After class my teacher (ZhenZhen--pronounced Jenn Jenn) and her boyfriend Victor came over to our apartment. Zhen zhen has become a dear friend here, and we've really enjoyed getting to know her long-time boyfriend (probably soon to become her fiance). She has been wanting to learn more about western style baking, so we had fun making chocolate snowflake cookies with the kids and then having dinner. (Funny sidenote: I learned a lesson the hard way about finding out the price for things before ordering them for delivery this last week. I called in an order at the store that delivers import items so I could do some "traditional" holiday baking. I asked for several bars of unsweetened chocolate, as several of my favorite holiday dessert recipes call for this. They only had one, so I asked them to bring it to me. After my order was delivered and I had settled up with the delivery man, I looked through the bag and found my bar of chocolate. The price tag was still on it--a whopping 58 kuai--which is about $8 or $9! I couldn't believe I'd just paid that much for a bar of chocolate! Oh, and it wasn't even 8 oz--it was only 4! So any of you who have our list of "Things we Miss" for the purpose of sending care packages can add that one to it. Not sure I"ll be making that purchase again any time soon!!)
The picture is of all of us (except Noah, who was in my arms at the time watching) with our messy hands after rolling the cookies into balls. We had a great time baking, then ate a fun dinner that our ayi had prepared the day before. (Another sidenote: the ayi that we have had coming to our home the last 2 and a half months for 3 days each week to cook and clean just worked her last day for us, most likely. The family she had previously worked for is returning to China this week, so she has to go back to work for them. We were so sad to loose her, as we've really gotten to know her and so appreciate all she does for us. And we're not really sure what we're doing from here as far as someone to take her place, but I'm thankful to have enough humility and common sense to know that we do need to find a replacement for her in order for our home to run smoothly as I'm pretty much maxed out daily just trying to handle what I have on my plate as it is. So we'd appreciate you thinking about this subject on our behalf as it comes to mind!)
After dinner, the kids did crafts for a little while with Zhen Zhen and Victor, then we put them to bed. Of course our guests had come with gifts, and they were a huge hit! They brought some magnets for the fridge (which were the favorite new toy for Hudson) and these toothbrush holders that I have in the picture. They are so cute, and incredibly functional! They suction on to the mirror, then you can just snap the toothbrush into and out of them. The kids were more excited to
brush teeth than I've seen them in awhile!Once we got the kids in bed, we hung out with Victor and Zhen Zhen, looking through family photo albums (the Chinese people really value family and love to see pictures) and then playing the Wii. We really struggled with the Wii purchase (made as Kevin's graduation gift before leaving the US), but are SO thankful we did it! It has really proven to be a great tool to bridge the communication gap with Chinese friends when language is a barrier (by giving us a fun activity to do that doesn't require a lot of linguisitic commonality!) as well as been fun for the whole family on the really cold days that we don't want to get out of the apartment as much. We had a great evening rejoicing in the sweet friendships and opportunitites that He has already brought our way!
