Thailand Vacation

HAPPY NEW YEAR! It's the year of the pig, and should be a good one... Here is the special "New Year" structure that we look at through our window. Isn't it beautiful?


February 18th was Chinese New Year. The children had no school for 2 weeks, and Mike worked a few hours a day at home that first week. It was so wonderful, for everyone except Jay, who was sick the whole week. We finally got him some antibiotics and he got better before our trip to Thailand. The day before we left, Jay,Eli, Mike and I, went down the street to Plum Blossom Hill, where the blossoms were in full bloom. It was beautiful!





The second week of the break, we went back to Thailand. The children had enjoyed it so much last year, they asked if we could go back. It was a fantastic trip. Beautiful, hot weather, plenty to do, good food, relaxation, and fun times together. We really did have a great time. Rachel, Nicole, Mike, and I spent a day scuba-diving, and that was so much fun. Here are some pictures of our trip. I tried not to repeat scenes too much from when we went last year.




One day while the kids were playing at kid's club, Mike and I rented a motorcycle, and took-off to check out Phuket. We wanted to rent a small scooter, but worried it wouldn't get Mike up the huge hills that are everywhere. We had a great time! Here is possibly my favorite picture of the trip...we saw it on our travels.




Some of the performances the kids participated in...


Trapeze fun! All of the kids really enjoyed learning new tricks on the trapeze...




Eli is so good, he doesn't even have to look while golfing! This was a favorite pass-time for the boys, and they wanted to to play every afternoon.


Fun at the Beach!





The buffet was a big high-light for the kids (OK, Mike and I as well). Eli never wanted to eat real food, but always wanted several bowls of ice cream and a plate of treats (he wasn't ever happy when we had to pick some healthy stuff, too)!

Some Recent Photos...

On Monday, I came home from running, and Mike was here! I was a bit shocked! That morning at about 6:30am (Mike gets to work about 7:30) there was a gas explosion directly across from his office building. They say nobody got hurt, but I'm not sure about those details. The hole goes at least a couple of stories deep. They sent everyone home, for safety reasons. When I came home, he was watching the second half of the Super-Bowl live. I wondered if he and his buddies at work didn't have something to do with it! Just kidding! When I saw the pictures, I was in shock! It was a much bigger thing than I imagined!



I sent Rachel and Nicole to the local grocery store to get a couple of things for me, and look what they came home with! I guess they were about to cut off the poor ugly bull-frog's head, and they couldn't stand for that! They wanted to keep him in their tub, but I told them to set him free. They did in a small pond here in Dong Jiao Guesthouse. I'm sure that the workers that saw them put him there, have already taken him home for dinner, but don't tell Rachel and Nicole!


We went Bowling at the little bowling ally in our complex for family night. We aren't good, but we had fun! Way to go Cailtin and Jay!



These are the hostess and waiters and our special meal put on by Caitlin, Jay, and Eli complete with mood music, menus, and after-dinner entertainment


Big Thumbs up! We recommend Papa Russon's Grub Rub on all of your grilling meats! If you can get past the picture of Papa eating the duck brains on the front of the jar, it's pretty great stuff!

We've arrived!

We are now in our new temporary house! OK, almost all of the way unpacked. The apartments aren't bad, and the girls think they are awesome to get their own rooms in the apartment downstairs. Don't worry, there is no TV or Internet down there, and the security is really good. It's great to be able to store many of our boxes in the living-room, and still have plenty of space. I don't want to have to do EVERYTHING again in April. I have to say, that in all of the frustration of having to move, we have been blessed. I love being up here on Purple Mountain! It is so beautiful, and peaceful, and the area is great for the kids. Although we didn't want to move, it has turned out for the best, I believe. Besides, how cool is it to live on a World Heritage sight!

So, I thought I'd share just a couple of things...

On moving day, we had to swerve around a car parked in the middle of the road. There were two men. One was down in a scuzzy pond filling up buckets to wash the car with, and the other one was directing him on how to do it.

The moving company that helped load the boxes in a truck and move them here, were these very small men. The company was called "Ants Moving Company". They were amazing! They would stick these huge boxes on their backs, bend over half, and walk down the stairs. One man would strap two huge 1 meter boxes (and they were heavy) together, and carry both on his back!

My friend Ginnelle is going back to Australia to have her baby. She asked her Ayi (housekeeper) if she could please stay for 4 hours two times a week while she is gone, to help out her husband. The ayi said, " How about if I come for 3 hours, and do 4 hours worth of work!" ????? (Can I ask how you can do 4 hours of work in 3 hours????)

Here are some repair stories...In China, the plumbing system is very much in the developing stage. Let's just say, it's easy for the pipes to plug. My friend Diane's sink kept plugging. She asked them to come and fix it, and they told her that the problem was that she needed to stop putting food down her food disposal. ?? My other friend, Julie has water dripping from her ceiling. There are also paint bubbles, and when you push on them, water comes out. Plumbers have come over and over just to tell her it is condensation. ?? Our friend Steve has a washing machine. It kept braking. He called the repair man who came to fix it, but the next day it didn't work again. He called the guy back, and he was very annoyed. He told Steve that it was fixed, and if he would stop using it, it wouldn't break any more! ??


Rachel and Nicole were both on school trips this Friday. Nicole just got back from the Model United Nations conference in Beijing. She had a great time. I think she learned a lot. She was on the Security Council representing Denmark. She met some great people. Rachel went to a Basketball tournament, and played really well. She has really enjoyed playing sports this year. I think she is going to take a break now to start training for the cycling trip in Tibet. She and Nicole will be training every weekend from now on.

More Crazy Times...

Well, it's been a while. Life is never dull. At the moment, we are packing our boxes, again. Unfortunately, we have had many problems with the current landlord. The flood that happened from a malfunction in the toilet, the end of November, has caused some disputes. The owner refuses to fix the problems unless we (or our company)pay half of the bill, though it is clearly his responsibility in the contract. We tried to be patient, and work things out, but he doesn't want to take responsibility, and insists on forcing the issue. He feels the contract is unfair, and though he says that he doesn't feel it's our fault, he didn't use the toilet, so he believes it isn't his fault either, and we should pay half. He feels that our approach is not the Chinese way, but since he is taking American rent (or more) this is unfortunate. He wants to take our company to arbitration over this, and we told him that if he does this, we will move, so he will not have renters paying rent for the next six months (easily six times the amount of the total repair bill!). It can be difficult to find renters for these houses. Because he has broken his contract by not making repairs in a timely fashion, we can leave without penalty. There is mold under the floor-boards in the girls' room, and we feel it is unhealthy. It has been a very stressful few weeks, especially this last weekend, realizing that he was not going to come around, and that we really were going to have to move. There wasn't much available, and it was hard to find a house best for all of the kids. We were very blessed, and feel we have found a good solution. We will move to Dong Jiao Guest House, a nice complex on Purple Mountain. It isn't too far from school, and it will be a nice place for us. Unfortunately, we will need to move into 2 apartments until sometime in April, when the house becomes available.

Yes, we will be moving, again, this Thursday. Wish us luck! This is short, but there is too much going on for the moment. More to come next week...

Yangshuo, Nanjing, and Beijing

We had a rough start to our trip to Guilin. We were so excited to meet Jared and Kellee, but there was fog, and apparently, there is no taking-off in fog. We would ask them about our flight, and they would tell us it was delayed. When we would ask for a time, they would say,"No time".(???)We waited at the airport from 6:30pm-12:30am when we were finally told we needed to pile on a bus and go to a hotel for the night. We tried to explain that we lived here, and would rather go home and return in the morning. Apparently, that was not a possibility. We were taken to a not so great hotel, where we slept and were to wake-up at 6:00 to go back to the airport, and given a fried egg and hot milk. No worries, they gave us a free meal at the airport on Tuesday evening! (the middle is a sort of bone-soup)




We were worried because we had no way to get in touch with Kellee and Jared. I didn't find out until the next morning, that the driver I had arranged to pick them up somehow (suspiciously) missed them. They found their own hotel, and I finally got in touch with my Dad. I was so relieved to hear they had heard from Kellee and we finally talked to Kellee about 12:30 in the afternoon as we were still sitting in the airport waiting for our plane. At this point I saw an amazing thing...the people on our plane had enough! They were tired of our plane being delayed and got really angry! I thought some of them might hit the airline workers. Suddenly we were on our plane, and heading to Guilin. We got to our Yangshuo hotel at night. Here is the unbelievable surprise we saw out our window the next morning!


We had such a great time in Yangshuo. The first day we rode bikes for 6 hours! Eli was on the back of the tandem, and the rest of us had our own bikes. Jared rode with Eli and was a trouper! Eli did great on the back, and Jay rode by himself. There were beautiful mountains, rice-farms, and beautiful people with a simple life.



One of my favorite sights was this man with his water buffalo. Do you like the pink bow?



Here is a power station. Instead of fencing it for safety, they have hung CPR instructions...



We climbed MOON HILL of course (for Kellee and Jared Moon)!



We saw such gorgeous scenes.



Jay and Eli thought to take a pit stop, but after inspection of the facility changed their minds!



The second day we decided to walk to Dragon Bridge. It was great. We saw so many beautiful things. But, it took us 4 1/2 hours. Even the boys walked the whole way. Oh, a girl offered to take us a pretty route if we payed her 5 yuan, and she let each of the boys sit on her bike as she pushed it for 15 minutes each. This is not Dragon Bridge, but she told us this bridge was built in the 1200's



Kellee, Caitlin, and I got a lesson in making ba bas from some really sweet ladies. It reminded me of cooking together with my mom and sisters when we watched them. They insisted we try some, and let us take pictures. They wouldn't let us pay them.




The last day, we set out for a short bike ride. Our map wasn't very good, and we got lost. After 5 hours of riding all over, seeing small towns that I'm pretty sure have never had foreign visitors, we showed up again, at the Dragon Bridge! It was an adventurous day. We had a great time, and were so proud of the kids. They just kept going, and didn't complain. It was comforting that we knew where we were once we found the little village, but we also knew how far away we were! We had two hours to get back to the hotel if we wanted to eat before our ride came for the airport. Since we hadn't eaten all day, we rode like crazy, and made it just before dark. Here is a picture of Jared helping some of the local workers make cement! I think they thought they were being funny when they asked him, and were shocked when he actually did! (we weren't :)



We all came back and spent a wonderful five days with Kellee and Jared. We had so much fun! We did everything from hiking Purple Mountain, to museums, and of course, shopping. We had a lot of fun introducing them to our favorite restaurants. One of the more entertaining moments was when I took them to get a Chinese massage. The place I normally go changed owners. Boy was I in for a surprise. We decided it should be called a Yoga, rhythm (they slap your back to some great beats), heat, rock, acrobat massage. We laughed for hours afterward! Wan, our ayi, made lots and lots of dumplings for all of us on their last day in Nanjing. They were yummy!






Our first day in Beijing, we went to the great wall. It was gorgeous. We climbed around for about 4 hours! The air was so cold, but the sky was blue. A great day. Luckily, I had already sold Kellee on the Chinese long underwear idea! We stayed in a really fun hotel called a Hutong. Hutongs are the traditional Chinese housing common in Beijing. Many are being torn down for new high-rises. We had a great time touring the Forbidden city, and some other neat places. On my birthday, we went to a Peking Duck for dinner. It was quite good, and they bought dinner for me and even went around the table to say what they loved about me (a family tradition). We had such a wonderful time together. I will never forget



This is the point they wouldn't let anyone go further on the wall due to safety reasons.


Our Hutong used to be the home of a general. Kellee and I wanted to say good-bye to him.

Christmas 2006

We aren't good, but we have fun!


Special cookies for Santa!


Wadley Family Nativity


Our "Thanksgiving Christmas"

What a great few weeks we've had! The children got out of school the week before Christmas. We had a fun week checking out some fun spots in Nanjing. We went to a big indoor playground at a mall (where we were almost the only people there! Chinese students were still in school), a small indoor ice-skating rink, and finished up our Christmas shopping. Unfortunately, Mike had to watch us skate, as they didn't have any skates in his size. I got quite sick the week before Christmas, and the kids were very patient on the days they had to be stuck at home.

Christmas Eve was a great day. We had a one-hour church meeting at our house, and then all ate a ham dinner. We played our traditional (I can say that, since we did the same thing last year) white elephant game, which included a very popular huge box of bananas, a fought-over plate of brownies I added last minute because some people forgot gifts, and a coveted rooster made of sea-shells. Everyone was so excited about the meal, you'd think they'd been eating Chinese food for months or something! Oh, that's right,they have! After everyone left, we decorated our Christmas cookies. Eli was so much fun this year! He made special cookies for Santa. Amazingly, he didn't eat any frosting or candy himself! He layered frosting and skittles to make a very few very tasty-looking cookies! We then had our traditional opening of the love-gifts we exchange with my family each year. That is such a special time. It's great to see what each person does for another. The nativity had a few hitches. First, Eli cried and cried because he wanted to be baby Jesus. He finally gave in, but insisted on being an angel with Caitlin. Eli was on Caitlin's shoulders, and they wrapped a blanket around them. Don't forget the fairy wings. When we put the boys to bed, Eli was so excited he was shaking! He was laying stiff in his bed with his eyes scrunched shut. Jay came into my room at 2:30 and couldn't sleep. We got him back to bed, and Eli came in at 5:30. He climbed in my bed and tried to sleep for an hour. Finally at 6:30, he said,"Mom, I can't sleep anymore. Is it time?" How could we refuse that?

We had the most wonderful Christmas morning. The children were so cute this year. Excited about the gifts they were giving to each other, and really expressing their gratitude with hugs and squeals. We had a nice day, and even fixed a Thanksgiving dinner to share. Some of the kids used their treasured bottle of IBC root beer for their dinner. Others saved theirs. That evening, our friends, Paul and Ginnelle Mullins, and Warren and Julie Baker, traveled through the worst fog in 30 years, here in Nanjing, to visit us. We played a fun game with them. They had really wanted to join in a nativity play with us, but they needed to be quick because of the fog. What a wonderful Christmas. It was so wonderful to get gifts and cards from our family back home. It's wonderful to be missed, and terrible to miss, this time of year!

Looking Forward to a New Week

This week has been a challenge to say the least. It started out Sunday, when we found lice in Jay and Eli’s hair on the way home from church. Well, that changed our Sunday from a relaxing one, into a “getting rid of lice” one. That was no fun! I cut Jays hair really short, and spent over 3 hours on removal from their hair. Then there was the washing of everything, and bagging…you know the routine! It wasn’t fun. Then, they stayed home from school on Monday. Eli certainly won’t let himself get bored! He found plenty to do while at home. Cutting pants and putting my make-up all over himself, are among some of the ideas he had. Tuesday, all were back at school!

Thursday morning, Caitlin and Rachel woke-up to water all over her bedroom floor. She could hear something coming from downstairs. We had a lovely wake-up. We have terrible plumbing, and terrible toilets. Rachel could hear water running, and it was all over her bedroom. (this was 5:00am) We came downstairs, and it was pouring like a waterfall from every light fixture. There was at least 2 inches of water everywhere, clear into the kitchen. I want to say, maybe 30 square yards. Also, we turned off the water from the toilet, and filled more than 10 5 gallon buckets as the ceiling cleared itself out. Did I mention it was pouring all over the entertainment center? The Big screen TV, the Sound system, DVD player...everything. It was lots of work. Apparently, the toilet mechanism didn't work right, and the toilet didn't stop filling. The pipe was clogged further down the drain, and the drain that is in the bathroom didn't work. It wasn't a really great day. I think we will all have a fear of toilets when we leave. Anyway, the owner came on Saturday to offer his kindness to pay half of the bill! So this is the big drama at the moment. I guess we see who has the most stamina! Yesterday, the heater broke, and we were very cold last night. But, they fixed it today. I’m hoping that is our third problem, as they say they come in threes, right? We should be good for at least a week!

Some really nice things happened this week as well. Mike and I were able to see Rachel play in a Basketball game. She did really well. Mike and I were able to celebrate our 16th anniversary. We had a wonderful evening. Caitlin, Jay, and Eli had a fun sleep-over at the school, and Rachel and Nicole had a dance. We are all excited for Christmas. The kids get out of school this Friday, and we will go over-night to Shanghai.

Some Photos...

Happy Birthday Caitlin!










Ready for the Christmas Ball. Doesn't Mike look great?



Cooking with Yulan and her friends