There shall be showers of blessing . . .

Gotta love packages! Rachel has the routine down pat now: See a package, run to the kitchen, carefully get a steak knife for mommy or daddy, get BLUE ikea knife for herself, safely carry them to the living room and wait for big strong daddy to bring the excitment to us so we can OPEN IT!!!

After their visit, Aunt Jo and Aunt Becky realized that there were a few things we were not able to get here in china . . . or well, we could get some of them, but in much smaller sizes/amounts than in the states, or they were tripple the price you pay in the states, or they just didn't quite look like what we are used to . . . so to bless us, some wonderful thnigs were packed into two boxes and sent from some dear friends in TN.

We loved all the hair dongxi you sent, aunt jo . . . she can still use them with her four year old haircut, but we did send some to the orphanage too . . . we don't have to put her hair up as ofen, but it's nice to have matching pony-holders and barrettes when we DO put it up!

And when you come back, Aunt Becky :), we will have nice big ice cubes for you to put in your tea and pepsi! Thanks! It really is nice every once in awhile to have ice cubes that don't melt as soon as you pour warm liquid over them! I'm sure our American guests will appreciate it!!

you have GOT to be KIDDING me . . .

Is this or is this not STILL October???? Yes, friends, I do believe it is . . . and the snow we drove home in and came home to after our wonderful weekend in the countryside . . . well, I was a little less than chipper about it to say the least. Have a look....

bushes in our hua yuan

at least we don't have to scrape windows anymore

these were really pretty flowers outside our apartment building . . .

Saying Goodbye

My parents just left this Tuesday after a three-week stay with us in this beautiful culture we live in. We took them to the airport and said our good-byes at the security gate. They were headed to Beijing to spend the night at a hotel becuase their flight was too early in the morning to make it from SY . . . such a weird thing, to send your parents out on an airplane and worry about their survival for the next 15 hours or so! Aren't they supposed to worry about ME??? Of course, I had nothing to fear . . . they were complete champs while they were here, heading out to stores to buy things on their own (yes, i said storeS . . . not just one, mind you) learning to use chopsticks, teaching our Ayi a recipe that we really love, even though neither mom or ayi could understand a word the other said. They made it through the night and I am assuming they made it home . . . when we came home from Chinese class today there were three unanswered calls from thier skype address to ours. Never been prouder to call them my parents . . . this trip was way, way, way out of my mom's comfort zone . . . but she was a champ! And my dad? Well, he suffered a pretty miserable 12 hour flight that never would have been considered before.

Thanks, Mom and Dad, for loving on us these past three weeks, for being such champs in a culture that is so completely different from everything you know, for hours of babysitting, for patiently waiting for us to be done with school each day so we could spend time together . . . and most of all? Thanks for coming to see what our lives look like now. It's much different than we may have ever imagined . . . more tiring, more exciting, more frustrating, more blessed . . . and thanks for letting us share it with you! (taxis and all!) LOL

Enjoy that wood stove!

YUMMY BOXES FROM THE STATES!

Well, here's a weird thing that happens when you live in another culture whose food is completely different from what you have eaten for the past 30-some years . . . when you get a parcel, correction: TWO parcels, filled with yummy boxes of cereal and you eat your fill (in very large bowls, mind you) for breakfast, you get this funny little rash-type thing on the roof of your mouth. However, let me tell you this did not stop us from having cereal for breakfast, lunch . . . and well, we haven't yet gotten to dinner time today, but I'm guessing there would be no argument if I produced Lucky Charms, Crunch Berries and Corn Pops at the dinner table!

A HUGE HUGE HUGE thank you to all the lovely people at Centerpoint in Hendersonville (right?)! You guys are THE BEST! We have been so blessed by all your encouragement and talks with Dad on our behalf . . . but the plethera of cereals you sent? Seriously. If we could reach you through the miles, we'd kiss every single one of you right on the lips! (see some previous posts for other things that cause us to kiss people smack on the lips . . . FYI: we're a very affectionate family!)

Who'd have thunk it?

Well, folks . . . the GC may not be fulfilled, but I sure think that my parents wildest dreams (or could it be nightmares?) have been! My parents joined us in this wonderful country we live in on October 2 in Beijing. After almost 25 hours of travel, a huge chunck of which had my father doubled up, sucked in , squished and TENSE (while my mom slept peacfully because she took my great advise of drugging herself on the long flight) they arrived in fine shape at the Beijing Internation Airport! They quite possibly win the prize for "over all best jet-laggers in the world" . . . they arrived in the evening and slept about 8 hours that night, the following night they BOTH slept 12 hours straight, had a nap the next day and then a good 9 - 10 hours the next night! SWEET! No middle of the night wake-ups not knowing what to do with themselves, no falling asleep in the middle of the acrobat show or their dinners . . . they are champs with jet lag! In all honesty, they have pretty much been champs all the way around! No one volunteered for the suggested dinner of scorpion on a stick and candied hawthorn for dessert, but they have braved some of the most daring taxi drivers we have encountered during our time in China, they have crossed one of the busiest streets in Shenyang (which goes without saying is like crossing the interstate on foot during rush hour where my parents come from!) and to top it off, several days after Jerry and I head to Chinese class, they have ventured out of the house and taken a little walk to our friendly neighborhood Carrefour (like Wal-mart) and done some shopping!

I asked my mom one night if she ever thought she would find herself in China . . . her response? Well, no, I guess not . . . I've thought there might be some places in the world I might like to see if they weren't so far from home (hmmm....where is it I get that home-body gene?) but I'm pretty sure China wasn't one of them!

Never underestimate the power of grandchildren!