Two Weeks

It is so hard to believe but Julianna has been with us 2 weeks already. Time has a way of just disappearing on you. We are settling in at home, some of us are actually on Edmonton time. What a relief to have people sleep at night. It has been a few days of recovery. Zachary arrived home sick and Mitchell followed soon after. Hopefully, tomorrow everyone will be back to good health and we can concentrate on preparing for Christmas. Oh, still so much to do. My parents arrive tonight from Nova Scotia. Jacob and Mitchell are excited that they will be here for the school concert. Always nice to have people in the audience other than parents and sometimes only one of those. Stephen headed back to Fort McMurray on Sunday and will be home again on Saturday or Sunday coming. Then he'll be home for the Christmas break until Jan. 5th.

Julianna continues to learn new things each day. The newest skill is winking, with both eyes of course, but she only had to see me do it once and she gave it a try. As I type she is sitting on my lap moving her fingers on the table copying me. She parrots everything, all a good sign of that little brain of hers on overdrive. She also loves to sing, Jingle Bells and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star seem to be favorites. You can't understand many words but she does put a syllable in for each word and holds the tune and timing pretty well. She is very lovable and asks to be picked up. She loves books and I had the privilege of reading Dr. Suess' Foot book on the way home 5 times in a row.

Here are some more pics!!

These pictures are from the Lama Temple in Beijing which we visited the second day we were there. A very quiet place given all the people there. Not sure how I overlooked them.

People come to burn incense. There are many stores just before you reach the temple selling many different kinds.

Sculpture decorating the roof of one of the buildings.

There were many statues of Buddha in different buildings at the temple.

This statue of Buddha is made out one piece of solid sandalwood. It is 18 metres high above the ground and there are 8 metres of it underground. It is according to Guiness the largest in the world.