Home again...

We arrived back in New Jersey from our Vietnam/Hong Kong trip late Thursday night, but didn't climb into bed until 2:00 a.m. Friday morning after a long wait at the airport for our bags and then the drive home. Sleeping in our own bed was wonderful!

Now to deal with the jet lag. It was a 12 hour difference the last couple of days we spent in Hong Kong and they say it takes one day for every hour difference to get your body adjusted again. It has not been awful, but by 4:00 p.m. I am feeling it and if I stop to sit on the couch I would fall asleep, by 9:00 p.m. I am starting to see double and can't wait to get into bed. I then wake up around 4-5-6:00 a.m. and have been forcing myself to go back to sleep for a bit. If what they say is true we have 3 nights down and 9 to go.

I will add pictures over the next several days of our trip, but will share our homecoming with the kids. It was so good to be able to wrap our arms around them and hug them. We were blessed to be able to talk to them almost everyday through FaceTime (an iPhone/iPod app and completely free). I think it made it a lot easier for us and them. MeMe and Grandma said they did great and we are so thankful for such wonderful grandparents to help us out so that we could go.

We walked into the house with this sweet sign greeting us. 

We picked up Brayden on Friday from Grandma's and got to see Sarah after school on Friday afternoon. They each got a few gifts from our trip. Sarah a ponytail holder, iPod purse and a Harajuku purse. Brayden a "Tin Tin" shirt, Cars 2 Legos and racing car Crocs. Oh, and we can't forget the little Star Wars toy that came out of the cereal box that our friends we stayed with had which includes stickers, tattoos and a notepad. Yeah, everything little counts with this kid. The best part was it didn't cost us anything.

We headed to IHOP for dinner/breakfast. Ahhhh, tasted so good! Sarah and Brayden gave us an AMAZING photo book of their time with MeMe and pictures of what they did each day. So sweet!

It is so good to be home with our kids again. Love them so much!!!

We had an amazing trip and look forward to sharing with you more over the next week.

Ready to go...

MeMe arrived today and everything has been prepared for us to head out on our trip to Vietnam tomorrow. I can't believe it is finally here. We are excited and ready to go. Brayden was ready for us to go as soon as MeMe got here. He has been asking for the past week when she would arrive. I know they are going to have a blast with her here.

Our flight leaves tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. We fly straight to Hong Kong, a 16 hour flight and then have a layover for a couple of hours and fly 3 more hours into Ho Chi Minh. We will arrive their time Wednesday early evening, with it being Wednesday morning here in the states.

To be honest despite the cramped space of the flight I am looking forward to the 16 hour flight. I know that sounds crazy, but from a Mom's perspective I get 16 straight hours of my husband's undivided attention, time to read a book, watch a movie or 6, take a nap and don't have to worry about any responsibilities. LOL! Come on now that sounds pretty nice right. I just wish I had a comfy couch to go with that time instead of a tiny airplane seat. I will let you know how it all went once we get back.

Thursday, Friday and Saturday we will be spending time at the coffee shop our friends we are visiting run. Sunday we will be visiting the orphanage we are giving the money to. Monday will be our free day. Tuesday we fly to Hong Kong and Wednesday will be our tourism day there. Thursday we fly home.

I never thought I would be going to be Vietnam but feel so blessed to be a part of this trip and the privilege to be able to go. Can't wait to share with you how it was.

The shirt Sarah is wearing our the shirts for our team. Jason and our friend Dennis Bloom who is going on the trip designed them.

Easter Weekend...

We had a fun Easter weekend, full of activities. We started with coloring Easter eggs with the cousins on Friday morning.

Saturday we celebrated Donna, Sarah and Sophia's birthdays. They all share April birthdays, so we always have a 3 girl birthday party.

Lastly on Sunday we rejoiced in the fact that our Savior is risen in deed, and...

for chocolate bunnies.

Happy Birthday Sarah...

Sarah goes back to school today, so yesterday the four of us did whatever she wanted. We had a quiet morning at home, sleeping in from a long weekend and watching The Muppet Movie, which the kids got for Easter. We went to Red Robin for a late lunch, where she got to open all her presents and cards.

Sarah got for her birthday a P.S. Aeropostale, Amazon and Itunes gift cards, $145 cash (whoa!), a Swatch watch and her beloved Osiris shoes. After lunch we headed to the mall (again) to spend some of the cash she had gotten.

We stopped at Claire's to pick up some jewelry and sunglasses. I think she made some very stylish choices. Next P.S. to spend some of her gift card. Last stop was 16 Handles too, her new favorite ice cream spot.

We have had a blast this week with Sarah. Happy Birthday to our beautiful girl. We love you!

Celebrating a little early...

We have been celebrating Sarah's 11th birthday throughout this past week.

On Wednesday night her best friend Cayla spent the night and we spent Thursday doing whatever Sarah wanted, which was having monkey bread for breakfast, getting pedicures, shopping at TJ Maxx and going to the mall (again).

 Cayla got her a tennis racquet and a special homemade card.

Gorgeous toes! Brayden and I dropped them off and came back after running an errand. The lady that was sitting next to Sarah on the other side told me when I came back that I had a kind and lovely daughter. I completely agreed with her, but so nice to hear others see it too.

Off for some shopping and then lunch at the mall. These girls (and little boy) can be pretty silly.

Duck Dynasty...

My brother-in-law John just told us about a new show that we starting watching last night called Duck Dynasty on A&E. It is hilarious and almost unbelievable. Check it out Duck Dynasty.

Make sure to watch the "Frog" episode. 

Shopping Day...

Sarah and I had a great day yesterday. We hit 7 different stores, I was exhausted by the time the day was over. She got her first birthday gift, her new Osiris shoes. They are pretty popular here. Unfortunately we didn't find any other shoes for summer, so we are still on the search for those.

We needed a pick us up by the end of the day so stopped at this amazing yogurt stand in the mall called 16 Handles. It is a self-serve stand with different kinds of ice cream and toppings. It was so good! Sarah couldn't wait for me to take a picture to dig in.

I loved spending time with my girl. She is really amazing!