Our 2+ months now Stateside have been amazing. We have seen more dear friends, made sweet memories with family, and have put more miles on the suburban we are using than I care to count! We've traveled across the western part of the US once already (going from TX down to the southern part of FL), and now have trekked as far west as Colorado where we get to spend the month of September. It's amazing how every day is still a day of adventure and new discoveries for the kids--Noah, in particular! His comments crack us up. My favorite is when he freaked out about 2 weeks ago when he saw Eli and Hudson wearing their tennis shoes in the bathroom while they were brushing their teeth. Wearing shoes inside your home in China never happens, so when he noticed that they had theirs on he immediately started hollering to remind them to get them off "quickly"! Old habits die hard! (And I should mention that I'm not excited about them having to re-learn this when we return to China. I'll definitely be doing more floor cleaning upon our immediate return than I'm used to! As a side note, there is a good reason for the removal of shoes. Most of you probably know that Asia in general, but China specifically with its huge population, has filthy streets, walkways, and even floors inside stores. This is partially due to the amount of pollution that leaves a film over everything, but it also is contributed to by the difference in commonly accepted hygiene regarding waste. The general population doesn't think that excrement carries germs, so you regularly see human and animal waste all over. Pretty gross, but just one of the realities of living in a developing country that has too many people living in too small an amount of space!)
Our time back in the US has been super refreshing so far, but I've got to admit that there are quite a few areas of challenge for us all. We're not home. As strange as it sounds, even Kevin and I after being gone for 5 years have changed. Our perspective is not the same as everyone else around us. This can be a really good thing, as it has challenged us to re-think some of our previously held cultural values and priorities. But it can also be really problematic--in increasing the feeling of isolation that we feel by being so different, and also in relationships in which maybe the other person doesn't wish to engage with our newly discovered value system. I should clarify: none of these changes are major. You probably wouldn't notice them at all unless we were engaged in longer, more in-depth conversation. Nevertheless, the changes are there, and are sometimes obviously apparent to Kevin and myself. I've never been so thankful to have a spouse with whome I connect so deeply and can talk with so openly! I'm not sure how either of us would navigate these emotions and these times of transitions if we didn't share such like-mindedness in so many things.
We don't have our own home or belongings (other than the 4 bags of clothes that we came from China with--and most of those are embarrassingly shabby and out of date, so hopefully those of you reading this will not have too many close encounters with them! We're slowly in the process of updating wardrobes in all regards! Man, do I LOVE outlet malls and how easy it is to find anything you need in one location--like a mall or a Super Target. Please trust me when I say that this is a luxury of convenience that most of the rest of the world does not enjoy.) We have been ABUNDANTLY blessed in provision for our family--we have gotten to stay in some fantastic homes, vacation spots, etc., but as thankful as we are for these incredible blessings and others' generosity (without which we would truly be homeless and carless!), there is a sense of constantly being on edge at being in someone else's space or using their things that makes it hard to completely "let down." Especially when my 4 little ones do not fall into the "calm and mild mannered" category. "Bookish" is not a good description for any of mine, but rather "wild and wooly" might be more appropriate! Thankfully we have made it these 2 months without breaking anything (at least that I'm aware of!) in any of the homes in which we've stayed. This challenge was bumped up to the ultimate degree when we spent a little over a week in a vacated home (owners on vacation) that only had fine china and silver to eat off of. I was determined that we could pass this test, and refrained from purchasing the probably wiser choice of using paper plates and cups, only to be proud at the end of the week as we exited unscathed from having to purchase any replacement dinnerware. And I think the kids got some valuable training in being EXTREMELY careful with their dishes! 
We have settled into a bit of a routine (after almost a week) in our favorite place on earth. Friends from Dallas graciously offered to let us use their home here in the mountains of Colorado for an extended get-away time for our family. We took off almost a week ago, with Noah asking a very appropriate question as we pulled away from my sister's home, where we have considered to be our home base for much of our time in Dallas. Noah said, "Mom, why do we go to one house and then another house and then another house....?" At this point, 2 months into our time in the US, we'd literally been in 13 places (some of them were counted twice, like my sister's) between the west coast (San Francisco), GA, TX, and FL. Kevin and I cracked up as we explained that this is kind of the life we live--constantly on the move and getting to experience lots of different places and time with lots of different people. Not sure he totally got it, but he did say that he's loving Colorado and the mountains. And seeing the "cantaloupe" in the fields along the drive were a highlight (antelope!).
One of the more isolating factors in living cross-culturally is the sense that we're not really understood. I mean, who gets to take a month off during the year and go to Colorado?! Kevin, in particular, being in the work world in Dallas since our return (he's working with his former commercial real estate boss and LOVING getting to be back in normal, typical-US type job for a bit), has gotten quite a few comments that increase this feeling of not being understood. Things like, "Some of us have to stay around here and work", "Now that you have a real job... (referring to him currently doing real estate)", or "Must be nice to have so much vacation time..." Ouch. I've got to admit that the Mama Bear in me comes out a bit wanting to defend my husband when he relays such comments to me. If only others could see the pace at which he has run the past 5 years we've been away! Down time is something you just can't come by in our line of work, living in another country where the tension of just living is higher than I could possibly communicate in this blog. How I wish I could justify our time here by clocking our daily hours and how they are spent; I'm pretty sure that the amount of time being put into training for this next move we're making, the hours necessary to spend to get our visa approved, not to mention the work he continues to do remotely for the real estate company would alter the perspectives of those who make such comments. Sigh. Guess I'll have to be content with the fact that we are accountable before One who knows the details of our hearts, our actions, and our daily schedules!
That being said, we took the day off yesterday (Saturday) from homeschool and work and played HARD! We went on a 7-hour hike, traipsing through some of the most beautiful countryside in all God's creation! We had no idea the kids could make it so far, but they heard that there was a lake at the end of the 4 mile trail and were determined to make it there. Each time that Noah would start fading and saying that he was ready to go back, Eli would put him on his back for a brief stretch or come up with a new game (usually involving fighting the bad guys off the trail with whatever weapon they had made out of the sticks they found) to keep him going. And they all made it without falling apart until maybe the last 15 minutes when Noah was just done. And thankfully, even with how "done" Kevin and I were, he has a Daddy who can hike and pack an incredible amount of stuff--including worn out kids! So we made it back to the trailhead absolutely exhausted and yet so satisfied with our accomplishment! Eli's 9th birthday is this Wednesday, and he's requested that we skip school and do another adventure--either involving a long hike or more trout fishing (his personal favorite, in spite of the fact that only Noah has caught one so far this week). I'm pretty sure there is not another person or family up here who is more thankful for where we are. We cannot get enough of the beauty, the air, the trees, the vastness of creation....Soaking it all in and trying to store it all up...
