Another year gone by (ever so quickly), another Chinese New Year upon us.  Last year we missed the local festivities because the ladybug was feeling under the weather.  Unfortunately, this year we missed the local festivites again…but this time for a far sadder reason.  The ladybug’s grandfather on her daddy’s side passed away, and we travelled out of state to grieve with family.  To view the beautiful euology given by the Travis in honor of his father, please visit Trav’s site.

The trip provided the ladybug with another reason to earn even more frequent flyer miles.  As a fun little project, my mom suggested that I figure out how many miles Liliana has travelled by plane so far in her life.  Although I thought this idea a little funny to begin with, after mulling it over for a few minutes, I decided that if wasn’t half bad.  Plus, although she has travelled numerous times already, I am still able to remember all of her travels to date.  Give me year though…I doubt I will be able to remember even half.  So, while me mind is still sharp, here is what the bug has done and where she has gone so far.  In her 23 months the ladybug has already logged over 30,318 miles:

Guiyang, Guizhou to Guangzhou, November 2006:
Approximate miles: 450 miles

Returning home from China, November 2006:
Guangzhou, China to Los Angeles (LAX): 7250 miles
Los Angeles to Rapid City (RAP): 1145 miles

Visit to Nana & Papa Franz in Florida, February 2007:
RAP to Ft. Meyers (RSW): 2304 miles
RWS to RAP: 2304 miles

Trip to Hawaii, June 2007:
RAP to LAX: 1145 miles
LAX to Kona, Hawaii (KOA): 3534 miles
KOA to RAP: 4679 miles

Family wedding in California, August 2007:
RAP to Ontario, CA (ONT): 1120 miles
ONT to RAP: 1120 miles

Visit to Kowalskis in Vegas, September & December 2007:
RAP to LAS (round trip): 1874 miles
RAP to LAS (round trip): 1874 miles

Family funeral, February 2008:
RAP to Denver (DEN): 301 miles
DEN to LAS: 629 miles
LAS to DEN: 629 miles
DEN to RAP: 301 miles

(Important mileage information: RAP to DEN = 301, DEN to LAS = 629, RAP to LAS = 937, ONT to DEN = 819, LAX to DEN = 844, KOA to LAX = 3534, RSW to DEN = 2003).

Although Liliana has made her way almost all the way around the world, because she is not yet two years old and thus has been a “lap-child” on these plane rides, the logged-in miles are not official with the airlines.  So, these miles are just for fun to show how much the ladybug has travelled.  Oh well!

The other big news around the ladybug house is that the bug is in the process of Potty Training.  She is doing a stellar job, and before we know it she will be out of diapers all together. 

Liliana definitely enjoys the challenge of becoming a “big girl” especially since she receives a reward of a sticker if she successfully…”does her business”…without an accident.  Thus far her sticker chart is filling up quickly.  Plus, she gets to walk around the house wearing “big girl” panties…her Disney Princess panties.  She absolutely loves wearing them, they are reward enough for a job well done.  Oh, the simple things in life!

Below are some more recent photos of the ladybug.  Feel free to click on any of them to view a larger image.  Also, for many, many more photos and videos, visit our DropShots site.  Enjoy!

Aloha!