This photo was taken today, after church.
This one's for my Dad! A Chinese Hearse! Happy Father's Day, Dad!
Amanda and Tyler's wedding lunch. Our driver was invited in to eat with us.
Wow. None of us can believe that we've been here in China that long! We actually arrived July 13th of last year, but we leave this Wednesday to make the journey home to see our family, for 6 weeks. This year has brought so much to our family. I can only feel gratitude and amazement as I look back and see the blessings we have received while adjusting to such a different way of life. I can honestly say, there has not been one boring day! We have developed such a love for these amazing people. We have learned to accept the challenging, along with all of the good. The children have adjusted so well, I am happy, and Mike enjoys his job. We all love the little church group we have here. We have learned to a larger extent, that following the gospel is a way of life, and we can do that anywhere we go. We have learned to eat some crazy things. Mike and I were talking about how glad we are that he made the kids eat whatever I made, ever since they were little. We didn't really cater to their individual taste buds. We have been to a couple of Chinese restaurant lately, and are amazed at what the kids will eat! We have been learning a new language (and will continue to try to learn!) Our eyes have been opened up to a world beyond the USA. It has been such a pleasure to learn about people and other cultures. We have seen some beautiful places, and many amazing things of the Chinese culture. We will never be the same, and for this we are glad. We look forward to this next year, and the challenges, and opportunities it will bring.
And now, this week...We get to go to Utah, to visit family! We are all so excited. We just hope that they will still love us if we smell, um, a little...Chinese(??), not that Chinese smell bad, just different:-)
Some things that have happened this last couple of weeks:
The move is on. It has been on, then off, then on. This has been a huge learning experience for me. I realized, afterward, that it was just like buying souvenirs at Confucius temple. Barter, barter, barter. They will push as much as they can, we will push back, and then, in the end, you have to just be willing to walk away (which I was this week, when they wanted to put the dishwasher in the garage because they didn't want to put it in right. When I laughed at that, they wanted us to just not use the door in the kitchen and they would put the dishwasher in front of it). Well, funny how they changed their minds, and decided to do it right when I told them I didn't want the house that bad. Suddenly, what was absolutely impossible, is possible. Amazing!
We went to a good-bye dinner for a friend. It was a Chinese meal, with a Chinese fellow. One of the dishes was duck tongue! We managed to not eat the duck tongue, but had to eat several other questionable dishes. Nicole was given the high compliment of being like Mao. At least, he thought it was a compliment. He also mentioned that he noticed I treat my girls as equals to the boys. He said that in China, the boys are much more special, and would receive more food, and special things. I knew all of this, but was surprised to here someone actually say it!
The children all finished school! I spent a lot of time at the school for different things, mostly end of the year parties. Jay had a water party, Caitlin an exhibition on nuclear energy, and Rachel and Nicole a special award ceremony for the secondary school. They were surprised, but not nearly as surprised as Michael and I, to receive the award for being the top student in their grade in a couple of subjects: Rachel for Art and Performing Arts, and Nicole for Performing Arts. I should explain that the reason Mike and I were so surprised, is that we feel we didn't pass these talents down! All of the kids worked very hard in school, and we are proud of them. Eli is especially excited to go to kindergarten next year at the same school as his brother and sisters!
We drove to Chongzhou yesterday for the luncheon for Amanda and Tyler. They are the couple getting married this summer, in Utah. This was at a Chinese restaurant in Chongzhou. They had 28 dishes! A huge production. Luckily, Tyler asked them not to bring the pig's head, platter of livers, and a couple of other scary dishes to our table. Because we don't drink, they just kept filling our glasses with sprite, as Amanda's family would come in and toast us. You are supposed to empty your glass, and show them it's gone. The family members were drinking alcohol, and us sprite. Amanda, and Tyler were also drinking sprite. We were so sick by the end, and weren't surprised to here that most grooms pass out during their celebrations, and the best man then fills in and finishes the toasting rounds for him.
Today is Father's Day. The kids made a fun movie for Mike, and Rachel is in making cinnamon rolls. Mike is just happy to lounge around. It is very difficult to find a gift for him here in China, so I hope he likes the label-maker we got him:-) We are both so grateful for our fathers, and hope they have a wonderful Father's Day, too!
Today was the last day having church in our house. There will be a very small group meeting in an apartment for the summer, and then we will go back to the hotel for the fall. The plan is to come back to our house after Christmas, when the group shrinks a bit. It has been great having church at our house. It will, however, be nice to not have to worry about keeping the house ready for a while...
