Tuesday Tidbits

Hey guys! As some of you know we are on vacation this week! Holla.

We haven't had a moment of rest yet. We have been busy!

But look forward to rest of the week for some down time.

Not sure if I'll be able to get through this post. Chara is being super needy and literally putting her head on the keyboard and licking my fingers as I type! Gah. You gotta love her. :) 

• Monday night we had a big birthday party for Zachary's 26th! We made homemade french fries and sliders! They were delish. Recipes coming soon. Get excited. 

• Also, I made another Pinterest dessert, Neiman Marcus Brownies! These babies were sweet and super easy. Recipe coming your way next weekend. 

• I love seeing Violets eyes open and her moving around! Presh.

• Zachary's Birthday cake! 

• We had lots of friends & families come over for his bday! We had fun taking photos. 

• Picture frames, and "normal" decor are very hard to find for me in China. I had been searching everywhere for cheap frames and finally found some. One catch, they were light pink, which matches exactly nothing in our house. So, I was super excited for a new painty project!

I love this color!

I painted one mint and one brown, for the guest bathroom.

• Thursday night we stayed up late to skype with Zachary's parents so he could open his presents from them. He was so excited opening each one and showing them.

• Check out sweet girl. She always lays this way. It's adorable.

• Last Wednesday, I finally got to see Marick and Jess! I had been missing them terribly! We had lasagna and played with Marick. :) 

• Our friend from Korea, Ben, flew in Friday morning and stayed the weekend with us. Him and Zachary had a great time Friday at the Qingdao TV tower.

• Friday night, on Z's birthday, we went to Sitting Bull for some ribs. This sign was posted on the wall. Too funny. So thankful we don't feel this way about our families, though. We love you guys! 
• Saturday night we took Ben to Chinese BBQ, of course, but Sunday we thought we'd take him to a more traditional Chinese meal. We went to a place we love near Marina City. 

Eggs cooked with hot stones. 

Cabbage and noodle salad.

Stir fried cabbage.

Honey, ginger pork.

This was Zach's pose. 

• After lunch we had Dairy Queen. Peanut butter oreo blizzard. Ya'll. This is a good combo! Why have they not thought of it before? Do you guys have it in the States? If so, get it! It's awesome! Check out these old school Dairy Queen ads.

• Ice cream and random costume characters. That's what we're about.

• The boots are out guys. It's official!

• Flowers. I am loving these purple roses. So beautiful.

Entry way nook.

Guest bathroom.

Coffee Table.

TV stand.

I love fresh flowers. 

• One of our favorite snacks/meals. Korean gim bap! 

• The kitchen, pre party Monday. We'll have posts up soon about that party!

• How you know its fresh. 

• I love having kids at our house. That may sound sarcastic, considering the pictures, but it's true. I do. I love it. I love the crumbs. It's life lived.

• Zachary and Abigale tried making one of those crazy lip pictures. 

• Can anyone guess what this is???? You'll never guess. 

Are you ready? It's not a batman weapon. 

And it's not a demonic device of some sort. 

And it's not a tiny dead bird. 

It's a.....

Water chest nut!! Crazy, right! You boil them and crack them open! 

• Someone got the memo that Zachary loved tea, chocolate and coffee! 

• I love this picture of CJ and Amber. It makes me so happy because it's such a familiar scene we have with them, smiles and laughing. (And me looking like a photo bomber) 

Happy Tuesday Everyone! 

It's officially October! 

Awesome!