Eggs Over Asia

the water fountain

2012-02-20T00:01:00.003+08:00

As we finished vacation and waited to board our international flight back to the mainland, we saw something we never see here: a water fountain. You know, the drinking kind. (How developed and first-world of them!)

I chuckled when Grace asked me what it was. Seriously?! How could she not know?! But then I remembered, she really doesn't recall ever seeing one before. Grace wanted to try it out so I explained how to use it. And reminded her not to put her mouth on the nozzle. Ick.

"MOMMY! This is a-maz-ing! Look, you just push the button here and the water keeps coming! It's so cool!! And it's free!! You don't have to pay a thing for this water!!" She pretty much repeated this mantra 12 times in between gulps. After a few minutes, I finally tore her away from her new discovery, water completely soaking her shirt.

And it dawned on me, Grace doesn't remember much from our time in the States. When we first moved back to Asia in 2009 Grace was the exact age that Trinity is now, just shy of 3 years old. How in the world can that be? For the first year or two, Grace remembered quite a bit about American life. Now she remembers hardly anything except family members and friends.

This summer we'll make some more memories in the States. I can hardly wait to hear what comes out of her mouth. :)

our time away

2012-02-12T22:54:00.005+08:00

I tend to neglect blogging about the day-to-day aspects of our life, but give us a trip and I'm on it. Somehow in the blogging recesses of my mind I must highly value the vacations we take and people who come to visit. But, I also want to remember our day-to-day happenings. So, note to self: blog more about our daily life. Whew, with that done, here are some pictures of our trip to T-land. We stayed at a resort (term used loosely depending on your personal definition) geared for expats like ourselves. The girls loved the fact that we stayed in a "tree house." It was perfect for our family and for young families in general with playgrounds, a pool, and instant friends running around. Grace played with so many girls her age (one just 3 hours older than her), and visited other friends' tree houses almost daily. I enjoyed a break from my usual role of social director/craft coordinator and loved simply watching Grace and Trinity play with other kids who speak English.

Somehow, in Thailand, Trinity decided to allow me to fix her hair almost daily. With hair this wild, anything that's not sticking straight up is considered success. You should see her morning hair-it's awesome!! Kevin and I say her hair really matches her personality: spunky and a little on the wild side.

We were B-L-E-S-S-E-D to see friends we hadn't seen in over 2 years. With 3 families' schedules and some of our friends dealing with sickness, vacation looked a little different than we thought it would but we savored the time we had together. SK5 and JD2+2, we love you!! (BTW, seeing my girls next to baby L. and baby S. made me realize how big they are getting! Sniff. I'd be lying if I said this didn't lead to a little bit of baby fever. Just a little bit.)

This little guy was sick for much of our time together and was such a sweetie. He wanted daddy to hold him when he felt bad but it was fun to see his personality come through when he was feeling better!

At the zoo, the girls got to experience their first-ever pony rides. It was by far the best 66 cents I spent on each of them all day.

How much do I love this pictures of these sweet 2 year olds? Very, very much...ice cream face and all.

Trying to get all these kids in one place reminded me a bit of herding cats...but a cute bunch of cats.

Here's just a random picture I took that I absolutely love. Pretty stinkin' cute if I do say so myself.

And this picture just makes me laugh because it's a common scene around here. Who says boys are the only ones who love to wrestle? I blame this on their MMA-loving dad.

Who doesn't love a good play land? This dollar-entry playground was our kids' favorite destination. Go figure.

Aside from the zoo, we also went to a night safari at a separate location, except we went to the night safari during the day (confusing?). We loved it better than the zoo and had close encounters with all kinds of hairy friends. Trinity got to feed a giraffe. Brave.

There were lots more highlights, but honestly I didn't take my camera around as much as I thought I would. But you can ask Kevin about his mountain-biking adventure and he will inform you that gravity is indeed alive and real. If you need a cheap pedicure in T-land, I'm your woman. Just don't ask me to bargain for you at the night market because I'm terrible. We flew home on the last night of Chinese New Year, Lantern Festival. As we were landing we looked out our plane's windows and saw fireworks exploding all over the city. That was a fun memory. Thank you, Lord, for time away and a chance to recharge.

a short jump out of the fishbowl

2012-01-19T21:58:00.003+08:00

It's that time of year again in our neck of the woods. The time of year when we see kids as little as 6 years old carrying lighters around and setting off firecrackers. That time of year when an overabundance of roosters and hens are hanging out on the neighbors' balconies in preparation for the big slaughter. That time of year when we notice fewer and fewer vendors each morning at the market as people return home for the biggest holiday of the year. Chinese New Year is on January 23 this year. It's a rip-roaring, firecracker-setting, LOUD and spectacular holiday.
But tomorrow, our family is heading south for a little, OK, BIG vacation. This will be the longest vacation we've ever taken and we are excited! Several months back when we didn't think we'd have any of our usual meetings to attend this year for work, Kevin and I decided to go ahead and spend the money to head to our favorite nearby country for vacation with some great friends. As it turns out, we do have some business to take care of for work later in February in the same country, but we didn't find out about that trip until after we already purchased tickets for this trip. Even so, we still think it's so worth the money to go ahead and meet our friends and have time to play together as a family. I think this is the longest stretch we've ever gone without leaving the mainland, a whole year. (That might not sound like a long time but we're feeling it.) Small annoyances like people cutting in line, repairmen who only half-repair something at our house, and people shouting "foreigner, foreigner!" really should roll off our backs after 7 years in this country, but we still feel the culture stress at times. It's time to get out of the fishbowl for a few weeks. Kevin and I were laughing together the other day because lately, when strangers come up and touch our girls' hair (which of course makes them run away), Kevin has been known to just go up and touch their hair, too. Just to mess with them. He does it with a smile but do you think we might need to leave for a few weeks!? Ha!
Grace and I worked through December and didn't take much of a break with home school, knowing we'd be taking this big break in January. She's doing such a great job and is reading and has been such a joy to teach, but I can tell we both need a break.
I'm really hoping that during this vacation Kevin and I can really rest in Him. It's amazing how when vacation mentality hits, we tend to also take a break from good habits like spending time in His word. I plan for this time to be different. I'm also looking forward to finishing an amazing book on the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas. A friend recommended this book to us and if you have a kindle, I would highly recommend it, too.
Go eat some Chinese food on January 23 and roar or something. It's almost the Year of the Dragon!

on Christmas 2011

2011-12-22T12:00:00.003+08:00

Though 7 years ago when we first arrived overseas I might have said otherwise, I now believe it's a blessing to have experienced Christmas overseas as well as in the US. For some reason this season of advent has been especially meaningful to me this year. Maybe it's the hard times I've seen several family members and friends walk through lately, perhaps it's the trials I've seen local brothers and sisters endure, or maybe I'm just getting old, but my heart is more ready than ever to say, "Come Lord Jesus!"

For our family, blessings of Christmas in the States include: time with extended family; beautiful Christmas music and meaningful corporate worship; and a general excitement everywhere you go about the coming festivities. Christmas in America = great.
Blessings of Christmas in Asia include: no annoying holiday commercials encouraging us to buy more; Christmas parties with local friends and getting to share Him with folks who've never heard; baking cookies with friends who've barely even seen an oven before; and a pace of life which, though busy, is generally less stressful. Christmas in Asia = great.

The other day I read Colossians 1:19 which says,

"For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him."

What an amazing reality. God's fullness completely dwelt in Christ. Even as that tiny baby lying in a manger, there was absolutely nothing lacking in Jesus Christ. His was the fullness of God. Praise the Lord.

Now, if you'll allow me to change the subject, Momma needed to bust out the camera the other day and remember two of my precious gifts from Christmas 2011. I've been having so much fun with these two as we anticipate Christmas and celebrate Advent. Grace is at an age where she understands so much more of why Jesus had to come. I'm beginning to understand that this parenting thing just gets more and more fun.

Merry, merry Christmas to you!!

Nana and Pappaw

2011-12-10T23:08:00.010+08:00

I'm so grateful my girls know all 4 of their grandparents. Now, we don't get to see them every week or month or even every few months, but my girls still know our parents well. Skype visits on the computer are a beautiful thing. And when our parents visit, we get lots of quality time together. Kevin and I realize how fortunate we are that all of our parents are willing and able to make the long haul over here to visit. Let's face it; international travel is not for wimps. But leave it to family to endure the expense, time, TSA screenings, bad airline food, and hours of waiting in airport lobbies just to get some hugs from their grand kids. And I think Kevin's mom deserves some big kudos this time because even though she had a total knee replacement surgery a few months back, she was able to make the big trip. Nana and Pappaw were really flexible with whatever we threw their way. They brought us goodies, gave Kevin and me some date times together, were my constant dishwashers, and played "Hi-Ho Cherry-O" for hours on end with the girls! Hooray for grandparents! We were excited to show them our new city. Of course, we had to make it to Old Town one evening. And unknown to us, the city was hosting a huge dinner at Old Town to celebrate the new year for the Y minority on their lunar calendar. The funny thing is most Y people don't even celebrate this holiday (because they generally celebrate the Han Lunar New Year), but the local gov't wants to encourage business and tourism so they threw a big bash. The main street, which normally has cars hustling and bustling through, was closed down and instead hundreds of people were sat down to dinner.

They also had several stages and performances going at each stage. Most of the songs they danced to or sang had drinking as a big theme.

Folks would also walk around and sing to various tables. Again, most songs were drinking songs. Basically, they were singing, "Bottoms up!"

Back at the house, in preparation for Thanksgiving Nana and Pappaw were able to help us work on our Thankful tree.

Here's just a little bit of what we're grateful for this year. You can tell my 5 year old contributed quite a bit to the tree.

Thanksgiving Day 2011. You have to love the camera timer. And the seriously intense face on my 2 year old. Don't let these pics fool you...she is a HAM to the CORE and as crazy as the rest of us!

We had lots of time for pretend tea parties, reading books together,

morning snuggles on the couch,

and good old play time at the swings.

One day Kevin's dad got to join him in seeing some of the countryside, and on another day Kevin took his parents up to Dali to enjoy a little cormorant fishing.

We also headed to the big city for a few days of vacation and showed them around the big zoo. Nana's new knee held up well with all the stairs! I was really impressed!!

We hoped to hold a tiger cub again, but when we got to the "animal kindergarten" these were the only cubs we saw. And no one was going to be holding these big beasts. Do tiger cubs really grow that quickly in 4 months or are these different ones altogether? Guess we'll never know.

But you can always count on some fun Chinglish signs to add to the day's entertainment.

At the panda exhibit we had to bust out our best Kung Fu Panda imitation. Pappaw threatened to make this our next p....r card, for those of you who know what I mean. :)

Nana and Pappaw, thank you for blessing us and making the trip. We are certainly grateful for your support and encouragement. We love you!

learning from my daughter

2011-11-15T23:30:00.006+08:00

Grace had her first-ever kindergarten performance a few weeks ago. Yes, indeed, Grace danced beautifully and had a great time. But even something as simple as a school performance can get interesting when you throw a little cultural misunderstanding into the mix.
Generally, information in this country is on a need-to-know-only basis. Or should I say, information is generally given at the last possible minute. Many of my local friends think it's odd we foreigners like to plan things out SO FAR in advance! I knew from Grace's teacher they would be having some sort of performance around Halloween weekend but info. was sketchy even 2 days out. [On a side note, we have lived overseas nearly 7 years and this was the first year it seemed to me people even knew about Halloween. Ugh, of all the holidays to get imported and passed on over, this one is not my favorite but I won't get going on that subject.]
So, on Thursday of that week I asked Grace's teacher when the performance would be, and she said they hadn't decided yet. On Friday I picked her up and they said Grace needed to be at school that evening for a rehearsal and that the performance would be Saturday. She gave me 2 slips of paper, one inviting all parents to come to the performance, which had all the regular admonishments to "be cultured," "not throw trash on the school grounds," etc. etc. And the other small note simply mentioned the kids would be dressing up in costumes and asked the parents to make sure boys wore dark pants. There was NO mention of what the girls should wear. I even had my friend double-check with me to make sure I read the Chinese correctly.
When I picked Grace up from her rehearsal Friday evening, the teacher asked me if Grace had any "princess dresses." I said she has a Snow White dress (since that was what Grace wanted to wear this year), and the teacher said, "Perfect, have her wear it!" Grace told me on the way home that the teachers tried to have her try on some dresses, but none of them fit. They were "WAY too short" as she put it. Yes, even at 5 my foreigner child towers over her peers. I told Grace "No problem! You can wear your Snow White dress and have so much fun!" She agreed and was excited to wear her Snow White dress for the big dance.
So here were my assumptions based on the little information I had: Each class would do some sort of performance, kids could dress up however they wanted, and the school would provide little costumes for kids who didn't have any. Ummmm, no.
The performances were not done according to classes. Not all the kids at the school gave performances, only a few kids in the older classes. The dancers were put together from various classes and were supposed to all wear the same little costume.

The school went all out and decorated. I mean, they even wrote "Happy Hallo" on the wall.

I had dropped Grace off earlier that day at the school's request. The kids were going to practice again. And, apparently put on make-up for all the little girls. Grace saw me come in with Trinity and was so happy to see us. Daddy was out of town and hated to miss this but I recorded it for him. (And because I was trying to keep an eye on Trinity while also recording Grace's performance, I'm totally claiming that as the reason for the following poorly-photographed moments!!) 5 little pumpkins got up to dance first. This should have been my first clue. I'm slow, people. And then Snow White and the other dancers got ready for their big dance. Hmmm, which one of these is not like the others? My heart kind of sank a little when I saw how different Grace's outfit looked. As if being the only white kid in the bunch didn't make her stick out enough. But you know what? My big girl got out there and danced beautifully and didn't miss a step. She had a blast from start to finish. Didn't even mention one time the entire evening about wearing a different outfit from the other kids. As my mother pointed out later, even as a kid of five I would have been MORTIFIED to be the "different" kid in that scenario.
I praise God for giving Grace a personality that doesn't mind being a little different. I truly pray that as she grows up, she doesn't mind going against the flow if it's for the right reasons. I pray her growing-up years, especially her middle school ones aren't plagued with constant insecurity like mine were. I was so proud of you Grace!!
Thankfully, Grace's performance was one of the first because afterward, this little bundle of energy decided she needed to explore the playground. And keeping up with her was no small feat that evening. I'm not sure if Trinity or Grace had more fun.

October picture dump

2011-11-02T20:38:00.006+08:00

October, we barely knew thee. It felt like one of the fastest recorded months in our family history and included a visit from friends, lots of work and home school, Grace's first ever performance at her local school (more on that later), and quite a bit of travel/business for Kevin. I'm so excited it's November!! The first part of October we had some sweet friends hop on the overnight train to come visit us. We all had so much fun having them in our home for a few days! Of course we had to show them the highlights of our city.

Thank you, J and S, for coming to see us!

It only took 6.75 years, but I finally found some friends to give me Chinese cooking lessons. Of course, I've asked friends before to teach me and they just say, "Oh, I can't really cook anything special, just stir fry." Most folks cook at home by adding various combinations of oil, garlic, salt, ginger or soy sauce to meat and veggies and voila, you have dinner. So I was thrilled to have friends take me step-by-step through the process. The different thing about Chinese cooking is people hardly ever write down any recipes; you really just throw in a little of this and a little of that. But my friends allowed me to watch and write down step by step how they make their food. There are a few things I will change to fit our preferences, but it was a fun night seeing how they prepare meals.

Our yummy meal included a veggie we call bok choy, braised pork, seaweed, stir fry potatoes, a cold noodle dish, sausage, greens, and egg and tomato soup.

I had to include this picture from October just because I love it...

Fridays have become Grace's favorite day at home school because that's the day we do science experiments. Here we are mixing an acid and a base (vinegar and baking soda) to made fizz. And yes, you read that right, we used "Arm & Hatchet" baking soda. Gotta love the knock-offs here.

Since we have no traditional, round orange pumpkins in town for fall, we settled for painting butternut squash and xiaogua, a kind of veggie that is round and green and tastes like zucchini. The girls loved it!

And on Monday night, after a really hectic 4 days, daddy was home and we threw on some play clothes last minute and went to a few of our foreign friends' homes to trick or treat. We had a volunteer friend in town who has a grown son and encouraged us to savor these days with young children because they pass quickly and soon enough we'll be wishing we had little feet running around once again. Words of wisdom right there.

One of our friends had her dog greet us at the door dressed like an Arkansas Razorback fan. So cute!

After climbing 15 flights of stairs to go to 4 different homes, Grace and Trinity went home and enjoyed some candy corn for the first time ever. A friend had just come back from the US and was thoughtful to bring them some.

They both gave it a big thumbs up.

And there you have a little bit of life happenings from October.

also from last month

2011-10-06T22:29:00.005+08:00

In September:

We celebrated Mid-Autumn Festival once again. It's the 2nd biggest holiday here. Most folks get together with family, eat dinner, eat moon cakes, and gaze at the moon. Since our friend couldn't go home for the holiday we had her over to our house. We served moon cakes for her and chocolate cake for us. (I'm the only person in my family who will even attempt to eat a moon cake, and I can only stomach the fruit-flavored ones.) In our house, chocolate cake in the shape of a moon = moon cake.

We discovered a beach in our city! I know, we live in the mountains, but somebody decided we needed some sand in our lives. (Think man-made lake with sand hauled in from somewhere.) We had fun one evening making sandcastles and skipping rocks into the lake.

After almost a week of constant rain, we resorted to swimming in the bathtub for some indoor entertainment. Somehow bath time seems more special when wearing swimsuits. (Can you tell we bought Grace's swimsuit in Asia with the matching swim cap and all?)

And we discovered Trinity is a snuggler. I know I posted this pic on fb but felt the need to post it here too. Grace and Trinity take turns sleeping on the top/bottom of their bunk bed. But most nights, especially if Grace is sleeping on the bottom bunk, Trinity will crawl in right beside her. It's funny to go in and check on them each night and see who is sleeping where. Grace told me sometimes when Trinity climbs over and starts talking with her she just closes her eyes and pretends she's asleep. Smart girl. That Trinity is a NIGHT OWL and would probably be nocturnal if I let her.

You might be able to see Trinity's swimsuit jammies here, too. Thankfully she's out of this stage since it's getting COLD here but for about 2 weeks straight Trinity wanted to wear a swimsuit to bed. This girl already has lots of opinions about what she'd like to wear each day.

And now that these pictures are off my camera, maybe I can start blogging from October.

deja vu

2011-09-26T22:42:00.004+08:00

I guess it's a toddler rite of passage. It is in our house anyway. You know, look in mommy's drawer, play with her jewelry, try to apply some makeup. So when I saw this face this week,

it reminded me of big sister circa 2008...(even the sheepish look of "how much trouble am I in?")

I do love my wild and crazy, sweet and zany, girlie-girls. Even when they ruin a tube of lipstick.

guess who

2011-09-20T20:50:00.003+08:00

...finally decided she likes wearing pig-tails? Since she still doesn't have lots of hair, I'm not sure you can technically call these pig tails,

but that's what we call them.

She's pretty pleased with herself when she wears them. Until she decides she's had enough and takes them out, that is.

Baby girl, with your curly locks I have a feeling we have lots of hair adventures ahead of us.

Sunday evening picnic

2011-09-15T23:35:00.003+08:00

the two schools

2011-09-04T21:52:00.004+08:00

And here we go. On Friday, August 26 my big girl officially became a kindergartner. She's been excited for MONTHS about home school. On our first day she said at least 15 times, "Mom can you believe that I am in home school now?" And here's my confession: I've been totally overwhelmed at the thought of being in charge of my child's formal education. OK, I know the following is true: I've been her educator since birth, she's smart as a whip, she loves to learn, and kindergarten is not rocket science. Still, somehow being in charge of her formal schooling has made me, well, nervous I might mess it up!

We are only 6 days in, but so far I am having more fun than I ever imagined. It helps that Grace is highly motivated and can't wait to "go to home school" each day. She is such a fun kid to teach!! In fact, she's already been sounding out words for a while and has begun to read, so knowing she's on target has made me relax a bit.

Our newest apartment is smaller than our last one, but what I love about it is that we have a huge balcony we enclosed with windows to make into a great home school spot. It's been fun getting Grace's "school room" together. My mom brought a little chalkboard over this summer, and Grace made sure I wrote "Mrs. Godin's kindergarten" on it. No, she still calls me Mom during school but it seemed fun at the time.

Grace is very proud of her desk and will give anyone who comes to our house a little tour of her home school spot.

We've been having class while Trinity naps in the afternoons. It works for us. Sometimes Sissy wakes up before we are done and wants to get in on the action.

And note to self: keep the school supplies away from my 2 year old. One afternoon when she was supposed to be napping and we hadn't started school yet, Trinity snuck into the home school area, found a white board marker and went to town.

We've still wanted Grace to be involved in Chinese kindergarten, so from 8:30-11:30 each morning she attends a very nice school a few minutes from our house. We are so thankful to have found a clean, professional-looking, clean, bright and happy, clean kindergarten. (Are we catching a theme here? The teachers actually wipe down tables and clean toys and disinfect every day. I almost fell over in my chair when I heard that!)

Schools here began on September 1st. Grace had a great first day! She didn't even really seem nervous although she had trouble sleeping the night before. She loves her teacher and had positive things to say about her "other school." (Yes, it was cold enough for a jacket that morning. So sorry to my TX and OK friends sweltering in that 100 degree heat.)

When we arrive we have to knock on the door and wait for a security guard to open it. (Since Grace eats breakfast at home we arrive a little later than the other kids.) On the first day the security guard just stared at me with his mouth open, and I promised him my child was enrolled and coming for class! Ha!

Here's the big open courtyard where the kids do morning exercises and have recess. I've seen Grace's classroom before but didn't get a picture that first day because the teacher walks out each morning and escorts Grace to class on the 3rd floor. And now you've seen Grace's two schools. And none of the classic first-day-of-kindergarten-tears were shed by Mom, one of the benefits of home school.

resurrecting the camera

2011-08-12T22:51:00.003+08:00

I've been horrible about taking pictures lately. And I rarely take my (big) camera out of the house anymore. But this week I've actually pulled out the camera a few times and taken some shots around the house. Last Friday Kevin and I got to celebrate our 14th anniversary! The real date was actually back in July, but Kevin was out of town at the time. PTL for friends who offered to babysit! We had a great evening out together. I'm so thankful for my man and our 14 years together. Grace actually took this picture and felt like big stuff for getting to use mom's camera.

This week some friends said, "Let's have a tea party!" So we did! It was great fun and was Grace's first "real" tea party. You know, with real cups and plates instead of plastic ones. Ha! We had the tea party at our house since Trinity was napping, but my friend brought all the beautiful tableware. It made me realize that while I have actual cups and saucers in storage in America, I've never purchased such items here. Glad my friend had some! We had a great time together. Grace opted for juice instead of tea but told me later that she "held her pinky up" to be fancy. Wish I'd taken note at the time!

I love that my girls love books. And I love that Kevin is such a great daddy!

This morning I went to take some video of the girls and they ended up watching several home movies on my flip phone. They laughed and laughed at themselves.

Nana and Pappaw sent a package with some fun matchy clothes. Thank you so much Nana and Pappaw!

As for the rest of these pictures? Well, no explanation needed. Let me just say once more, we do NOT lack for personality at our house. (Or drama for that matter, but I won't go into detail to protect the privacy of said drama queens.) I love my girls and despite some drama each day, we have so much fun together. We almost always go outside each morning but today we just played with toys and read and had a great time laughing together. I am so blessed to have these babes.

over the mountains and around the cows...

2011-08-06T23:55:00.006+08:00

Our friend invited us to her village the other day. We were excited! It's not everyday a person around here invites you to their hometown, so we readily accepted. (And hey, my friend knew we could drive her so that's a bonus considering there's not a very regular bus to her village!) Summer here means it's rainy season, which can also make it tricky navigating mountain roads (due to potential mud slides). So the night before we were set to go it had been POURING rain for hours. And at first we decided not to go. But then our friend got a call from her mama saying it wasn't raining in the village and they were expecting some company (in other words, come TODAY!) So thankfully the rain stopped by then and we were on our way. Once we got off the highway, it was a windy, bumpy road and both my girls said they were getting sick so we took a little breather. I even flew off my seat at one point the roads were so bumpy!!

This picture below of Grace makes me laugh. When I told her it would help her stomach feel better if she watched the road, she proceeded to STARE DOWN the road. I mean, she didn't take her eyes off. She wanted her stomach to feel better!

All concerns about car sickness were gone by the time we got to the village and Grace got to see another Wilbur-looking pig.

and we even got to feed some of them

Can you guess what this is? Yep, they brew their own beer.

Here's a picture of my friend's family home.

And here's the meal they served, which included white beans, chicken, tofu, greens, and the best mushrooms I've ever eaten. They grown them right on their mountain.

This cutie-pie lived right next door and was around Trinity's age.

My friend let me try on her hat worn for special holidays. (My mom bought one like this to take home with her to Lubbock, USA!)

And we found a vest that fit Kevin.

But it all looked much better on our friend and her father!

You know what I love about this picture? Folks are doing business here buying and selling peppers and mushrooms and my Trinity is right in the middle of it all singing the Sound of Music.

After lunch my friend walked us to the "new village" part of the village. The gov..t has given villagers a portion of the money needed to build new homes, and many families are building right now.

My friend's family hopes to be moved in to their new home before the lunar New Year.

Another view of the new village homes

We also walked over to pick some fruit right off the trees. You might ask me, "What fruit?" And I would have no idea what it's called. My friend didn't even know what it's called in the national language. It tasted like a small tart apple but well, wasn't.

None of the ladies from the village (except my friend) could speak the national language. Their cultural identity and language has been kept very well intact.

Trinity ate at least 4 or 5 of these apples/whatever-they-are-called-fruits.

We made some memories today.

and Part 2

2011-07-12T22:20:00.005+08:00

After returning home from Dali where we had sunsets like this (a view from our hotel) we had a few days back at home, where we also celebrated July 4. Some friends had planned a small gathering/fireworks show, and Kevin and my dad had a great time setting off fireworks.

Trinity wouldn't go near the sparklers, and she and I stayed at home and listened to the fireworks from afar while the others went. But seriously, my dad and Kevin had a super time. What is it about males (of any age) and fire?!

Right before my mom and dad had to fly home, we set out for the big city (since that's also where the airport happens to be!) A friend had told us to check out the zoo, and we're glad we did. It's called a "safari park" because much of the zoo is seen via a tram that takes you through a path where animals are roaming free and uncaged. These guys below WERE caged, but you could feed them. For a fee, you could feed just about any of the animals at the zoo. They even had bottles to feed the fish. That just didn't seem right!

And really, where except Asia can you pay $1.50 and get to hold a tiger cub? Papa Jim couldn't pass up the opportunity. He asked Trinity if she wanted to hold a tiger and she said, "OK!"

Grace figured that since baby sister could get close, it must be alright.

But when we got to the big cats, we saw some serious warnings. :)

And yet, for a mere $2 you could feed them.

So that's what we did.

They were adept at jumping up to catch that raw meat.

We've seen some bad Chinglish here, but this one is, well, interesting. Somehow the "beasts of prey" exhibit sign got translated into the "Breast of Prayer Animal Region."

More folks feeding the wild "breasts of prayer."

We decided the giant pandas have quite the good life. All they do is sleep and eat! Other highlights from Granna and Papa Jim's trip:

watching Mom join in the minority dancing outside our apartment one evening
listening to Trinity say "Papa Jiiiiiiiim"
Mom and Dad watching the girls so Kevin and I could go out on dates
Mom, ever the teacher, giving Grace a reading lesson
riding on a boat in the rain, and enjoying the local amusement park together

Mom and Dad, thank you for coming and blessing us, for lugging all kinds of stuff over from America, and for loving on us so well. We love you!

Granna and Papa Jim's visit, Part 1

2011-07-11T22:43:00.006+08:00

My parents made the trek across the Pacific to see us again! Hooray! We had a great visit, and I think my mom and dad enjoyed visiting a new (read: cooler!) part of the mainland. The fun thing was we went to a few places which were new to us, as well. My dad was a trooper; on day 2 after arriving he got to be jostled in a car on dirt/rocky roads for several hours. He said it's the best cure for jet lag! I took so many pictures that I decided I'd break this up into two posts. (Photo overload to follow...you've been warned!) Of course we had to visit Old Town and take them to our favorite restaurant there. where we have also recently discovered bumper boats!

love this pic

A few days later we made our way to Dali, my new favorite place on the mainland. It was gorgeous! Here we are aboard a cable car. Please notice the broken plexi-glass behind my firstborn. "This did not bless my heart" as Kristen would say. But, knowing that our lives are in the Lord's hands (and noticing thankfully that Europeans built this contraption) we boarded the cable car up the mountain. Oohing and aahing ensued.

Mom and Dad loved it. I think Grace and I were the only ones not really comfortable with the heights we soared.

This is called, "fake it till you feel it." I was still a bundle of nerves.

But getting to the top was worth it. This picture below makes me want to sing, "The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music..." 1. because of the beauty and 2. because my mother introduced Grace to the Sound of Music on this trip. Grace is completely enthralled with the von Trapps now, so much so that we've had to google them and read all about their lives. It's been enlightening. We thought Aunt Kimberly would be so happy to know Grace loves the movie now!! (And that Kevin hasn't groaned at all about it!)

Kevin found some monster-sized checkers pieces to push around...

The girls wanted to take a little boat ride. It calmed them down a bit from the local paparazzi trying to photograph their every move.

This path would not really fly in the US, what with the lack of safety rails next to the waterfall, but we don't let safety schmafety get in our way here.

My big girl in the mountains...

The next day we boarded some cozy little boats

to watch these cormorant bird go fishing.

Got one!!

Our guide offered to let us hold the birds, so of course we had to give it a try.

They were heavier than they looked!

It is an odd feeling to have a bird on your head.

but we liked it. (Well, all except the girls who wouldn't go near the big scary birds!!)

I thought Grace looked quite the part of the tourist.

Part 2 tomorrow...

first looth tooth

2011-06-22T22:03:00.003+08:00

Two days after Grace turned five, we were sitting down to dinner and Grace asked me when she would start losing her teeth. She's noticed several "big kids" who've lost teeth and has been ready to join the ranks. I told her (again) it would probably be another year before her baby teeth started falling out. I'm not kidding, 20 minutes later Grace bit into a carrot stick and told me her bottom tooth was loose. I didn't believe her since we had just been talking about loose teeth and all. I thought she was imagining it. But sure enough, there was some blood and that sucker was loose. Another two days passed and it fell out. The other bottom tooth is loose too, and I can see her big tooth breaking the gum line where her baby tooth fell out. Sniff, sniff, she's really growing up. One funny thing is that Grace had NO concept of getting money for teeth. We told her we'd put her tooth under her pillow and in the morning she would find some money. She thought that was the weirdest thing she'd ever heard and asked why we didn't just give the money to her straight! Ha! It's times like these I realize she is having an altogether different childhood that I did.

village trip

2011-06-21T22:30:00.003+08:00

We took the girls out for a little trip to some villages yesterday. This area was gorgeous! a narrow, bumpy road leading to a small village...

Grace named this pig Wilbur, of course, since she thought he looked about Wilbur's size.

a village home

chicken coup and firewood

this is backbreaking work

gorgeous.

A Whole Hand

2011-06-16T22:32:00.004+08:00

Grace turned FIVE this week. Five years old! And on top of that, she's about to lose her first tooth. I'm telling you, the loose tooth has gotten to Kevin and me more than her turning five. Is she really old enough to be hitting these kinds of milestones? It still feels like only yesterday she was a toddler running around. Grace has changed so much this year, especially in the last 6 months. We've seen much growth physically, (she grew 2 inches in 2 months!) spiritually, and mentally. She is inquisitive, smart as a whip, and a great big sister. We celebrated two days early with a little party on Saturday. We began the day by letting her open something she's been wanting for at least 6 months, a scooter. I've never seen her happier about a present before. I think the 6-month wait was good for her. She has been permanently attached to this thing all week! Since we are still new to town, I had no idea who we would celebrate Grace's birthday with this year. We invited 4 little kids, one of whom couldn't make it and one who had to be late. But then one of my friends asked if she could bring along some kids she teaches and I said, "You bet!" One thing about Grace is she loves meeting new people. And she loves a good party. She's my social butterfly. The thought of having new friends she'd never met before really excited her. When I explained to her that most of the kids probably wouldn't bring gifts and that we had already opened her gifts earlier in the day, she was totally fine with that. I was so proud of her. She just wanted friends there to celebrate with!

Here's Trinity with a few cupcakes, san icing. Our local friends typically don't like sweets that are over-sweet, especially icing. Trinity had been sick for a few days prior to the party, and I was prepared to have the party outside if needed. I didn't want to expose anybody if I thought she was still sick. Trinity woke up Saturday morning feeling great, so we had the party inside. Unfortunately, she got really sick again that afternoon and stayed sick for a few more days. I guess she just wanted to be well for the party!

We started off our time coloring, to break the ice. These kids colored diligently and with such great care that I had to finally move them on to another activity before they were finished.

This little cutie wanted to wear his formal attire for the party. He's a friend Grace and Trinity have enjoyed playing with in the evenings at our apartment complex.

And who doesn't love a little Pin the Tail on Bullseye?

Grace wanted a Jessie cake this year. Let's just say PTL for edible cake toppers which can be ordered online. This cake topper was mailed to my mother-in-law, who mailed it to our previous city, which we also moved 800 miles to our new city. Oh the things we do for our kids! :) Grace loved it, though. Can you see that huge, hideous candle? A friend gave it to me sort of as a gag gift (it lights up huge, opens, and plays music forever). Grace saw it, loved it and wanted it on her Jessie cake.

The party really got hopping when we played a balloon game.

And the favorite seemed to be the Wii! Grace was so excited because she beat a big 9 year old boy at Wii boxing. (Have I mentioned this girl is competitive!?)

Here's most of the crew, minus 2 kids. I have to say, this might sounds trivial but I was extremely thankful and felt like the Lord himself sent these kids here for Grace's birthday. A few months ago, when we discovered we were moving, my initial reaction as a mom was to worry about more transition for my kids. Then the next day I heard a woman speak who raised kids overseas. She said the Lord has put our entire families together and it's not a surprise to Him that our children live overseas, too. He knows their needs and their little personalities. This sounds so basic but it was freeing for me and it hit me right where I was at the time. For Grace, it was important for her to have some little kids to celebrate with. And she ended the day by saying things like, "this was the best birthday party I've ever had" and "I wish this day would never end."
At the end of the day, we were trying to encourage Grace and tell her the ways we have observed growth in her this year. We also told her how proud we are to have her as our daughter. Then she asked, "Are you also proud that I can beat a 9 year old boy at wii boxing?" Love you, big girl.

look who came to town

2011-06-15T22:58:00.003+08:00

Our first house guests came to town last week! The O family had a trip planned to our province and came a couple of days early (and a few hours west) to come see us. We were so excited to see them and grateful they made the time to come. We made our way to a few of our fun spots in town. Here are the kids at Old Town.

I loved this picture of these two.

The day we went to Old Town was also Dragon Boat Festival, so there was a carnival atmosphere in the air.

Notice all the people gathered around to watch the foreigner kid in the boat. She was the only kid in the water at the time.

We also went to a local park. Betcha didn't know we have our very own "cruise services."

Please don't be jealous of our cruise ships. Here's the boys' boat.

And my dear friend hanging out in the girls' boat.

with Miss H at the wheel.

Thanks for taking the time to come see us, O family! We are sad this goodbye will be longer than the last one. Until next time...

I've started grabbing my camera again now that the boxes are unpacked

2011-05-22T23:32:00.004+08:00

The move to CX went smoother than we could have imagined. Thankful. So, so thankful. The O fam kept our girls the night before our move so Kevin and I could get up early and meet the movers by 7 am. We were completely loaded by 10:30! Originally I thought we were moving 600 miles away, but it was actually more like 800 miles. The guys moving our stuff drove all night and were at our new house by 8:30 the next morning. We could NOT believe it! They were so tired that they didn't want to unload, so they sub-contracted with some of our security guards at our new complex. Not a bad idea. Our furniture took some major hits and bumps on the journey but we were grateful it all arrived. The last 2 weeks have been full of unpacking, settling, being sick, meeting new people, and Kevin traveling. It's been a whirlwind. But this past week we had 2 occasions to get out with the girls and enjoy some sites around town. Our apartment complex has lots of beautiful flowering trees. Let me just say that this picture of Grace below scares me a little. Where did she learn to pose like that?

And Trinity? She's all about accessories right now. Sometimes she even steals some of mine.

We took the girls to "Old Town," the touristy part of our new city. It has lots of restaurants, some rides, games, and shops.

And I like the architecture.

We ate at the Y minority restaurant, and it was a hit with my girls since everyone sits at a kid-sized table with little stools. Grace and Trinity both loved the "gan ba," which is dried beef.

There's also a man who sets up every night and makes various animals out of caramel. Here are the girls waiting for their butterfly they got to share.

They loved it!

Actually, it took all four of us to finish it.

Old Town at night

And on Saturday we went to the local park. We missed parks when we lived in CZ, so this has been a welcome find.

There are even a few swings! Granted they are way too high off the ground and have concrete below, but we'll take them!

Grace, again with the posing. She does this all on her own!

Grace had fun doing some painting. There's also a small bird and flower market attached where you can stare at all kinds of cute animals. We have already puppy-sat for a friend a few times this month, and let me tell you seeing my girls with puppies really makes me want one! But the practical side in me says, "no way!" At least not for now.

Because that same night I cut a few inches off of Grace's hair, and because she was so excited about having "shorter hair," I had to take a picture.

We are settling in well and are thankful for this new city! The girls and I have spent hours outside each day because the weather here really is great for doing so. And the girls have dug right in to play with local kids. That's been fun. We have a guest bedroom, so come visit! Two nights ago Grace and Trinity started sharing a room. THAT'S been funny to listen to. Mostly it's been Trinity yelling, "Grace?! Graaaaace! We go to sleep!?" Grace is learning that if she doesn't talk back to her sister, she won't keep bugging her. It's been going well so far! I hope as they grow up sharing a room they can talk and giggle and share hearts.

What I'll miss

2011-05-05T00:16:00.003+08:00

the unique beauty of this province Chillin' in 3-wheeled vehicles

Living close enough to cousins that they can drop on down for a visit

Getting to watch this tiny cutie-pie get bigger

Community with these amazing folks

friends who love our girls enough to always pretend to lose at strength competitions

fun and crazy friends who know how to make us laugh

friends we've spent holidays with

friends who after 3 years feel more like family than friends... Thank you O family for sharing your lives with us, for letting us learn from you and with you, for your friendship, and for your servants' hearts. Thank you for keeping us sane, for seeing us at our worst and still loving us, for giving us a great example in how you parent your kids, and for just being your wonderful selves. Thank you just doesn't seem like enough. We will miss you more than you know.

Tonight, I'm a bit melancholy but also extremely thankful for this season in our lives.

Our big move is on Friday. Lord willing, we'll catch you on the flip side in our new town.

didn't want to miss this

2011-05-03T22:24:00.005+08:00

An event we didn't want to miss before moving was the wedding of our sweet friends. Yesterday, they became husband and wife! Actually, in the eyes of the gov't here they were married the moment they registered for their marriage license, but yesterday it became official before God! Here's the bride getting ready for the day. And here's her bouquet, made by my friend Jill! Apparently, Jill went to youtube to find out how to make a bridal bouquet, and voila! Here it is. I thought she did an amazing job.

At the hotel, the groom waited for his bride. Here's his first glimpse of her...

And they are on their way!

It's customary to dress up the bridal car for the couple to drive to the wedding together. Do you recognize that driver?!

The venue

Typically, weddings here only includes a big feast, since the couple is considered married when they register. Most folks don't have the traditional ceremony as we envision, but our friends wanted to be able to share about the Hope that they have and included scripture reading, vows, and music in the ceremony.

Hannah sang at the wedding and did a beautiful job! Her mom and dad also sang and emceed the entire wedding. The O family wore many hats that day!

Just married

There were many wonderful, normal guests there...

and a few crazies, too.

Congratulations, dear friends!!

Easter weekend

2011-04-26T23:04:00.006+08:00

We are packing furiously this week but had a great Easter weekend with friends. "Resurrection holiday" as it's translated here is almost completely unheard of in our city. What a natural time to talk about the Hope that we have! We were blessed to have some friends come visit for the weekend. My girls were in heaven having so many friends to play with! Miss H. is so good with Trinity! She is often looking for ways to serve and is a great helper. And here's the crew right before the hunt. Please note the classy use of plastic bags. I had neither the time nor the foresight to scrounge up Easter baskets this year. Fortunately the kids didn't care at all! Found one!! Sunday morning I started taking pictures and these two cuties felt the need to hold up their favorite toys for the photo. Trinity watched and followed suit. Had to post this one cause I love it... Sunday morning Rob did a great job of leading us in worship and involving the kids, too. Here's a re-enactment of the resurrection! Kevin is the stone and the boys are watching guard over the tomb. The stone was rolled away!! Truly, He has risen! Hope your Easter weekend was fantastic!

just along for the ride

2011-04-21T21:09:00.003+08:00

Life is marching on quickly these days, and I need to get a few things written down before I forget it all. And I want to lift up some thanksgiving because He is certainly due it. There are times in life (at least it's been my experience) when nearly everything seems a struggle and there are lots of question marks. And then there are times when He makes the path so straight it's almost scary. He is GOOD in both situations. And He can get glory in either scenario. For some reason, God has chosen to make the path really straight thus far for our move to CX. He has been so gracious in this to remind us over and over that this is the path He has planned for our family right now.

I headed to CX earlier this month with no plans to return until I found an apartment. After a day and a half straight of looking at apartments, I had two housing options suitable for our family. One option was a bigger apartment but in a location we did not like (ie not easy to meet people, buy groceries, etc), and the other was a smaller but still great apartment in a location with a wonderful community feel. (This has been our biggest request.) The only hold-up was that the landlord had told the previous tenant not to even put a nail in the wall. She had fixed up the place and wanted it to stay as-is. And while I like the color orange, it's not my favorite choice on a wall. So, loving the apartment (minus the decor), its location, its view, its proximity to getting around town, etc etc, I called the landlord telling her I was interested in moving in but could I paint and change some things such as adding some kitchen cabinets? After checking with her husband, she gave me a big YES. But, the catch was she was in BJ at the time, a 40 hour train ride away. She said she would come back to CX a full day earlier than planned to sign a contract on the 12th. So, zip bam boom while she made that long 40 hour train ride home I got busy ordering and reserving things for our new home, making sure not to pay for anything until I had signed the contract! And, after having dealt with many landlords in this country, I can honestly say it was the easiest contract negotiation process ever. PTL, especially since my husband is usually the main one who handles this kind of matter. Tough business negotiator, I am not! The previous tenant's contract was a 4 page, lengthy document full of restrictions. At my meeting, the landlord didn't even bring a copy of any kind of contract, since she had just gotten off the train! But my friend who helped me out that week (and who was a God-send) offered up her half-page standard contract. The landlord loved it, we signed it, I paid rent, and the landlord toted every decoration out of the apartment I didn't want. The painters started as soon as we ended our meeting. I had to keep my mouth from gaping open simply dumbfounded because I couldn't believe how easy the entire process was. Thank you, Jesus.

I ended up being gone for 6 days while my man held down the fort at home. He's such a great daddy and I can tell the girls bonded with him even more. I missed them so much and was ready to get home! Of course I have to give a big shout-out and thanks to our friends the O fam, K and J for helping out, too! We have some amazing friends.

In addition to the move, we've also had to renew our visas to live here. Last month we went to GZ to renew Grace's passport, since hers will expire on her 5th birthday in June. No new passport=no new visa. A few weeks ago the consulate wrote us that Grace's new passport was being held with 50 others in customs at the capital, apparently because the package was overweight. They told us her passport could be delayed in customs up to a month, which would be past our due date to renew visas. We were sweating it, but while I was in CX we got an e-mail that Grace's passport came. So 3 days ago while Kevin was working through lots of red tape here in the visa process, I went back to GZ to get Grace's passport. We got it all turned in with one day to spare. Whew! We are hoping they grant us the full one-year visa.

Tonight we started packing. Now it seems for real. We don't have a move date yet but hope to be in CX by mid-May. Pictures to come...

CX city

2011-04-06T22:08:00.005+08:00

I leave out on Friday night in search of housing, and tonight I wanted to post a few pictures of our new city. From the looks of the buildings, you'd think this was a large city. But by this country's standards, 200,000 people or so is not big at all! Still, it seems huge compared to where we live now. Hmmm, do you think our apartment is out there somewhere? I pray so! The most beautiful part of town is the minority/cultural area. The locals say the architecture is not authentic, since it is a mixture of Y minority architecture and architecture from the Qing Dynasty, but I appreciated the beauty just the same. When we move I'll show you more pics of this area. I absolutely loved it.

We had some tasty local Y-minority food, which apparently IS authentic. Those fried potatoes were amazing and most everything is spicy, spicy. This was our first time to eat tree moss. I thought we had discovered most everything there was to eat in this country but apparently not! I loved how they put fresh pine needles on the table before we ate. I'd never seen that before either. Does it act as a food catch-all or is there some other reason? I forgot to ask and must investigate this further.

Almost every night a group of dancers gathers around this big fire to get-down, local style. Fire is an important part of Y culture. (Forgive the poor picture quality!) Come on over and I'm sure we'll bring you here!!

Never say never

2011-03-27T20:32:00.001+08:00

I'm certain all 4 people who read this blog already know our big news, but somehow I feel the need to make it official in blogworld: WE'RE MOVING! (Again!)
Now, mind you last year after we moved to CZ my husband said, "That's it. We're not moving again!" I mean, this time we painted, purchased new air conditioners for the apartment, you know, the works. At the time I remember telling him, "Oh no! Don't say that! Now we'll be moving to (who knows where)..."
God is amazing. We did not see this move coming. Nor did we seek it out. But boy are we excited. We are sad to leave friends who are like family, but excited just the same.
In February we were approached about the possibility of a new job in a province west of where we currently live. And while at first we were hesitant, we began to seek Him about what we should do. Thankfully, He made his answer very, very clear. We are supposed to move.
So, just as James 4 reminds us, we are never to assume what/where/when we will be doing something or for how long. That's up to Him to decide. I feel like I'm on another crazy ride, but I'm excited about it because I know for certain He's initiated it all.
A few weekends ago Kevin and I had a chance to scope out our new city and meet some of the folks who live there. It made us even more excited about our move! This coming Friday I'll travel back by myself to attempt to find an apartment. And I'm not coming home until I've signed a lease on some apartment somewhere! Gulp. Our new town is notorious for being difficult to find housing for rent. Prayers would certainly be appreciated!
I look forward to sharing pictures of our new town soon. Until then, it's back to the boxes! I've realized that this is why I never spring clean...who needs to do spring cleaning when you move every year?!

TWO!

2011-03-02T22:26:00.005+08:00

We celebrated Trinity's second birthday today. It's a few days early, but Kevin and I have to be out of town this weekend. (Dad, I listened and am getting these posted before we leave!!) I'm sure I will say (have said) this every year, but I can't believe my baby is two. Then again, she's speaking like a big girl, showing preferences like a 2 year old, and has literally grown an inch in the past month. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised!
But first, how about we start with a few pictures from the past week? One morning, while Grace was at preschool, Trinity went and grabbed sister's headband and purple shoes and danced around the house to music.

She loves to turn her entire body to the side to say, "cheese."

I love her curls. I have no idea what to do with them, but I love them. And I love it when people here ask me if I curl it or if it is natural.

Such a ham!

There's the head tilt again.

This morning Trinity and I had fun together getting ready for her party. I might have even let her eat peanut butter off a spoon for breakfast, because hey, why not when it's your (fake) birthday? I might have also let her run around naked for quite a while because she really did not want to get dressed today. It was just a birthday suit-wearing kind of day. After sister got home from school we let her open some gifts. Here's an ornery face it I ever saw one.

Woody potato head was a big hit.

Of course Grace was more excited than her sister about the big day. This week she kept telling Trinity how many days until her birthday party. And she wanted to make sister a present so she made some hand-print butterflies and put them in a gift bag. Good job, big sissy!

Big birthday hug/strangle.

We enjoyed a little cake with some dear friends. Family pic is courtesy Robbie O.

This picture is so Trinity; she is always sticking her tongue out! It's her, "I'm thinking" look.

Our friends brought some sweet gifts, including this wooden "T" that H handmade for Trinity! This is one thoughtful guy!!

And another friend is a great artist and drew this rendition of Trinity on the computer and turned it into a coloring page! How cool is that?! And being ever so mindful of big sister, he made a rendition of Grace too! I thought it really looked like her!

Here are the girls posing with our friend (the artist) and his soon-to-be wife!

Trinity, I am thankful God gave you to us. You already have such a fun little personality which seems to love laughter and love people. I enjoy hearing you pray at night after Daddy, "Dear God, love you, so good, Amen." Your language has exploded over the last few months and you are conveying complete thoughts and sentences. You recently started showing preferences such as suddenly becoming picky about certain foods on certain days. Such a little toddler! You love, love to dance. Right now your favorite book is Hokey Pokey Elmo because it involves dancing. You adore your big sister and want to do things just like her, although sometimes you just want to hit her. (That's a recent development we gotta work on!) You are still a big mama's girl and follow me around like a puppy throughout the day. It's been such a great year watching you learn and grow. Happy birthday, little one, we love you!

Valentine's Day

2011-02-24T21:50:00.003+08:00

Due to illness, we moved Valentine's Day this year to the 16th, and we had a little party to celebrate. Grace and I made valentines and a heart-shaped cake and some friends came over bearing goodies as well. That evening, Kevin grilled up some of his yummy lemon pepper chicken.

Here's the crew. Kevin was totally outnumbered this day. He's getting used to it. Grace was excited to make valentines for our guests. When I told her that in the States we often put candy with our valentines, she thought I was crazy. She thought I was even weirder when I told her we should tape some chocolate to the valentines, but she went along with it.

Our guests introduced Grace to conversation hearts. (Fun, but why didn't they taste as good as I remember from my childhood?!)

And these girls came bearing gifts from America!

Trinity has no idea what a big deal silly bandz are in America (are they still big or is that so 2010?) but this girl knows how to accessorize instinctively.

Good times.

baby it's cold inside

2011-02-22T23:13:00.003+08:00

This one certainly falls under the "I'm the momma and might want to remember this later" category.

When the temperatures drop outside in the winter, they drop inside our apartment too. I know I've droned on and on about living in a refrigerator, but it's hard to describe unless you've experienced it. With no central heat and walls made of concrete, it is hard to escape the cold inside the apartment. While Grace melts in the heat and does pretty well in winter, Trinity really doesn't like to be cold. So during the coldest part of January, about 10 times a day, Trinity would come to me and say, "I want blanket!" Then, we'd go snuggle under our covers for a while. She only wanted to go to Mommy and Daddy's bed, so we'd snuggle, read a book, and get warmed up until she was ready to play again. Often in the middle of the night she'd wake up especially cold and want to warm up in our bed. And although I like the idea of letting her sleep with us, in reality no one would sleep if she stayed there long. So after a few minutes I'd tell her, "Let's go back to Trinity's bed," she would nod her head and get back in her bed. Trinity is my snuggler. Grace has joined in several times too. This was a common occurrence all winter long at our house... And bath times have been a little more rare than usual this winter. I mean, if your kid isn't super dirty, is a bath really necessary every day? When the girls did take a bath, they tried to stay under the warm water. Getting out of the tub was brutal. It made me remember Kevin's and my first winter in Asia when we lived on a university campus, the windows near our shower wouldn't close, and the bathroom would be 40 degrees. We rigged a space heater near the shower. It was NOT our brightest idea but sure helped at the time. Sometimes you just gotta live on the edge.

We usually had a minimum of 3 layers of clothes for Trinity at bedtime. Thankfully, the weather is already warming up and humid March (aka especially big hair month) is on its way!

Year of the Rabbit, abbreviated

2011-02-20T23:43:00.002+08:00

Since we headed south for Chinese New Year, we missed out on most of the festivities around town. But everyone was definitely getting in the holiday spirit before we left. We had friends bring us zongzi, candy, and shagao the night before we headed out of town. The girls enjoyed the candy and Trinity ate up the shagao (a sesame flavored, sandy-textured cake.) But none of us are big zongzi eaters. These rice and meat or date-filled concoctions are wrapped with bamboo leaves and steamed for hours. I equate it to the Chinese equivalent of tamales. They take forever to make and are done with care. But I couldn't bring myself to eat it so late at night the evening before we left town, and I couldn't bring myself to throw it in the trash. And since all my neighbors would KNOW that I didn't make it I couldn't re-gift it. So what did I do? I stuck it in my freezer. Anyone know what to do with frozen zongzi? My husband has always wanted to set off one of those huge wheels of firecrackers. You know, the really, really loud ones that aren't pretty, just LOUD. He got to do it. He was so happy.

We also bought some sparklers for Grace, because everyone loves a good sparkler. But the kind we bought this year had a little "kick" to them at the end. That is, when the sparkler was almost out, it made a huge noise and the end of it shot off like a bird. Scary, surprising, and not a good mix with a 4 year old girl. Needless to say, after one sparkler Grace let her Daddy handle the rest.

Trinity wasn't feeling well on the night of the Lantern Festival (the last official day of the holiday), but there was a big performance at the gov't complex near our home. So I sent Kevin to scope it out. He said half the town was there. Seriously. They apparently had a cool dragon performance.

And then he came home and we took the girls outside to watch the spectacular fireworks show. We had an amazing view without even leaving our apartment complex.

Happy Year of the Rabbit. My husband's a rabbit. Guess that means he's turning one of those multiples of 12 this year...and it's not 24.

it was good for my girls, too

2011-02-18T22:58:00.002+08:00

It was as much of a gift to my girls to be in Thailand for a few weeks as it was for Kevin and me.

Highlights for Grace included making new friends her age, getting to go to "class" for 4 days, making crafts, playing on a playground, and learning to jump into the pool (with Daddy to catch her of course.)
I'm pretty sure Trinity's highlights revolved around food. I learned she loves fried rice for breakfast. (What can I say? Baby girl has the most Asian food preferences of any of us!) And apparently she was the class clown/ring leader in her VBS class, so I guess one of her highlights was being an entertainer.

On one of our free days we also made it to the zoo. It was a gorgeous day! We spent lots of time at this playground. LOTS. OF. TIME. We ran in the grass barefoot. We layed in the grass and threw flowers on ourselves. We conquered all the equipment.

These two are pretty cute together. There has been discussion (between them) whether or not they are going to get married. Right now they are in mutual agreement that they won't. But they sure are good buds. It's cute to see your daughter holding hands with a boy when she's 4. Not sure about 14, though.

Grace LOVED the VBS music and was all about getting the motions right. She's still practicing them at home now! Trinity apparently did the motions in class, too. But on "family night" she gave everyone a good long stare throughout the entire two songs. Think deer-in-headlights. It was funny. Guess the poor girl hadn't ever seen so many white people in one gathering before!

Yep, good times were had by all.

on being in the sunny south

2011-02-08T22:15:00.006+08:00

Sawasdee kaa from T-land!! I can't believe it's been 3 years since we were last here. Kevin and I are currently grateful for:

the opporunity to attend some work meetings
and reconnect with friends we've not seen in a long time
and Starbucks and authentic Tex-Mex and guacamole
and watching our girls make new friends and giggle with them
and running barefoot at a playground with soft grass
and splashing in a pool
and hotel room snuggle time with the girls
and receiving good medical care with Grace not even crying when she got her shots this time
and peeling off winter layers and avoiding hours upon hours of fireworks outside our house (during Chinese New Year) doesn't hurt either. I just read about some friends who are in the big country this year for the Lunar Festival and it gave me PTSD flashbacks from last year.
But I digress. I'm also EXTREMELY grateful for the opporunity to have corporate worship in a big-group setting with childcare for my girls!! Oh my soul, I know our rejuvenation and strength should come from our daily walk with Him but there is something powerful about getting together with a large group of believers and worshipping together. Today, I am extremely grateful for a group of people who came from the US to love on our kiddos and lead us in loving Him. It's been like a balm for my soul.
I'm thankful for a God who is so tender that while He sometimes takes us on a wild path full of unexpected turns, He calmly reminds us that He's in control and is completely trustworthy. I've recently been reminded in Hebrews 5 that Christ "learned obediece through what He suffered." Really? Christ, in all His complete perfection, was still able as a human to learn and grow. That blows my mind. How much more should I be willing to learn obedience through the comparably small, tiny trials that I face.

Thank you, Lord for T-land!

random early December

2011-01-19T23:21:00.006+08:00

I feel like I can't move on to present day until I get a few pictures off my computer! With that said, I picked out a few of my favorite pre-France, early December random pictures. (Grandparents, you are welcome) :)

I don't know what to call this. Help, please? All I can say is we do NOT lack for personality around here.

Here is blue-eyes herself. Based on how she's dressed in this picture, I can't believe I took this in early December. These days Trinity is running around like a sumo wrestler dressed in 3 layers all day long. It got COLD here. Well, cold for us. It's only like 45 degrees outside. But like, 52 degrees inside our house. I wish I was kidding. No central heat + concrete apartment = multiple layers. When we first decorated for Christmas, Grace wanted to sleep with her stocking that night.

On the night of December 13, I suddenly realized Grace was now 4 and a HALF! She's been so excited to be 4 and a HALF. So we celebrated with a little half-birthday hot chocolate. And I think it was her first ever hot chocolate. (I KNOW, what is wrong with me?) She was thrilled. We sang to her, we colored a picture of a cake. That was about it. But OH, to be four and a HALF!? Now, that's something in her book.

Don't they look like they actually want to make cookies here? One of them really did help. The other just looked super cute in her purple apron.

These sweet girls really got into the decorating at our cookie-making party! This picture is one of my favorites because my child looks like a local on so many levels: the locally-bought sweatshirt, the victory sign, the abundance of hair accessories...

This friend wanted to learn how to make cookies and has some fun plans for getting her very own easy-bake oven, er, I mean real oven sold here which may or may not resemble an easy bake. I love my 2 easy bakes. Put together they add up to half a standard size oven.

After our cookie party, Trinity watched me wash dishes and then decided to "wash" a few herself. I promise, she was at this for half an hour.

And this one is posted just because I like it...

And now, perhaps I will start blogging from 2011.

Remember the time we went to France for Christmas?

2011-01-09T18:36:00.010+08:00

I think we'll be saying that for a while. Thanks to the generosity of Kevin's parents, the entire Godin clan met in France for Christmas! I KNOW, France! I have a new appreciation now for many things French. Seriously, the people were nothing like the stereotypes I had heard, the scenery was gorgeous, and don't even get me started about the food! It seems like the four main food groups in France are bread, cheese, whole cream, and chocolate. (Note to self, I can never move there or I risk gaining 30 pounds!) Kevin's sister was a great hostess and showed us some wonderful highlights from Marseilles and Paris. Thank you, Kimberly, for being so great!
Unfortunately, Kevin's mom, dad, brother, sister-in-law, and 2 nieces arrived 4 days late, on Christmas Eve. They originally planned to arrive on the 20th, but due to engine problems with their plane they missed the international leg of their flight. And because of the blizzards in Europe, the first time all 6 of them could get on another flight was 4 days later! They made the best of it while doing some fun things in the DFW area.
While we waited for the Texas bunch to arrive, we got to see some of the highlights of Marseilles. One of our first stops was at Starbucks. I know, we were in beautiful France and ended up at Starbucks. But this is a highlight for us since we love coffee and live in the land of no Starbucks. All you Asia-dwellers will appreciate this...the baked goods were just as tasty as they looked! The French know their chocolate.

A huge blessing/bonus of going to France was getting to see our dear friends, the K family! They live in the same town as Kimberly. It's such a small little world. Kevin and Daniel were roomies all 4 years in college and stood as best men at each other's weddings. The K family rearranged their schedule and allowed us to hang out with them on several occasions. One day we all went to Aix-en-Provence, a charming touristy little town. And these two girls had SO much fun together. Grace got to spend one night at C's house. Afterwards, she told us she wanted to live with C. When Kevin reminded her she still needed to live with her family, Grace's matter-of-fact reply was, "Well, maybe when you die I can live with C." WHAT?! Kids say the funniest things. Here's Aunt Kimmie and Trinity on a carousel. Kimberly knew how to make Trinity laugh!

One day we went to a park near Kimberly's house, where we happened upon scenery like this. I felt like I was standing in a post card. Coming from the land of concrete-block buildings, we appreciated the beautiful architecture.

When the Texas bunch arrived on Christmas Eve, they hadn't seen their luggage in 5 days. It went on it's own little separate journey through Europe. And it didn't arrive in France when they did. So when the luggage had still not arrived by 3 pm on Christmas Day, these three went back to the airport to retrieve 6 pieces of luggage for the Texas 6. They were victorious! It was a huge relief since we were heading to Paris the next day and the luggage had most of their warm clothes as well as warm clothes they brought for our girls. There were huge sighs of relief at that point. And that evening we opened gifts.

The Eiffel Tower was our first stop in Paris. Here she is in all her beauty. It was more massive than I imagined it would be.

We discovered in Paris that Trinity does NOT handle cold weather well. She wasn't about to spend 2 hours waiting in line in 18 degree weather. So Kimberly and I took her back to the warm hotel while the rest of the crew went up in the tower. Grace did a great job walking all over Paris and traveled wonderfully this trip. She seemed like such a big girl. It sure helped that she had 2 cousins along which she adored!

And here's the Arc de Triumph...also much bigger in person than it appears in the photos.

Notre Dame was beautiful...

Alicia and Ariel were precious to my girls. It was wonderful to get to see them and have a vacation together after the cruise debacle of Christmas '08.

My sister-in-law Crystal is a great photographer, and here's a picture she took from Kimberly's back porch.

And a family photo courtesy Crystal.

Thank you, Nana and Pappaw for getting us all together. What a blessing! Until the next crazy family gathering...

in a bloggy mood tonight

2010-12-09T22:33:00.007+08:00

I am about to confess my html ignorance. "I know nothing about working html on my blog." Whew! I feel better now. So right now my blog only writes in single space and won't indent. That is, unless I use bullet points. Go figure. Do you mind reading about my life in bullet-point format?

Grace still enjoys school. She's been a happy girl and often comes home with a sticker on her forehead for being "good." She loves to do the morning exercises with her class and wants to make sure we make it to school on time each morning because that's the first thing they do. Three days ago a boy ran up and hit her in the head a few times. The teacher saw Grace rubbing her head, but apparently no one saw who hit her. Grace said it was a "big boy" from another class. She said she didn't hit back but that she was "so frustrated." It was a teachable moment. You better believe we're watching that situation closely.

We're having a little party at our house on Saturday for cookie-making. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but it is to us. Why? Because when we moved here a few months ago I assumed we would make friends easily and host local friends all the time in our home. Sounds like a good plan, eh? To my surprise, making new friends has been a real challenge. Yes, we have local friends over for meals, but mainly ones we already knew. Yes, we have conversations often and can share Cool ideas. Kevin and I can get out separately and talk with people. But when we go out as a family Kevin and I often have to slip into "protect my children" mode because our kids are getting too much unwanted attention. So that's not always a natural way to meet new people. ("Hello, yes, we are foreigners. Would you please stop touching my child's hair because she doesn't like it! Please stop making her scream! By the way, would you like to come over for tea sometime?!") But last Saturday our family was enjoying a picnic when our girls began to play with 3 other girls in the picnic area. Then their mothers joined us. Then some more friends came. We had some great conversations with a family of 3 sisters and their daughters, all while our girls happily played together. They had us over for dumplings the next night. We're hosting a Christmas party for them. They are all from this area and don't plan on moving! Seems like we have some real budding friendship opportunities there!

I've decided I like driving Kevin's motorcycle. I KNOW! Hey, a person can change. I genuinely enjoy it. Why? For one, with my helmet on it's one of the few times I feel like I blend in. People have to look closely to see if I am a foreigner. AND how great is this? Having a helmet on also serves as great acoustics for singing. You can provide your own radio and have the same acoustics as singing in the shower! Not to mention, Alicia and I could have some great girls' night outs as biker chicks, right? Oh and I can't forget we only spend about $3.50 a week on gas.

My girls make me laugh every day right now. Sometimes they make me sigh. But laugh more than sigh. They have some pretty silly times together every night which usually culminates in one or both of them stripping off their clothes and running through the house. Be forewarned if you come visit!

Guess where we are going for Christmas? FRANCE! I know! Kevin's parents have graciously provided a way for all the family to meet up in France, where Kevin's sister lives. We are excited! And nervously trying to think of ways to make the kids sleep on the plane. But mostly, we're excited! Should be great fun!

We've had some highs and lows lately. We are trying to keep our eyes on Him and not what we see. He has been completely gracious and tender to encourage us. What an amazing God we serve!

Until next time, I'm off to pick up some of the clothes my girls stripped off not long ago...

at school and on the balcony

2010-11-19T22:53:00.005+08:00

My mom wants me to post pictures of Grace's school, so I had Kevin snap a few photos yesterday morning. Last week in class was rough for Grace but this week has been much, much better. Here's Grace at the front gate... and at the playground. There are no public playgrounds in town (besides outdoor exercise equipment) so Grace loves getting to play on this!

Wanna play Where's Waldo? Here are about half the students in class as they are finishing their breakfast of rice porridge. The other 20 students were lined up at the door to head out for morning exercises.

And for funsies, I thought I'd add a picture of our neighbor's balcony. Our neighbors just had a baby girl! The custom here for a new mom includes lots of rules regarding what she can and cannot eat. A new mom is generally required to stay indoors for 30 days after giving birth. And she can eat CHICKEN, lots and lots of chicken. As in a whole chicken a day. (My helper also said they can eat pig's feet.) So, camped out on our neighbors' balcony are 10 chickens awaiting slaughter. My girls have had fun looking at them each day. I asked my helper if it would be a good idea to give our neighbors a chicken as a baby gift, and she reminded me I probably wouldn't know how to pick out a good one. :) Guess I'll have to stick with getting the new little one some baby clothes instead.

What I want to remember

2010-11-16T22:05:00.005+08:00

Something precious to my heart right now is that for the last month Trinity has been joining her big sister for the night-time routine of Bible story with Daddy. Currently our routine is bath, jammies and brush teeth, right after which Trinity usually yells, "BIBLE!" Sometimes she will go find Kevin and tell him "BIBLE!" as if to say, "It's time now, Daddy!" After Bible story Kevin always asks the girls what they want to thank God for and for the first several days Trinity usually said, "crackers." Sometimes we don't really understand what she's saying and she often wanders off during the prayer, but it's fun to see her growing up and joining her big sister in this nightly ritual. She also joins Grace and me for a book right after prayer time.

Something else I want to remember is the last few months of watching my girls interact. Sure, they have their moments of fighting. But overall I've decided siblings are just a really fun thing to watch. These two deeply love each other and I've treasured how much they are developing into friends. Sometimes if Trinity is awake from her nap before Grace (and if I don't want Grace to sleep too long), I'll have Trinity go in with me to wake her up. Here's a picture I snapped today of Trinity's attempt to wake up her sister. I want to remember that lately Trinity gives the BEST hugs. She almost always gives me one on command at this stage in her little life. Some nights she will play a game where she goes in between Daddy, Grace and me and keep giving us hug after hug. This girl is a snuggler. I want to remember that although the days seem long right now, I should savor every moment because my girls are growing up quickly.

I want to remember that Grace is a coloring fiend right now. She sometimes colors up to 6 pages in a day. Her mind is always working and thinking of a project we can do or a way we can pretend together. She loves to dress up silly and pose for the camera.

I want to remember that although kids at school still yell "foreigner" every day Grace walks in the school gate and at times make mean faces, the other day (after being home sick for a few days) she told me she missed her 2 teachers. And I've seen some progress in her language. And sometimes she comes home and tells me she made a new friend on the playground.

I want to remember how faithful the Lord has been thus far. And how confident I can be in His goodness. I want to remember to press into Him whether I'm having a rough culture day here or whether we're having the best family day ever at Disneyland. For some reason, the rough culture days remind me more to press into Him than the carefree days. Why do I forget to pursue Him so much when life is easy?

I want to remember that although there's not much that seems "easy" right now, I know these are some of the most blessed days of my life.

all on the 31st

2010-11-03T23:23:00.003+08:00

I remember, even as a kid, generally not enjoying Halloween each year. Freaky, scary costumes just about did me in when I was young. But since my 4 year old already knows a bit about the holiday (read: dress up and eat candy) my plan for this year was to load up the girls, take them to a few houses to beg candy, and call it a night. But the young people with whom we work really got into the celebrating and made it a fun night for my girls and also for the big kids we know and love here. Here are my little ballerinas on our way out the door.

Daddy put on his Olympic hat and called himself a 2008 Beijing Olympic tourist.

Here's a fierce ninja, and eskimo, a baseball player, a Welsh emigrant, 2 ballerinas, and a mother who had to be in the picture so the small ballerina wouldn't scream.

We had some local friends who really wanted to participate in giving out candy to the kids. So one of our friends made the kids trick-or-treat into every bedroom in the house. TOO funny!

Aunt Alicia made cookies and remembered exactly how Grace likes them, sans icing. Could she BE any more thoughtful, that Aunt Alicia? I think not.

This Arkansas grannie and her little kid were HI-larious.

And ended up hosting a little fall party.

No, I don't really want to debate the merits of celebrating or not celebrating Halloween. I just want to remember that some sweet friends helped us make a memory tonight!

Don't tell them

2010-11-03T22:59:00.003+08:00

because they've never heard that girls don't like to wrestle... In fact, it's almost become part of our night time routine around here.

These two are bound to be partners in crime for quite some time.

my current favorite recipe

2010-10-29T22:02:00.009+08:00

So it's taken me literally years to get to the point where I feel like I can cook comfortably in Asia. Especially where we live now, if it isn't from scratch, it won't get made. For the longest time I just tried to get by and made the same few things over and over. Or experimented and failed miserably. Thankfully my husband is not picky and eats whatever I make!

While I'm on this train of thought, I'd like to take this opportunity and go ahead and apologize to everyone who might have visited us in the early years and ate with us in our home here. I remember serving a few really bad meals in particular to the likes of Kristen and Mike and Josh C. Ha! Truthfully I'm still learning. My newest venture is learning the ins and outs of my pressure cooker. Who new it could make water buffalo edible?! (Well, truthfully sometimes it's still a bit tough. But it makes chicken taste so tender!)

Anyway, enough of that. There happens to be a fellow ex-pat named Sara Beth who has started a recipe blog and has given me lots of ideas for meals. What's great is that almost all of her recipes I can make because she lives in the same country and has access to mostly the same ingredients, more or less. (I won't post a link to her blog here but if you want it e-mail me and I'll send it to you!) I've made several of the recipes she has posted but my favorite is probably still her calzone recipe. It's one I'll still make when we are in the good ole' US of A. Hope you try it and enjoy!

Calzone Dough (makes 4 calzones)

1 Tbs. sugar

1/4 cup warm water

1 Tbs. yeast

3/4 cup warm water

3 1/4 cup flour

1 tsp. salt

1/4 cup olive oil

Combine first three ingredients in your bowl. Allow to stand for 5 minutes and let the yeast grow. Add the additional ingredients to the bowl, adding flour 1 cup at a time. Knead the dough for 3-5 minutes. You can allow the dough to rest and rise for a while or you can go ahead and use it to make calzones. (You can also freeze the dough to use for later.)

Divide dough into 4 equal parts. Pat out each piece into a flat round piece, about 1/4 inch thick. On one half, pile toppings (save sauces for dipping rather than putting inside). Each calzone can hold 3/4 cup to 1 cup of toppings. Fold the dough over the top, making a half circle shape. Seal the ends and pinch together as best you can. Slash 2-3 vents into the top of your calzone. Bake at 450 for 10-15 minutes.
For filling, add anything you might like in pizza. Our favorites are tomatoes, onions, peppers, cheese and whatever meat we have available. We've had dinner parties with these a few times and it's lots of fun because everyone can make their calzone how they like it. (Oh, well, that and because I love it when the O fam brings over their homemade sausage!) Dip in sauces such as marinara, ranch, or bbq sauce.

technically, they were

2010-10-08T20:28:00.000+08:00

Lately

2010-09-29T22:40:00.005+08:00

Is it really almost October? Last time I blogged Grace was still getting adjusted to school and I was unsure if we would stick with the whole local school experience. Well yes, Rachel C. and all my expat friends, you were absolutely right. Grace surprised me with how quickly she adjusted to school. Now she's been hurrying us up in the mornings to get there because she's ready to go! I am so completely thankful! I think it's been good for us all...

Well, except maybe for our health....ha! Grace has been sick 2 times already and apparently pink eye is going around something fierce at school. When I got home this past weekend from a retreat (bless his wonderful heart my husband gave me a chance to get away for 3 days), I noticed Grace's eyelid seemed a little swollen and her eye was just a little bit red. I knew pink eye was going around school, but that didn't really seem like pink eye, right? Well, the next day Trinity woke up with pink eye big time, and it has spread to the other eye. Yesterday I also fell victim in both eyes. If you've never had pink eye, you don't want it! I look like something out of a horror film. Good thing my husband can't see red/green very well because he can't be scared with just how red my eyes are. Bless his heart, he's really hoping not to get it before he leaves on a trip this Sunday.

Anyway, with Grace in school I've been enjoying some one-on-one Trinity time in the mornings. Can you tell she recently learned how to smile for the camera and say "cheeeeese!?"

Sometimes in the mornings Trinity and I will hop on a 3 wheel vehicle and head further into town. The nice thing about the 3 wheelers (a motorcycle with an open cab in the back) is that I can just pick up the stroller with Trinity still inside and we are on our way. Sometimes T likes to kick back while she rides. Another benefit of the 3 wheeler cab ride; you can take pictures out the back as you ride down the road.

Here's Trinity at our open-air market. She's being bribed to stay in her stroller with a rice cake-cracker. It beats having her run around in wet, rainy mud.

Another view of our market...we have a decent supermarket in town, too, but the produce is fresher here.

We recently had Mid-Autumn festival once again. Our family was looking forward to going to the big gov't complex in town and eating mooncakes outside with other families, but alas it rained and rained and there was no moon to be found. Grace was so disappointed we couldn't have our "mooncake party" but some sweet friends who live in town were at our house and made it special for her.

They suggested we color and cut out a picture of the moon and some stars. Grace was thrilled! You'd never know we didn't get to look at the real moon. Here's Trinity trying to do her part. I'm pretty sure her mouth was stuffed with mooncake at this point.

Thank you, J and K, for saving the day!

School Days, Asian-style

2010-09-12T21:36:00.011+08:00

{This post is rather lengthy and will most likely only interest family members. Read at your own risk of boredom and don't say I didn't warn you!}

Last year Kevin and I wanted to send Grace to a local preschool to help her learn the local language and make friends. However, the logistics of getting her there and back really made it unfeasible for our family. We knew when we moved that it would be much easier to take her to school everyday.

And when we moved to our small little city we started inquiring about preschools. Almost everyone we spoke with declared that the education system here is lacking and that the better schools are in the big city. Well, considering our goals for Grace are still for her to learn the local language and make friends that's not a huge concern to us. (And we'll be homeschooling her anyway!) Every single person we spoke with told us to go to the #1, 2, or 3 kindergartens and to stay away from the small, private schools because there are no good private ones here. So we looked at the suggested schools. The #3 kindergarten was already full with over 50 children in each class and the number 1 kindergarten was close to capacity as well. Yes, that's 50 four year olds in a classroom!

So, the #2 kindergarten was still up for grabs and our dear friends were sending their son there as well. Even though they aren't in the same class, it would be nice for Grace to have a friend already at the same place. Plus, you know, they have the best playground in town. (Seriously, there are no playgrounds here in town other than at the preschools. But don't tell my girls that because they totally believe the old people's exercise equipment at our apartment complex is for kids. But that's another story for another day).

Grace started school last week, and let me say it's just a whole new world for all of us. I completely appreciate the teachers and principal because this experience of having a foreign kid in their school is new for them as well. They have been patient and tried to find ways to make Grace feel more comfortable. The first day was rough as Grace wasn't quite sure what to do during the morning exercises with the music blaring so loudly, didn't want to drink the hot water they gave her, and was scared to grab the clothes of the child in front of her to line up for the squatty potty trough-style bathroom. (I'll admit, I had some queasiness in my stomach at this point, especially after seeing a few things. For one, the teacher in Grace's class said one of the little girls had a fever, but she didn't do anything to see about sending her home or keeping her away from the other kids. I also didn't like the fact that there was no place for the kids to wash their hands after the bathroom trips!) I stayed with Grace throughout the first hour until after the kids had finished their morning exercises. When the kids went back into the classroom, the teacher was definitely not going to let me stay. Grace seemed to be fine at her little table, so off I went. Later that morning she cried when I picked her up, saying it was because they didn't color that day and she had brought a special pencil from a friend so she could draw something!

But by day 2 Grace was using the squatty potty with the other kids and getting a little more used to things...emphasis on a little. Day 3 was her best day; she declared it was a "much better day" and that she really liked school.

And then this week hit. Day 4 heading back to school was rough because our family had to be out of town for 4 days, which was just long enough of a break to get out of the routine of school. Day 5 was the first time Grace cried, begged and pleaded not to go back to school. Amongst other things, we realized she doesn't like having to go to the bathroom with the other kids if she doesn't need to go, and she dislikes not having toilet paper. I can't say I blame her! I think she has some cultural adjustments she's trying to make in her mind. So after we talked through several issues she seemed better. By Day 6 the teachers said Grace was doing much better and getting a little more involved. Tomorrow starts a new weeks and I'm ready to see how it goes!

Even though Grace doesn't want to go in the mornings and won't give me much information about what the kids actually do during class time, I still think going for a few hours each morning is good for her. She already seems a little more willing to use the local language. And she's as happy as a lark when she comes home. I figure it can't be all that bad if she comes home so happy! She has a little mini-reunion with Trinity every day when she comes home and they play well together. It's fun to watch. My mom reminded me that I need to take pictures of her school, so I'll try to do that soon Mom. Until then, you can see my big girl above heading out the door on her first day.

Just tonight, Grace told me this. "Mommy, do you know what my THREE favorite things to do are? One is going to school, another one is watching movies on our special movie nights, and my MOST favorite thing of all is spending time with you!" (Followed by a big hug.) If that didn't just about make my month, I don't know what would. That makes up for probably a whole year's worth of morning school drama!

I'm proud of you, my big girl!

just pictures

2010-08-27T22:35:00.005+08:00

Texan at heart Dancing like sister playing with a sweet friend who brought us dress up clothes

First time to be willing to get her hands dirty with finger paint

Finger paint which turned into body paint

too cool for school

yogurt face

Her rendition of Lammy

the treehouse

2010-08-23T23:28:00.002+08:00

I can look around my apartment and instantly have memories of friends who have moved on and left their belongings behind. Life overseas is filled with transitions, with people coming and going, giving and lending and receiving and sharing and packing and moving on. I truly believe it's made me hold on to things a little more loosely. When we first moved to Asia 6 years ago we filled our entire earthly possessions into 6 bags, or was it 7? It was so long ago I honestly can't remember now. But boy we have certainly expanded since that time. Loved ones are so good to send toys and clothes and gifts from home. Grandparents have been known to package an entire tent into their suitcase all to bring some joy to their granddaughters! And they've also notoriously paid for overweight luggage because they know how much fun it is to get goodies from America. Last week some of our favorite people moved into town. (Can I get a hallelujah!?) And their oldest daughter, Miss H, is growing up. She decided to pass on her American Girl doll treehouse to my girls. Now let me tell you, when I found this out I almost cried because I know that her sweet Nana brought this over from America in her suitcases (I would have loved to see how she did it!) and this was certainly no small feat. I think it would be great for Miss H to be able to pass this down to her own kids someday, but I've been told there's likely no way to get this back over the ocean once again. So, Miss H has now made my 4 year old one happy girl. We've already had lots of fun playtimes with the treehouse. Hopefully we can take really great care of it and (one of these years) pass it on to another little girl who will love playing with it too!

I'm so thankful my little girls have such a sweet friend to look up to! Thank you, H!

the grandma club

2010-08-06T23:35:00.005+08:00

Before moving overseas, and even for a long time afterward, I figured there would be a magical day in which cultural differences wouldn't really "get to me" anymore. A day in which I was so integrated into the culture that I was no longer seen as an outsider and I'd be just like one of them. I figured wrong. Or maybe I just haven't arrived there yet. I think if you talk with any expat living in this country, most would say there are periods of loving the culture and life overseas and then there are seasons where the stress of being the outsider really gets under your skin. When I take my girls out to play in the mornings, some days I feel like I'm back in junior high, not quite sure where I fit in the social order of things. Because the other kids playing outside are being cared for by their grandmothers. I've only met one stay-at-home mom in the entire apartment complex. Even at night, when the parents are off of work, it's still usually the grandparents who are outside playing with the kids. This group of grandmothers seems pretty tight and knows each other well. They are nice enough to me, but some of them are still not sure how to take these foreigners just yet. I had the most hilarious conversation with one grandmother (nai nai) just two days ago. Mind you, I've already met her on several occasions but she still can't seem to get over my, well, foreign-ness (is that even a word?) Nai nai (not even giving a morning greeting or saying hello): "Your skin is very weird. Why is your skin so white? Does your skin not get dark even if you stand in the sun?" Me: "Well, you can see I have freckles. If I stay in the sun my skin turns red and then develops freckles." Nai nai: "Well, I think your skin is very strange. Look at us, our skin does not get freckles. It just turns dark." Me: "Yes, us white folks have different skin." Nai nai: "Your daughter's eyes are not right" (yes, she literally said bu dui). Why are they blue? Our eyes are dark. Her eyes are just not right." Me: "Have you never seen a foreigner before?" Nai nai: "No, never." Yes, there's some pretty funny fodder that goes on in our morning play times. I might have to start a series on the subject because it's where all my parenting/cultural/generational gaps with the grandma group seem to loom the largest. But I'm praying and hoping we'll be good buds before long. Once they can stand to look at my white skin, that is.

in her words

2010-08-05T23:26:00.008+08:00

On Granna's last day in town, she and Grace spent a little time remembering the fun things we did together. They even wrote a little homemade booklet to commemorate the time. So, here is Granna's visit in a nutshell, as told by Grace (with a little help, of course!) The new van picked Granna up. We live on the 4th floor. I am 4. It is my favorite number! Granna loved our new apartment.

I showed her my new pink bike and rode it for her.

She read many, many books to me.

We played school together. Granna was the teacher and all the kids came to my room.

We went to N___. I got to sleep in H's bed because he wasn't home. His bed has a big slide on it! I was so excited I could hardly sleep. At the hotel, Granna and I were roommates. We had princess beds. We played with L__. We talked and laughed in a tree. (Editor's note: no actual pictures were taken on our trip to N___, therefore you get the random picture added below.)

Back at home, H, E, J and I played with finger puppets. Granna enjoyed that.

Granna also flipped a lot of pancakes that night.

Later we had fun with Daddy and some other friends at the Stone Forest Park. Granna, Daddy and I all rode on the motorcycle together.

Granna made silly movies of me. Sometimes I call her Gran for short. Granna has to go home to Papa now. She will be back. Granna loves me and my family! Guess what? I love her too!

Granna is here!

2010-07-21T22:47:00.003+08:00

Granna (my mom) has braved the long plane ride and jet lag once again. This trip makes her seventh trip to Asia, if I am counting correctly, and six of those times have been to come see us since we moved here in 2004. We are having a great time and savoring the last few days of her visit. We miss my Dad this time but know he is right where he needs to be overseeing a busy project at work. July has been a crazy month for Kevin managing lots of visitors and projects, so it has been a double-blessing to have my mom around while we are still settling into life in our new place. Granna has worked her tail off helping me get my house in shape, loving on my girls, and helping host meals for visitors. I do believe if she hadn't been here this month I might have had a few meltdowns along the way! It's been like having my own mental-health professional living here this month to keep me from going insane. Ha! God is very good. I will post more thoughts later but here are a few pictures to get us going... Here's the view from our new apartment balcony. I enjoy how peaceful (quiet!) it is where we live now. Another nice thing is we live close to local gov't officials and therefore don't have the power outages like folks do in other parts of town. The bad part is we don't live close to any markets or stores so getting out to buy things is a bit of a hassle. I enjoy our view of the karst (limestone) formations in the background! And sometimes we see water buffalo walking down the street.

This is completely random but Trinity started making this face one day and saw how we laughed when she made it. So now when we ask her to make her "excited face" this is what she does. She is such a ham!

I love this picture of these two...

See Trinity's black eye? She had a run-in with our coffee table. We've remedied the sharp corner situation but this child seems bent on getting hurt somehow every day. She's into EVERYTHING but I do love this toddler stage!

We love you Mom! Thank you for being here! More to come soon...

thoughts from the first two weeks

2010-07-02T22:35:00.004+08:00

I keep meaning to download pictures off my camera and get some blog posts going, but by the time I sit down at night lately all I want to do is sleep! So until I get around to downloading pictures, I'll write a little bit of what I've discovered over the past two weeks.

Our move went more smoothly than we could have even asked! And ironically, I like this apartment better than any I've lived in before. Go figure. Sure, this apartment has some of the funny plumbing and electrical quirks that are standard for living anywhere in this country, but overall we are really enjoying our new place.
By day two of living here, I had a long conversation with a local friend that reminded me why we moved here in the first place. In regards to our relationships with local friends, the benefits of living here are going to be amazing.
It is a funny experience to have local friends in your home who have never, ever in their life eaten western food. A few nights ago we had 3 ladies join us for spaghetti. I figured spaghetti, garlic bread, broccoli and fruit wouldn't rock the boat TOO much. Two of the three ladies enjoyed everything but one girl didn't like the spaghetti sauce. (Kevin laughed at the funny faces she was making and said it's a little bit of payback for all the times he's had to throw down some weird food here!) They examined all of my silverware (something we brought from the States) and couldn't believe how well-made it was. Even my apple-corer was a source of great conversation. They were thinking up new business strategies how they could make apple corers and sell them here!
I was totally, utterly, completely spoiled in the big city by having a helper. It looks like my days of living the high-life have come to a close until I can find another helper here that I trust. The "that I trust" part is the kicker. Actually we've been asking around but have been told it will be difficult to find a helper here. My body might be 33 but most nights I feel somewhere around 73, or maybe 83. I don't know. Between going to the market/store almost daily, walking more in the heat, cooking everything from scratch, daily sweeping/mopping my new nemesis (aka the all-white flooring in my apartment), and taking my kids out to play each night I am using muscles I haven't used in a while. At night I'm tired but it's a good tired!
My girls are transitioning so well, PTL! Grace is overall really excited to be here. One thing I've prayed specifically for is at least one or two good friends for her. There is a sweet girl two days younger than Grace who lives in our apartment complex. She and Grace have already been swimming together and last night Grace went to her birthday party to celebrate this girl's birthday on the lunar calendar!
Another pleasant surprise is that the local knock-off version of KFC is actually pretty good. There is one place in town where we can go get our fast-food fix. I just can't look at the floor too closely. When we went last week to eat, I walked to the sink to help wash Trinity's hands and a boy (probably around 6 years old) came and peed on the floor right beside us. Not even into a drain, just right on the floor. Some of it sprayed onto my foot. I know I've been in this country long enough because I didn't hesitate to tell him he really should have gone into the toilet, which was a mere 10 feet away. He just looked at me, finished his business, and walked back to his table.
My family consumes much more cheese in a week than I realized. We have to store it up from the big city and were (GASP) running low but had wonderful friends save the day by sending some cheese, butter, and other supplies down to us. Lesson learned: always buy more cheese than what I think I will need.
The big preschool-hunt has begun. This is worthy of a blog-post in itself. Grace is SOO ready to go to preschool. I'm ready for her to go. This will be trial and error. I am torn between taking her to what everyone calls one of the "better" preschools which will likely have almost 50 students in a classroom versus a smaller one that everyone says is not as good but would have 25 or so students in a class. More on that and pictures to come later...

Thank you for lifting up our move!

Grace's 4th birthday

2010-06-13T15:04:00.014+08:00

Grace enjoys a party as much as anyone I know. She loves to celebrate other people's birthdays, both young and old alike. And she's pretty much anticipated her 4th birthday party since, well, June 13 of last year. Thankfully it worked out to celebrate with her friends here in the big city before we move. We have some pretty wonderful people in our lives here and they made her day special. Thank you, friends, for loving on our girl! Being the girly-girl that she is, this year Grace wanted a princess party. After last year's Dora cake-falling fiasco I decided I needed to do some research to avoid a repeat. So I saw online that doing a castle cake was the easiest way to go. Candy and ice cream cones as decorations? That's about my speed. I wasn't really concerned about it looking professional, I just wanted Grace to like it. But I made the mistake of telling Grace she would have a castle cake, because then I heard her say things like, "Mommy my cake is going to be sooo cute!" Umm, no pressure at all there. But thankfully she liked it. I don't see professional cake decorating in my near future, but it was fun to do nonetheless. Here we are before the party trying to straighten up the castle a bit and working on fixing the crooked flags! (Can you tell from my empty walls we are moving soon!?)

Boy, do I love these 3 people...

Cousin Macy was our first little guest to arrive! She recently had her first birthday! We love you, baby girl!!

The first game played was "pass the teapot."

Then we had a little fun with "Kiss the frog."

Blowing out the candles... Today we learned Grace was under the impression she automatically turned a year older when everyone sang to her and she blew out her candles. And then, at the end of her party, she thought her birthday was over. No wonder she places such a high value on the actual birthday party!

Sister played a little peek-a-boo with the kids at the party.

checking out the party favors...

Grace was so excited to have new jammies and jewelry that she changed into both before the party was over and napped in them that afternoon.

Grace, what a wonderful year this has been for you. I can't believe how much you have grown and changed and learned, especially in the last few months. One of my favorite things about you is your imagination. You are ALWAYS pretending and role-playing. This year you've taken on a hundred and one names. Some days you decide your name is Fern, some days you are Uniqua, some days you pretend to be one of your big-girl cousins or your buddy Hannah. But more and more lately you've been Grace. It's been fun to pretend with you this year, and you've taught me how fun imagining can be. You love to read together and recently you began sounding out words. While we've been packing up our apartment, you've surprised us by reading some of the labeled boxes on your own. You love to "do preschool" with Mommy and you certainly want to go to school "for real" you say. Daddy and I are praying you can enjoy going to local preschool this year. Despite the fact you will be the "different" kid, we pray you can thrive and make friends and learn to speak the local language.

Yesterday evening after your birthday party we went out to eat and let you wear your princess dress. People were smiling at you, and you asked me why they were laughing. I told you they weren't laughing at you but maybe that thought you looked like a real princess. You immediately told me, "Mommy, I'm God's little princess. I love God every time. Not just some of the time but all the times." Oh baby girl how I pray this will be true your whole life. I pray you won't grow up to be a princess who feels entitled to all that life has to offer but that you will first and foremost be proud to be a daughter of the Most High King. I love you so much.

on moving to the 4th floor in 4 days

2010-06-12T22:27:00.004+08:00

It's Saturday night. We've had a fun celebration of Grace's 4th birthday today (pictures to come soon), and I'm still looking at some of the party aftermath in my living room. I really ought to be cleaning up wrapping paper, packing up my kitchen, packing up my bedroom, really packing anything that's outside of a box. But I'm plumb wore out so blog I will. In 4 days we'll load up our belongings and move about 2 hours south of where we live. If you'd told me a few years ago where I'd be moving, I might have panicked just a bit. It's just the truth. Yes, there were many adjustments that came with simply moving to this country, but we are moving to an even bigger fishbowl than the one we already live in. I do believe we'll be the first foreigners to live in this town that's not associated with a school or university of any kind. And my kids will be the first little foreigners living there. Thankfully, by the end of the summer, some other foreign kids will be living there too! Yes, if you had told me a few years ago for sure we'd be moving to this little town, I would not have been ready. And while I might still be a bit sad about leaving the big city and our friends here, I can now honestly say I'm more excited than nervous. This move just feels completely right for our family. Last year when Kevin said he felt the Father moving us in this direction, at first my heart skipped a beat. I wrestled with it for a few weeks. But really as time wore on and I came to the same realization that this is what we needed to do (read: let go of my stubbornness), my heart started changing a bit. I've been a bit disconnected from our work here and often have just had to live vicariously through what Kevin has told me. Occasionally the girls and I have traveled with Kevin but it's just not the same as when you plant your life there and have people over for dinner and can be available spur of the moment. Most of our local friends live there and I'm so very excited to get to develop the friendships that we've started and all that comes with that. (Those of you who know us and our situation know what I mean.) So, all that said, in the past month the Father has completely overwhelmed us with blessings and opened doors for our move. He's doing it. And it's encouraging. From finding someone to take over the lease on our current apartment (thus avoiding a big fine) to working out our visa issues to other events probably better detailed elsewhere, I can't explain well enough how GOOD He has been. You know sometimes how when you read the Book you feel convicted, sometimes inspired, and sometimes, well, it's just hard to know what He's saying? Lately it's been all words that seem to encourage to take heart, not fear, etc, etc. It makes me wonder what's coming around the corner! I know I shouldn't think like that but it makes me wonder what is in store. The good news is I don't have to have it figured out. Another thing I'm thankful for is that Grace so far is handling the transition MUCH better than I expected. She's never been one to easily embrace change. Last year moving from the US back to this country was rough. Now, at a year older, when we told her all her toys and her bed could move with her she was pretty pleased and generally at ease about the move. We've been talking for weeks about how exciting it will be to move to the 4th floor right after she turns 4! (Our new apartment is on the 4th floor, in case you hadn't guessed.) And she is anticipating going to preschool in the fall. (She doesn't quite understand she will have to use the local language all the time yet!) The only time Grace has really mentioned being sad recently was when she realized her friend Miss L was staying right here. I know there might be some rough adjustment days ahead but I also know He knows her little personality and her needs much more than I do. So if you think of it, you might remember us on the 16...late evening of the 15th US time. I can't wait to show you pictures of our new place and some of the new people in our lives!

riding and swimming

2010-06-07T22:13:00.007+08:00

Soon I plan to post an update on the latest happenings in our family...to detail how God has provided above and beyond everything we've needed as we prepare to move in, oh my, less than 10 days. But for now I just wanted to post a few pictures, you know, for posterity. Encouraged that perhaps we should at least try to fit all 4 of us on Kevin's new scooter, we thought we'd give it a go. I felt so culturally, what's the word, "authentic." We thought we'd drive the bike next door to the bird and flower market...why not?! We gave it a good effort and had some laughs, but Kevin actually called it off because balancing all of us on there was difficult. It made for a fun memory, though. I think Grace was relieved. She likes riding with Daddy on the bike together, just the two of them. It's kind of their new thing. Now that she has a good helmet, she's feeling the need for speed. Sometimes they go riding just for fun after dinner. Trinity's face in this picture made me laugh...she looks slightly petrified.

Kevin has been working so hard lately and on Saturday we all enjoyed the fact he had a good, full day off. We went swimming for the first time this summer, and it was Trinity's first time in the big pool. I consider this her first legit swim since the whole baby-swim-fiasco last October doesn't really count! But perhaps she was having flashbacks because she clung to us the entire time she was in the pool. We couldn't even put her in her little floatie.

Lounging poolside with a box of raisins seemed to be more her style!

Back in the water = no more smiles for T-girl.

But my big girl was in heaven! Bless her heart she's been wanting to swim for so long. She started out with her floatie in the kiddie pool and gradually worked her way to hanging out with Daddy in the bigger pool. We love this pool! It is the cleanest one I've ever seen here. We hope to go at least once more before we move.

Catch you soon with further updates!

the new family car

2010-05-24T20:30:00.003+08:00

If you ever happen to buy a motorcycle in East Asia, your experience might go something like this:

Plan a time when your husband has the day off and make sure your helper is around for nap time so you can sneak out together for an hour or two, sans kiddos. I mean, it might even feel like a date!
Go to the area of town where they sell lots of motorcycles. Since your husband has been shopping in 2 separate towns already, he will be fully knowledgeable of a good price to keep from getting ripped off.
Seeing as how you live in a tropical climate, it might be hot as blazes when you get to the motorcycle shop. In that case, motorcycle dude might come up to talk with you wearing no shirt at all. Even though he really should be wearing one. Because here, during summer months, shirts are completely optional for men.
Watch as your husband tries out a few motorcycles. Observe that since he is a foreigner with really long legs, he needs a tall enough bike which won't bump into said long legs while steering. While your husband tries out more bikes, listen to chatty, shirtless motorcycle dude make lots of observations about your home country although he's never actually been there.
Be careful to note that you are looking for a lower-powered bike since local law says any motorbike over 48 cc's must have a licensed driver/registered tags. (Obtaining a license here = bothersome hassle). So, you observe that the bike you want to buy has a 48 cc engine sticker on it. But then, you notice that almost all of the bikes say they are 48 cc's. And listen to motorcycle dude freely share how they put these stickers on just about all the bikes, regardless of the engine inside, just to ensure you don't have to go and get a license. Because from the outside no one can tell the difference. Be reminded again how traffic laws here are often interpreted as suggestions.
Once you haggle on a price, let the nice motorcycle folks finish preparing your bike to ride and mosey on next door to the outdoor stall that sells helmets and bike locks. Buy the best lock you can find to keep away thieves. But note that they only have the cheap kind of helmets that offer little more protection than a Tupperware bowl. So, go back to the bike shop and ask motorcycle dude where to find a good helmet. Listen to him explain that really you don't need a helmet, because the police probably won't pull you over for not wearing one (again, the rules thing) and that most helmets don't offer much protection anyway. Tell motorcycle dude you are actually interested in safety. He offers a suggestion on a place to buy a better helmet.
Watch as the motorcycle people get your bike ready and then put the finishing touches on it, complete with red ribbon. Climb on the back before your husband drives away and look back to see 20 people gawking at the foreign couple on a bike.
Enjoy the ride home with the wind in your hair. And, although you might have flashes of worry because your two children are sleeping at home and their parents are across town in heavy traffic on a motorcycle with no helmets and could be orphaned in an instant, you still enjoy the time on the bike and realize it's more fun than you thought it would be. And, be thankful that soon you are moving to a much, much smaller town with no heavy traffic.
Come home and watch your almost 4 year old literally squeal with excitement that Daddy has bought his bike. Note that you've not seen her this excited since she first discovered Disneyland. Listen to her squeal "wheeeee" as Daddy takes her on a short (and SLOW) little ride. Resolve quickly that you will need to get her a kiddie helmet pronto so you can sleep at night.
Decide that although many local families put 4 people on a motorcycle, you really don't see how you can manage that and still have a shred of your sanity left. But still, you consider it for a brief second because it's so doggone handy to have a set of wheels!

T-girl and my birthday boy

2010-05-18T22:46:00.007+08:00

It's pretty tough to get pictures of a moving target, but every so often I follow Trinity around with the camera. My 14 month-old is truly in the "busy toddler" time of life. The bathroom seems to be her favorite place right now... actually, it's a toss-up between the bathroom or climbing on top of the coffee table. She's keeping me on my toes! She's imitating a few more words and is understanding lots of what we tell her in both English and Chinese. My helper plays with her often and I can tell she's been exposed to more of the local language. Her current favorite thing to do is go to the shoe closet and bring me her shoes so she can go outside! She loves to see dogs in our neighborhood, and now when I ask her if she's a puppy she will crawl on all floors and pant like a dog. And I think she's going to be our little comedian because she LOVES to make her big sister laugh. Trinity constantly has a bruise somewhere on her noggin' from a fall.

I still can't get enough of these cheeks.

I love how toddlers make their tongues do funny things when they jibber-jabber!

And...guess who turned 35 this past Saturday?! Kevin-babe, I guess when you are 35 you don't get big posts about all your developmental milestones and the things you've been up to lately :), but you know you mean the world to me!! I'm so proud of what a fabulous husband and father you are as well as how diligent you work!! Let's go get you that motorcycle soon!

Oh yes, I think we've lost our minds...a motorcycle. Well, a small moped-like motorcycle but gas-powered just the same. Here's to an accident-free, local-hospital-experience-avoiding year!!

rainy day play

2010-05-01T20:49:00.004+08:00

Perhaps you can't tell just from looking... but this is a fashion show, a budding artist,

a float at a parade,

2 princesses with their wands,

a fashionista-in-the-making,

who, by the way, created this look on her own and was very proud,

a secret hiding place,

the beach,

and a mommy carrying her baby in a snuggli.

Glad I could clear that up for you.

because some days I still need to be reminded...

2010-04-16T22:12:00.006+08:00

A few weeks ago a doctor confirmed a diagnosis which gave me a medical explanation for our infertility lo those many years. My first thought was, "this is absolutely crazy!" I mean, all those years of trying for a baby and seeing doctors and tests and I'm JUST NOW fully understanding what was/is happening with my wacky hormones while at a routine doctor visit? It's absolutely crazy, if you look at it from an earthly perspective. Truth is, I look back and am extremely grateful that at the time I didn't have a "diagnosis." In my heart of hearts, I think God knows I would have sunk into an even deeper pit than I was already in. Truth is God didn't have to answer my prayer for children but He did. Knowing how difficult it is for women with my diagnosis to get pregnant has made me stop again and praise Him for choosing to allow me on this motherhood journey. It also makes those extra drama-filled days that come with having wee ones a bit easier. Something our family likes to do after dinner sometimes is turn on music and dance in the living room. Even Trinity gets in on the action now with her little toddler moves. Last week I pulled out a cd I haven't listened to in over a year but it immediately took me back in time. (Does anyone else have music that does that for them?) When we lived in Ft. Worth, I drove all over town for my job, which gave me some great times for praise and worship on I-35! The Lord used many songs and scriptures to comfort during our "infertility days" but one in particular was Hillsong's "Blessed" cd. And so as my girls and I danced around our living room with Hillsong in the background I was reminded that I still need to choose thankfulness over annoyance when I hear "MOMM-MMYYYY!" for the 140th time in a day because there are many nights I wrestled with the Lord and asked Him for that very privilege. I am so completely blessed. Back in 2004, Kevin and I quickly bonded with a precious couple who also came to live on the East Side. I think one of the things that bonded us so quickly, besides the fact that they are just plain awesome, was our shared infertility journey. They rejoiced with so many others who had children while they prayerfully, beautifully, expectantly waited to become parents. And finally, last year they experienced the miracle of adoption! It has been one of the most beautiful journeys to parenthood I've ever seen. And not long ago they discovered they are expecting another child. JD2, from 0 to 2 kids in 13 months...can you believe it?! We are rejoicing with you! Ok, and since I always love a post with pictures, can I show you a few pictures of our girls taken in February? (I know, taken 2 months ago...I'm so on top of it!)

Easter weekend

2010-04-05T22:05:00.005+08:00

Easter completely snuck up on me this year. I'm not too happy about it because I wanted my heart to be more prepared. Days and weeks all seem to run together over here at times like we're in a time warp. So when Nana and Pappaw came and brought Easter dresses for the girls I had to ask when Easter was on the calendar! But I'm thankful we had a great Easter weekend. On Thursday our fellowship had a Maundy Thursday service and we had the L. Supper together. I really liked doing (and needed) this to be reminded of the events leading up to His suffering. On Friday our family took a short trip to the countryside to begin apartment-hunting for our impending move this summer. Again, the time warp thing strikes! We are looking to move in about 2-3 months' time and I can't believe it's upon us so quickly. Our housing options in this new town are limited but we have a few leads on an apartment. (More on this later!) Saturday we indeed dyed some eggs. Grace was in heaven. Since last year's Easter, egg hunting has continued to be one of Grace's favorite things to do. As in, year-round we hide and hunt eggs from time to time. As we were approaching Easter this year we had some re-teaching to do. "Grace, do you remember why we celebrate Easter?" At first she said, "Because Jesus wants us to have egg hunts." and "because we need to celebrate his birthday!" But she eventually remembered it's because "Jesus is Alive!"

Trinity's role in the egg-dyeing process was to tickle Grace's feet. She is fascinated with toes. Oh, and by the way, my baby girl started walking this past week! She's slowly been taking more and more steps and tonight she worked her way across the room several times.

On Sunday morning Daddy was gone helping at an event while the girls and I headed to an Easter breakfast and service. Without Daddy around to help pose the girls, these were the best Sunday morning shots I could get. Nana, we loved the dresses!

Later that afternoon, our friends organized a big egg hunt for both foreign and neighborhood kids. They did a fabulous job! Here's Trinity with two of her favorite big girls. They are so very sweet to her!

The little ones lined up to wait their turn for the hunt...

The race is on! And in case you are wondering, yes, once again this year we had to keep other adults, particularly grandmas from pilfering the eggs before the kids could hunt for them. But I talked with one man and he was so pleased and bewildered to find an egg as he walked by that I just didn't have the heart to tell him to put it back. He kept saying, "really? This is a real egg?" He was completely confused because it was dyed green!

This kind "shu shu" (uncle) helped Grace and made sure she didn't miss any eggs!

Life is so simple when you are one. Trinity was content for about 10-15 minutes just to pick up this egg off the ground and then put it back again. Yes, she did this over and over for quite some time.

Hope you had a fabulous Easter! He is risen, indeed!

highlights from HK and other fun with Nana and Pappaw

2010-03-29T23:16:00.004+08:00

After we celebrated Trinity's first birthday and let Nana and Pappaw get over jet lag, we set out to show them some of Hong Kong's highlights. I've decided it's a great thing to visit Hong Kong with a 2-to-1 adult/kid ratio, especially when preschoolers are involved. We took turns getting out altogether and separately in pairs. Kevin took his parents on two outings without the kids so they could linger a bit longer at the beautiful scenery. The first stop was to Victoria Peak because, well, it's one of Hong Kong's most popular places to go! It was an overcast day but the view is always beautiful regardless. On another day Kevin took his folks for a cable car ride, and I think they all enjoyed this much more than going to Victoria Peak. The cable car ends at the world's largest bronze sitting Buddha, or something like that. The Buddha isn't what was exciting, of course, but the view was apparently pretty amazing! (Seeing as how I'm not a fan of cable car rides, I gladly offered to stay with the kids and take them to the park. But after I heard how much fun the cable car ride was I decided next time I might just have to temporarily get over my fear of cable cars.)

Smiles on the cable car...obviously Nana and Pappaw do not share my deathly fear

you can see Buddha sitting on his booty in the background

One afternoon Kevin and Pappaw went on a man-outing, which included a movie and some ribs. I have no picture of that. Nor do I have a picture from the date Kevin and I went on in HK...probably because we were having so much fun talking, shopping, and feeding our faces while not being interrupted by little ones. (Thank you Nana and Pappaw for giving us this time together!) But I DO have a picture from High Tea at the Four Seasons Hotel. Yippee! It's supposed to be one of the top things to do in HK and I've always wanted to go, but for some reason my manly husband has never been interested in tea. Or scones. Or frilly little sandwiches. Nana and I had a great time. Look at the spread!

Of course we had to stop by Disneyland and say hi to Mickey and Minnie. Grace was thrilled to be back. And while riding the carousel we unexpectedly ran into some friends! It was fun to catch up, even if it was too brief. I love meetings like that!

Grace was too shy to visit with the princesses this time but was thrilled to see the characters again. Minnie is by far her favorite. (Grace was still sporting a black eye from a major run-in with her bedroom wall following an acrobatic move gone awry.)

We had to pull out the Minnie-ears for Minnie. Grace asked me later, "How do Mickey and Minnie eat? Their mouths are stuck open! And how do they sleep because they can't close their eyes?" And don't even try to convince Grace that Mickey and Minnie are not real. She will not have it that someone else is inside these costumes. Nope, "they're for real."

After our Hong Kong vacation, Nana and Pappaw came home with us and we got some good play time in with the girls.

And there was plenty of silliness going on...

Next door at the park we took our pictures with our respective zodiac signs. We realized that Grace and Pappaw were both born in the year of the dog!

Nana and Pappaw's birthday gift to Trinity was this amazing tunnel and attached tent. The girls have had so much fun playing in this the last few weeks! We'll have to put it up soon and bring it out for rainy days, but for now they are still enjoying the playtime.

Nana and Pappaw, thank you so much for coming and blessing us! We know it's no small thing to travel to Asia and you were both so gracious to come and spend time with us. We love you!

ONE!

2010-03-07T22:33:00.007+08:00

Look who's one!! And guess who traveled across the ocean for her birthday? Trinity had a Hong Kong birthday this year since we had to leave the country again. (Yes, I know it feels like we've been to HK many times this year. 3 to be exact!) Nana and Pappaw flew in the night before Trinity's birthday. We had a fun little family party. Grace was more excited than anyone. That girl loves a good party. It was sweet to see her excited for her sister. Last year at my baby shower for Trinity the only time I got teary-eyed was opening this cute little "One" outfit from Rebekah M. (thank you, friend!) I think the tears came because I knew the first year would fly by quickly. And wouldn't you know it? It did. Trinity, how are you a year old already? Weren't we just in Lubbock at the hospital? I'm thankful for your first year of life. It's given me a chance to stop and savor baby-dom again. You have been such a sweet and wanted addition to our family. We all love you. You had a great, smiley, cuddly birthday. We ate at Amaroni's for lunch and you loved your strawberry birthday cake. Sister helped me make it. She also helped you open your gifts. Trinity, at one year:

You are cruising furniture and standing on your own. We hope you take your first steps while Nana and Pappaw are here.
You are completely on table food and eat almost anything we serve you. I guess it's only fitting since you have so many teeth! All four of your molars have partially cut through the gumline.
You are a good sleeper but will stir if I even set foot in your room at night! I guess you sleep pretty light!
You love to raise your hands if we say "Hallelujah" or "How big is Trinity?" and clap for us when we sing songs.
You can say a few words like "Mama," "night-night," and "bye bye." Nana is really working on "Nana" right now and it seems like you've said it a few times :)
You love to look at books and point to babies' eyes, give us high-fives and "head bonks."
You love to cuddle (please don't stop this) and suck your thumb while rubbing your ear when you are tired.
You have the cutest little kinky-curly patch of hair on the back of your head. Sometimes it makes a little mohawk. You will definitely be our curly-top. I apologize in advance for my lack of curly hair-do skills.
You think your sister hung the moon and give her the biggest cackles of anyone

Happy Birthday, little one!

tunnels and walls and picnics, oh my!

2010-03-01T23:06:00.004+08:00

Remember camp? I loved camp. Well, all except the campy, athletic-type stuff. Trust falls, big walls to scale, spider webs and the sort all made me break out into the sweats. I would generally do the minimum I had to do and wait it out until we could move on to other activities. (Don't even get me started on Sunday night volleyball...my head was a magnet for the balls!) So, as you might imagine my athletic prowess was pretty much limited to nertz-playing in the cabin. I'm not just real big on adventure in general (stop laughing, Kristen.) And I thought perhaps my eldest daughter would inherit this from me because she has generally seemed to be on the timid side when it comes to playing outdoors. I can't imagine, cough cough, who might be holding her back.

A few weeks ago, before all the Chinese New Year fun, we were having some crazy warm weather and headed next door to the park for a picnic. It was probably one of the funnest family outings we've had in a long time. We live next door to GORGEOUS Green Mountain park but have not gone very often, sad to say. It's a "pay-to-get-in" park. Most of the year it's hot and humid. The park is huge and takes quite a time commitment to go through...you get the idea. But this day in February was gorgeous and we had the time. In fact, we've had many family trips to Green Mountain park this month. Even bought the month pass...

We were surprised to see some new equipment. Campy, ropes course-type equipment. Let me just that one of the first things I saw was "the wall," and I immediately had flashbacks to camp. I think I started sweating just thinking about it!

But Grace SHOCKED us and starting climbing up this little tunnel.

and went all the way to the tippy top...

then climbed down the 15-foot ladder (with Daddy spotting, of course!)

and did a little victory dance. She was so excited! Much more tunnel climbing followed...

There are some smaller, not-so-scary things to do. This was about my speed. My big stud of a husband is the athlete of the family and scaled the huge wall (proof posted above!) in like 3 seconds. Seriously.

Smiles all afternoon...

We ended our day with a picnic, complete with expensive imported Diet Dr. Pepper from the import store. Hooray for the import store!

And I wonder what this one will think of tunnels and walls at age 3? (Ok, really I don't just yet. But how could I NOT post a picture of this cutie at the picnic?!!)

the snuggler

2010-02-21T15:55:00.003+08:00

I will never, ever get tired of this...

more new year fun

2010-02-19T15:05:00.005+08:00

Right before the big holiday my friend Liuliu and her son Qiaoqiao came over to play. It's been a long time since we've gotten together because Qiaoqiao is in preschool all day, every day. But since he was out for the new year break they came over and we had a great time. Every single time I see Liuliu she brings me at least 5 or 6 items, usually food, and often brings something for Grace. I can't keep up! (Part of the "guanxi" or relationship system here is give and take of gifts, etc.) Here are two food items she brought. Can you guess what they are?

Zongzi is very popular to eat at the new year time, especially in the south where we live. It's a pyramid-shaped conglomeration of glutinous rice with some kind of filling in the middle. It's wrapped up in a bamboo leaf. Looks pretty fun, eh?

Here it is cut open. This zongzi has egg and some sort of meat in the middle. I can see how people enjoy eating them but can't say I am a huge fan...

But I'll take a zongzi any day over this next item. It was translated on the package as a "new year cake"but that's really a stretch. It's made of glutinous rice and had a bit of sugar and oil but was so dense I had to push hard with this knife just to get it partially cut. As much as I tried, I couldn't cut through it completely! I pulled off a bit to taste and although I've never actually eaten plastic, I'm pretty sure it would come close to the taste of this cake. Slightly-sweetened plastic. I think maybe it's supposed to be the new year equivalent of our fruit cake, but without any fruit and much more dense! (Grace heard the word "cake" and thought maybe it would fit into her kid's bake ware she got from Nana and Pappaw for Christmas. Unfortunately, there was no way to make it fit.)

There was a lot of activity next door to our apartment complex for a few days. We got together with friends the other day and headed to the park, then afterward grabbed some "shao kao" (roast meat on a stick) at the bird and flower market.

shao kao roasting over the coals...

This sesame flat bread is my favorite

The shao kao was spicy and Grace said, "Mommy this milk helps my mouth not to burn so much." She can throw down some shao kao!

It's common to see signs such as these hung on front doors. It's the Chinese character for "blessing" and it's usually hung upside down, as if to say the blessings are being poured out into the household.

Grace is not a big fan of the loud fireworks so Daddy got her some sparklers the other day. She really loved these small ones so we got her some bigger ones later on!

Once they were lit she took off running. Yes, running with fire. We're nothing if not safe.

But at least we kept her from running at Trinity

And the big "silent" finale...sparkly but not loud, just like Grace likes it. I'm REALLY OK that Grace doesn't want to be around the big fireworks, especially after Kevin and some friends set fireworks off the other day and ran into some crazies who were being careless and shooting fireworks sideways and setting them off in the canisters.

Happy Chinese New Year!

2010-02-14T21:28:00.002+08:00

It might be Valentine's Day in the west but today in the far east, it's also New Year's Day! I've mentioned it before but we've lived here more than 4 years and this is our first time to be here for the big Lunar New Year. Last night was louder and more exciting than I ever imagined!

Even as I write the fireworks are ringing outside. They will be a familiar sound for the next week or longer. But last night, New Year's Eve, took the cake. The firecrackers had been going on and off for the past few days. But yesterday late afternoon they started getting louder and more frequent. And all through the night it got louder and louder. Around 10:30 things really started ramping up and at midnight it was truly amazing. I've never heard such a sound. I think our apartment was vibrating! I have to say that once I got over the annoyance of my children not being able to sleep, it was pretty fun to watch. I took these pictures outside of Grace's bedroom window around 10:30 last night. They were setting these off inside our apartment complex. At midnight, there were so many fireworks that I couldn't get a good picture because the sky was completely filled with smoke! (I have to say it's a good thing the buildings here are made of concrete! I did see a kid start a grass fire yesterday afternoon but an older girl got it stomped out quickly enough.)

This picture was taken from our balcony. You can see the long line of firecrackers going off. Trinity has been able to sleep through most of the fireworks tonight (amazingly!), but when they set them off right outside our window last night there was no way to sleep through it! Fireworks could still be heard in the distance last night when we went to bed at 1:30.

And being the ignorant foreigner that I am, I thought there wouldn't be any fireworks set off early this morning. (You know, since everyone was out partying last night.) Wrong! I shot out of bed this morning at 7:30 when they started out our window. Amazingly, Kevin, Grace, and Trinity slept through it. Here was the smoke scene from our balcony this morning.

More Chinese New Year fun to come soon...

on my mind

2010-02-09T23:36:00.003+08:00

My computer crashed. Literally. Trinity managed to get the cord wrapped around her walker and it took a tumble. Kevin (aka "resident computer genius") has it back up and running. But I still can't post pictures because I need to load another program to shrink them for uploading. So 'til then, I have a few random things in my head and therefore feel the need for bullet points.

This country is getting ready for its biggest holiday...the celebration of the lunar new year. This coming year will be the Year of the Tiger, roar! We've lived here going on 5 years but until this year have always been out of the country for this holiday. Schools are out for a few weeks and friends are traveling to see family. Over the next few weeks, people will cook and spend time with family, give out red packets of money to kids, buy new clothes (often including red underwear for luck!), and set off FIREWORKS!! I have to tell you the fireworks here make our 4th of July celebrations look pretty puny. They know how to par-TAY with the gunpowder. Today in a span of not much more than a mile I saw SEVEN fireworks stands along the road. Serious pyro-mania. Young and old alike participate. Kevin's pretty pumped and wants to set them off, too. Me? I will not be allowing my children anywhere near! In fact, as I write I can already hear fireworks in the distance. They've been setting off small firecrackers in our apartment complex at random times the past few days. (And yes, I'm a little worried about my 11 month old sleeping on New Year's Eve but hey, we'll deal with it.) This will be an interesting few weeks!
Because friends' schedules have slowed, our schedule has slowed a bit as well. It is kind of an unusual time right now. We are hoping to take some time the next week or so for personal retreat and to see a few friends we don't get to see that often.
We are having a few days of unseasonably warm weather. Temps were in the 80's today and tomorrow the forecast is expected to hit 90!! Close to ninety degrees in February?!! Craziness. As I was sweating on the way to the store today I was floored to see most people still in their long sleeves and jackets. The calendar says February. Therefore the winter clothes are out and worn. Some things still boggle my mind. But I am so thankful for the sunny days we've had lately. Our family had a picnic at a park tonight and we all had a blast! I kept thinking how odd it was to hear about all the snow in the US right now.
Grace's new thing right now is to tell jokes. Jokes that she made up. She cracks herself up with stuff like, "Mommy your nose is a computer!!" This has necessitated us teaching her a few actual jokes. I love 3 year old humor!
Trinity is starting to walk with the aid of her little walker. I think she's still several weeks away from walking on her own...at least that's what I'm hoping! I'm not really in a hurry for her to walk! She is such a cuddly baby girl and over the past month has started saying, "bye bye," "ba" for ball and "ni ni" for night-night. Nothing is consistent but it's fun to hear her little voice.
We feel like 2010 will be a big year. We are planning on moving late summer to a much smaller town. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a bit nervous. We go back and forth between excited/nervous/excited/anxious/etc. I think especially lately the Father has been trying to get out some of the junk in my heart in preparation to move. I often have such an impatient attitude towards the little inconveniences of living here and forget all the amazing blessings to be thankful for. Such a constant struggle lately. But when I stop and look and meditate of His goodness it completely blows me away!
It's late and my bed is calling my name. So until next time...I'll be ducking and covering from the fireworks! :)

just a few cultural funnies

2010-01-22T23:39:00.004+08:00

I've been in such a blogging slump lately. Partly because I'm trying to decide how much I really want to share on such an open forum such as this. So as my mind keeps pondering such thoughts I will, in the meantime, keep this as a place to journal memories from our kids' early years. The other day I was looking through our smaller camera and found a few more pictures from when my parents were here. Most of these pictures my mom took while we were traveling to the countryside. It's fun to have people visit who don't live here normally because then I get to experience some of the newness of the cultural differences with them again. I love it. Sometimes I forget to take note of things like these because I've seen them over and over. So Mom, I'm glad you were taking notice! So many restaurants serve fish. Really fresh fish. Sometimes you can even pick out which fish you want for your meal and they will cook it right then. Here, Grace is pondering how big these fish are. A restaurant worker told her the big one would feed 7-8 people. And, when you order a fish, it is served "whole." As in, it is considered a more beautiful presentation to have the head and tail attached while you eat it. And a hot item to eat here is fish head soup. One of our friends' 3 year old son loves to eat fish eyeballs. As in, it's in his top 5 favorite foods! I don't really love fish here but this dish below is one exception. It's translated "butterfly fish" and is one of the few fish dishes here we've eaten without the bones to work through. It's filleted, rolled in cilantro and other veggies and has an amazing sauce which includes garlic and peanuts. I promise, it's sooo good!

Ok Mom, don't kill me but I thought your expression was too funny on this picture! I loved the look Mom made when the waitress served our fish and faced him looking right at her!

But see? They really liked it!

This is one thing I wouldn't make anyone eat...it's the time of year again for dog meat. Yes, that's a dog carcass hanging in the window. I've only HAD to eat it once. Kevin's eaten it a bunch and doesn't think it's too bad but don't trust him because he's also been known to thrown down horse organs and like them, too! Dog is considered a "hot" food so is generally served in the winter. It's tough as tough can be. No, I won't make anyone eat this.

And finally here's a pretty good Chinglish sign from our favorite milk tea shop. If you can't read the English it says, "Heart to you...the first time ever I kissed you mouth I felt the ear."

There are many opportunities to laugh over here!

for Nana and Pappaw

2010-01-11T21:59:00.002+08:00

Dear Nana and Pappaw, We absolutely love the pink frilly dresses you sent for Christmas. We even got to show them off a bit at a Christmas party. You have quite the knack for picking out fun clothes for us girlie-girls. We miss you and look forward to seeing you in March! Love, 2 of your 4 favorite granddaughters

Christmas with Granna and Papa Jim

2010-01-08T23:42:00.006+08:00

It's going to be difficult to condense the last few weeks to just a few pictures and stories. There is so much that will be left out. But share I will. We were blessed to have my parents visit us for Christmas this year. And considering the effort it took for them to get here and back I do not take our time with them for granted. A few months ago when my mom was diagnosed with cancer, I prepared my heart that they might not be able to come on this trip. But Mom finished her radiation treatments just days before they left the States. God was completely gracious allow us this time together! And Mom and Dad were gracious with the 4 of us, too. They put up with quite a bit while here, including our hectic schedule since we were also simultaneously hosting volunteer English teachers from the US. Mom and Dad traveled to the countryside with us, loved on the girls, ate weird food, got thrown up on (by Trinity), read 531 books to Grace, played dress-up and doctor 348 times, brought us lots of US goodies, helped us host a party, and experienced daily life with us. On the way home to America, they got delayed 3 days due to the most snow in BJ in 50 years. It took extra time and effort to come this time. I think they are pretty much wonderful. Christmas '09 is definitely one I will remember. When Mom and Dad first arrived, Trinity was sicker than she's ever been. But after a while they got to see her personality coming through. I hear it's SUPER cold in the States right now. It's not super cold here, but we don't have central heating. Turns out concrete isn't the best insulator, so at times it will be in the 50's in our home. Here's Mom trying to stay warm while reading!

We had a little fun one day making a gingerbread tree.

And then things got a little crazy...

Granna and Papa Jim attempted to teach Grace how to play go-fish. I say attempted because Grace didn't seem to understand that Papa Jim wouldn't always have the card she needed.

dress-up time!

Christmas Eve

Reading the Christmas story on Christmas Day before opening gifts...doesn't Trinity look like she's really listening?!

There are many events I didn't stop to photograph but are tucked away in my brain. Like my mom's face when she saw dog meat for sale. And playing cards together at midnight on New Year's Eve. And most of all, my girls' happy faces from all the love and attention they had from my folks. Thanks for loving on us, Mom and Dad! Miss you already!

because they are too young to protest being dressed alike...

2009-12-15T23:36:00.005+08:00

It's been really warm the last few days, almost warm enough to bring out these "big sister, little sister" t-shirts. Except, well, I would have gotten in trouble with the neighborhood grandmas because it's still December on the calendar. Kids are almost always in double layers this time of year regardless of the temperature. But today it started getting cold again. It will soon be time to bust out the bear coats again! Thanks Nana and Pappaw for sending these!!

theological reflections from a 3 year old

2009-12-08T21:58:00.010+08:00

Grace has had a recurring dream about a turtle. It's an angry turtle that wants to sit on her head. I'm not exactly sure where said turtle came from. I mean, we have some Franklin books but surely that's not it. He's definitely not an angry kind of turtle. There have been many nights in the last few weeks where Grace has woken up and crawled into bed with us, worried the turtle is about to sit on her head. I love to snuggle with her but Momma gets zero sleep when she's in bed with us so I always take her back to her room. Sometimes we rock and many times Grace will process her thoughts out loud for me. (Those who know Grace understand she is definitely a verbal processor!) We'll talk about how she doesn't need to be afraid because God is with her. And how she can pray anytime. Then, we put on one of 2 special anti-turtle hats and she's off to bed. (Well, the anti-turtle hats worked for a few nights until she discovered they "messed up her hair." Oh wow do I have visions of her as a teenager!) So now she has resorted to burying her head under her pillow. That's how I found her asleep last night. Anyway, 2 nights ago we were rocking and Grace started asking questions. She asked me how to pray and how to hear God. Because "in her Hermie video God talks to Hermie, so how do we get Him to talk to us?" And lately she's been a bit confused because we talk about Jesus being in heaven and also in our hearts but in her children's Bible Jesus is "on the ground and not in heaven." The questions kept coming the other night, one after another, and I was in awe of her questions. But she wasn't really pleased with most of my answers (as if I have all the answers!) She wanted to hear God NOW. At one point I mentioned she would keep learning more and more about God as she gets older. The next morning Grace was looking in the mirror on her tiptoes and asked me: "Mommy, am I taller now to talk to God?" I told her of course she could talk with Him anytime. She then sat on my bed and proceeded to say very loudly, "God!? Are you there?" And she sat very still just in case He spoke audibly. Oh how I pray He makes her one of His own!

swinging

2009-12-07T22:08:00.002+08:00

Hong Kong Disneyland

2009-12-02T22:32:00.004+08:00

I've been to Disney World in Florida on two occasions. Once as a young teenager for a family vacation and once with Kevin before we moved overseas. Both were such memorable and fun experiences that I've always had good vibes about Disney. There, I admitted it: I'm a Disney fan! Turns out Hong Kong Disneyland is also lots of fun and while not nearly as large as the US Disney locations it works out pretty well if you have young kiddos. The park is relatively small and can almost be seen all in one day. So for our stage of life, this was a big bonus! Also, from door to door it only took us 25 minutes to get there. Seeing as how it takes us at least that long to get to our favorite mall in Hong Kong, it feels like next door! You know you're headed for fun when you get on the subway that takes you to Disneyland and it's already decorated all-things Mickey. Even the handle bars were Mickey-shaped. The weather was gorgeous with temperatures in the 70's.

The park didn't open until 10:30, so we waited a few minutes for the gate to open. Grace was already excited to see Mickey surfing. She had no clue how much more there would be to see.

Grace is pretty certain the Disney princesses all live in this castle.

She got to share a few moments with Belle...

and met Cinderella, too. I was surprised how many grown adults without kids were waiting in line to meet the princesses. While Grace and I were waiting to meet Cinderella, I spoke with a nice lady and her 7 year old daughter from Singapore. When it was their turn to meet Cinderella, the mother ran FIRST to Cinderella, excitedly said, "You're my favorite princess!" and had her picture made by herself with Cinderella before her daughter had a chance. It made me chuckle. I guess some grown women take their Disney princesses very seriously.

The Christmas decorations were beautiful. This is something we are enjoying about Hong Kong in general: real Christmas decor and not the tacky stuff we generally see where we live.

Mickey and Minnie were in their Christmas outfits, too. I do believe that meeting Mickey and Minnie had to be the highlight of Grace's day. She's only been vaguely aware of who they are but somehow she knew they were the main attraction at Disneyland.

And she pretty much talked the rest of the day about how Minnie Mouse gave her an Eskimo kiss!

Trinity took it all in as much as an almost 9 month old can. Something about seeing this ride made her excited.

Fortunately the "It's a Small World" ride is decorated for Christmas and has Christmas songs playing in addition to "It's a Small World" so you don't hear the same song over and over!

"It's a Small World" was the only ride we took Trinity on but she was completely mesmerized.

Grace's favorite ride was Winnie the Pooh which she rode several times. And she was fine with the 3-D musical movie until things started flying at her face. Then, not so much. I guess parts of Disney can be a little overwhelming to a 3 year old.

What a memorable day! And boy, did the girls sleep well that night. Trinity, maybe next time you'll be old enough to know what in the world these mouse ears are about.

unexpected blessings in the concrete jungle

2009-11-30T21:34:00.004+08:00

Sometimes I get so far behind in blogging that I'm not quite sure where to start. Then I just stop blogging altogether. But then, well, that's just silly. How 'bout I just start with where we are now? Hong Kong! Actually, I wasn't really looking forward to this trip to HK, but it's been such a gift because we are having a GREAT time. Because Kevin's passport has to be mailed to the US for a new visa, we are sticking around for longer than we have before. And it's giving us time to stop and smell the roses, so to speak. I wasn't sure that was possible in Hong Kong; what a crazy-fun place! The last few months have been filled with a little more busyness than normal. I mean really, where did the time go? Weren't we just here in Hong Kong doing our visa turnaround? I'm so thankful we've had these last few days because it's made me stop and enjoy my family in a new way and think again about how good the Lord has been to us. I simply could not ask for more. With all our medical and dental appointments out of the way, we've had some time to play the last few days. So far Kevin has taken Grace for her first ice skating experience (or maybe we could call it "ice walking") and we've had lots of time to play at a local park. Turns out Trinity loves it when big sister pushes her on the baby swing. And today, we took the plunge and headed to Hong Kong Disneyland for the first time! We had been waiting until Grace was old enough to really enjoy it and boy, it did not disappoint!! Today was one of the sweetest family days we've had in a long time. One of those "talked-about" days that you remember for a long time because everyone was simply having a blast. (Well, Trinity, you'll just have to take our word for it sweet girl.) But because I'm coming off an adrenaline high from today and nodding off as I write, I'll save pictures for next time. Until then...

a trip with Daddy

2009-11-08T21:15:00.003+08:00

Grace has wanted to accompany her daddy on one of his countryside trips for quite some time. She loves to be on the go and try out new places. And she wanted to go see a new little friend she made a few weeks ago. So because of the nature of this latest trip, Kevin thought he could take care of his responsibilities while having Grace tag along. They left Saturday and get back tomorrow (Monday). Right before they left, Grace told me she would be a sweet girl on the trip. She kissed me goodbye and headed out the door. Then I heard her say, "One more thing, Mommy." So I opened the door. She asked, "Mommy, will you be a sweet girl too and take care of my pets?" (meaning her stuffed animals). "Will you take care of them so they don't cry?" Made me grin from ear to ear. She seems so much more grown up lately. Here they are looking so proud before heading out to the bus station. I've been resisting the urge to text message all weekend questions such as, "Did you take her to the bathroom?" or "Has she eaten healthy foods today?" I know she is in very capable hands. I'm so thankful to have a husband who is also an excellent daddy! I talked with Kevin tonight and he is pretty tired but I think the trip has gone as well as could be expected with a little girl tagging along. A little girl who still gets pretty overwhelmed with lots of well-meaning strangers who want to gawk at the foreign kiddo. In the meantime, I've had lots of extra snuggle time with my other baby girl.

Trinity is 8 months old already! Somebody make her slow down! In the past week alone she's gone from eating barely any baby food to chowing down on soft finger foods like bananas, avocado, and papaya like there's no tomorrow. And although she isn't crawling on all fours she's starting to scoot on her belly. And babbling much more. Before long she'll be going on trips to the countryside with Daddy, too!

But for now I'm kissing on these chubby baby cheeks as long as I can.

And loving her chubby baby hands and wrists. Don't you love little baby hands?

Speaking of babies, my brother Chad and his wife Erin welcomed a new baby girl yesterday. Welcome to the world Macy Gerlt!!