Birthday Bash--the long version!

This Saturday our family had the privilege of being invited to attend Kevin's friend's grandfather's 80th birthday party. Kevin's friend (Lief) is from a suburb of Tianjin, a smaller town that takes about an hour to drive to (assuming you are in a car rather than a bus and there is little to no traffic). We knew VERY little details about the party before we went, which is nothing a-typical here in China (the eastern perspective on time is very much short-term focused rather than our western mindset that is long-term--meaning Americans plan far in advance and Chinese pretty much NEVER do!). Also, information in general in the eastern culture is rarely disseminated very widely. The usual practice is for information to be withheld--kind of like a power play, especially within businesses between superiors and their subordinates. Now, while there was obviously NO intention of a power play on Lief or his family's part, what we've discovered over the last year is that because information is so regularly withheld, it kind of becomes the norm for people here, so that even in situations that more details COULD be given, it is the habit that has been formed that it NOT be given! Make sense? All this to say, we went into Saturday ill prepared, to say the least!

We knew we were to be picked up at the baseball field where Lief lives at 1:30 in the afternoon. Since that is normally when Hud and Noah are going down for their afternoon nap, we adjusted their schedules for the day, and by no small miracle, were able to get both boys to take a short nap starting earlier in the afternoon. Whew! I thought we might have a later evening, but little did I know all that we were really in for! We waited at the baseball field and the kids had a few minutes to climb on the bull statues (seen in the pics) before we were kicked off of them. So a van came and picked up our family and Lief with Lief's dad in the front seat and a hired driver. We were so overwhelmed at the hospitality already of Lief's parents in the efforts just to get our family there! However, my first "oops!" moment was seeing how Lief's dad was dressed. NICE dress shirt and pants--extremely unusual for ANY Chinese even we've been to yet--even the one wedding we've attended! Yikes! We then drove through Tianjin for some time to pick up another one of Lief's father's friends who was to attend the party (again, dressed much more formally than any of the Joseph clan). After a little over an hour in the car, we arrived at Lief's family's home.

As we unloaded from the van, we already had a captive audience. This suburb was even less accustomed to foreigners, especially blonde-haired little ones, and more enthusiastic to hear "our story" and stare in awe. We made it inside without major incident, where Kevin then whispered to me, "Don't freak out, but the party doesn't start until 6pm!" Now, this was at about 2:45pm. I looked around the small apartment we were in, with food and drinks covering the coffee table in anticipation of our arrival, and my heart totally sank as I counted the number of small, breakable objects spread throughout the ENTIRE house that were just begging my somewhat out of control 15-month old to grab them and smash them to pieces! My first thought--how in the world are we going to make it through 3 hours of being in here without totally destroying the place. My second--is there any chance we can make it that late of an evening without TOTAL meltdown from someone (maybe even me?!). Kevin, reading the panic on my face, gave me a quick pep talk, and we were off.

I'll try to paint the picture. Hospitality is HUGE in China. Oh, and when you are offered something to eat or drink, you are supposed to politely decline, to which the host is then supposed to offer once again. This exchange is supposed to go back and forth a few rounds, and then the third time you can actually accept the offer of food or drink. (I know, sounds crazy to our straight-forward American thinking, but keep in mind, we Americans, too have some crazy cultural practices that we don't even realize!) So I've adjusted to this new cultural norm and am generally okay with playing the game, however, if you really don't want to eat or drink or really can't (as in the situation in which your toddler is roaming free to explore every safety hazard within reach), this really can pose somewhat of a problem! After refusing tea 2 times, Lief's mom insisted that I take a cup in my hands. I was holding the teacup for no more than 8 seconds before Noah found trouble--the mostly full teapot sitting on the teapot. Which he, of course, being the curious toddler that he is, poured out all over the coffee table and floor. If this was an isolated incident, maybe I wouldn't still find it so humorous, but the rest of the afternoon ensued in about the same fashion, with Lief's mom insisting my hands be occupied with one thing or another (food, more drinks, photos of Lief as a kid, etc.), making my availability to thwart Noah's destruction virtually impossible. I THINK we walked away from the afternoon with nothing major being broken--again, no small miracle! This is probably partly due to the fact that we were able to "escape" outside for a good portion of our 3-hour wait. Praise God for a beautiful day that allowed us outside play!

At the boys suggestion, we decided to bring a soft baseball that I had packed in my "bag of tricks" for the trip outside to play. We found a courtyard (with the ground covered in brick rather than grass, of course) that we decided was suitable for play. We spent the next hour and a half or two out there with our family and Lief, running around and playing different games, dodging the MANY piles of doggie poo as best we could. At one point, Kevin looked at me and said, "You realize that this is basically the main bathroom spot for all the animals in the apartment complex don't you?" To which I responded, "Yes. And the fact that it doesn't phase me a bit, nor the fact that Noah will probably end up with this very same dirty shoe in his mouth at some point later today (one of his favorite things to keep himself busy while in the stroller), tells you a whole lot about both where I am in "survival mode" right now and how much I have changed over the last year!" So we threw up a prayer for health and for safety as we raced around on hard uneven brick ground littered with broken pieces of debris and poop! And the kids loved every minute. At one point, Kevin noted to me how funny it was that there was nothing unusual about the whole situation to the kids. Their new normal has truly altered, and it's amazing to see just how adaptable they are to so many different situations!

So we finally made it to the part before 6. Keep in mind we had been outside playing for about two hours, and we'd had an hour of travel in the car. So I wasn't exactly feeling "fresh" as far as clothes or make-up were concerned. I immediately noticed a difference in this party to any other we've seen or been to. (Birthday parties in Chinese homes are pretty rare, as a rule. Generally, the parents don't give their children gifts on their birthday [but don't feel too badly, they usually give them a LOT of stuff throughout the year, just not especially on birthdays]. And usually, rather than the friends taking you out to eat or to celebrate, if it is your birthday, then YOU take your friends out to a restaurant and pick up the tab! This is one cultural difference I'm not sure I'll ever get used to!) So I honestly wasn't expecting this party to be a big deal, knowing that it was Lief's parents who were the ones hosting it. Boy, was I wrong! It was the most formal venue we've been to here in China (a large ballroom with ornate, and yes, gaudy, chandeliers that was in a hotel). There were probably about 200 to 300 guests, and the food and alcohol were abundant! As I watched the attendees arrive, I once again felt my stomach drop as I looked at our family's athletic pants on the boys and the jeans Kevin and I donned. But as under-dressed as we obviously were, would you believe that I did not ONCE feel like anyone was looking down their nose at us or possibly making snide remarks about how clueless we were!

Being the only foreigners there, we expected to be considered a little bit of the entertainment. But man, talk about being more in the limelight than I ever hoped to be! Noah was carried around by different relatives of Lief (to which he most of the time responded quite enthusiastically, responding with a wave to all of the new friends he was making from table to table). Everyone loved the yang wa-wa (western babydoll), and every time he returned he had at least one, if not two, pieces of large, round, hard candy in his fists, squealing in his obvious plea for me to open the wrapper. I must confess that I gave in several times, in spite of the unbelievable choking hazard it was, just to avoid his persistent screams. But after the 5th or 6th round I drew the line on the candy intake.

Seafood is considered the most formal food to serve, as it is more expensive and considered more of a delicacy. So our table was covered with hard-shell crabs, whole fish (bones, scales, fins all still intact, which is the norm here) and HUGE prawns. While this was not exactly the most convenient food for us to eat, as all of it required quite a bit of manual labor to actually ingest the meat that you wanted rather than all of the "extras", it did provide a great deal of entertainment for the kids. Each of the boys played with crab claws for quite some time and Karis had fun peeling and eating some of the huge prawns (shrimp are one of her favorite foods). I put the tiniest drop of bi jiu in my cup, Chinese "white wine" which is actually REALLY strong liquor--50% alcohol, I'm told, to taste. The worst drink I think I've ever had in my mouth! Kevin was glad that he didn't have to be concerned about me developing a taste for alcohol, even amidst such culturally stressful environments!

After we'd eaten, we really got to take center stage. Literally. Our family was called up to the MC with the microphone to sing "happy birthday" in English to Lief's grandfather. Luckily, we were prepped for this before hand, so the kids agreed to the deal and did a great job. The audience loved it. So much so, that the MC decided we should continue! He told Kevin next that he and I should sing a duet for the crowd (of 200 + people)! Now I'm not sure if there's some sterotype similar to "all African Americans can dance" that says that "all Americans can sing", but this MC obviously thought so. Mind you, NO ONE else was on stage singing, except the one cousin of Lief's who was a professional singer. That's right--her job is singing opera. But for whatever reason, the MC thought Kevin and I would just have a song in our hearts that needed to come out--without even having accompanying music! I assured both Kevin and the MC that this was definitely NOT the case (yes, on stage, in front of the whole audience), and we were saved by Eli! My more shy-natured child, who totally came through clutch for us all! He came forward and offered to sing one of his school songs for the crowd. So he did one verse of "Be Careful Little Eyes What You See", followed by Karis singing another verse of the same song, followed by Hud singing "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" in Chinese. The crowd loved them, and Kevin and I were off the hook. After the Von Trapp family performance, Kevin assured me that the next time we were in such a situation (please Lord, let it not be so!), we are GOING to sing "Total Eclipse of the Heart" whether I like it or not (this is our favorite 80's duet to belt out when we need a break-the-tension moment in our family). So guess we need to start the rehearsals?! Oh, and Kevin did his part wonderfully, holding the mic and having several opportunities to get language practice when he was put on the spot to tell a little about himself and his family and to offer several toasts to Lief's grandfather.

After eating some of the 8-tiered cake for dessert, which we were extremely thankful that it made it to the cake-cutting time, due to the fact that it was on the same stage where our wild hoodlums were running around and dancing for a good portion of the evening, we let the kids run around in the hotel hallways for a little while to expend energy in a place free from totally disrupting everyone else (or so we hoped!). The last part of our evening entertainment was the gift presentation. Our family (and no others--which I'm still not sure why), was called up on stage again by the MC to present Lief's grandfather with his bday gifts. We had brought two bottles of red wine (as suggested by pretty much everyone we talked to, as red wine is consdiered good for older people's health and you should give gifts in pairs) and the kids had all done some artwork and crafts to give. Oh, and Hudson found a huge leaf on the way to the party that he included in the gift bag. Once our presentation was complete, the van driver was called to come and get us (just after 8pm) and we were off to drive back home. We made it a little after 9, exhausted and smelling so strongly of smoke we decided to throw the kids in the tub for a quick wash in spite of the late hour.

Talk about an incredible experience and a long day! We're so hoping that our efforts to be there and take part communicated love to Lief and his family, and that our (no doubt, many) social blunders will be extended grace! We were so thrilled with how well the kids did, that we let them pick their reward the next day--which included McDonald's after church for lunch and the new ice cream that they have on their menus (blizzard-like with Oreos mixed in, oh, and a dollar-store equivalent toy that I think all 4 of have already broken!)

Fall Fun

We are so loving this cooler weather that has blown in--and without the freezing cold that was hitting just about this time last year (which we all remember due to the fact that we had about 2 full weeks of really cold weather before the heaters were able to be turned on! Our first Fall in China--and daily in long underwear--that I'm pretty sure we won't forget any time in the near future!) We are making the most of the outdoor time and the break from our routine as there are quite a few national holidays around this time of year. On Wednesday, as I mentioned on our last posting, there was the national holiday of Mid-Autumn Festival. We were all off from classes, so we headed to the Water Park (which is a public park that has several bodies of water--some with fish and ducks). There are no water slides or spray grounds, but there is an entire area with rides that you can pay to have the kids go on and even a Ferris wheel. Kevin's friend Lief joined us for the adventure! The picture is of the kids on their favorite ride, one in which they spin around (slowly) and try to shoot rubber balls at the pirates on the ship in the middle.

The one thing I'd failed to take into consideration was the number of people who would be out on this holiday. The kids really handle all of the attention they get with their blonde curly hair and blue eyes when we go out incredibly well. But I must admit, Wednesday was pushing the limit for all of us. I wish I'd been keeping count, but I'm pretty sure that Karis alone posed with Chinese folks for at least 25 pictures in the first hour and a half we were there. Normally the people we meet here are most excited to have their pictures taken with the little boys (they generally prefer younger kids to slightly older, and also value boys over girls here culturally). So this was an especially strange day. The boys all had their fair share of posing, but Karis took the prize for the most photographed! We rewarded the kids for their patience and kindness by taking them to KFC for chicken nuggets and ice cream cones for dessert, finding a bench and dining outside the restaurant as we just couldn't get enough of the gorgeous weather! Wednesday evening, two of our couple friends came over to join us for dinner. We had a combo of Chinese food and Western, where I had prepared an Italian pasta dish beforehand and then we cooked two Chinese dishes together. A few of my friends here have agreed to teach me how to cook Chinese-style, and I think I'm starting to get the hang of it a little! I haven't practiced much, mainly because as much as our family has grown to love Chinese food, we already eat it for three dinners and several left-over lunches each week when our ayi cooks dinner on the afternoons that I am in class. So on the nights that it is "my turn" to cook, most of the requests are for more of our usual comfort-foods, including BBQ pulled pork, all sorts of pastas, or even just marinated chicken baked in the oven. Next week we will all be off for another week-long national holiday, including our ayi, so I'm thinking that will be my opportunity to practice my Chinese cooking when we are not all too Chinese-fooded out!

On Thursday, Kevin began teaching the 1st grade after-school sports program at the International School. Karis is THRILLED with this arrangement! Of course I didn't want to miss out on the excitement, so I got the younger two guys up from naps early and headed over on the three-wheeler to join in the fun of Kevin teaching 31 1st graders (well, 30 1st grades and Eli, who was allowed to join in since his daddy was the coach!) how to play basketball. Or rather than teach, should I say, direct the pent-up energy and try to keep anyone from getting seriously injured for about an hour?! The kids seemed to love it, and although it is not Kevin's first choice of where he would be spending his time, he really had a good time and is a total natural in coaching little kids! He is committed to doing the after-school program with the sports focus changing every several weeks (covering badminton, hockey, kickball, ping pong, and soccer) through the end of the school year. (Part of our scholarship agreement for the kids to attend is to put in several hours of volunteer work each week.)

Saturday was a total crazy China day--even considering how normal so many of the differences are seeming for our family after being here a year! We went to Kevin's friend Lief's grandfather's 80th birthday party. I am actually going to dedicate an entire post to that experience (that I will hopefully write later today after I get back from class), so I won't spoil any of the fun here!

Sunday we all desperately needed rest! So after going to the international fellowship, where Kevin and I again taught Karis' Sunday school class of 1st and 2nd graders, we returned home after grabbing McDonald's on the way for a special lunch treat. The kids once again got ice cream (a new oreo blizzard-type treat that we agreed, even DQ couldn't beat!) , their reward for incredible behavior during a really long day on Saturday! The Eli and I went to a birthday party for one of the little girls in his class. He had fun playing with the other kids in their courtyard type area (closest thing to a backyard here for us!) and enjoying eating fun western snacks from the import store (including real tortilla chips, ranch dressing, and brownies). Super fun weekend with a short week ahead of us, as Friday begins the week-long holiday here!

Change in the Air!

It is so hard to believe that winter is just around the corner! This week, both our language school and the kids' international school has a day off on Wednesday, celebrating the national holiday of Mid-Autumn Festival. There are specific foods associated with all of the Chinese holidays, and this one is Moon Cakes. So this week, we've been dining on several kinds that I would never have guessed we would consume if asked about them one year ago! The kids' favorite is one with nuts and dates inside, but there are also ones with egg yolk (not sure how they're cooked, but look surprisingly raw, although I'm sure that's not the case!), red bean paste (which most people mistakenly think is actually chocolate until taking the first bite), and other such Chinese flavors! I vaguely remember this celebration last year, but honestly felt like we were in such a fog and such survival-mode, that this year is much more fun to learn more about the traditions and general practices that go along with this holiday. I've realized that since we've been here a full year now, a lot of things that struck me as really odd before now are much more normal. While this is a good thing, I'm also still wanting to be aware of the differences around me, not just be numb to sights and sounds that really are quite remarkable in their own way! [For example, on my 30-minute walk to take Hudson to pre-school on Friday, I noticed several traffic things that were sooooo different from anything you would see in the States! The first was a toddler sitting--no, make that half-squatting, half-standing--in the front seat of a car (obviously no car seat) while his dad (I'm assuming) was driving with one hand on the wheel and the other patting the boy's cheek (not watching the road--which you just DON'T do in Tianjin traffic)! I quickly noted the situation and shot up a quick prayer that they boy would make it to their destination in one piece! Right after this, I noted a man in the middle of a busy intersection, squatting on the ground next to his bicycle. He was not hurt, but it looked as if something was wrong with his bike. So rather than take it to the sidewalk area that was a mere 20 yards away, he choose to squat down where he could hardly be seen by the dozens of cars whizzing by him in rush-hour traffic! Amazing. Again, another prayer shot up on his behalf! Thirdly, I noted the number of vehicles turning RIGHT from the left-hand lane and the number turning LEFT from the right-hand lane! Again--something that you see very seldom in Texas traffic!]

We've also still been enjoying surprisingly pleasant weather (at least the temperature!). The last few days have been quite rainy, which is unusual for Tianjin--for which I am VERY thankful as our transportation becomes much more challenging in inclimate weather! It was raining again today when it was time for me to head to class, so I donned my huge rain poncho, purchased a few months ago by the vendor on the side of the road who sells all sorts of rain paraphernalia from the opened back end of his van. As I began my journey, I realized that my legs were still getting slightly wet and my poncho kept riding up to my knees, leaving my calves exposed to the elements. As this just would not due, mainly since I was wearing new jeans (purchased in Tianjin--no small miracle there to find jeans that not only fit by are a suitable style for my preferences!), I observed the other bikers around me and noted that they all had the front of their rain ponchos stretched out OVER the front end of their bike baskets (something EVERYONE in China has our of sheer practicality). Once I made the adjustment, I biked along much more quickly and dryly (if that's a word), and was torn between feeling a little bit foolish at having just figured out this little nuance of in-rain riding and also a little proud that I'd observed others and learned something in the process! Thankfully, my ride home two hours later after class was cool, but not so wet!

So enough contemplating the details of China-life. As far as updates on the Josephs, we again had a busy weekend--but very much enjoyed! Karis had a Field Day at her school on Thursday, which I helped out with. It was really fun to see her getting to play and interact with so many new friends! On Friday, we had a family movie night, watching a cartoon version of Ben-Hur that was checked out from the library. (You can see the picture of Karis with our bunny Bo watching together on the couch.) The kids loved the chariots and soldiers, and were intrigued by the story. Saturday we had friends from Dallas come in town to visit and encourage us, complete with gifts for both Kevin and me and the kids! We enjoyed time fellowshipping over some meals and sharing some of the highlights of the past year. On Sunday, one of our dear friends here came over to babysit so that Kevin and I could have a date night. We went out to one of our favorite Thai food restaurants and then to Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream afterward. Then we even had time to run by a new store here in town (H&M--which is apparently a pretty well-known brand even in the STates, but I'm embarrassed to say that I've only just learned of it in the last few months!) to do some shopping--a rarity indeed! (This is the origin of my new jeans, previously mentioned.) So fun weekend, followed up by another fun-filled week with lots of good friend time scheduled to happen. Counting down the days til our Dallas visit at Christmas time. Probably didn't help that Kevin and I went over our list of most-missed restaurants in Dallas during our date time on Sunday night. All I know is that I'd better start the fasting now.... :)

Eli's 5th Birthday!

The Joseph family had another fun-filled weekend, focused on celebrating Eli's 5th birthday--his second bday to celebrate in China! After taking cupcakes to his classmates at school (there are 10 of them total, all super-cute, and I totally forgot to take a picture when I was there!) and enjoying time with him during his school snack time, I had a whole new appreciation for his teacher and her immeasurable amount of patience. I think all 10 voices were going at once during most of the half-hour I was there--all with their own thoughts, ideas, and topics. It was so fun to see and be a part of that aspect of his world for just a brief time, and I couldn't be more thrilled with the educational environment that he is getting to be a part of!

Friday evening, Eli chose to invite two of his best friends here and their families (one from his class at school and one from his home school co-op group he was a part of this past year) to meet us at the Trash Mountain park and have a pizza picnic dinner. There were 17 of us there (who were invited, and countless other curious Chinese families wanting to participate as much as we'd let them!), so the party was great and the playtime really fun for the kids. We used one of our favorite Chinese bday tricks--the exploding/singing flower candle--on Eli's cake (you can see it in the photo).

The weather this past week has been a lot cooler, and we are loving it! I hate to sound pessimistic, but the one bummer is that with this change in seasons, I am reminded that winter is right around the corner. And that fact honestly makes my stomach drop a bit! As much as we had to be thankful for this past year, Kevin and I both agree that the winter time was by far the hardest season for us, being so unaccustomed to the extreme cold and how difficult it made getting out of the apartment. I was thinking of how different my 30 minute walk to take Hudson to his pre-school will be while wearing Noah on my back in the Ergo carrier about a month (or less!) from now. We're trying to soak as much outside bike riding and exploring time as we can before the real cold sets in!

I know we're not the only ones thinking of the weather change. I noticed two different people out yesterday (both Chinese) who had similar circular marks on their bodies (one on their back and the other on her neck). I thought they might be some sort of tattoo, but then realized they were the marks left from "cupping"--a typical Chinese practice here when the weather starts getting colder. It's been explained to me that in order to rid your body of the cold air (which is thought to cause a huge number of health issues), you somehow heat up and put cups with steam in them all over the back side of your body. This supposedly works to suction out the bad, cold air. I don't totally understand the process, but it is apparently being widely practiced as many of our friends are fairly regular "cuppers"!

On Saturday, we had about 12 friends over (Chinese) for a dinner and movie night. We watched "Chariots of Fire" with Chinese subtitles, then had a great time of discussion afterward. Oh, and Kevin had arranged for us to have our own mini-Olympics before the movie time! We took turns shooting at targets (using one of the kids nurf guns), shooting baskets, and trying to roll a beach ball into a certain taped-off area (the hardest of the games!). Our friends LOVE playing games, so they all had a great time interacting before we sat for the movie. The discussion turned to more serious topics: life and it's purpose, what our motivation is for things we do, etc. At the end of the evening we felt like the night was a success in that everyone had had a great time and we are hoping to do a repeat again soon.

Sunday afternoon was spent having lunch with friends after church then heading home for Kevin to write a paper for school and me to prepare for the week. We had agreed that Karis and Eli could go outside for a "playdate" with some of our neighbors who we have just met. They are Korean twin sisters (the moms) who both have 8 year old daughters. Karis and Eli had a great time playing with the girls (who spoke a little bit of English and Chinese, too) and I had a fun hour and a half of language practice trying to communicate (in Chinese) with their parents! One of the things I've struggled with a little is how much time to invest in new friendships with neighbors, especially Korean ones. It seems that they are super eager to spend time with westerners (I think I had at least 4 or more invitations to do things with these two families just in our hour and a half of talk time yesterday!), but our time is so limited as it is! Also, there are still quite a few days I feel overwhelmed trying to figure out Chinese culture, and even with all they have in common, there are still a ton of differences in the Korean culture. All that to say, thinking of trying to dive in to learning and investing in yet another culture right now just kind of overwhelms me! And yet, how to have a balance of not wanting to be cold or disengaged with those who are brought around us. Hmmmm..... Sure there will be more on this dilemma in the future!

1st Anniversary!!!

One Year!!!!!! Our family had a GREAT weekend celebrating our 1 year anniversary of our arrival here in China. It's so hard to believe that we got here Sept. 4 last year, and that a full year has already gone by. We had such sweet family time playing together and reminiscing on His goodness to us over this past year. So here's how we celebrated.

On Saturday, after Kevin finished up at the blind masseuse parlor due to wrenching his back once again, we took off for the Tianjin zoo--the kids' favorite spot and first choice for our family outing to celebrate on this special day. The zoo holds special significance for our family, as we chose where we live even partly because it is close to the zoo. One of our biggest challenges in moving to China is the lack of open, grassy play areas for the kids to enjoy running around. When Kevin and I took a "survey trip" here before our big move, we discovered the zoo and realized what a respite it was from the busy feel of the rest of this city of 11 million inhabitants. It has proven to be a place of retreat for our family (minus the small inconvenience of our family itself usually being considered one of the main exhibits and photo ops, often overshadowing even the most interesting of animals that live there!). So we felt that the zoo was a fitting choice of where to go on Saturday. We packed a pb&j picnic lunch and dined in style after seeing some of our favorite animals and even watching a little bit of the totally crazy show that goes on there (angry lions and tigers riding on the backs of horses, bears playing basketball, etc.).

While we were there, the kids even discovered a lollipop tree (as shown in the picture with Kevin). This is one of their favorite things to hunt for and has become a family tradition when we are out on "adventures". The kids still haven't totally caught on to their origin (except Karis, maybe!), and don't seem to be suspicious that there just happens to have one appear with the perfect number of lollipops for each child to have one!

After our return home and a short nap time, we had a family movie night (watching a new movie sent via care package--Lady and the Tramp!). We did a scavenger hunt for hidden dinosaurs, and each of the dinosaurs the kids found represented a point. For each point they received, they got the "privilege" of telling the family one thing that they were thankful for this past year they've spent in China. (I know--when they get even a little older this line of reasoning won't work--where the reward is "having" to tell something they're thankful for. But for now, I'm taking advantage of having at least 3 little ones who are usually competing for a chance to be heard over one another, especially at the dinner table where chaos tends to reign!!) They came up with some cute answers, I'll include a few of my favorites:

• Karis--"New friends at school."; "Having 2 Chinese friends here at Yang Guang (our apt complex)"; "Lady and the Tramp"; "salad dressing in China" (we were at that time eating salad with dinner and she knows it's hard to come by, and usually requires me getting the dry mixes in care packages!)
• Eli--"bikes"; "The Great Wall of China"; "the water at Yang Guang" (that he likes to walk past on our way to the taxi corner); "that we can find pizza in China"
• Hudson--"the water cooler" (being a typical 3-year old and wanting to be silly rather than try to give a straight answer!)

We ate spaghetti for dinner, as that meal represents a great accomplishment for me, personally over the last year. My first attempt at spaghetti, a mainstay in our Dallas home, ended up a total disaster with me in tears about a year ago! After spending hours trying to follow a recipe and make homemade spaghetti sauce, we ate that night one of our worst meals here (no flavor, and I found out later, I unknowingly used ground pork rather than beef, giving it a much altered flavor). Over the past year, I've discovered the joys of cooking with tomato paste and lots of Italian seasoning (thanks to shipping over a large Sam's Club container when we moved!) to improve my homemade sauce. Still not Prego, but much improved on my initial attempts and once again one of my family's favorite meals! We had our favorite ice cream (with sprinkles and chocolate sauce on top to make them into sundaes) for dessert.

It was a fantastic weekend of much needed family time and even some rest thrown in. We feel so tremendously blessed to not only have survived our first year in this new place, but to feel like we are actually thriving as our roots continue to deepen and our love for this new community grows!