Day 4 - Thankful for my Parents coming to China

This is going to be a post of pictures. I'm so thankful that my parents made the trip to China and spent 2 whole weeks with us. For those of you who know my father, this was pretty incredible!! We had such a great time together and instead of telling you all about it with words, I'll show you in pictures. We had so much fun, esp. Aiden. He loved having Mimi and Grandpa around. 

Mom and Dad in the taxi on the way to the Police Station. We tried to go get them registered, but no one really knew what they were doing, so we just headed back home. 

Dad trying some "stinky fruit" We had this stuff at the house for less than 2 days and it had to be moved 3 times. We had it in the kitchen, then the pantry, then outside cause it stunk up the whole house. 

Mom wasn't sure what to think about this stuff...she wasn't going to try it at all. 

Then Mabel and William showed up and taught us what this stuff really was. They love it....we still weren't sure. 

Durian...this is what the inside of the fruit looked like.  

Morning playtime with Grandpa. 

On Tuesday we went to Lingshan Buddha...this is in front of the palace. 

Posing with Aiden. 

With the buddha in the background. 

Wednesday we had a lazy day and walked to the park. 

Dad was growing out his beard while here...this is day 7! 

Strong Mimi! 

Having fun with Granpa

Smiles for MiMi!

On Thursday we went to Dunkin Donuts downtown so Dad could try the Pork Floss Donut. 

This was his reaction....hahaha! 

Mom's turn...she didn't really like it either. 

Day 8 of the beard! One of the best pictures I have of my Dad as well. 

Using chopsticks like a Boss! 

Way to go Mom!!! 

At my favorite Hong Kong restaurant! Yum!!!!! 

Dad and Aiden in front of the Chinese Optical shop. My dad is an Optometrist so we had to get this picture. 

Aiden's birthday came early. Mimi and grandpa bought him a bike. Uncle Matt and Aunt Jenn bought him a basketball goal. 

GG bought Aiden a piano with a microphone. 

On Friday we took the train into Suzhou and let Mom and Dad do some shopping there. They had a blast and bought so many different gifts to take back. :)

On Saturday we went to the Wuxi Zoo. Aiden loves the zoo and he had so much fun there with Mimi and Grandpa! 

Having a picnic lunch. 

We ended up at a Hot Pot restaurant in Shanghai...needless to say, it was our least favorite. 

At the Shanghai Aquarium. 

Aren't they so cute????

Having fun in the Oriental Pearl Tower. Up in the Space Module. 

Grandpa and Aiden horsing around. 

On the sky floor level...Dad was having a blast. 

Mom wasn't so sure...she didn't realize until this moment that she had a fear of heights.


It was a fabulous trip all around. We did so much and walked everywhere. My parents were such troopers and willing to do anything that we threw their way. Thanks Mom and Dad for coming to visit!!!! Love you!!! 

Day 3 - Folok

Today I am extremely grateful and so very thankful for Folok. This is a company that will deliver drinks, food and other goods right to your home for only 5rmb, which in the states is only 80 cents. Isn't that awesome! Most days I have my Venti Vanilla Latte from Starbucks delivered, but on mornings like today, we are having breakfast from McDonalds delivered. Its a fantastic service and the drivers are always here within an hour of placing the order. 

I realize that I am totally spoiled by this service, but not spoiled enough to give it up just yet. Ha! It makes Aiden's nap time even better when I can have a few moments of peace and sanity with a cup of coffee. 

So...to whoever created this wonderful company here in Wuxi, THANK YOU!!!! 

We tried to get one of the maintenance workers to take a picture for us. As you can tell, he wasn't so sure how to work the camera. Someone always got cut out.
Picture with the Folok delivery guy bringing the group our coffee.
My dear friends thought it would be funny to point to me in the picture since I'm the one convincing them all the time to order coffee. 

Day 2 - Chinese Lessons

Learning Mandarin has been a challenging process but one that has been so rewarding. I have never been one to learn a foreign language well, but being immersed in it has really helped. It also helps that I have dear friends around to help me learn and practice as well as getting to put what I learn to use as we are out and about in town.

My teachers are a husband and wife team who are absolutely wonderful! They just had their first child so June was not able to be in the picture since she is home taking care of their little one.

My teacher Leo. (as you can tell I have to have my Xiangcao Natie - vanilla latte for class)

I have lessons every Thursday from 2-3:30pm. By the time lessons are over I am in need of some Advil. Ha! Leo really makes me think. Learning vocabulary is one thing, but listening to full sentences and then having to respond makes my brain hurt. I really am impressed and amazed by my friends whose first language is not English and yet manage to carry on conversations as though that is the only language they know. I'm not sure I'll ever get to that point, but I'm sure going to try.

So today I am thankful for the opportunity to learn the language of the country where I live and use it daily.

Its November! Day 1 of Thankfulness 2012

WOW! 

Is it already November 1st? Time is really flying. It seems like just yesterday we arrived in Wuxi and now we have been here 20 months. This has become home. Crazy isn’t it? But for those of you reading this thinking that we are going to make this our permanent home...NO! Ha! But for this season of life that God has us here, this is our home and we have made ours. 

So what does a typical day in China look like for us? 

Aiden and Daddy working to get breakfast ready. 

My wonderful husband (poor guy) has to go to work all day, and a lot of his days includes travel. This wasn’t something that was supposed to be part of our journey here, but we make it work and enjoy time with Jeffrey home as much as we can. 

Aiden and I on the other hand play non-stop. We are the blessed ones who really get to enjoy all the good things that China has to offer. Our days are so busy and get filled with  lots of fun and good friends and most days...coffee. We have breakfast together as a family before Jeffrey has to leave for work at 7:30. 

Typical morning pose...sitting on a pillow watching Cars. 

The rest of the morning starts out by relaxing (here lately for Aiden that means watching Cars or Cars 2 while Mama does the dishes) and skyping with family and friends. Then around 9:30 or so we head out for whatever fun awaits us that day. Some days we go to the playground, other days its a walk to Starbucks, and even some going shopping or to visit friends at their homes. We eat out quite often have have sampled some wonderful food around town. Then its back home for Aiden’s nap and most days I have friends over during that time. Some days some actual cleaning gets done. Jeffrey gets home around 6:30 so we can have family dinners together. Aiden loves time with his daddy and gets so excited when he comes home. 

Spending the morning together at the park.

There is so much more that really goes into this and over the next few days you will really see more detail of why I am so thankful for all the different people, activities and things in my life. 

In looking at my daily life here I realize how much I really have to be thankful for. These next 30 days of posts are just scratching the surface. We really are blessed. 

Playing with Daddy on the iPad. Their favorite toy. 

For the LOVE of Sour Cream!

One of my most FAVORITE things about living in China is all the wonderful friends we have met from around the world. On our second American Football night I discovered that my dear friends from Spain and Austria have never heard of Ranch Dip. As they proceeded to try it I do believe the expression the rest of us saw on their face epitomized "love at first taste." They were hooked. As we explained that it is just mixing the ranch packet with sour cream, the second question was, "What is Sour Cream"??? My heart about stopped on that one. I am a TOTAL sour cream addict so it was a surprise. These guys are in for a treat as they delve into the goodness that is Sour Cream and all the yumminess you can make with it! :) 

Ranch mix + Sour Cream = Ranch Dip! YUMMY!!! 

Football Time in Wuxi!

One of the things that we have really been missing here in China is sports! Football (American style) and basketball are the two that Jeffrey and I miss the most. But since we have some great friends in the know, we were able to get NFL coverage so I can watch the Panthers! In my excitement over this I learned that some of my dear friends from around the world have never seen an American Football game, so the plan began. We had people from Spain, Turkey and the Netherlands joining our group as well as Americans. It was a great night for some football especially since the Panther's won!!! This is now going to be a weekly event in our house. 

The entire group! So much fun!!!! 

Sights of the City

I get asked frequently by my parents, "Have you updated your blog?"....as you well know I have been extremely slack on that lately. Some of the ladies here in Wuxi and I were discussing this past month that it seems like life in China has become "normal" and that the strange things we see are pretty common or else we just don't have a camera handy to take a picture. In light of this we planned a day that we would head out from our apartment complex and walk downtown with our cameras out and ready at all times. 

Enjoy the Journey! 

The Start of the Journey...we have 4 different countries represented! America, Spain, Singapore and Turkey. 

These guys were laughing at all the foreigners with our cameras out, so I had to take their picture. 

I love heels as much as the next girl, but it never fails to amaze me how the Chinese ladies wear  EXTREMELY tall heels no matter where they are. 

You can get your teeth cleaned and watch what is going on outside at the same time....privacy...what is that?

Not much here is stroller friendly...

SPLIT PANTS! The view when we got to this point was much worse than you are seeing now...hahaha!

Checking out the White Babies! 

Ewwww!!!! Is that human or not???? It was all over right where the kids were.....don't wanna know. 

We wanted to get a picture of a baby swimming with the float around their neck, but it was the one day that no one was there...where are all the babies?

The Aiden pose! 

Mimi doing the Aiden pose...its the next big thing! :)

Never fails to amaze me how much stuff they can pile on these carts.

Side view.

Boat in the green water. 

Aw...I love you too Wuxi! :) 

Halfway there!!!!! 

California girls know how to handle Wuxi! 

This man had stopped to stare at Aiden and Sal and watch us take pictures, so Mabel asked him to pose with her...He turned away pretty fast!!! 

Again...not stroller friendly at all. To get in the "non scooter" areas, we have to lift them up and over the blockades. Friends...you know they are forever when they will help you lift your stroller! :)

Squatty potty! This is what you find in the public restrooms. 

Checking out the white babies again. 

Crowds all around! 

Live wires hanging out...safety first! 

There is a lot of Anti-Japanese stuff going on right now...this sign was spray painted to tell people to boycott Japanese products. 

Public Toilet....we smelled it long before we reached it...though we wanted a picture, no one was willing to enter! 

Chenglish???

How else would you go??? On your hands?

Again...safety first.

Brie and I had moved to a hidden corner to change a diaper  and when we looked up these 4 guys were surrounding us trying to see what was going on, but they turned away fast when I wanted to get a picture. 

Halfway to Nanchan! 

Ingenuity! To make a kids seat on a bike, they took a wicker type chair and tied it on the back. I'm SO going to do this to my mountain bike and take Aiden for a spin...what do you think? 

Super Chicken! 

We made it to Nanchan!!!!! 

Canal Ride at Nanchan

You can rent bikes. 

Aiden passed out on our way...missed out on all the fun sights. 

Of course....we ended our walk for lunch at Starbucks! GREAT day! 

It was a great day all around. We had wonderful weather, good friends, and laughter...what more could you want!