these lanterns EVERYWHERE! So gorgeous! 

Seoul, South Korea Temple

I am SO grateful I get to be with these boys for eternity! Families can be together forever through Heavenly Father's plan

So right before we left for Korea I made some comment about it on facebook. Come to find out some good friends of ours from the states, Kami and Nathan Averett, were going to be in Seoul at the EXACT same time!!! It was SO fun to meet up with them and do a session and see some of the sights. What a wonderful and unexpected taste of home!

The classic Chinese pose. They ALWAYS do this in pictures

My good friend Kami got this AWESOME shot of Dylan. I mean, how perfect is that?! 

Has anyone ever had Yak's milk ice cream? I HIGHLY recommend it! It's AMAZING!

This is not a traffic jam... well I guess technically it is... but this is typical Chinese traffic. This is at an intersection right down from our apartment. The driving here is CRAZY! I swear no one obeys any rules. It's just a free for all! 

It was fun to watch my little man play with this bowl. Of course it found its way to his head :) 

Dylan's first birthday was a BLAST thanks to all the wonderful friends who shared it with us! We are blessed to have so many good friends here in Beijing.

Dylan is our little monkey so OF COURSE we had to have a Monkey birthday theme

Not quite sure what to do with the candle

Pretty happy about the cake and I LOVE how you can see his little vampire teeth in this picture! 

Ryan was brave enough (because I wasn't) to give Dylan his first haircut

We gave Dylan a sucker and he was super patient about it all! He handled it like a champ! 

If you have made it to the end of this post, thanks for taking the time to care about our little family and our adventures EVEN THOUGH I'm terrible at keeping your updated. Who knows.... maybe I'll get better...maybe :)