Category: Glenn

Happy Chinese Valentines Day!

We just found out today that it is Valentine’s day over here. Downtown Nanning is full of bridal photo stalls and people selling flowers. Couples are walking around in matching t-shirts. At Haagen Dazz there was a beautiful ice cream feast for two.

Also, the moon cakes are already on sale. Apparently, you are suppose to start eating them and giving them as gifts the whole month before the moon festival. Who knew? I don’t know if they would be that impressed with my round cake iced in yellow. I think that it tastes a lot better than traditional moon cakes. Katrine would disagree. She has been having at least half a moon cake each morning for breakfast. Oddly enough, Haggen Dazz also had a beautiful display of ice cream moon cakes.

Oh, in case you are wondering. My toe is much better and the bruise is already starting to fade.
The last photo is all of the stuff that Katrine bought today.

Tomorrow is the day!!!

Tomorrow is the big day.  We leave our hotel at 6 am and arrive in Jiangxi by 9:30am.  Then we will have to get some money changed and have some time to get ourselves settled before we meet little miss Elspeth.  To say we are excited is to put it mildly.  After dinner tonight, we will pack up the suitcases and it will seem quite real.  The end of one long journey but the beginning of another more exciting one.

We spent this morning with a friend from Guangxi.  It was a most excellent visit.  Katrine took to her at once which I think was very helpful in making things run smoothly.  Our friend took us to the little town where Katrine was found.  She asked a lot of questions and took us on an adventure beyond our dreams.  Katrine held up really well and so did mom and dad (our clothes not so much, have I told you how hot it is here?).

I can’t share many details but I can tell you that Katrine got to eat watermelong grown in Wuxu that was picked fresh that morning and man was it juicy.  The ladies at the watermelon stall cut it open for us and we ate it there at the corner.  You were also super happy to spend money on little items through out the day.  I think that buying things with your own money in your home town was the highlight of your day.

Sorry no photos right now.  Glenn and Katrine are at the pool and I am on my way to join them.  Maybe some tonight before we pack up and head out.

Orphanage visit & Yong River

Our visit to Katrine’s orphanage was a huge success. She was left feeling happy and secure in the knowledge that there are people in China who remember and care about her.

After dinner tonight we decided to do something relaxing and not emotionally charged so we headed across the road from our hotel to the riverbank. This river runs through Guangxi into Guangzhou and then to Hong Kong. It also runs right past Yongning Town and the restaurant where we had our lunch today. There is a lovely shaded walk-way. We must have walked for about a half hour. We saw house boats moored at the bank looking like something out of history book. People fishing off of the bank and then putting their catch into little nets just in the water to keep their catch alive. There were also tons of people swimming which is a great way to beat this heat (seriously, you go outside and in like 5 minutes the sweat is running off of you). In Canada, if you go swimming in a big lake you wear a life jacket. Here, if you go swimming in the Yong River you tie an empty plastic drum to you. That way if you get tired you have something to hold on to.


An typical Heather injury and a day of fun in Nanning

Okay, I will start this post off by explaining that I began our visit to Nanning with a typical Heather clutzy injury. We got to our hotel this morning at around 3 am. Exhausted but with the need to check out what appeared to be a really cool bathroom (It actually is. It has a seperate shower stall with wooden slat floor and a rain style shower head. Clean and cool). Anyways, I go to step in to the bathroom and end up kicking the tile step (You can see it in one of the photos below). Well, a lot of jumping and a couple of hours of sleep later and I woke up to a really nice bruise. Check it out! Just like Heather.

Okay, now for Nanning. There has been a lot of construction since we were here 6 years ago. We are staying at the second of the two hotels we used on Katrine’s adoption trip – The Youngjiang. It is clean and has air conditioning. It also has a nice pool that we spent a few hours in this afternoon in an effort to cool off from the heat and humidity. Katrine even made friends with a little girl. She pretended to be a motor and towed the girl around on a floaty making boat sounds. They also shared Katrine’s water wings. I don’t think that the girl had ever seen a pair before. She was really thrilled to be able to swim around without a floaty.

This morning after breakfast, we headed out to the Nanning People’s Park near the Mingyuan hotel (just as dingy as we remembered). The taxi dropped us off at a different gate than we used last time and we discovered that the park is a heck of a lot larger than we had originally thought. Katrine got to try out Chinese play equipment which made her happy and burned off some energy. While in the park we reached White Dragon Lake which is home to large carp. We got Katrine a bag of fish food and proceeded to feed the fish a handful at a time. It was pretty cool to watch the fish bump and forcibly push each other out of the way in an effort to get those food pellets.

Tomorrow morning we are up bright and early to head towards Yongning Social Welfare Institute. Katrine is pretty excited about returning and so are we. Our guide seems really nice and we are hoping that she will advocate for us to see Katrine’s file and get her some answers.

Oh, one more thing: 3 more days until Elspeth!!!!!!!!!

We are in China but stuck at the airport

Okay, we have been up for over 26 hours with only a few short naps so forgive me if some of this does not make sense.  The flight to China was amazingly smooth.  There was one bout of true turbulence which hit right as Katrine was falling asleep on the floor of the plane.  Needless to say that was the end of her sleeping.

Now Glenn and I are just about done and Katrine has built a tent out of a blanket we brought for Elspeth and is playing with her stuffies in it. I wonder how we will all feel tomorrow.

Our flight to Nanning was suppose to be in the air as we speak.  However, it has been delayed by one and a half hours.  Yep.  We are now scheduled to begin the final leg of our journey to Nanning at 11:30 pm (we left Toronto at 1:00 yesterday).  That means we should land in Nanning at about 2 in the morning and it will likely be another hour until we are at the hotel and in our room.  Be glad that you are not going to be spending the day with us tomorrow!

On the plus side, Katrine is stoked to be here and the weather is suppose to be nice in Nanning tomorrow.  Plus, we found a McD’s so I got to eat dinner tonight (yum fries) as I simply did not have the energy to try and ask dozens of questions.

That’s about it.  Don’t forget, Sunday is the big day!!

A weekend of fun

It has been a nice weekend.  Katrine got her Canskater of the year medal on Saturday along with a nice framed certificate.  Her proud Grammy took her to the RHFSC’s end of the year banquet.  She was just beaming about it.  In fact, when she came home she went right upstairs and hung her medal up on her bulletin board.

On Saturday,Glenn and I got to attend an absolutely lovely wedding.  The weather held so the service was held outside and at the beginning of the service, the clouds parted and the sun shone through.  It was beautiful.  The groom and ushers looked smart in their formal wear as did the bridesmaids.  The bride looked breathtaking.  A delicious dinner and fabulous dancing with friends.  It was a wonderful way to spend an evening.

Today we headed out for a family movie day.  Kung Fu Panda 2!!  It was a really good movie.  I liked how it approached the two families of adoption and how each can love you.  Katrine cried a bit, laughed a lot, had fun.  We had some good discussion tonight about her two families and the similarities and differences btween their stories.

Now for our final piece of news.  Our referral is on a plane from China.  We are hoping to have it in our hot little hands by Wednesday or Thursday.  Katrine is pretty excited.  Glenn and I are like little ducks.  Calm on the outside but paddling furiously underneath.  Keep your eyes open for more news.  We will share as it arrives.

What else? The robins have hatched and are getting bigger.  Unfortunately they are fairly protective so we can’t get any really nice pictures of them.

We have also managed to get our garden planted in amongst all of the rain.  Flowers out front and veges out back.  We have sunflowers (for the seeds…we hope), carrots, watermelon and two types of squash (summer and acorn).  In addition, the strawberry plants that we planted last year are growing like crazy.  I expect that Katrine will soon be picking of the berries while she is playing outside.

Have a great week.

Happy Year of the Rabbit!!

Happy Lunar New Year! The year of the rabbit began with a lot of celebration.  We went to the FCC New Year’s Banquet at the end of January.  It was throughly enjoyed by all.  The food was yummy and the company even better.  It really is a fun evening because alot of the Toronto area families from Katrine’s travel group go as well.  We have a chance to reconnect.  Plus, whenever the girls get together there is definetely free entertainment.  The icing on the cake for that evening (for Katrine at least) was the lion dance.  Once the real dancers are done, they let the girls use their lions.  This year Katrine got to go around the restaurant in the head.

On New Year’s Eve we had just a family evening.  I made a few chinese dishes at home (as you can see from the photo, many less than most years because I am still smarting from my spectacular fall at skating class).  It was a great family evening nonetheless.  Katrine loved her hongbao.  She stuffed all of her new years money into her piggie bank for use in China.

Normally I don’t have anything exciting to report about our second adoption.  For the past few years, my updates have basically been that we are still waiting.  Yes, we are still waiting BUT they are now into the files registered in China during the month of June 2006.  That is our month!!  We are hoping that the year of the rabbit will bring us our referral and trip back to China.

Happy New Year!

Robbie Burns Day

After skating class on Saturday, we headed up to my parents’ house in Victoria Harbour.  Even though my mom had just got home from Scotland on Thursday (more about that in a future post), all five of us were heading to the Midland legion for a Robbie Burns night celebration.  Ever since Katrine began to take dance lessons, she and I have provided the dancing portion of the entertainment for this event.  This year we did two dances together and she wowed the crowd with two solo dances.  She can be quite the show-woman when she sets her mind to it (wish that would translate into her not complaining about having to practise, sigh).  The highlight for me was when we did a dance that was coreographed by our dance teacher back when I was maybe 10 (no old lady jokes needed).  It is just a fun dance; both to watch and do.  Plus, you gotta love the choice of music.

I do have to say that the rest of the party was looking pretty sharp.  Dad had on his Drummond tartan tie which is about as Scottish as he gets (not bad for a Sassenach spouse).  Mom had brought home a Drummond plaid skirt from one of her earlier trips home and the evening gave her the perfect excuse to wear it.  I have to tell you that Glenn was looking good in his new black Stewart kilt.  He doesn’t quite have the full outfit yet but he worked with what he had.

Now that Robbie Burns is over, we have started to put up the Chinese New Year decorations.  Yes, it is almost that time of year again.  The year of the Rabbit dawns on February 3rd.  Guess what we will be having for dinner that night?

Happy January!

I could have started this post in a number or ways:  Happy new year! Happy Birthday to me!  Happy report card season!  Happy snowy weather!  But seeing as how it is the wonderful month of January, I settled on Happy January!  (Those of you who have known me for a long time, know how much I love winter…especially January -snow, cold, dead mold, no smog, skating, my birthday = simply awesome.).

We had a really nice Christmas with the exception that Glenn missed out on a lot of the celebrations as he was home sick.  Katrine and I escaped his germs by heading up to my parents to celebrate Christmas.  It was awesome seeing mom and dad plus my brother’s family.  The kids always have a great time when they are together.  The fact that my parents had an oodle of snow helped as much as their piles of new toys.  After each of our outings, my mom was there plying them with homemade cookies and hot chocolate (in Katrine and Charles’ case lukewarm chocolate).

We took them to the local ice rink one day.  Grandpa, Charles and Scott watched as we took to the ice.  Katrine had an audience cheering her on as she did tricks; which worked out well as it got her practising her salchow and kept her busy as I skated with Virginia.  This was Virginia’s first time out in hockey skates (having just recently out grown her figure skates, these were the only ones in the house which fit).  She was nervous to start with but did really well once she got going.  She was really proud of herself and rightfully so.  Once she had sat down to take a break, Katrine had me skating as part of a pair.  Nothing too fancy, stroking holding hands (not really in time with eachother but we tried), changing sides with a flourish, side by side spirals and then the big finish – one foot spins and a bow.  It was fun.

Then it was off to the sledding hill which is literally next door to the rink.  And what a hill!!  They whizzed down, spinning around on their crazy carpets…until Katrine took Charles out at the knees.  He was walking up the hill and failed to get out of the way, while her sled had spun her around backwards and she had no idea where she was headed.  No one was hurt and Grandma gave them an extra cookie so alls well that ends well.

On our last day there, I took Katrine cross-country skiing at the Wye Marsh.  She did really well for her first time on skis.  Lasted an hour and a quarter.  Plus, became somewhat of an expert at getting up after having fallen.  Most importantly, we had fun and I may finally have someone to go cross country skiing with.  Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Don’t feel to sorry for Glenn though.   We celebrated with his family before he got sick.  The whole crew of us went out for hot pot.  MMMMMMMM!  Then back to his sister’s house for dessert, gifts and a really great visit.  Plus, we came home bearing him gifts.  The best of which was his very own kilt.  It is the same tartan that he wore to our wedding.  I must say that he will look darn good in it once it is hemmed (Can you believe that it was too long on him?).  I can’t wait to see him in it on Robbie Burns Day later this month.

I will be making my birthday cake tomorrow.  I was suppose to order it but the bakery I bought from last year is closed while they move to a larger facility.  So, this year is self-serve I am afraid.  I am going to take my red velvet cake recipe, leave out the cocoa (allergic-big surprise) and turn it purple instead because purple is a happy colour.  Then  I will plop a nice, big pile of white frosting on top.  It should be delicious as well as pretty.

I wish all of you a fabulous 2011.  May it bring us all what we need and at least some of what we desire.

The snow was so soft.

This is Katrine’s new kilt.  Grandma T made her the socks.  She will be looking good for Robbie Burns this year if she can get past the fact the the socks itch and feel a bit wierd.

This was the present that Katrine made for Santa.  She wanted him to feel appreciated because he works so hard to give others stuff.

Here is the obligatory skating photo.  I had to put it in because she looks so pulled together in it…which is not always the case.

And this she learned from her cousin Dalia.  Yeah for babysitters!  Mommy can’t do this.  Couldn’t even as a child.

Isn’t the scenery beautiful?  I hadn’t been on skis since the winter before Katrine came home.

July comes in with some fun!

Well, school is finished for the year and we celebrated by having some fun…mostly. On Canada Day we headed off to Embro for a dance competition.  Us go to a dance competition again?  I know, its schocking.  Embro really is a great competition.  On top of the dancing they have sheep hurding, bands, tug-of-war and fresh squeezed lemonade (Glenn and Katrine’s favourite).  There were two highlights for us this year: 1. There was a surprise fly-by during the awards ceremony which was fun to watch and 2. I did not break anything this year so no visit to the ER for us on Canada Day.  I will admit that alone helped to make this year’s Canada Day better than last year.  Katrine also danced really well which was an added bonus.  She was thrilled with her new medals and is continuing to work hard at practising her dancing.  Our next competition is actually next weekend and then it will be a nice long break until our final competition of the season in August.

The day after Embro, Katrine and I piled into the car and headed to Ottawa to visit with friends.  The trip was a bit of a breakthrough for Katrine as both families have large and friendly dogs.  This time she didn’t whine and try to run away.  She actually stayed calm.  Maybe, just maybe, we are turning a corner in terms of her being super afraid of dogs  Anyways, Katrine had a blast watching the hand-crank locks being worked in Merrickville.  She also found the glass blower pretty interesting.  There was some really nice shopping at the glass blowers which was good for mommy.  We had the most delicious meal, gluten free of course, at a local restaurant in Kemptville called the Branches.  I can’t thank Catherine and Gary enough for suggesting that we eat there.  I can sum it up in one word as YUM!

We also had the joy of visiting with one of the Yongning families;  the very one that we went to Disney with.  A delicious barbeque on Friday night and a whole fun filled day at Suanders Farm on Sunday.  I had a great visit, as well as some much needed relaxation, and Katrine had an absolute blast with her friend.  It was fabulous watching the girls play together and bond.  On Sunday night they hauled the hose around to the backyard and turned it on.  The two of them made a glorious mud puddle and then they proceeded to jump, splash and roll in it too their hearts content.  They had pure, uncomplicated fun.

What else are we up to?  Glenn has started to take swimming lessons.  He has sore arms but is enjoying it.  Katrine is also taking swimming lessons.  She actually swam a while using her arms.  She still has to work on her back strock though because she sinks quite well.  Me?  I am taking skating lessons at the same time as Katrine.  The teacher was showing on of the other students a simple waltz jump.  It looked sooo cool but I have promised Glenn and Katrine that I wouldn’t jump just in case we had a repeat of last year’s Canada Day adventure.  Instead, I am sticking to working on cross-overs and backwards skating.