Hastings of Harrington Lane: 2011’s Digital Dump!

So, I’ve had aspirations for quite some time now of catching up on everything I missed blogging about in 2011. There was so much going on! And the problem/good thing is…we still have tons going on! Therefore, to spare you about 20 randomly placed old posts, here is a digital dump of a TON of pictures that documented all the parts I missed!

Beware, this will probably be a super long post. :)

After we gave our two week notice to our employer in March and arranged our flights home, we decided to spend a couple of fun days seeing the sights in Beijing. We took the bullet train in with our favorite Chinese teacher and friend, Ivy (Wei Wei). We went to dinner and said our good byes. It was bittersweet…I was excited to go home and see family and deliver Amelia-Jayne in the states, but not ready to leave good friends like her. She was my translator and Chinese teacher. She also helped so much with finding out we were pregnant, taking me for crazy prenatal visits, helping us with the legalities of living there, explaining culture and just being a wonderful friend. Hopefully we will get Ivy to come to the states one day!

First, I had to say goodbye to my desk with a view (hard to tell with the flash, but I saw some sweet cityscape all day/night long).

The next day we went to see the 天坛 Temple of Heaven. It’s where the Emperors went to fast and give offerings for a good harvest. It was interesting to see the ties of their ancient religion to things we believe in today. Most of the stonework was completely original and un re-touched. That’s almost 600 years old!

(Dancing in the park with the ladies)

After the Temple of Heaven, we went to the Pearl District, where they have lots of shopping for pearls and SO much more! We got some memory cards (I would say that about half worked…what quality for $2), addidas, nike and puma knockoff shoes for the baby and Jordan hand picked pearls for a necklace and earrings for me. What a great guy!

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After getting home, I got to spend a lot of quality time with my favorite little guy…

The Arnold Clan had a VERY uncommon occurrence and got to have the entire family together for a quick reunion that wasn’t for a wedding or a funeral. You know how it is when you live so far apart and all have crazy busy schedules! We went to San Diego to enjoy the beach, Lego Land and Easter together. It was SO much fun and I am anxiously waiting for the next time we can do it again!

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Our fun little Christmas Card Reenactment ala 1988…

My awesome family:

(Do you like Jordan’s halo?!)

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Jordan got some tools to help him prep for being a Daddy with his “Daddy Tool Belt” from my parents.

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I had some amazing baby showers! My sis in law, Tammy, and some other friends threw a gorgeous one for us in Lompoc…it was SO much fun! Thank-you Tammy!

I LOVE me some shower games!!!

Goofing off with my favorite dance friends after!

I’m missing some fun pictures of the guests…I’ll put them up as soon as I find them!

Jordan’s mom and sister threw me a shower in Hurricane (sorry- I forgot about pictures) and my cute new sis-in-law, BreAnna made this awesome diaper cake!

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We got to go to Hurricane again for Bryce and BreAnna’s beautiful wedding! It was fun to see family!

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We finally got (most of) our stuff to Vernal and officially moved! As soon as we touched down, J went fishing…haha. He loves the fishing/hunting around here!

J loved Elk Season!

J’s family came out a couple weeks before Amelia-Jayne was born. We took the opportunity to go to the fair and see a good car smashin rally. We enjoyed the culture shock and thought it brought out a fair number of mullets and handle-bar ‘staches. ;)