We are back home after a wonderful 8 weeks in the states. We had such a great vacation. It was nice to be back to the conveniences of the US and to go to Target. HE HE HA HA! I spent a lot of time there that’s for sure.
I had been waiting for months to taste my favorite American dishes and was unfortunately, disappointed by some. I don’t know if it’s that I built them up to be such magnificent things that they were certain to disappoint or that my taste buds have changed dramatically. Things seemed a bit too sweet and tasted way too processed. Not to say I didn’t find a few things I couldn’t get enough of though. I still don’t think I made nearly enough pies and I didn’t ever get a chance to make the 4 or 5 soup recipes I had been waiting all year to have even in the summer heat of Utah. There’s always next year and who knows, sometimes the imported grocery stores here will surprise me and carry some of the ingredients I found previously impossible to find.
We had a great time seeing all of our siblings. Quite a feat, considering many are spread all over the country. We had such a great time at the Miller reunion in Aspen Grove for a week. The boys were in heaven and Grant has declared it the place he would like to be for the rest of his life. We had fun traveling up to Washington for a week soon after we arrived in the states, to stay with my sister, Heather and her family. We all had the stomach flu while we were there, but from what I saw out the windows of Heather’s house, Washington is a beautiful place.
The boys enjoyed the many sleepovers with their cousins including the annual ‘all boy’ sleepover my brother Bret has every year. 10 very active boys all night! My brother’s new name is ‘Bret the Brave’.
I bought the boys scooters shortly after arriving in Utah and they had so much fun having the freedom they don’t have in Jakarta, riding all over the neighborhood. I think that is one of the things we all miss most. Places to play, yards, parks and open space.
Creed joined us after 5 weeks. We had a great time doing several things that were on our ‘to do’ list. We went up to Park City for two days and had a blast with my parents and Heather and Matt going to Olympic Park, riding the zip line (my favorite), the alpine slides, playing games and swimming. We also were able to go to Temple Square and see the new Joseph Smith movie, go to the Church Museum of Art, eat at the Lion House Pantry (DELICIOUS and one of my favorite places), shop (a lot of stocking up on things for the next year), parades, BBQ’s and many other fun things.
We also visited with friends from Michigan who made time for us on their vacations (thanks!) and saw a lot of other friends that we miss a lot.
We were so grateful to be able to spend so much time with family. Living so far removed from everything and everyone makes us appreciate family so much more. We are grateful for the time everyone took to be with us. It ‘filled our cups’ for the next year and we have wonderful memories of being with everyone.
Our trip home was very LONGGGGG! We had a 9 hour layover in San Francisco. We, fortunately, were able to check our luggage in SLC all the way through to Jakarta. Normally, you have to pick it up in San Francisco to go through customs and then check it in again for the flight to Asia, but SLC will check it all the way through. That saved us! We landed in SF and decided instead of sitting around the airport for hours, we would venture out and find something to do. Our flight didn’t leave until 1:00 am and our primary goal was to keep the kids awake until then so the 14 hour flight to Hong Kong would be as manageable as possible with 4 kids (more worried about the very wiggly 21 month old in our family!). We caught a train out of the airport and went into the city. We then took a cable car and went to Fisherman’s Warf where we could see the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. We walked the streets a little…enough to set Nash up to be scarred by the ‘bush man’ (a man that hides behind some tree branches he’s cut and scares people that walk by). It was hilarious and brought a huge laugh from the crowd watching as Nash jumped about 15 feet high. We then went to the Rainforest Café for dinner and up to Ghirardelli square for a hot fudge sundae.
We made it back to the airport and waited a couple of hours for our flight. Mallory was awake and completely fascinated by the escalators so I spent 35 minutes riding those things up and down. She fell asleep just as we were boarding the plane.
We all slept on the flight to Hong Kong and were happy to land. In Hong Kong Grant announced he was getting a migraine and spent the rest of the HK layover and the 4 hour flight to Jakarta throwing up. He was a trooper and was happy to be home…as were we all!
The smell of our house was something I was happy to experience. It felt like home. Things looked strange after having gotten used to the carpet and 8 foot ceilings in the states. Mallory walked around so happy and kept finding things and saying ‘member dis?’ She must have heard her brothers. We all tried to stay awake for the rest of the day so we could get a handle on the jet lag better. We were all walking zombies as we spent several hours unpacking our 12 pieces of luggage. I was happy to have it all and that none of our luggage was lost.
We have all had several very early mornings and early nights with all of us falling asleep by 7:00pm. One night Creed came home and we were all in my bedroom. We had been having FHE. There is a running joke with the boys that when they hear Creed come home we all pretend we are asleep. He walked into the room thinking we were all joking only to call our names and realize we really were asleep. I’m hoping that we are all almost back to normal.
The boys started school on Thursday. They all seem very happy to be back and to see their friends again. Nash was so excited to start middle school and has been reveling in the freedom that it brings. He got the classes he wanted and is anxious to start track and field and is going to try out for a drama club with hopes of making the team that travels to Beijing in November.
I have finally relinquished my kitchen to our new maid/cook after realizing that she is happier if she is cooking for us. She offered to make cookies and cakes and brownies whenever we want. Creed says he wants to give her a schedule. Monday: Choc. Chip, Wednesday: Snicker doodles, Friday: Brownies.
We look forward to what this year will bring. Time goes by so quickly. We are looking forward to our visitors this year! It helps to have people see how we live so they can understand. It’s such a different life. We are grateful for everyone’s time this summer. We will miss you all. To all the cousins…Good luck with school!
Millers in Shanghai
