Day Two in China (Hong Kong)

Today was a very busy day. We made our way over to Victoria Peak Cable Car that is close to our hotel. It is a cable car that takes you up on a peak that overlooks Hong Kong. What an amazing view! It reminded me a lot of the Rockefeller Tower in NYC.

After Victoria Peak, we took a cab over to the Island of Lantau. We took a brand new tram up and over several mountains and were dropped off at a tiny village up in the mountains. The village consists of some touristy restaurants and shops, and then the Largest Outdoor Budha in Asia. It was pretty amazing. We had to climb this massive section of stairs to get up to the statue, but it was well worth it. Below the Budha was a Budhist Monistary. We were able to see the monks do there chants and see some pretty interesting worshiping practices. There were a ton of chants and incense being burned. I caught a lot of it on video.

From this little village, we took a taxi cab down to a little town on the ocean called Tai O. It is a city that is built on stilts. It was very poor, but they had a very neat market. There were dried fish every where including sharks. Little vendors here and there trying to sell their goods. It was very different from any market that I had been to though. There was a little guy there bar-b-quing some dried squid and brushing some hot sauce on it. So we tried it!! It tasted like a spicy fish jerky. Interesting! After that, we made our way into a temple that was built in the 1500's. It was very ornate and definately of the Budhist faith. It was amazing to see something so old an so important to the little village.

Well it was definately a busy and tiring day. We are looking forward to a good meal tonight, and some good rest. Enjoy the pics!

Day One in China

Well I arrived in Hong Kong as dead as dead can be. Flying coach for 15 hours on an Asian plane (the seats are made for the smaller Asian) was enough for me. I arrived in Hong Kong in the morning, and was able to see the area on the bus ride to the hotel. What a beautiful city! It reminds me a lot of Rio with it lush mountains on the water.

I had my first Chinese meal today. There is a mall that is connected to my hotel. It is a real upscale mall with Coach, L'Occitane, Armani, etc. I went to the food court and had a rice bowl with BBQ Pork. It was actually really good, and could become a staple for me! My classmates came in later in the day. It was good to have some company.

Christmas in Houston

The new family picture.
The whole Gillis Family.
Well we sure know who Taylor roots for!

Brent and Taylor

Here are a few pictures of Taylor reading her new "Big Sister" Book to Brent.



Taylor loving on her new little brother. It was fun to see her with him!

Brent Eric Gillis

We finally had him!!! He was born onDecember 1st at 12:04 am. He weighed in at 8 lbs. and was 20 in. long.

Shadow Ridge

I thought that I would post some pics of the resort I work at for those that haven't seen it.

Halloween

Here are some pics of Taylor at Halloween.

Taylor's School Trip

This last week Taylor went to a pumpkin patch with her pre-school. She was able to play on a lot of rides, and pick out her own pumpkin. She brought the pumpkin home and painted it "all by herself." Here are a few pics of her trip.

Brazil Trip

We took a trip to Brazil with family earlier this year, but here are some pictures that some of ya'll might not have seen.

Baby Brent

You all probably already know, but for those that don't, Katie is about 7 months pregnant. We are having a boy, and naming him Brent Eric. He is due on December 1st. We are really excited for him to get here, and trying to get things in place for his arrival. I am personally excited that I will have a golf partner here in a couple of years, and somebody to watch Ute games with me, although I have converted my Zoobie wife to the better side!

Big Bear Weekend

Well this weekend was full of mixed emotions. Katie, Taylor and I went up to Big Bear (a little mountain ski town) to stay at my bosses cabin, and listen to conference. The cabin was awesome, it is a block and a half away from the lake, and just decked out in the cabin motif! Conference was great as always, and we had a great time spending time together, and getting out of the heat. Now to the rough part of the weekend: The Utes lost!! I don't know how to handle this! I called upon some BYU friends of mine to see how they handle it. I figure they have enough experience from losing that they would know best. I am hoping that we can hold on to the ball this weekend against CSU and pull off a win. Go UTES!!!

MBA

Well I'm finally going to get my MBA! I just got accepted to the University of Nebraska, if you couldn't tell by now. It is a unique program where UNL has joined forces with The Gallup Organization to offer an MBA in Executive Leadership. I am so excited to get started. Classes start in January. I will have virtual classes on-line, learning blocks, and team meetings. The learning blocks will take place in Omaha and Lincoln, NE (UNL and Gallup University Headquarters), Irvine, California (University of Toyota), Washington, D.C. (Gallup Headquarters) and Beijing, China. Each of these learning blocks are 10 days with the exception of D.C. The class has only 20 students, and they come from so many different industries. This is the first time that an Academic University (UNL) has joined forces with a Corporate University (Gallup). They have been doing it for several years now, and it has been a huge success. Check out the brochure on the program on the below website: http://media.gallup.com/DOCUMENTS/brochure_MBAMAProgram.pdf

Park City Trip

Matt and Taylor boating

Gillis Family at the football game

Eric and Taylor at the Alpine Slide

Family on the Heber Creeper

Taylor having fun at the game.

We recently just got back from our trip to Park City, Utah, and had a blast. We stayed at Marriott's MountainSide Resort with our friends, the Jones Family. We arrived on Friday, and headed down to the Utes home opener against Arizona. We saw yet another Ute victory. It was fun to be there with both of the families. During the week, we were able to visit family and friends in SLC and Utah Co., go boating with Matt and Dottie, golf, fly fish, ride the alpine slide, ride the Heber Creeper train,shop and eat at Cafe Rio! Ummmm Pork Burrito! We had a great time up there, and enjoyed getting out of the heat, and cooling off. Here are some pics of our stay.

New Blog

Well with everyone in the family having a blog except us, we felt we had to keep up and create one! So please be patient while we figure this one out!