Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Welcome Natalie Grace Dufon

Natalie Grace Dufon arrived June 26th at 3:16 PM Central time.

She weighed 8 pounds and was 20 3/4 inches long.

This is Steve and Kim's baby, Nathan and Sarah's new sister. We've done a few webcams with them and Natalie seems to be a very good baby and she is very beautiful.

Elizabeth was excited that she is a girl! We will fly there July 27th and spend the weekend with them and attend her baptism. More to come with that trip.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Slvinski's House





The kids spent the week at Aunt's Cole's house from June 24 - June 30. Gigi and Jake came to help out. Needless to say, they had a blast and didn't miss their Mom at all. Alex LOVES Buddy (their dog). Elizabeth had a lot of fun playing with Olivia.

I had to work in Troy that week and really missed them, but I knew they were in good hands. I loved it when I got the text message from Nicole saying, "Al pee pee'd in the potty". By the way.....one time thing. :(They swam, went to the park, did arts and crafts, went to the community pool......

When I picked them up, they seemed like they were both more grown up. I cannot imagine what Kirk is going to think after being away from them for 3 weeks.

I picked them up on Saturday and we left for the next destination....Bumpa and Gigi's.....more to come

Friday, June 22, 2007

Back in the USA





Ahhh....the smell of clean air and new cut grass! Nothing like that in Shanghai! The kids and I made it back to the USA on Thursday. We waited too long to book our tickets and had to fly from Shanghai to Tokyo to San Francisco to Detroit. That last flight was painful. Will not do that by myself with the kids again. They were really good considering having to sit in a seat for the better part of 18 hours. We went the the St Isadore Strawberry Festival today. There was a band called the Polish Muslims out of Hamtramck playing music. Elizabeth, Ethan, and Alex had a ball dancing. I love summer church festivals! I love American made, grilled, hot dogs! I only ate one, but I could've eaten a couple more. Note to anyone we are visiting this summer.....just grill a few hotdogs and we'll be all set! We are cheap dates. The kids really miss Kirk and we are struggling with the body adjustment to the time. It will get better in a few days. For now, we watch a lot of Mickey Mouse clubhouse and Little Einsteins in Kevin and Chrystal's guest room between 4am and 6 am! I'll post pictures later in the week.

Monday, June 18, 2007

Alex & Daddy Go To School

Alex & Daddy go to School

click above for pictures

I was able to take a couple of hours away from work to take Alex to school. Just my luck it was the day that taught the kids how to turn water and flower into dough. Alex isn't the best kid is class as he doesn't like to sit still while the teachers are showing the rest of the class the activity. When the teacher brought out the flour to show the kids how it felt, Alex ran right up to her a stuck his hands it and started tossing the flour around the room. When it was time to mix the flour and water to make the dough, Alex had to pour the whole cup of water into the pan so it was impossible to make dough. He stuck his hands in the mixture and didn't like the way it felt do he wiped them off all over himself and me. I think that the Chinese people in the class must have thought we have never seen flour and water before.

We did finally get cleaned up and Alex got to go a play with all of the toys. He also got to go outside on the swing, which I believe is one of favorite activities. We had a good time together and it was fun getting to meet all of his friends at school.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Father's Day

Father's Day

Click above for pictures

I couldn't have asked for a better Father's Day. All you have to do is look at the pictures and you will see why my day was so much fun. I was woken up by my two lovely children who gave me beautiful picture of themselves for me to hang in my office. You can see the pictures in the link above.

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Snow White Ballet

Snow White Ballet

click above for pictures



Kim and I took the girls to see a Russian Children's ballet perform Snow White. Orla, Ciara, and Elizabeth absolutely loved it and were really good.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Elizabeth's Last Day of School




Elizabeth had her last day of school as a 2007 Ladybug. She will be returning to Concordia in the fall and most likely Mrs. Chiu will be her teacher again.

From the left, Mrs. Taylor, Lauren Round, Mrs. Round, Crystal Tan, Mrs. Chiu, Elizabeth and Samantha Chow. Mrs. Taylor, Lauren and Mrs. Round will not be back this fall. Mrs. Taylor and her family moved back to Australia. Mrs. Round and Lauren moved back with their family to Warren, MI.

Friday, June 08, 2007

Kirk's Trip Down Under

Kirk's Trip Down Under

Click above for pictures

I made a trip to Melbourne, Australia on business to visit Ford about an opportunity for my company on the new Global Truck they are developing there. I met an old work mate and good friend Jeremy Gill and his wife Crystal there. Crystal was able to get time off work to make the long trip.

Melbourne is a really nice city. It was nice to visit a Western City after being in Asia for so long. It is amazing how much you miss the little things. For one I can eavesdrop on conversations there and understand what the people are talking about. We spent most of the time wandering around the city. Jeremy and I spent most of the time preparing for our meetings while trying to stay top of work issues back home. We will have to come back as a family on vacation where we can spend more time touring.

The pictures in the link above are from around town. They have a free cable car that takes you around town that tells information about the key areas of the city.

Saturday, June 02, 2007

Elizabeth's Ballet Recital







Elizabeth's Ballet Recital


click above for pictures





Finally after all the practicing the recital was here. It was a production of the Nutcracker and it was held at the Portman Hotel Theatre. It was really amazing. It was like a professional production of the ballet. The dancers were amazing and all the practicing really paid off. Miss Li is the teacher in the middle.

The little girls were the youngest and really did an outstanding job for being so young. The craziest thing at the end though. You know how you give your ballerina flowers after???......Well you do that here as well, but in true Chinese fashion, all the parents rush up onto stage at the same time, while all the dancers are there on stage at the end, to give them the flowers. There are about 200 people on stage at once!! Chaos.

Elizabeth fell asleep in the car on the way home!