Happy Birthday Emma!!!!

Emma has been so excited for her birthday this year.  That's because it is a big one!!! She turns 8 and is baptized a member of our church. She also knew she would be able to get her scriptures so she can take them to church and not have to share with anyone.  She picked green ones with her full name written on them.  Then she also got a pretty red floral bag to carry them in.  This week anyone that came to the house  was shown her new scriptures.  I was surprised to see how much she loved that one gift above all the others.

Emma also received a new present that we thought would be a good tradition to start.  We have found that our children are so spoiled that they have a hard time deciding on something they want.  We thought it would be fun to make her, her very own DVD with all the pictures we took of her this past year.  It was a long movie especially since we have done so much this past year and we forgot to put pictures of our trip to Vietnam.  We will have to add those in.  The entire family loved watching it just as much as Emma and they are now all looking forward to their birthday to get their own DVD of the past year.

She also got a chinese fan, a chinese umbrella and a CTR ring.  When I bought the umbrellas for her cousins she was so jealous and wanted one too.  Luckily I do know my daughter a little and had already picked up one for her and saved it.

Emma's favorite breakfast is crepes.  She had it for breakfast on her birthday last year and again this year.  I even splurged and bought cool whip to put inside even though it cost $ 5 here and only 60 cents in America.

Emma was so happy that nothing stopped her from going to school. Unfortunately the rest of her siblings were too sick to go to  school and had to stay home.  They thought of her all day and made signs and surprises for her when she got home from school.  Then she got to pick where we went for dinner and got to go with just mom and dad.  Happy Birthday Emma!!!! We sure do love you!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Here in China we celebrated Thankgiving on Saturday. The kids had a half day of school on Thursday and all day off on Friday, but David had to work the whole week. We had some of our friends invite us over for a delicious Thanksgiving feast with turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, broccoli, and rolls. Then of course, there was pumplin pie, sour cream lemon pie and cookies. It was so yummy and all were full half way through since there was soooo much food!!!

The kids all had a blast playing with their friends. We saw them only when it was time to eat and again when the dessert was brought out. They came in long enough to grab a plate and head off outside again.

We got to meet new people and make new friends.

We are truly grateful for everything we have. We have been blessed with a wonderful opportunity to live here in China and teach our children about another culture and to be friends with all people in this world. We have been able to see a whole new part of the beautiful world our Heavenly Father has created for us. We have made tons of new friends that we will cherish forever. We also have realized how greatful we are for friends and family in the US that we had to leave behind for a short while. We have been blessed this year and we are so grateful for everything we have received. We hope your Thanksgivings were as fun and delicious as our was!!!!

They Made It!!

Last week Heidi and Meagan tried out for the middle school play. It has 2 parts. One is called "The Phantom Tollbooth" and the other one is "Wonderland High". They practiced and memorized one of 5 poems for their audition. They both got into "Wonderland High!" Meagan got the part of "Red" as in Red Riding Hood and Heidi got the part of "Rapunzel". Meagan is Cinderella's best friend who is trying to dethrone Snow White as homecoming queen. Heidi is a cheerleader and one of Snow's adoring fans. They are both excited and we are so proud of them. The performances are Feb. 26-28 so if you want to visit us maybe you might want to come then!!!!

Eric's Kindergarten Field Trip

On Thursday Eric got to go on a long bus ride (almost 2 hours) to the organic farm. He was so excited to get to ride the bus, he could hardly stand it.

When we got to the farm we sat and had a little snack.

Then we were all given a brown bag to put the vegies we would pick. Our first stop was the leeks. Eric tried and tried with all his might to pull it out but couldn't, so mom came to save the day and got it out. Unfortunately the leaves when they get broken are slimy inside and mom was a mess too!

Then we walked to a spot with little red hot chile peppers. Eric thought it was so funny to get these little itty bitty peppers. He got several. Unfortunately dad didn't realize how spicy and hot they were and put about 5 of them in the salsa he made. It is way too hot for mom's taste.

Then we got to pick carrots. We were told to only get 2 but Eric kept picking them to find the biggest and they were so easy. He shared some with his friends also who didn't want to pick any. Unfortunately mom broke off the green ends so the bag wouldn't be to full and we needed them to feed the goats later on. Luckily his friends all shared their greens.

Then we got to plant a seed in a pot. It is of bok choy and we were told we should have a little plant in a week. Some of the pots got a little of their soil spilled and so we will see if Eric's will still grow.

Then we went and picked some sort of green leafy spinachy stuff. Eric wanted the biggest plant and so did his friend so I had to steer them both to some slightly smaller plants so there was no major upset going on.

After we picked all our vegies we got to feed the goats. Eric loved doing that!!! Some parents were real scared and thought the goat was going to bite their children's fingers or something and kept telling the children to not pet the goat or get too close. I guess Eric being my 4th kid, I told him to pet the goat and feed it lots and so Eric did and just laughed and laughed.

After feeding the goat it was time to have lunch. They brought out large trays of cherry tomatoes and cucumbers. I was amazed at how many of the children just started chomping on the cucumbers. I was even more amazed when Eric took a tomato and popped it into his mouth and ate the whole thing. I laughed when he told me he didn't think he liked the juice, then proceeded to ask me if he liked the juice of tomatoes. I of course told him "yes, you love the juice!!" He looked at me funny and said "No, I don't!"

After lunch the parents got to go to the packaging warehouse and pick out vegetables to buy. They were a little more pricey than I usually pay at the wet markets but everyone was so glad it was "organic". I guess I don't care to pay the higher price for "organic" vegetables. We brought the kids in to see the workers packaging the vegies. Eric loved watching them put plastic around the vegies. He watched in amazement and then when they would put the wrapped vegies in bins he proceeded to help them.

All in all he had a great time and mom had fun getting to finally go on a fieldtrip with one of the kids. I told the girls I would try to go on at least one fieldtrip for each of them this school year. I hope they get to go to some fun places too!!!!

Happy Halloween!!!

Yes, even here in China we celebrated Halloween.  There are several different ex-pat communities that open up for children to go trick-or-treating and we went to one with our friends the Castles and Butters.

 We went to the fabric market and had all of our costumes made.

 Quite a different experience for me since I have made all my children's costumes since they were born.  Even David and I got into the spirit and dressed up this year.

 The kids got about a 5th of the candy they usually do but they had a ton of fun.

 The day started out rainy and yucky looking but the evening was dry and perfect and not cold. We had fun getting candy. 

We even got a few Chinese "treats" that we would never eat but that's ok, it's all part of living in China.