We've had a good couple of weeks. The girls survived their semester exams, Mike survived his "company bonding" trip, and Caitlin made it to eleven. Jay and Caitlin have been practicing hard with their circus training. They are actually pretty impressive. Especially Jay with his diablo (no idea how to spell that) which is like a Chinese yoyo. Now, we really will be the Wadley Family Circus. We got our Christmas decorations put up last weekend. We found a really big fake tree, and with all of the decorations and lights, it doesn't look too bad! We had a great time decorating it, and the kids decorated our last year's tree (remember the sad one?) upstairs. Back to Mike and his company trip. They went to an outbound resort, or that's what it called itself. He wasn't excited to sleep in the very short beds, and eat the very chinese meals. Anyway, he said it turned out good. One funny moment, was when he thought he was telling his Chinese co-workers he was too fat: Tai Peng le! Instead, he was saying: Tai Bang le, which means, " I'm really great!" Well, they kept agreeing with him, and when he found out he was saying how great he was, he was so embarrassed!!!
Caitlin had a nice birthday. Mike and I took her to dinner on Wednesday night, to a Lebonese restaraunt. Not your typical 11 year old choice! Things are different here. Anyway, it was fun. She is growing up so much. She had her traditional spaghetti dinner on Thursday (although, I have now been taught by my Italian friend, how to make Ragu Bolognaise...how official!) and Brownies with a chocolate chip cookie dough frosting. I'm still sick from the richness of it all. She got a rasor scooter, and a handmade Teddy that looks just like Mr. Bean's bear. Eli gave her a special gift: He asked her if she wanted a foot massage (he hears us talking about foot massages a lot as they are so cheap here!) for her birthday. She said, sure, and he gave her a very vigorous back massage with his feet!
Mike and I got a phone call at 1:30 am this week! It was my brother Todd, announcing his engagement to Jennifer. We are so excited for him! Now that I have seen a picture, I have to say,"Way to go, Oggie!" I am so excited to meet her.
Yesterday, my friend Yulan brought over a bunch of her classmates from the Chinese School of Medicine. They were very excited to learn some baking. They wanted to make an apple cake, some cookies, and some muffins. There were eight of them. They were all so much fun, and enthusiastic! I had a great afternoon. They want to come back and learn some savory dishes next time.
Last night was the young women sleep-over here at our house. I think they had fun. It is now Saturday morning, and they have been busy in the kitchen making every kind of pancake you can imagine.
Tonight is the expat Christmas Ball. I am excited for it, as I will get my husband to dance with me! It's fun to dress-up, too! I'll post a picture.
Well, Nanjing is getting colder, though not unbearable yet. The kids are looking forward to Christmas, and we all can't wait for Kellee and Jared to get here the day after.
