Easter weekend

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

• 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

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

• 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!

• 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

• 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

• 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!