Oh very young
What will you leave us this time
You're only dancing on this earth for a short while
And though your dreams may toss and turn you now
They will vanish away like your daddy's best jeans
Denim Blue fading up to the sky
-Cat Stevens
On February 9, we left Beijing's winter and 15 hours later descended into California's spring. The trees teemed with blossoms and the skies gleamed blue. Thirty days later, March 9, BirdMAN's mom and sister dropped us off with our bags full of Costco necessities (tortillas and semi-sweet chocolate chips) and we made our journey over the Pacific Ocean once again.
Our California trip was good. We met some babies who came into the world while we were gone, and one that came while we were there. But it was sad too. Baba D's cancer had spread and treatment options were limited. The inevitable was no longer in the sometime future--it was imminent.
While we had some good days together with the entire family, most of our trip revolved around Baba D and making him comfortable in his final days. I plan to write about the beauty and agony BirdMAN's family experienced during that time, but I'm not there yet emotionally.
This blog is to share some of the nice photographs of all the beautiful kids that we got to catch up with --albeit briefly. Youth is beautiful. It just goes by so fast.
Chinese Word of the Blog: 童年
tóng nián
English translation: childhood
 |
| Milan was so happy to meet baby sister, Capri! |
 |
| So glad to meet Sabella! Here she is in Baba's lap. |
 |
| Along came Caleb. Good to make his acquaintance. |
 |
| Blanca and I teaching the next generation about Ussies. |
 |
| Love my sweet nephews! |
 |
| Zeph and I are so EXCITED about sandwiches! |
 |
| Zeph is one adventurous boy! |
 |
| A beautiful zoo day with Yaya and Zeph |
 |
| Evening fishing with the boys. Elliot loved fishing but was a little scared of the fish. Good thing Uncle Mike doesn't mind getting his hands dirty. |
 |
| Good to get in some Dad time too. |
 |
| Big sister, Jasmine, made this chocolate cake out of beets and avocado. The kids were successfully tricked into eating their veggies! |
 |
| My little sister and me with some flamingos (obviously) |
 |
| Milan is such a good helper! We can't wait to eat some Moomoo pancakes. |
 |
| Our clay dinos. Milan is quite the artist, isn't she? |
 |
| Uncle K is so much fun! |
