Brooke's ingenuity

Figure out this clever little rhyme. Brooke came up with it on her own.

A riddle only fiddles once,

but a fiddle riddles often.

Elder Esplin

This guy has work to do.


His older brothers and sister will not be around to embarrass him.

He won't be finding many Easter eggs, and afternoon naps will be a distant memory.

Suns games?  Nope.  Trade in your play gun for a set of scriptures.

Elder Esplin is heading to the Honduras Tegucigalpa Mission in June to serve the Lord for

two years as a missionary.  He's got work to do.

(btw:  Penelope loves her Uncle Eric.  Her face lights up when he comes near her.  She will

miss out on a lot of fun for two years, but he'll be back to make her laugh again.)

First Time

Penelope is listening to music with headphones for the first time.  Her expressions show her delight and wonder.  Too bad you can't hear her singing along.

The True Princess Penelope Pearl

Penelope staked her claim by pulling handfuls of hair out of Molly's tail, which Molly completely ignored.  The attendants to the princess had to get it out of Penelope's hand before it went into Penelope's mouth.  Then she tried the only other thing a 10 month old can do.  She ate some of Molly's food in return.  Molly didn't care about that either, but you can guess that her mom and grandma did.  When Penelope comes to stay for a while, the rules have to change a bit. Penelope gets to be the princess, and Molly has to learn to be a lady-in-waiting.  It will take a few doggy treats.

Who's the Real Princess?

Molly thinks she is the true princess.  When Penelope came to visit last week, Molly found a pacifier and took it outside and chewed it up.  Then she took a bottle outside and chewed it up.  Then she got so bold as to take another pacifier out of Penelope's mouth.  Then she ate some of Penelope's food. 

Along The Great Wall of China

Lindsay and Linda and Cordell, with the restored section of the Great Wall behind us.
The tourists are only allowed to visit a short section of the Wall, which the government

monitors.  The government also owns and collects all of the profits from the shops at

the entrance to the Wall.
The wall was built by slave labor, with approximately one fifth of the population working on the wall at any given time.  Eventually, it became so onerous and hated that the workers revolted.  The wall was originally about 4,000 miles long, although the sections beyond Beijing were not nearly as big and sturdy.  About half of the wall no longer exists, much of it having been cannibalized for the building of houses.  Let's see, if 1/5 of the people worked on the wall, then how many of the rest worked to support the workers?  Can we say "emperor of China" and "megalomaniac" in the same sentence?

At The Bird's Nest

Do you remember seeing this beautiful building during the Beijing Olympics last summer?  It was used for the track and field events, and the marathon, and probably some other events. Unfortunately, since China is run by communists, the building has been unused since then.  They don't have any professional baseball teams, or football.   They don't need concert venues, and they don't have professional bull riding or monster truck shows.  That would be way too capitalist.  So they charge high prices to tourists who want to go inside, but you can wander around the outside for free as long as you have your guide with you.  The Cube, in which the swimming events took place, has also been empty and unused.  What a shame and a waste.  If anybody really wants the government to take over running our country, they should spend a week in China.  It's an oppressive place.

Penelope wins the award for the MOST adorable

I think the title of this post has become my new mantra, I say it often enough! Here are some new photos of this adorable little one. I can't believe she's nearing a year.


Penelope is "worming" all over the place. When I say worming, it's because it's not crawling, not scooting, it seriously looks like she's doing the worm dance move. I love it.


Penelope's learning better how to pull herself to stand, which is making my life LOADS easier. Also, she said her first words! The other day, after she pulled herself to stand she whispered, "diditdidit" a bunch of times. It was all slurred together, but I'm MOST certain it was her mimicking me saying, "YOU DID IT!"


She's also learning how to play by herself, I also discovered that she doesn't mind me coming and going as long as talk radio is on.

I Did Not Take This Photograph

 On principle, I just wouldn't photograph a public toilet that I was about to use.  These lovely Asian squat toilets appear throughout Hong Kong and China, and they take a time or two to adjust to using them.  They are not any cleaner than regular toilets, but at least you don't have to come close to sitting on them.  You do have to watch your step.  The stalls also do not have toilet paper.  If you are lucky, the bathroom has paper available from one dispenser near the sinks.  However, everyone carries their own packages of tissues because it is usually necessary to bring your own.  BYOTP.

Lucy Lower Lip

When I was little, my nickname was Lucy Lower Lip, because I had a pout that had no equal. My parents thought it was the funniest thing [I hated it, because I was so distraught and didn't want my parents to take my woes so lightly]. Penelope did it last night. We all were a little wired last night, and Penelope wanted to let everyone know this was NO laughing matter.




I also thought it was HILARIOUS to see her face go bright red. I couldn't contain myself while I was filming/editing the video.

WELCOME HOME LINDSAY!!!!!!