The New Baby Guo Guo

We went away the week after Christmas, and when we came back, we found that the guard dog at the hostel had given birth to puppies! We didn't even really know she was pregnant, although right before we left, Kris suspected something was up with the dog... If you've had the pleasure?! of meeting this dog , child-bearing doesn't really fit with her personality... Kris said he didn't want to ask the landlord for one of the puppies until he had time to see if they were cute or not (hmmm... who could possibly be the spouce of this dog?? She lets NOTHING near her!) But now, when we got back after our vacation, the landlord had given all the puppies away but one. Maybe someday we'll get a nice dog out here. We have to admit, though, that the remaining puppy is pretty cute, and super friendly and playful with Adalia! Nearly every day now, Adalia can't wait to play with the "Baby Guo Guo (Chinese for dog)".

The Sun is Out

The sun is out, the weather is showing signs of heading into spring, and we can finally wash Adalia's snow suit! We are taking advantage of this time with no travelers to get our house on the roof finished and get us moved in. Still a long way to go, but we've had some unexpected help and we're happy with the progress!

Cheers Darling

Here's Adalia and I drinking tea together to stay warm on a very cold day. Too bad the video doesn't show what the temperature felt like! At the end she says, "Oh no! Wei-shenma ("why?" in Chinese)?" One day her toy dropped and she now says it whenever something bad happens. I think this little phrase of hers will stick with us for a long time...

My Little Mountain Sherpa

I love this video of her hiking with her hands on her hips! She looks a bit like I feel when I hike these days. Ugh, this stomach really gets in the way. ;)

Our Day Off

When we were on vacation, we decided that we maybe were overworking ourselves... Our resolution? Try to leave the hostel property for a day at least once a week. Otherwise if we are here, well, the work just keeps coming. So after working for 10 days, we decided it was essential we keep our resolution and drove off in our car in the morning. It began to snow, but we were determined to keep our resolution! We drove up a beautiful valley nearby, got out of the car, within moments froze and ran back to the car, sat in the heat in the car for a while, and then got worried that we might not make it back to the hostel because of the snow... so we drove back. Hmmm. Not doing so good with this new resolution. We can't drive the car up to the hostel, and have to take the last part of the trip home on the motorcycle up a steep hill (and we can't make it if there's ice!), so even by the time we got back, we had a very icy last leg up the hill on the motorcycle. Now that we were back, what to do? Try to stay warm of course! Keeping yourself and child warm when the inside temp is 20F, definitely keeps you busy. We spent the day by the stove and drank lots of tea trying not to be completely miserable. Adalia came up to me the in the kitchen the other day and said, "Mama, where Ba-wey (Bali) go?" Believe me sweetheart, I'm asking myself the same question!

The First Egg!

Last year, we got chickens in order to get fresh eggs for the hostel. But we've had them since last October and they still had not given us any eggs! We were a little naive when we bought them, and according to our landlord, apparently bought chickens that were too old to ever lay eggs anymore... We've since added two young ones and at Christmas, enjoyed the two old ones. But still no eggs... They didn't even respond to Adalia's sweetness, as she loved to peek her head inside the coop door and say, "Eggs please." Until today! We're not sure why they decided to finally start performing, but we're not complaining! And now we have fresh eggs every morning.

Adalia and her snowmen

Last week we were playing on the beaches of Bali, this week we are back to snow! Adalia doesn't seem to mind and had a great day making snowmen with her "Ani" (auntie). She proudly made a baba, mama and baby snowman.