The Wadley Family in China: What a great and busy few weeks!

Wow, it's been so long since I've written on the blog! We have had wonderful visitors, and moved house, along with all of the things life brings. Starting the end of April, Mike's Mother and Father visited us. They first went to Beijing, and then rode a train to Tibet. The train was 48 hours, after which they stayed in Lhasa for a day. They then flew to Xian for one day before coming to Nanjing! I think they were probably worn right out by the time they got here. But we were so happy to see them, and really enjoyed showing them around Nanjing, and just spending time with them. The kids took turns showing-off everything they've been doing, and of course, Grandma and Grandpa were appropriately impressed! We had a fun trip to Suzhou to show them the beautiful gardens and the water canals. I think that they may have been traumatized by the driving here. Dad's knuckles were pretty white. He didn't want to take a taxi, as he was just getting used to our driver. Then, we ended up needing to take a taxi to a BBQ last minute while our driver was off. It was the May holiday, which means Purple Mountain was crazy-busy with Chinese tourists. The only thing we could find was a small, beat-up, Changan van. I swear they are smaller than a Volkswagen bug! Anyway, all nine of us shoved in and spent 60 horrifying minutes getting to the BBQ. We were only 2 hours late! They were good sports about it all. We had a wonderful celebration of Nicole's 13th Birthday! She has grown-up so much this year. We had a fun day and even tried out big blow-up balls you climb into and roll around in on the water. Then we got stuck on a malfunctioning mini tidal-wave, and got really dizzy! It was a fun day, and great to have Grandma and Grandpa here for it. We loved every minute with them, and are so grateful they came. Here are a few pictures from their visit.

Here is Nicole's family party at the Japanese Tympanyaki restaurant. YUMMY!

This side-ways picture is of Mom on the over 500 long stair case that she climbed with me one morning! It's way more steep than it looks in this photo. Way to go Mom!

This is QiXia Mountain, where there is a Buddhist temple and monks.

Here we are in ZhouZhuang, the water-town.

I guess the next big thing this month was our move. Yes, we finally moved to the house we plan on STAYING in until we leave Nanjing! We moved 2 days after Mom and Dad left. It was crazy! But, I was so grateful to Mike for taking a personal day. I don't think I could have done that again on my own! Moving is just plain work! You would think we are pros by now, and maybe we are, but it just takes so long to unpack!!!! Now that we are here, we really love this house. We've actually got pictures on the walls, so we are feeling pretty settled. We have the best view in our backyard to the bamboo forest, with a small patio and a BBQ.

Here is the moving crew that moved us both times. They are called the Ant House Moving Company, and it's amazing what these little guys can do!

In the mean-time, the kids have been busy. Eli had is last swim-lesson for the year, and Jay is finishing up his Kungfu lessons. He is now working on the rope. This makes nunchucks (how do you spell that?) the bamboo staff, and now the rope. He should be ready to protect us all, or maybe just be in a kungfu movie? Caitlin gave a wonderful performance of her tap routine in the school cultural assembly, and Rachel did a great job with a modern dance. Rachel and Nicole have been training for 6 months now for their big bike-trip to Tibet in two weeks. They will stay for 22 days, cycling for 15. They will camp at the base of Mount Everest! We are so excited for them! What a great summer they have planned, with this trip, and girls camp, and then Rachel to EFY. Then, they get to hang out in Bountiful with family. What lucky girls! They are both working very hard on the School Production that will be this week.
Here is a picture of Caitlin with her friends that did the tap routine with her.

On May 19th, I had the awesome opportunity of traveling to Beijing with a group of people from Nanjing (we were from 11 different countries) to run in the Great Wall Marathon. What a fantastic experience it was! I have never run more than a 10k, so Last fall, when I decided to train for it, I wasn't sure if I would be able to do the whole thing. I've been training since January, and it's been such a good growing experience for me. With this race, the first part is on a steep portion of the Great Wall, in a beautiful location, and then it goes through small farm villages, finishing with another big wall section. It was SO HARD!!! But so much fun. At the 1/2-way point, I wondered why I had not done the 1/2 marathon, and didn't know if I could do another half! It was a terrific feeling when I called Mike, who was at home taking care of the kids, to tell him I actually finished! Some of the high-lights of the race were the view on the wall, the village people lined-up to cheer me as I ran by, the children who all wanted high-fives and gave me wild flowers, seeing goats, pack-mules, and beautiful gardens, 4 from our group who waited for me after their half-marathon so I wouldn't be alone at the end after all of that training, and the amazing support and congratulations I received from the Nanjing Group, and other friends back here in Nanjing! Not to mention great family support. I think the most special thing about the race, was the miracle of no pain in my hip. I haven't run without pain since last August, and I didn't feel any pain during the run. I know it was a blessing, and not the only one of the day! It was truly an awesome experience for me, and I'm so glad I did it. The two people who got me through all of that training, were my awesome husband, who believes I can do anything, and then encourages me to do everything...And my sister Lori, who was my e-mail coach! And now that this has turned into a note of thanks...I guess I need to thank my IPOD...who ran with me every step of the way!!!

The day after the Race, my cousin Misha met me in Beijing. It was so fun to see her! We stayed for 2 1/2 days in Beijing, and had a great time! We stayed in a really cute Hutong hotel with a nice garden, and explored the city. The day we went to the Great-Wall poured rain. It was pretty, but extremely wet! We then came back to Nanjing where I showed her around the city, and we took lots of walks around Purple Mountain seeing the historical sights, pagodas, the city wall, and some really pretty gardens. She discovered she enjoyed the back and foot massages, so we were sure to fit in some of those. We went to a relief society Chinese cooking class, which was lots of fun. We then made Chinese food at home, and got a little carried away, making enough food for days! We had lots of fun on a day-trip to Suzhou and took some great pictures of the canals, and lots of crazy signs. Misha left this morning, and I miss her already. I tried to talk her into staying longer, but she seemed to think she needs to work or something! Well, now I have to get back to real life for at least a couple of weeks, until I get to go to Utah with the kids and play for the summer!

Here, Misha is posing with one of the many people who asked for a picture with her:-)Actually, there were quite a few real people who did ask!