we had a lot of fun over the holidays. We spent Christmas here at home. Chris took a couple of weeks off and we had a lot of fun doing things around Shanghai. We went to the aquarium, the science museum, fundazzle playground, superbrand mall, and went ice skating several times.
Christmas Eve we had some friends over for dinner and then all the kids did the Nativity. Christmas morning we found out that Santa even comes to China! We opened presents and then had a huge breakfast. We hung out the rest of the day in our Pajamas playing with the kids toys and just thoroughly enjoying the day. That night we had our traditional candle light dinner. (it's just left overs made special)
The next day we celebrated Gabe's 7th birthday. We went out to lunch and then he opened his presents. That night we went to a Christmas party with several families from our church and Gabe got to have everyone sing to him and then have his birthday cake. I think he really enjoyed getting to open more presents the day after Christmas, but better yet, he was the only one who got to do that.
Anna got a doll from Santa this year. I was trying to help her find a name for her doll by giving her some suggestions like Sally or Susan. When I said the name Susan she perked up and said, Oh! like Susan from Monsters Vs Aliens?" I said, "Yes, do you want to name her Susan?" She paused for a moment and the happily replied, "No..... Derek" (as in Susan's lame boyfriend from the movie) So now we have a baby doll in our house named Derek.
Sara has become quite the Character these days. The other day Gabe was saying family prayer and blessing lots of things. I leaned over and whispered to him to remember to thank also. He stuttered for a moment saying, "We thank thee for.......... we thank thee for.........we thank thee for..... and by this time Sara had had enough. She blurted out loud, "FOR DINNER!" Needless to say we ended the prayer because everyone was laughing so hard and that was that.
Another funny Sara comment was when Chris asked Sara what her favorite thing in the world was. She thought for a second and then confidently said, "ME!"
I asked her a while ago where she lived before coming to live with mommy and daddy and without hesitation she said, "at the hotel."
She has really enjoyed getting into everyone's toys and then claiming them as hers this holiday.
New Years Eve we brought in the new year with a wild game of Connect Four (the 4 player version) After a yummy dinner of home made mini pizzas, we put Sara and Anna to bed and then we watched Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (because Emily recently finished the book) and had popcorn and cranberry slush. Chris and I both fell asleep during the movie but Emily and Gabe were having none of that, so we brought out the games. We played junior scrabble, operation, and then we played our wild game of Connect four until midnight. It was a really fun night for us and the kids. This was the first year we've let both Emily and Gabe stay up until midnight and they were really proud of that.
Gabe had a really sad night last night saying goodbye to his best friend in Shanghai. Gabe and Mac were in the same first grade class and were instant best buddies. We had their family over for dinner last night since they were leaving this morning. When it was time for them to leave last night, Gabe melted into tears and hung on to Mac saying how he wanted to hang on forever.
Gabe had such a hard time finding a really good friend when we first moved here. Gabe felt like Mac was heaven sent when they met in class on the first day of school. Saying goodbye to Mac was like saying goodbye to everything that made him happy here in China. It was heartbreaking to watch him because it was obvious he was in so much pain. He cried the rest of the night even though we did our best to comfort him. Mac is moving to Iowa and the chances of us seeing him again are slim and I think Gabe knows that. We got on Google Earth and looked up where Iowa is and Gabe, almost in desperation said, "Iowa isn't that far from Utah right?" After putting Gabe, still crying, to bed, Chris said how he wishes he could be 7 years old just so he could be Gabe's friend. Chris plays with Gabe a lot but he knows it's not the same as a friend his same age. Friends your same age don't tell you to finish your dinner and yell at you when you tease your sisters.
While Emily and Gabe were getting ready for bed Emily, extending her sympathies, said, "Gabe, I had to leave my best friends too once...........and it was really hard." Her voice was choked with emotion but it wasn't for her. I could tell she hurt for Gabe. It was a tender moment for the two of them.
Gabe is doing a lot better today and is back to begging me to go play tennis with him or get off the computer so he can play a computer game. I think Wed. when he goes back to school it will be another hard day but he'll eventually be fine. He's very tender hearted but he's also really strong so I know he'll be OK.
Hope you all had a a wonderful holiday. We miss you and think of you often.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Thanksgiving bloopers
There were a few funny things that happened around thanksgiving.
First blooper: A couple of days before Thanksgiving, I gave a presentation to Gabe's class all about Thanksgiving. I wrote about it in an earlier post. One thing I didn't mention was my not so PC comment. The kids were getting rowdy so I folded my arms like an Indian and told all the kids to sit down and cross their arms and legs Indian style. It just came out. Apparently, Native Americans took offense at this term and it has been considered politically incorrect for several years. I think the term used now to get kids to sit down cross legged is something like "criss cross applesauce" or something to that effect. I told Chris about my blunder and he said " so I guess criss cross applesauce, please pass the peace pipe, would be out too?" nice. I think the funniest thing about it was, as I was leaving the room, the teacher's aid, who is from the Philippines, yelled out to all the rowdy kids, "come on kids let's all sit Indian style." I looked up and there she was doing her best "Indian style" crossed legs and arms. Great job Ali.
Second blooper: The mother of one of Emily's friends invited our family over on Thanksgiving Thursday evening to have dessert. She knew we weren't celebrating Thanksgiving that day but wanted us to come over for a pre-Thanksgiving desert get together. I was excited to go and offered to bring a Chocolate silk pie. The night of the get together came and we walked over promptly at 7:00.
I walked in and immediately realized I hadn't received the, "wear your little black dress"memo. Everyone was dressed in really nice evening attire. I of course, was wearing a T-shirt and jeans. (the T-shirt had a cute little chocolate stain on it from making the pie earlier in the day) All of the sudden I was also keenly aware that my children were not only severely under dressed, but rather dirty looking. About 2 min before we left, Sara had found a marker and written all over herself. I washed off as much as I could but I had forgotten to wash Anna's face before we left which now had fuzzies stuck to the residue syrup from our pancake dinner. I almost laughed out loud at the scene. Chris was not with us because he was traveling home from a business trip. He ended up making it to the end of the party. He redeemed our family somewhat, looking unshaven but at least nicer dressed. All of my pie got eaten........maybe out of sheer pity. Rest assured next time I get invited to a "get together" I will inquire about the dress code.
Third blooper: We were going to have about 20 people over for Thanksgiving dinner so I bought two turkeys just in case we needed more food. Knowing I wouldn't have enough time to cook two turkeys on that day, I decided to cook one the day before. I timed it just right so I would take the turkey out of the oven before going to pick up the kid's friends who were going to sleep over. They live about an hour away. On our way HOME from picking them up, I realized I had forgotten to take the Turkey out of the oven before we left. I called the Ayi and asked her to take it out of the oven but it was too late. It had already cooked 2 hours longer than it should have. When I got home I opened the foil that was covering the turkey and then tried to carve it. If you've ever seen the movie "Christmas Vacation" you'll be able to picture what happened to the turkey the minute I cut into it. It didn't have the same dramatic split open as in the movie, but it totally fell apart. It was like turkey bones you boil for broth except these turkey bones still had all the meat on them. Once again I had to laugh at myself. Thank heavens it was just a trial run and I still had another turkey for the next day. I figured we could feed the really well done turkey to the kids if we needed to.
So those were my funny Thanksgiving experiences. Next year I'm aiming to watch my mouth, watch my attire, and watch my Turkey!
First blooper: A couple of days before Thanksgiving, I gave a presentation to Gabe's class all about Thanksgiving. I wrote about it in an earlier post. One thing I didn't mention was my not so PC comment. The kids were getting rowdy so I folded my arms like an Indian and told all the kids to sit down and cross their arms and legs Indian style. It just came out. Apparently, Native Americans took offense at this term and it has been considered politically incorrect for several years. I think the term used now to get kids to sit down cross legged is something like "criss cross applesauce" or something to that effect. I told Chris about my blunder and he said " so I guess criss cross applesauce, please pass the peace pipe, would be out too?" nice. I think the funniest thing about it was, as I was leaving the room, the teacher's aid, who is from the Philippines, yelled out to all the rowdy kids, "come on kids let's all sit Indian style." I looked up and there she was doing her best "Indian style" crossed legs and arms. Great job Ali.
Second blooper: The mother of one of Emily's friends invited our family over on Thanksgiving Thursday evening to have dessert. She knew we weren't celebrating Thanksgiving that day but wanted us to come over for a pre-Thanksgiving desert get together. I was excited to go and offered to bring a Chocolate silk pie. The night of the get together came and we walked over promptly at 7:00.
I walked in and immediately realized I hadn't received the, "wear your little black dress"memo. Everyone was dressed in really nice evening attire. I of course, was wearing a T-shirt and jeans. (the T-shirt had a cute little chocolate stain on it from making the pie earlier in the day) All of the sudden I was also keenly aware that my children were not only severely under dressed, but rather dirty looking. About 2 min before we left, Sara had found a marker and written all over herself. I washed off as much as I could but I had forgotten to wash Anna's face before we left which now had fuzzies stuck to the residue syrup from our pancake dinner. I almost laughed out loud at the scene. Chris was not with us because he was traveling home from a business trip. He ended up making it to the end of the party. He redeemed our family somewhat, looking unshaven but at least nicer dressed. All of my pie got eaten........maybe out of sheer pity. Rest assured next time I get invited to a "get together" I will inquire about the dress code.
Third blooper: We were going to have about 20 people over for Thanksgiving dinner so I bought two turkeys just in case we needed more food. Knowing I wouldn't have enough time to cook two turkeys on that day, I decided to cook one the day before. I timed it just right so I would take the turkey out of the oven before going to pick up the kid's friends who were going to sleep over. They live about an hour away. On our way HOME from picking them up, I realized I had forgotten to take the Turkey out of the oven before we left. I called the Ayi and asked her to take it out of the oven but it was too late. It had already cooked 2 hours longer than it should have. When I got home I opened the foil that was covering the turkey and then tried to carve it. If you've ever seen the movie "Christmas Vacation" you'll be able to picture what happened to the turkey the minute I cut into it. It didn't have the same dramatic split open as in the movie, but it totally fell apart. It was like turkey bones you boil for broth except these turkey bones still had all the meat on them. Once again I had to laugh at myself. Thank heavens it was just a trial run and I still had another turkey for the next day. I figured we could feed the really well done turkey to the kids if we needed to.
So those were my funny Thanksgiving experiences. Next year I'm aiming to watch my mouth, watch my attire, and watch my Turkey!
We had a great Thanksgiving here in China. It wasn't on the traditional Thursday, but rather Saturday because neither the kids nor Chris had time off for the holiday. It worked out just fine though and it turned out to be an awesome day.
The day started out pretty early trying to get 6 kids under the age of 8 out the door by 7:00 a.m. to a baptism (two friends slept over) The place was an hour away so we needed an early start. The baptism service was for two Chinese women, one from Taiwan, and the other from China but married to an American. Chris is the branch mission leader so we attend all the branch baptisms. These women have been investigating the church for a long time and the branch has grown to really love them. Seeing them baptized was a great way to start our Thanksgiving celebration.
We got home at about 11:00 because the traffic coming home was pretty bad. I threw the turkey in the oven and started cooking up a storm. We didn't have any rice (yeah) for our meal, but we did use our rice cooker to keep the yams warm. In my preparations, I had to make some things from scratch, scratch. I usually do homemade sausage stuffing but I couldn't find any sausage. Determined to have my sausage stuffing, I decided to make my own sausage. That's what I call scratch, scratch. I also prepared the traditional Wood family crangrape slush which was a big hit. I couldn't find any ready made crangrape, but mixing cranberry juice and grape juice did the trick.
We invited a few families from our church to come and spend the day with us. In the afternoon the dads took the kids over to the American school to play ball. The day was so fun. We cooked, talked, laughed and ate and ate. We could hardly eat the many pies we prepared.........but we managed to stuff it in.
The memory of that day is something to be very thankful for. We indeed missed our family and our thoughts were with them all day. We feel grateful to have good friends here that help fill that void.
The day started out pretty early trying to get 6 kids under the age of 8 out the door by 7:00 a.m. to a baptism (two friends slept over) The place was an hour away so we needed an early start. The baptism service was for two Chinese women, one from Taiwan, and the other from China but married to an American. Chris is the branch mission leader so we attend all the branch baptisms. These women have been investigating the church for a long time and the branch has grown to really love them. Seeing them baptized was a great way to start our Thanksgiving celebration.
We got home at about 11:00 because the traffic coming home was pretty bad. I threw the turkey in the oven and started cooking up a storm. We didn't have any rice (yeah) for our meal, but we did use our rice cooker to keep the yams warm. In my preparations, I had to make some things from scratch, scratch. I usually do homemade sausage stuffing but I couldn't find any sausage. Determined to have my sausage stuffing, I decided to make my own sausage. That's what I call scratch, scratch. I also prepared the traditional Wood family crangrape slush which was a big hit. I couldn't find any ready made crangrape, but mixing cranberry juice and grape juice did the trick.
We invited a few families from our church to come and spend the day with us. In the afternoon the dads took the kids over to the American school to play ball. The day was so fun. We cooked, talked, laughed and ate and ate. We could hardly eat the many pies we prepared.........but we managed to stuff it in.
The memory of that day is something to be very thankful for. We indeed missed our family and our thoughts were with them all day. We feel grateful to have good friends here that help fill that void.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
holidays
It's been a while since we last posted because our little nifty plan to go around the Internet block didn't work so well. We're trying it again and we'll see how that goes.
Halloween was really fun. After a little costume contest at the clubhouse, everyone set out for some trick-or-treating. The funnest part was having the Chinese people in the neighborhood actually invite the children inside the house to give them candy. They would have them come inside to their kitchen area and show off the costumes to their guests. I think they got a real kick out of this weird holiday. The other funny thing was having people give handfuls of candy to the kids. We had to empty their candy carriers in the bottom of the stroller several times in only one hour. Emily was a cowgirl, Gabe was Harry Potter, Anna a princess, and Sara a fairy. We should have made Anna a track star for Halloween because she was bookin it from house to house. Sara enjoyed her self thoroughly as well. Whenever we approached a house she would squeal with delight and yell out "more candy!" All the kids really enjoyed themselves.
Now we're getting ready for thanksgiving. Chris doesn't get any time off of work and the kids only get Friday off so we're having our big Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday with a few families from our church. Holidays in a foreign country are always memorable because you have to adapt to what's available. We'll be making several things using rice cookers and crock pots to supplement my tiny oven. Luckily the local Carrefour store where I buy imported food has frozen turkeys so we feel blessed to get that at least. The other foods and spices are hard to find and very expensive so I think all of us will savor this Thanksgiving dinner very much.
On our way home from church today Gabe came up with another wacky comment. He said, "mom, Dad, I know why Chinese people are so stubborn; it's because they try to throw up without drinking any water!" I think he's seen one too many people hauk their spit on the ground. People tend to spit just about anywhere, indoors or outdoors and I guess it's made an impression on Gabe.
Take care everyone.
Halloween was really fun. After a little costume contest at the clubhouse, everyone set out for some trick-or-treating. The funnest part was having the Chinese people in the neighborhood actually invite the children inside the house to give them candy. They would have them come inside to their kitchen area and show off the costumes to their guests. I think they got a real kick out of this weird holiday. The other funny thing was having people give handfuls of candy to the kids. We had to empty their candy carriers in the bottom of the stroller several times in only one hour. Emily was a cowgirl, Gabe was Harry Potter, Anna a princess, and Sara a fairy. We should have made Anna a track star for Halloween because she was bookin it from house to house. Sara enjoyed her self thoroughly as well. Whenever we approached a house she would squeal with delight and yell out "more candy!" All the kids really enjoyed themselves.
Now we're getting ready for thanksgiving. Chris doesn't get any time off of work and the kids only get Friday off so we're having our big Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday with a few families from our church. Holidays in a foreign country are always memorable because you have to adapt to what's available. We'll be making several things using rice cookers and crock pots to supplement my tiny oven. Luckily the local Carrefour store where I buy imported food has frozen turkeys so we feel blessed to get that at least. The other foods and spices are hard to find and very expensive so I think all of us will savor this Thanksgiving dinner very much.
On our way home from church today Gabe came up with another wacky comment. He said, "mom, Dad, I know why Chinese people are so stubborn; it's because they try to throw up without drinking any water!" I think he's seen one too many people hauk their spit on the ground. People tend to spit just about anywhere, indoors or outdoors and I guess it's made an impression on Gabe.
Take care everyone.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
We're back in the blogging world again! We figured out a way to get blogspot again. Not sure we should say how.....
Anyway, how exciting! We feel so social now. I thought I would post a couple of pictures from our trip to YangShuo.
We are off to the primary Halloween party tonight (Friday night) Had a blast today at school helping with the classroom parties and watching the kids parade.
I somehow got suckered into organizing our neighborhood party and trick-or-treating for tomorrow night. This lady from Singapore caught me out on our street a few weeks ago and asked if I would be interested in a neighborhood party and trick-or-treating. She got my info and then said I was in charge of it because I was American and I know how it's supposed to go. What do you say to that? Needless to say, I'm doing that tomorrow.
Have a great Halloween everyone!
Monday, May 11, 2009
Emily's Baptism
Emily's baptism was something that we had been really looking forward to. It turned out to be a wonderful day and a wonderful memory for us.
Chris and I were up late the night before the baptism finishing up all the preparations. Earlier in the day, I picked up Chris' white pants from the fabric market. Luckily, they fit and looked nice. That was somewhat of a gamble waiting until the last minute to make sure Chris had something to wear for the baptism. It turned out fine.... thank heavens.
Friday I baked up a storm so we could all have something to eat afterwards. There were blueberry muffins, lemon muffins, banana bread, danishes, a huge tropical fruit salad and my friend Sung Hee made a quiche. Chris and I stayed up until 12:00am making this stuff and then got up at 5:00 to finish up getting things ready.
The smith family (the only other family in the branch that lives by us) offered their home and their pool because the pool in our compound isn't up and running yet. We headed over there to their house at about 8:30 to help set up chairs and snap a few pictures before the baptism. Emily was just beaming and looked like a little angel.
At 9:00 all the guests arrived. We had invited a couple of families that aren't members of our church to come and it was so good to have them there. About 6 families from our branch came and once everyone got situated, we got started. The branch president welcomed everyone and after the song and prayer, Chris gave a talk on baptism. When he was done we walked over to the clubhouse and downstairs to the indoor pool. The good thing about a pool is that everyone gets a front row seat. Despite it being a pool, there was such a wonderful feeling in the room. The baptism was so sweet. I was there waiting with a towel right after and got a big hug from my soaking wet little angel. Emily and I went into the locker room and got her all dry and dressed. My friend Sung Hee was also there to hold all the stuff and help get Emily ready. Once she was dressed we headed back over to house.
While Emily was getting dressed, everyone watched part of the movie, "Finding Faith in Christ."
When we got back, we continued with the meeting. Sung Hee Smith gave a wonderful talk on the gift of the Holy Ghost in which she talked about her own conversion story. After her talk, Chris and a few brothers from the branch confirmed Emily. The Primary President and the branch president both said a few words and then the meeting ended with a song and a prayer. It was a simple yet powerful experience.
It reminded me of the first Sunday I spent in China at 19 years old. I was there with a group of about 25 other teachers teaching English. We met for church at our group leader's home. Because we didn't have sacrement trays, we just brought our own cup and the men blessed a pitcher of water. We took the sacrement bread off a plate and the sacrement water was poured into our cups. I remember feeling something so special that day as I partook of the sacrament. We didn't have the "normal" church conviences i.e. sacrement trays and a chappel but it didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was that we had the priesthood power to perform the ordinance. Likewise with Emily's baptism. It didn't matter that we didn't have a nice church to meet in or a baptismal font in which to do the baptism. All that was nessesary was, having the water, a faithful and willing person, and those who held the priesthood.
After the meeting was over, everyone stayed and enjoyed some food. Our nonmember friends all commented on how much they enjoyed the baptism. They felt it was something special and they were glad to have been there. My friend Patricia from Brazil said that she has been to baptisms before where there is a lot of pomp and ceremony. She said that it was easier for her to feel the spirit during Emily's baptism because it was so pure and simple. It made me think of the scripture, "by small and simple things are great things brought to pass." The only way to describe the feeling of that day is pure joy. The smile on Emily's face is a picture set in my memory forever. The only thing that could have made the day any better would have been to have our family and friends from home there. The wonderful thing about the church though, is that no matter where you go, you have an instant ward or branch family willing to help and support you. It is something very unique and special about our church.
I am so grateful Emily made the decision to be baptized. Watching Chris baptize her was a precious sight. I will never forget it.
Chris and I were up late the night before the baptism finishing up all the preparations. Earlier in the day, I picked up Chris' white pants from the fabric market. Luckily, they fit and looked nice. That was somewhat of a gamble waiting until the last minute to make sure Chris had something to wear for the baptism. It turned out fine.... thank heavens.
Friday I baked up a storm so we could all have something to eat afterwards. There were blueberry muffins, lemon muffins, banana bread, danishes, a huge tropical fruit salad and my friend Sung Hee made a quiche. Chris and I stayed up until 12:00am making this stuff and then got up at 5:00 to finish up getting things ready.
The smith family (the only other family in the branch that lives by us) offered their home and their pool because the pool in our compound isn't up and running yet. We headed over there to their house at about 8:30 to help set up chairs and snap a few pictures before the baptism. Emily was just beaming and looked like a little angel.
At 9:00 all the guests arrived. We had invited a couple of families that aren't members of our church to come and it was so good to have them there. About 6 families from our branch came and once everyone got situated, we got started. The branch president welcomed everyone and after the song and prayer, Chris gave a talk on baptism. When he was done we walked over to the clubhouse and downstairs to the indoor pool. The good thing about a pool is that everyone gets a front row seat. Despite it being a pool, there was such a wonderful feeling in the room. The baptism was so sweet. I was there waiting with a towel right after and got a big hug from my soaking wet little angel. Emily and I went into the locker room and got her all dry and dressed. My friend Sung Hee was also there to hold all the stuff and help get Emily ready. Once she was dressed we headed back over to house.
While Emily was getting dressed, everyone watched part of the movie, "Finding Faith in Christ."
When we got back, we continued with the meeting. Sung Hee Smith gave a wonderful talk on the gift of the Holy Ghost in which she talked about her own conversion story. After her talk, Chris and a few brothers from the branch confirmed Emily. The Primary President and the branch president both said a few words and then the meeting ended with a song and a prayer. It was a simple yet powerful experience.
It reminded me of the first Sunday I spent in China at 19 years old. I was there with a group of about 25 other teachers teaching English. We met for church at our group leader's home. Because we didn't have sacrement trays, we just brought our own cup and the men blessed a pitcher of water. We took the sacrement bread off a plate and the sacrement water was poured into our cups. I remember feeling something so special that day as I partook of the sacrament. We didn't have the "normal" church conviences i.e. sacrement trays and a chappel but it didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was that we had the priesthood power to perform the ordinance. Likewise with Emily's baptism. It didn't matter that we didn't have a nice church to meet in or a baptismal font in which to do the baptism. All that was nessesary was, having the water, a faithful and willing person, and those who held the priesthood.
After the meeting was over, everyone stayed and enjoyed some food. Our nonmember friends all commented on how much they enjoyed the baptism. They felt it was something special and they were glad to have been there. My friend Patricia from Brazil said that she has been to baptisms before where there is a lot of pomp and ceremony. She said that it was easier for her to feel the spirit during Emily's baptism because it was so pure and simple. It made me think of the scripture, "by small and simple things are great things brought to pass." The only way to describe the feeling of that day is pure joy. The smile on Emily's face is a picture set in my memory forever. The only thing that could have made the day any better would have been to have our family and friends from home there. The wonderful thing about the church though, is that no matter where you go, you have an instant ward or branch family willing to help and support you. It is something very unique and special about our church.
I am so grateful Emily made the decision to be baptized. Watching Chris baptize her was a precious sight. I will never forget it.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Trip to Beijing
Our trip to Beijing was really fun. It almost seems surreal because we packed so much into the trip and before we knew it 3 days had gone by and we were home again.
We got there Thursday night at about 8:00pm. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Central Plaza mainly because they have an all you can eat American breakfast buffet. We knew the kids weren't going to go for a Chinese breakfast. It ended up being a wise choice. Thursday night was only interrupted twice by disoriented children, to whom Chris was totally oblivous, but for the most part it was fine.
Day 1 Friday
We got up, got ready, and headed down to breakfast. We stuffed ourselves silly on all the pastries, french toast, eggs, and juices that we found great joy in mixing. A few days before arriving in Beijing I had arranged with the Hotel for a driver and a tour guide for both days we were there. After breakfast, we met our tour guide, Cindy, in the Lobby and off we went. The day was perfectly overcast and cool and the van was nice and roomy. It's a good thing cause it took about 2 hours to get to where we were going with all the traffic.
The first place we went was the Ming tombs. The Ming dynasty, mainly emperor Zhu Di, was responsible for building most of the Great Wall, and also building the entire Forbidden City. It was a really fun place with beautiful buildings. We also stopped to take some family pictures in the traditional imperial clothes. The kids weren't too excited about it but once they got into the clothes they really got into it. Ironically, they didn't have enough girl clothes so we had to dress Sara in a boy's outfit. If any of you have been following the blog, you know how funny that is.
After the Ming Tombs, we had lunch over at a jade factory. We got to see how they make jade carvings and got a quick lesson on how to tell real jade from the fake stuff. The kids couldn't care less cause they were starving so we told the guy giving the little jade tour, thanks but that was going to have to be it.
There was a resturant above the factory so we went upand got a table and had a great traditional lunch with the very popular Lazy Susan in the middle. I don't think a set of dishes has ever been spun around so many times in one lunch. Anna kept asking for tea in her tea cup so we just filled it with Sprite and let her go at it. Once we were done, we walked around the Jade factory show room simply amazed at all the jade carvings (the prices were pretty amazing too, if ya know what I mean) It was obvious that this place was popular with tour guides cause there happened to be a lot of foreigners there.
After all that, it was time to hit the road again, this time to the Great wall. Now keep in mind this day is the equivalent of the American Labor day, so the traffic was once again horrendous. It took about another hour and 1/2 to get to the Great Wall. There are 1.3 billion people in China. I think the entire .3 billion people decided to visit the Great Wall that day. (it was like they heard Michelle Obama was showing off her spring wardrobe there) It felt like some sort of Mecca. As we made our way up the road in the car there was just an endless stream of people leaving from and going towards the entrance walking on the side of the road. It was really an incredible sight.
Our van was able to park at the top right by the entrance. We decided that instead of walking up the entire section of the wall, we would take the gondola up 2/3 of the way and then walk the rest. Surprisingly, the line for the gondola wasn't long at all. We hopped on and up we went. It's a pretty steep climb and Gabe didn't appreciate it at all. He was pretty freaked out by it. It was a short ride but not short enough. By the time we got to the top Gabe was a mess. He continued to cry seeing how high up we were and kept saying that he wanted to go down. I think the crowds didn't help the situation much.
Even though it was really crowed, climbing the Great Wall is an amazing experience. Just looking out over the hills and seeing how the wall flows over them like someone drew it there, and seeing how far it goes on and on, makes you wonder how in the world they could have built it. Our tour guide told us that the Great Wall is the biggest cemetery in the world because of all the people who died building it. She also told us that Chairman Mao said that only after climbing the Great Wall can you be considered a real hero. The kids really ate that up. We are all now heros according to Chairman Mao. May he rest in frozen slumber.
Gabe warmed up to the whole experience once Chris handed him the camera and let him take some pictures. We were able to climb happily to the top with the rest of the millions of people. Once at the top of this section, it felt like we had joined a huge party of sorts. The people there were cheering and waving and there was definitely a feeling of triumph among the crowd. It kind of made it that much more exciting.
After about 5 min and a few dozen photo opps, we decided we'd had enough of the big party and headed down. We went back down using the gondola which Gabe declared was his favorite part of the wall (go figure) We bought an empress hat for Anna that she desperately wanted, got in the van and headed back to the Hotel.
Originally, we wanted to go see the Olympic sights but we weren't allowed to go near them. Get this, Jackie Chan was giving a singing performance there and the government had closed the area to visitors. Who knew Jackie Chan could sing? Our tour guide assured us that he sings beautifully. However, our taxi driver on Sunday said his singing "is hard to listen to." We were so tired by then that we didn't really care that all we got was a drive by viewing of the bird's nest and the water cube. They sure were neat looking though.
It took over 2 hours to get back so we grabbed a quick dinner at the nearby KFC and got the kids into bed by about 8:30. After a fun filled day, the kids slept soundly without a peep all night.
Day 2 Saturday
Saturday was a pretty packed day. We met our tour guide, Lucia, at about 8:30 after stuffing ourselves once again at the breakfast buffet, and headed out. This time we stayed around town.
It took about 15 min to get to Tiananmen square. It too was soooooo packed with people. Imagine Disneyland on it's most crowed day and then times that by 3. Until you see it with your own eyes it's really hard to grasp just how many people there are in China. It is the most populated country in the world. (Shanghai is the most populated city in China with 20 million and utah has a whopping 4 million)
Our driver dropped us off and we walked through the square. I think our tour guide Lucia was going to have a nervous breakdown trying to make sure that our kids weren't going to get lost in the crowd. Chris and I were a bit nervous about that too. We made everyone hold hands at all times. We forgot the stroller back at the Hotel but it turned out to be a good thing because with that many people, it would have been of no use. I'm sure we would have ditched it somewhere eventually. Anyway, we got a quick explanation of all the government buildings surrounding Tiananmen square and then headed towards the forbidden City across the street. Chris and I decided not to tell Emily and Gabe the reason Tiananmen Square is so famous to Americans. The Chinese people don't talk about it at all and the upcoming generation for the most part doesn't even know about it. The Chinese government filters it out of the internet here. We will tell our kids some day, but for now it doesn't seem appropriate.
Getting in line to enter the Forbidden City was kind of scary. The word "bottleneck" has a whole new meaning for me. Thousands of people were trying to file into two small lines where they checked tickets. I was holding Sara and Chris and Lucia had the other kids in front of me. We were squeezed in so tight it felt like I could hardly get any air. Even though we were all squeezed that tightly, people were still trying to get past one another. I seriously thought to myself that if someone goes down right here they aren't going to ever make it back up. After a few minutes, I heard someone in English say something. I turned my head and behind me was a family from Los Vegas. They were all older and the son got right behind me and started holding people back a little saying, " Give the lady with the baby some room people." I was pretty grateful. We made it to the ticket check without major incident and once through the line, and inside the palace, it wasn't as crowded and we could go off to the side and gather ourselves.
Once we were gathered, Lucia gave us a short introduction of the palace and then we began to walk through it. Lucia was pretty good about not trying to give too much information about the different buildings because of the kids. She knew that a quick look and a few words were just enough. She did however, take us over to the part of the palace where the emperor's concubines lived. We had to let her know that the kids don't know what concubines are and unless she wanted to give a whole new kind of explanation, we should move on from there. All in all we learned some cool stuff about imperial life and I think the kids really liked it. ( the peach Popsicle half way through didn't hurt either) The palace is 600 years old and if you think about it, that is really amazing to have history like that.
For lunch Lucia took us to a really cool restaurant where we even got to have our own room. It was in a garden setting all decked out in traditional decorations. Our table had the all important tea/sprite cups and lazy susan. We even had someone come in and do some traditional singing and dancing. The food was pretty good which is always such a bonus.
After lunch we went to the Temple of Heaven. This is the place where the emperor would come and worship the god of heaven twice a year; the winter and summer solstice. The emperor would fast for 3 days and then make animal sacrifices to insure a plentiful harvest. The buildings were really cool and stuff but the main attraction was the people all around the grounds. As soon as we walked into the outer courtyard, we heard groovy Chinese music and saw people, mostly elderly people, all kicking up their heels. This one guy was like 70 and he was doing some of the best Latin dancing I've ever seen. This was just one part of the courtyard. All around people were playing music, singing, and dancing. There was one group of people playing brass instruments while people danced in front of them. Another guy had an accordion with about 8 people singing along some Chinese opera song. Towards the back of the courtyard as we were coming out of the temple area, we saw people dancing with long multicolored streamers. They handed them to the kids and Emily and Gabe went to town. Emily did the graceful flowing streamer dance while Gabe did more of the super sonic "shake the streamer to death" dance. He had a few graceful moves in there too. Anna was too embarrassed but Sara jumped in and gave it a whirl. It just felt so carefree and celebratory. We stayed there for a while taking it all in.
After we'd had our fun, the kids were anxious to get back and go swimming. We got back to the Hotel about 2:30 and Chris took the older two swimming while I took Sara and Anna back upstairs for naps. At 4:30 we headed out to an acrobat show. It was perfect because the show started at 5:15 and only lasted an hour. The kids were mesmerized by all the flipping and balancing and throwing and contorting. It was really a great show!
In honor of my dad who was the ultimate Hard Rock Cafe fan, we searched out the Hard Rock Cafe Beijing and went there for dinner. Sara entertained us all with her enthusiastic seat dancing. She really got going to some Black Crows and ZZ Top. It was a lot of fun and a great Chinese food break. I don't remember a BBQ pulled pork sandwich ever tasting so good!
After a very fun filled super packed day, we headed home and hit the hay. Once again, the kids were too worn out to even move the whole night.
Day 3 Sunday
Sunday we just took it easy. We decided to go to the 10:30 branch instead of the 8:30 am branch. We took our time eating breakfast and then getting ready for church. We went down to the lobby and asked about a taxi to take us and there happened to be a really nice taxi driver standing right there. The concierge guy helped us figure out where we were going and then told the taxi driver where to go. Getting a nice taxi driver is a hard thing to do in Beijing. We didn't get too many while we were there so it was a blessing to get this guy. It took a while to find the branch meeting place. The taxi driver even got out and asked around trying to help us. When we found it we gave him a tip and got out. He must have liked the tip cause he told Chris that he would just wait for us. I'm telling you, this guy was heaven sent cause it would have been hard for us to find a taxi back to the hotel.
The branch was really great. It seemed like there were a ton of visitors there. The row behind us was filled with ILP English teachers who were traveling in Beijing for the week. Chris and I were ILP English teachers 10 years ago and it was really fun to talk to them and go down memory lane. As far as the testimony meeting went, it was so spiritual. The first lady that got up was a visitor and shared such a sweet love of the gospel and said how she was a convert of not so many years. The second lady who was a branch member, got up and said, "I don't know if the first sister remembers but we were good friends many years ago in California when she was trying to decide which church to join." She said that she felt like Ammon, when he met up with his brethren and saw that they were still his brethren in the Lord. She expressed gratitude that the previous sister had joined the church and how happy she was for her. After she was done the two sisters met in the isle and embraced. What an amazing reunion! After all those years, to meet up in Beijing China of all places. The entire meeting was just wonderful and I'm really glad we went. That is something my dad always did when we went on vacation. He always made sure that no matter where we were, we looked up the church and attended. As you can tell, I thought a lot about my dad while in Beijing.
After church we had lunch at the hotel and then headed off to the airport. We left in plenty of time so we didn't have to run through the airport to catch our plane. (unlike our flight out there)
While we waited at the gate we got talking to a couple who were on their way to Guangzhou to pick up their adopted baby. It was their second one. We had a wonderful conversation with them about having adopted children and I was sad to have to say goodbye to them when it was time to go. We wished them well and off we went.
What an amazing trip. No one got sick, no one peed their pants, there were no blow out diapers and no total melt downs. Sara just konked out for a nap wherever, so we didn't even have to worry about naps. Now that's a successful trip. It almost doesn't seem real. The good, the bad, the crowded, the crazy, it was all just so amazing. Chris and I are looking forward to our next trip.
We got there Thursday night at about 8:00pm. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Central Plaza mainly because they have an all you can eat American breakfast buffet. We knew the kids weren't going to go for a Chinese breakfast. It ended up being a wise choice. Thursday night was only interrupted twice by disoriented children, to whom Chris was totally oblivous, but for the most part it was fine.
Day 1 Friday
We got up, got ready, and headed down to breakfast. We stuffed ourselves silly on all the pastries, french toast, eggs, and juices that we found great joy in mixing. A few days before arriving in Beijing I had arranged with the Hotel for a driver and a tour guide for both days we were there. After breakfast, we met our tour guide, Cindy, in the Lobby and off we went. The day was perfectly overcast and cool and the van was nice and roomy. It's a good thing cause it took about 2 hours to get to where we were going with all the traffic.
The first place we went was the Ming tombs. The Ming dynasty, mainly emperor Zhu Di, was responsible for building most of the Great Wall, and also building the entire Forbidden City. It was a really fun place with beautiful buildings. We also stopped to take some family pictures in the traditional imperial clothes. The kids weren't too excited about it but once they got into the clothes they really got into it. Ironically, they didn't have enough girl clothes so we had to dress Sara in a boy's outfit. If any of you have been following the blog, you know how funny that is.
After the Ming Tombs, we had lunch over at a jade factory. We got to see how they make jade carvings and got a quick lesson on how to tell real jade from the fake stuff. The kids couldn't care less cause they were starving so we told the guy giving the little jade tour, thanks but that was going to have to be it.
There was a resturant above the factory so we went upand got a table and had a great traditional lunch with the very popular Lazy Susan in the middle. I don't think a set of dishes has ever been spun around so many times in one lunch. Anna kept asking for tea in her tea cup so we just filled it with Sprite and let her go at it. Once we were done, we walked around the Jade factory show room simply amazed at all the jade carvings (the prices were pretty amazing too, if ya know what I mean) It was obvious that this place was popular with tour guides cause there happened to be a lot of foreigners there.
After all that, it was time to hit the road again, this time to the Great wall. Now keep in mind this day is the equivalent of the American Labor day, so the traffic was once again horrendous. It took about another hour and 1/2 to get to the Great Wall. There are 1.3 billion people in China. I think the entire .3 billion people decided to visit the Great Wall that day. (it was like they heard Michelle Obama was showing off her spring wardrobe there) It felt like some sort of Mecca. As we made our way up the road in the car there was just an endless stream of people leaving from and going towards the entrance walking on the side of the road. It was really an incredible sight.
Our van was able to park at the top right by the entrance. We decided that instead of walking up the entire section of the wall, we would take the gondola up 2/3 of the way and then walk the rest. Surprisingly, the line for the gondola wasn't long at all. We hopped on and up we went. It's a pretty steep climb and Gabe didn't appreciate it at all. He was pretty freaked out by it. It was a short ride but not short enough. By the time we got to the top Gabe was a mess. He continued to cry seeing how high up we were and kept saying that he wanted to go down. I think the crowds didn't help the situation much.
Even though it was really crowed, climbing the Great Wall is an amazing experience. Just looking out over the hills and seeing how the wall flows over them like someone drew it there, and seeing how far it goes on and on, makes you wonder how in the world they could have built it. Our tour guide told us that the Great Wall is the biggest cemetery in the world because of all the people who died building it. She also told us that Chairman Mao said that only after climbing the Great Wall can you be considered a real hero. The kids really ate that up. We are all now heros according to Chairman Mao. May he rest in frozen slumber.
Gabe warmed up to the whole experience once Chris handed him the camera and let him take some pictures. We were able to climb happily to the top with the rest of the millions of people. Once at the top of this section, it felt like we had joined a huge party of sorts. The people there were cheering and waving and there was definitely a feeling of triumph among the crowd. It kind of made it that much more exciting.
After about 5 min and a few dozen photo opps, we decided we'd had enough of the big party and headed down. We went back down using the gondola which Gabe declared was his favorite part of the wall (go figure) We bought an empress hat for Anna that she desperately wanted, got in the van and headed back to the Hotel.
Originally, we wanted to go see the Olympic sights but we weren't allowed to go near them. Get this, Jackie Chan was giving a singing performance there and the government had closed the area to visitors. Who knew Jackie Chan could sing? Our tour guide assured us that he sings beautifully. However, our taxi driver on Sunday said his singing "is hard to listen to." We were so tired by then that we didn't really care that all we got was a drive by viewing of the bird's nest and the water cube. They sure were neat looking though.
It took over 2 hours to get back so we grabbed a quick dinner at the nearby KFC and got the kids into bed by about 8:30. After a fun filled day, the kids slept soundly without a peep all night.
Day 2 Saturday
Saturday was a pretty packed day. We met our tour guide, Lucia, at about 8:30 after stuffing ourselves once again at the breakfast buffet, and headed out. This time we stayed around town.
It took about 15 min to get to Tiananmen square. It too was soooooo packed with people. Imagine Disneyland on it's most crowed day and then times that by 3. Until you see it with your own eyes it's really hard to grasp just how many people there are in China. It is the most populated country in the world. (Shanghai is the most populated city in China with 20 million and utah has a whopping 4 million)
Our driver dropped us off and we walked through the square. I think our tour guide Lucia was going to have a nervous breakdown trying to make sure that our kids weren't going to get lost in the crowd. Chris and I were a bit nervous about that too. We made everyone hold hands at all times. We forgot the stroller back at the Hotel but it turned out to be a good thing because with that many people, it would have been of no use. I'm sure we would have ditched it somewhere eventually. Anyway, we got a quick explanation of all the government buildings surrounding Tiananmen square and then headed towards the forbidden City across the street. Chris and I decided not to tell Emily and Gabe the reason Tiananmen Square is so famous to Americans. The Chinese people don't talk about it at all and the upcoming generation for the most part doesn't even know about it. The Chinese government filters it out of the internet here. We will tell our kids some day, but for now it doesn't seem appropriate.
Getting in line to enter the Forbidden City was kind of scary. The word "bottleneck" has a whole new meaning for me. Thousands of people were trying to file into two small lines where they checked tickets. I was holding Sara and Chris and Lucia had the other kids in front of me. We were squeezed in so tight it felt like I could hardly get any air. Even though we were all squeezed that tightly, people were still trying to get past one another. I seriously thought to myself that if someone goes down right here they aren't going to ever make it back up. After a few minutes, I heard someone in English say something. I turned my head and behind me was a family from Los Vegas. They were all older and the son got right behind me and started holding people back a little saying, " Give the lady with the baby some room people." I was pretty grateful. We made it to the ticket check without major incident and once through the line, and inside the palace, it wasn't as crowded and we could go off to the side and gather ourselves.
Once we were gathered, Lucia gave us a short introduction of the palace and then we began to walk through it. Lucia was pretty good about not trying to give too much information about the different buildings because of the kids. She knew that a quick look and a few words were just enough. She did however, take us over to the part of the palace where the emperor's concubines lived. We had to let her know that the kids don't know what concubines are and unless she wanted to give a whole new kind of explanation, we should move on from there. All in all we learned some cool stuff about imperial life and I think the kids really liked it. ( the peach Popsicle half way through didn't hurt either) The palace is 600 years old and if you think about it, that is really amazing to have history like that.
For lunch Lucia took us to a really cool restaurant where we even got to have our own room. It was in a garden setting all decked out in traditional decorations. Our table had the all important tea/sprite cups and lazy susan. We even had someone come in and do some traditional singing and dancing. The food was pretty good which is always such a bonus.
After lunch we went to the Temple of Heaven. This is the place where the emperor would come and worship the god of heaven twice a year; the winter and summer solstice. The emperor would fast for 3 days and then make animal sacrifices to insure a plentiful harvest. The buildings were really cool and stuff but the main attraction was the people all around the grounds. As soon as we walked into the outer courtyard, we heard groovy Chinese music and saw people, mostly elderly people, all kicking up their heels. This one guy was like 70 and he was doing some of the best Latin dancing I've ever seen. This was just one part of the courtyard. All around people were playing music, singing, and dancing. There was one group of people playing brass instruments while people danced in front of them. Another guy had an accordion with about 8 people singing along some Chinese opera song. Towards the back of the courtyard as we were coming out of the temple area, we saw people dancing with long multicolored streamers. They handed them to the kids and Emily and Gabe went to town. Emily did the graceful flowing streamer dance while Gabe did more of the super sonic "shake the streamer to death" dance. He had a few graceful moves in there too. Anna was too embarrassed but Sara jumped in and gave it a whirl. It just felt so carefree and celebratory. We stayed there for a while taking it all in.
After we'd had our fun, the kids were anxious to get back and go swimming. We got back to the Hotel about 2:30 and Chris took the older two swimming while I took Sara and Anna back upstairs for naps. At 4:30 we headed out to an acrobat show. It was perfect because the show started at 5:15 and only lasted an hour. The kids were mesmerized by all the flipping and balancing and throwing and contorting. It was really a great show!
In honor of my dad who was the ultimate Hard Rock Cafe fan, we searched out the Hard Rock Cafe Beijing and went there for dinner. Sara entertained us all with her enthusiastic seat dancing. She really got going to some Black Crows and ZZ Top. It was a lot of fun and a great Chinese food break. I don't remember a BBQ pulled pork sandwich ever tasting so good!
After a very fun filled super packed day, we headed home and hit the hay. Once again, the kids were too worn out to even move the whole night.
Day 3 Sunday
Sunday we just took it easy. We decided to go to the 10:30 branch instead of the 8:30 am branch. We took our time eating breakfast and then getting ready for church. We went down to the lobby and asked about a taxi to take us and there happened to be a really nice taxi driver standing right there. The concierge guy helped us figure out where we were going and then told the taxi driver where to go. Getting a nice taxi driver is a hard thing to do in Beijing. We didn't get too many while we were there so it was a blessing to get this guy. It took a while to find the branch meeting place. The taxi driver even got out and asked around trying to help us. When we found it we gave him a tip and got out. He must have liked the tip cause he told Chris that he would just wait for us. I'm telling you, this guy was heaven sent cause it would have been hard for us to find a taxi back to the hotel.
The branch was really great. It seemed like there were a ton of visitors there. The row behind us was filled with ILP English teachers who were traveling in Beijing for the week. Chris and I were ILP English teachers 10 years ago and it was really fun to talk to them and go down memory lane. As far as the testimony meeting went, it was so spiritual. The first lady that got up was a visitor and shared such a sweet love of the gospel and said how she was a convert of not so many years. The second lady who was a branch member, got up and said, "I don't know if the first sister remembers but we were good friends many years ago in California when she was trying to decide which church to join." She said that she felt like Ammon, when he met up with his brethren and saw that they were still his brethren in the Lord. She expressed gratitude that the previous sister had joined the church and how happy she was for her. After she was done the two sisters met in the isle and embraced. What an amazing reunion! After all those years, to meet up in Beijing China of all places. The entire meeting was just wonderful and I'm really glad we went. That is something my dad always did when we went on vacation. He always made sure that no matter where we were, we looked up the church and attended. As you can tell, I thought a lot about my dad while in Beijing.
After church we had lunch at the hotel and then headed off to the airport. We left in plenty of time so we didn't have to run through the airport to catch our plane. (unlike our flight out there)
While we waited at the gate we got talking to a couple who were on their way to Guangzhou to pick up their adopted baby. It was their second one. We had a wonderful conversation with them about having adopted children and I was sad to have to say goodbye to them when it was time to go. We wished them well and off we went.
What an amazing trip. No one got sick, no one peed their pants, there were no blow out diapers and no total melt downs. Sara just konked out for a nap wherever, so we didn't even have to worry about naps. Now that's a successful trip. It almost doesn't seem real. The good, the bad, the crowded, the crazy, it was all just so amazing. Chris and I are looking forward to our next trip.
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