My first typhoon!

We received a call about an hour ago from the principal of our school -- as we saw his number pop up, I wondered what trouble one of our students had got into -- but turns out he was calling beacuse school tomorrow is canceled as a typhoon is scheduled to hit Shanghai tonight. 

Is it strange that I am excited about this?  It will be my first typhoon and I really love crazy weather (especially if I'm inside and safe).  Our students of course were thrilled to get out of school and after a little research we found that all schools in Shanghai have had classes canceled for tomorrow.  Woo-hoo!  Typhoon Kompasu is on it's way!

Picture taken from here.

What to do with a blue sky day?

Go visit the tallest observatory in the world of course!

Blue sky days are generally really rare here, so when we woke up last Thursday to an absolutely gorgeous day we decided to make the trip to Shanghai's financial district and check out the view from above.  When we arrived in the area, I was still in awe at what a gorgeous day it was! 

The building on the left is the Shanghai World Financial Center and while it's not the tallest building in the world, it has the highest observatory at 1,555 feet.  The views were amazing.

I could not believe my eyes when I saw this!

Vacation's over ...

We arrived back in Shanghai 10 days ago. Our students arrived at the dorm on Tuesday and school started on Wednesday. It was a busy week last week and I haven't been ready yet to let go of our time in the US (although I'd happily "let go" of the 5 lbs I gained on vacation!). I've been going through the pictures I took while we were home and reminiscing about being with family and friends. I still can't get over how restoring it was to our spirits to be in wide, open, beautiful spaces...

Jason got to get photos with the "Hollywood" sign and both his grandmothers!

The Schlafmann clan ... Jason's grandma Elsie is 98!

Peace Corps Tonga friends ...

Gail & Brett, two very dear friends of mine.  One from high school and the other from freshman year of college. 

Ahhh ... my favorite, the ocean!

Hanging out with my older sister's family.  The boys adore Jason (who doesn't though?)

I love that Seth's hair is completely caked in sand and he doesn't realize or care.

Time with my family ...

An amazing sunset from Jason's sisters house ... just like ever day must have an end, so does every vacation :)

My baby brother gets married

On August 8th, my brother Mark tied the knot with his long-time sweetheart, Ashley.  Ashley has felt like part of the family for a long time, so it was great to finally make it official! 

I took some pictures before the event, but only a few during so I could be "present" and I figure the professional shots would turn out way better than anything I could do.  Anyhow, here a few of my favorites from their very special day. 

I love the expression on my Dad's face here  ... and yes, Jason is standing on a step in this one :)

Another Birthday for Jason!

Our last days in the States were quite the whirlwind of getting in a few final visits and frantically helping my parents prepare for my brother's wedding.  Jason was lucky enough to have his birthday land on the day before the wedding...guess how we got to celebrate???

Although his birthday might not have been the best-ever, we tried to make-up for it a few days later with an amazing sushi lunch and afternoon of kayaking around Morro Bay's harbor. 

Bailey Turns 6!

Things have been a bit quiet here since we've been trying to cram in as much visiting with family and time in the outdoors before we return to Shanghai. And, my brother gets married this Sunday (woo-hoo!) -- at my parents house -- so there has been plenty to keep us busy here in California.

Before we left Spokane, we got to celebrate the 6th birthday of Jason's niece, Bailey. It was a ton of fun to be around family ... we decided instead of doing a gift that we would see if we could make a memory together with Bailey. So we took her on a short hike at Riverside State Park and to lunch at one of my favorite places in Spokane -- the Milk Bottle. Delicious!