Holiday in God's Country!

We're home for the first Christmas in 3 years! How good it feels to be back during the greatest holiday that we celebrate.

Back at it!

Been way too long since the last post. There is, however, an ol' DuBois adage of, no news is good news. So, that'll be what I'll say we're pleading... But, wil try to share more on the blog from now on.
After a wonderful summer, full of quality time with friends and family, a few projects, and some strange weather, we're back in Beijing for our fourth year. It's hard to imagine that we're already this far into our overseas experience. But, looking back at all we've done, we've been blessed with some amazing experiences. Lord willing, it shall continue.
Baia continues to blossom into a very strong willed, beautiful girl. Not one to back down from much, we've been the recipients of a few colorful tantrum fits, unlike anything Kieran or Kellan put on us. She has her circle of friends, and some great routines during the week when we're away at school that keeps her busy and social.
Kellan is in the 4 year old class at school. He loves school and nearly always flies out of bed on school days wondering when he can get to school. Whether it's riding the bus, playing on the playground, eating lunch, or discovering new things in class, he's up for whatever the experience has in store for him. And he's usually going 100 miles per hour as he jumps in.
Kieran, now a second grader, has become more and more involved in sports. Soccer, baseball, and basketball are all on his weekly diet of extra activites after school. He also is finding success as a reader, thus instilling a love of reading.
Laurie and I continue to enjoy our roles as educators in the elementary and middle schools. There are always things to do, so we rarely have quiet moments in school or at home. With that said, we'd have it no other way.
Outside of school, Laurie took Kieran to a Duke vs. China basketball game a few weeks ago. One of those experiences that are offered and a person can't pass it up.
We also have booked a trip to Boracay in the Phillipines over the Christmas break. While it's hard to be away at such a special time of the year, we are looking forward to a tropical holiday in a place that many call paradise.
We wish you all well wherever you are. Stay tuned for a post in the near future with some photos.

New Years in Thailand

The boys enjoyed the park daily and on New Year's Eve they enjoyed the painting activities offered.

This was our deck of our two-bedroom apartment overlooking the green space. Was a great place to relax and have lunch out of the sun.

We all got to touch a baby tiger-which was absolutely amazing! The park could only keep the tiger for another three months b/c it was getting too big. Beautiful creature!

Baia didn't care for the beach much so she preferred to be in her stroller laying down when we were out in the sand and water. Finally the last couple days she got more used to it. She was pretty sick the first couple days we were there so i think she associated her sickness with the wind and sand?

Chinese Lanterns were lit on New Year's Eve Kieran and Riley got to let one go after the kids fireworks went off. It was beautiful to see the 20 lanterns drifting off into the night sky.

Kellan absolutely loved the ocean!

Daily ice cream for the kids-their favorite kind was the green sherbert!

Riley "volunteered" to go out and get a "massage" from one of the elephants at the elephant show. If you look closely you will notice his legs are crossed to try to protect himself. He walked away uninjured thank goodness!

We went on a hour-long elephant trek through the bush and through a couple swamps. A little bumpy but definitely a treat!

Baia was a little tuckered out from playing in the pool. In this picture she fell asleep with a sucker AND her thumb in her mouth. When i tried to take the sucker away-she got mad so i gave it back to her. She went right back to sleep with it!

An attempt at a family picture on New Year's Eve. Happy New Year-welcome 2011!

Boys acting like they like each other again-i love it when they get along.


We had a great week-long vacation at Dolphin Bay in Thaland. We had a rocky start as Baia was pretty sick our first 2 days down there and the rest of us were all getting over a cold/flu bug that wiped us out on Christmas and the day after.

We met up with a couple of friends the first couple days-which was great. Kept the kids entertained. Then we spent the days playing in the little park, chilly-pool with a slide, and walking and swimming at the beach. The resort we stayed at was super family friendly and served our purposes well. We will definitely go back there again if we return to Thailand.

We spent one afternoon going on an elephant trek, watching an elephant show, and petting a baby tiger. Then we stopped at the Night MArket in HuaHin for a couple hours and got the kids a few things. The rest of the time was spent relaxing and entertaining the kids.

Kellan enjoyed getting wet whenever he could-it didn't matter if it was in the pool or beach. He wasn't so sure about the slide since he started out going down that-it was a little fast for him. Kieran loved the beach-looking for shells was his favorite. He was picking up crabs one afternoon and was suprised when one pinched him pretty good! He also enjoyed playing soccer with dad while Baia and Kellan went on and on on the swings. Baia didn't give mommy much of a break-but after she started feeling better started gettting a little more independent. She enjoyed the pool but did not like the beach at all. There was a little playhouse at the park which she really enjoyed as well.

We spent 6 days at the resort and then headed to Bangkok for one day before flying out early Wednesday morning. We went to a big shopping mall and were overwhelmed by all the junk food and other shopping available. We gourged ourselves with dairy queen, A & W, and dessert waffles. The boys both got a toy which made their night. Then we headed to our $30 a night hotel and got a little shut-eye before getting up at 4:45 AM to catch our flight.

All and all it was a great vacation. I could have used another few days but it is nice to be back home in Beijing.

We hope you all enjoyed your Holidays as well!

Christmas Break

Baia left this clip in her hair just long enough for me to snap a picture!

From this picture you would think Kieran and Kellan like each other! Lately they have not been acting like it!

Kellan on his way to the clubhouse swimming pool. He is ready!

Gingerbread houses with Grandpa Steve are not possible this year so Kieran and Kellan had to settle for doing them with mom. Not quite as fun-but we did it!

We are about 1 week into our three week holiday break and we are sure enjoying doing not much of anything! We are missing everyone at home but enjoying spending some quality time with each other not rushing to get schoolwork done.
Last weekend Riley and I started our holiday break by visiting an orphanage with a group from school who goes there twice a month. This was an amazing experience. I think i spend about 1/3 of the time crying, but it was good. We have made the decision to try to go once a month to interact, play, hold the kids or do whatever we can to help. We are also going to help try to raise funds to buy good quality formula for the infants there. We would eventually like to bring the kids there-but we need to get used to what is going on there before bringing the kids in.
Since then-we have been doing a lot of nothing-but loving it! We had a chinese experience trying to get to the waterpark at the watercube (the one used for the Olympics)-but they decided to open three hours later than was posted on their website for that day so we had to improvise??? So we made the best of it and went to an indoor playland instead.
We have been doing a lot of swimming at the clubhouse, games at home, snowflake, gingerbread house and cookie making, and have been having nightly dinners with the few other families who have stuck around here. It has been really nice b/c the weather and air have both been pretty good! We are counting the sleeps til christmas--only two more! Wrapped the kids presents today--took everything out of the boxes and added batteries to things that needed them. Should be set-ready to open and play! The stuff the kids got should keep them busy until we leave for Thailand next Wednesday. I can't wait--fun in the sun!

Merry Christmas to all! I am about to work on a Christmas letter-fun fun!

Happy Thanksgiving

The kids (minus baia)-Clockwise: Kieran, Owen Gold, Miles Gold, Emily Merritt, Hannah Merritt, Kellan

Thanksgiving Smiles with the Gold and Merritt Family!

Merritt's gave Kellan this horse costume which he absolutely loves!

Baia loved playing with Emily Merritt's doll on Thanksgiving day:)

Baia and Kellan were playing dress-up. We really do need to get some girly dress-up things sometime soon. What do you think?

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday. For us here at an international school-we do not get a holiday break for Thanksgiving-so we celebrated Thanksgiving with friends on Saturday. These friends-the Gold's and the Merritt's-are our family here in Beijing. They are wonderful people and we are lucky to have them as friends.

Baia's new word is OK--so when you ask her if she wants something-she says OK. Still sassy as ever. She will not wear anything in her hair-although her hair is long enough to clip back.

Kellan is fighting a sickness-woke up last night with sore ears. Said they were fine today-so we didn't take him in. We will see how tonight goes-may need a trip to the doctor tomorrow?

Kieran is working on getting his space derby race thing ready for a cub scout race next Saturday. Not sure how excited Riley is about this-some of the steps are a little too complicated for a six year old to complete-then dad ends up doing it for him. Think the idea is good-maybe something a little less complicated for the younger ones though??

Riley just turned 38 on Friday-so we had a night out with the kids and some friends. Then we came home for birthday cake. Riley's trip to Western China was his gift-but we also gave him a cashmere vest and some of his favorite candy treats.

I am doing well-can't complain. Designing a new curriculum for our Algebra class-which is very time consuming-but very well-worth it for the kids. Everyone is happy and healthy -which makes me happy!

We love and miss you all!

The DuBois Family

More Pictures!

A few more recent pictures of the kids.

Here Baia is trying to put a diaper on her little tiny baby--it may be easier with a bigger doll honey!

Kieran and Kellan's new thing is not to make silly faces at the camera-but to make mean faces at the camera. They practice this during their nightly ritual wrestling daddy.

Cuddles for everyone after wrestling was finished one night. I used to take Baia so the boys could wrestle-now she wants in on the action!

Kellan and his good buddy Larry had a lot of fun at the Harvest Festival a couple weeks ago.

Back to Old Blog-new pictures!

OK-almost ALL blogs are blocked here in China-so we are going back to our OLD (Original) Blog because it is WAY easier and faster to put pictures on. And with everyone's busy lives-sometimes looking at pictures is all there is time for!

Below are some pictures from when Riley came back from his Trip to Western China at the beginning of October-enjoy!

We hope all is well for everyone!
Love,
The DuBois

The kids are excited for Daddy to be home from his trip! PRESENTS!

Riley brought all the kids Chinese hats from the West. This is one of the hats men wear in Western China.

Kellan was loving the camel stuffed animals he and Baia got. Daddy also got him a nice and warm hat for the winter.

The hat Daddy brought back for Mommy fit Baia's head pretty well and she loved it!