A new experience

A street in Bangalore
This is a seating area in the hotel lobby

Traveling to new places is a huge blessing in my life I will always be greatful for. I'm sitting in my hotel room in India, having just woken up from a 22 hour plane ride to get here, and the one thing I want to do is check the blogs to see what family and friends are doing. Its funny how not fun traveling is when you are doing it all alone, and how much I miss my girls when I think about how they are on the other side of the world right now.

Every time I travel I realize how much I take for granted what a blessing it is to live in the US. To not have to use a bottle of water to brush my teeth, or to not have to avoid most foods for fear of getting sick. So...I'm drinking a coke and eating a power bar with Animal Planet on in the background, looking out the 19th story window at a place I never imagined I'd see.

This morning at 2am, after one of the scariest taxi rides of my life, I made it to the hotel. I couldn't believe the poverty I could see along the way. It wasn't just a couple of areas, it was almost the entire 45 minute drive from the airport. Most of the buildings are various shades of concrete, and look like they've been around for a long time. It seems not many places have electricity, or they are just really good about turning out all the lights and street lights in most villages. The hotel was a stark contrast, it is brand new and is surrounded by gates and security guards with fuzzy green hats.

When I got out of the taxi a white and gold turbin was placed on my head, a blue, silk scarf was put around my neck, and some guy three stories above was dropping flower pedals down on me as I walked in. I must have had 4 different people helping to carry 2 bags. The turbin actually hurt to wear on my huge noggin but I didn't want to take it off in front of the staff. It was very gracious of them, and their service was great, but the funny thing is I didn't like all of the attention. Come to think of it I was able to fly first class to get here too, but I was almost embarrassed by it. I waited to board the plane with everyone else instead of getting on first because it just didn't feel right. Not sure why that is, but I've never been comfortable being treated like royalty when other people just like me don't get such treatment.

I'm excited for the week ahead, we have some plans to go a couple places as a group including spending half a day at one of the local schools to talk with the kids, and visit a local temple. I wish I could share pictures and share the experience with all of you, but this will have to do for now. Maybe I'll get up the courage to go walk around this morning, its either that or watch the hotel staff sweep dust off the grass.

We loved this picture, attack of the DillyZilla. Dilly was yawning and it looks like she is about to take a bite out of an unsuspecting baby.


Ellie has learned how to scream, not a "I'm unhappy, give me what I want" scream, but a "pay attention to me" scream...I'm scared for what lies ahead. She still does not want to crawl but rather play Shamu while balancing on her belly with all 4 limbs in the air...I think she just wants to levitate from place to place. She loves to walk (while holding our hands), and she loves to imitate other babies. Any time she hears another baby noise in church she will make the exact same noise, you can't help but laugh at her impressions. She also discovered the TV show Yo Gabba Gabba, she dances like her daddy when she hears music (point a finger in the air and pelvic thrust), and she is getting her first tooth.watching Yo Gabba Gabba

I almost murdered Dilly in early July when we found out that she had jumped up onto the table, and ate a tennis-ball sized chunk of black fondant (Joni was making a Playstation 3 cake of course). The little dog was later seen throwing up on 4 separate spaces of brand new light colored carpet in 2 different rooms. Of course she is a lady and doesn't want to be seen throwing up, so one of the black puddles of barf was found 2 weeks later underneath the couch. We've been scrubbing the carpet every night for a week, hoping and praying that these black circles will go away...and that Dilly might be taken up in spirit one night while we are asleep.Dilly tracks on the table...Just a couple of Joni's fondant creations, yes the controller is edible as well. I'm glad the whole cake practicing thing is over with because as you can imagine we were the only ones around to eat them.

We are the proud owners of a Baldwin piano. We got a great deal on a piano from someone who never used it and wanted to get rid of it. Ellie loves to play and its fun to have a piano in the house, I've had the itch for a while now and was finally able to "scratch" it.
Joel and Erin wer married in a really cool ceremony overlooking the Rocky Mountains. We were really busy the whole time, and had a lot of fun together playing yard games and dancing, and of course the ceremony was very nice. Once it was official someone played "Another one bites the dust" on the stereo, those guys make a pretty good pair.

Yes they are cutting the Playstation cake.
Joni and Melecia celebrated their birthdays on the same day, thanks to Eric for making the ice cream cake. I'll miss having a family member working at DQ...well maybe not.
We've played a lot this summer since we got here, and we are trying to get in as much as we can before the summer is over and we start hybernating. Ellie hits the 9 month mark this week, hard to believe.I guess this is one of the benefits of having your baby wake up before sunrise, this is my view as I eat breakfast in the morning. Summer is blazing by.