We go Dazhou and eat Hot pot

One of the trips that we had to make soon was to attain a resident visa for Cohen. For some reason, we now have to travel 6 hours by car to go to the city of Dazhou. It is smaller than Chengdu, but it stilled seemed bigger than the city of Houston. We left at about 11:00 am on Sunday and got there at 5:00 pm that night. It was real mountainous. I would of taken pictures but it was so foggy you could barely see a thing. After checked into our hotel, we went out with our driver to try some hot pot. I was hesitant, but Michael said for foreigners they had a middle bowl to the hot pot that is not spicy and the girls and I could eat from there. You guys are probably wondering what hot pot is...well it is basically really spicy hot soup that you cook your food in and then eat it. It is kind of like Fondue but not with cheese. You stick your meat and veggies in with your chopsticks and then get them out and eat when they are done. I loved it, at least the non-spicy kind. The girls had mixed reviews. Chris liked it too, but he ate the spicy one. Attached are some pictures!!

Our walk on old chinese street

Chris had off the day after Christmas so we decided to try out a very old street our driver told us about. It has restaurants and shopping areas. Our driver took us and we had a good time. Our driver name is Michael and he is very nice. He speaks English so he is able to talk for us often. He is not married and is only 26 years old. The girls really like him. Here is a picture of him and the girls and the family on the street. See our photo gallery for more pictures!!

Christmas Day in Chengdu, China

Well we did it!! We had our first major holiday away from family and friends and we had a good time. The girls opened up their gifts. They didn't have all of their gifts because some were on the second shipment, but they are enjoying them. Attached are some pictures of the kids opening gifts. Cohen got some as well and is ready to mow down the girls with his cars!! Later that day we went out and finally had a nice big western hamburger. It was good. No turkey or ham and no homemade stuffing, but we sure did enjoy the burger!! Check out our photo gallery for more pictures!!

What we did for Christmas Eve

For Christmas eve, we gave our driver off so we decided to bundle up and walk somewhere to eat out. I was craving western food (especially a good Hamburger). We decided to walk to the fancy hotel we stayed at this summer. They have some western food places, so off we went. When we got there, they were charging $15/person just to get in, we declined and tried another place and they were charging $100/person so we declined again. We took some neat pictures of a Chinese Santa playing a sacs, the girls in front of a gingerbread house and a Christmas tree. So that part was fun. Please look on our photo gallery to view them all. We finally ended up at High Fly pizza place and they were having a special with all kinds of food. It ended up being really fun and nice and the girls loved the food. We walked back to our home in the cold of the night singing Christmas songs it was so much fun!! We finished the night with the book.."What does God want for Christmas?" and then the girls got to pick onr gift to open. It was a good night.

We had our Christmas eve service at IF!!!

The church we go to is called International Fellowship and it literally is international. The only people not allowed there are the chinese nationals (the government doesn't allow it). Anyway the service was quite crowded and it was held on the Sunday before Christmas. We say Christmas songs in many different languages such as Phillipians, Hindu, Korean, Chinese, English(England version, and English (American). It was neat to hear all the different languages and gave me a glimpse of what Heaven will be like. It was much different than anything I had experience, but I think we all enjoyed it.

We have eat chinese food and enjoy some tea!!

What we like to do on the weekends alot is walk around town and try chinese cuisine and then go to a tea house and have some hot tea. We would like to have tea inside but they are usually smoking so we try it outside. Here are some pictures from the tea house we went to. The girls also like some tea, but I bring hot cocca and they drink that instead. The culture here loves hot tea and they like to sit for hours playing games and drinking tea.

The girls have a manicure for the first time!!

The girls immediately connected with two other girls named Lily(age 6)and Sara(age 8) who are sisters and their dad works with Chris. Anyway, their mother has become one of my friends. She is really nice. She was getting her girls nails done for the holidays and thought it would be fun if we all did it. So we went and got our nails done. Avery had her nails painted red with little white snowflakes on it and Rylan got her nails painted purple with white flowers on it. They had so much fun. They just started to get tired at the end of staying still for so long. Attached is the picture of Avery with her friend Lily and Rylan getting her nails done.

Avery and Rylan already have friends at our apartment complex!!!

Moving here has been difficult to say the least. We have had alot of things to adjust to in our life. The girls really miss their friends, but one thing that has made the transition easier is starting school and even taking the bus. The first day the girls took the bus, a bunch of kids got off the bus and Avery already was ready to invite a friend over. She is a grade ahead of Avery, but her dad works with Chris and Avery and her immediately connected. She has another sister as well and all the girls love to hang out. They were headed to our apartment when they saw the little play area and decided they wanted to play. It ended being a bunch of kids that are in Avery's class and they all pretended to take boat rides to their home countries. They went to America, Finland, Sweden, and England. It was fun to watch them interact and made me feel good about their transition. Avery already seemed ready to lead the pack. They had a good time. Attached is a picture of them riding a "boat." I even met a mother from Finland and a mother from Sweden. They were both very nice!

Avery and Rylan ride the bus to school

When we registered the girls at school, they told me everyone rides the bus and that seems to be the truth. We thought we would give it a try. Avery was hestitate to ride the bus since Rylan would not be with her, but Rylan was excited about riding the bus. In fact, she cried the second of school when I went to go pick her up because she wanted to ride the bus like the big kids home. Well, we tried it and the girls loved it. That morning, Avery was crying to have me take her to school, but once she got to the pick-up she saw some of her friends and her mood changed immediately. It is amazing what having a friend can encourage you to do. Attached is a photo of the school bus they ride. It is much nicer. It has seat belts and there is always a person who rides with them and waits there until you pick them up.

The girls start school at QSI

Monday, Dec 15 was the girls first day of school. We decided to drive them and might try the bus at the end of the week. Everyone seems to take the bus and it is nice bus. Avery was excited about meeting new people and Rylan just wanted to go to her old school. However when we got there, Rylan walked right in and started playing with the toys and Avery was hesitant for a while. The teacher said I could stay awhile until Avery got comfortable. At the time I was there I got to see what they were learning and seems a little more advance than the states. There are about 12 kids in the class. There are 2 Americans, set of twins from India, 2 Swedish kids, 2 kids from Finland, several kids from South Korea and Japan. Avery was nervous because she started to bite her nails.(she does this when nervous). I told her everything would be okay. I stayed until Cohen started to awake and then said I need to go and Avery clung to me a little and then said goodbye. Her teacher is Canadian and is really nice. It broke my heart to leave her. The day felt like it lasted forever as I awaited the news of how there first day of school went. We picked Rylan up at 1:10 pm and she loved it!! She liked it so much she wanted to come back and wanted to ride the bus. We waited for Avery to be picked up at 2:20 pm. When she came out, all the kids on the bus were saying goodbye to her and the teacher said she saw some smiles today. She said she really enjoyed herself and met a little boy named Francis that lives in our apartment who is from England. She likes to talk like him. His mom is actually from Chengdu and Dad is from England. All and all the girls had a first successful day of school. Her are some pictures of their first day. They go to school when it is still dark out. It doesn't get light here til 8:00 am.

We decorate cookies!!

At Christmas time we usually have a tradition of decorating a gingerbread house but this year we will not be able to do it because they don't have them here. We decided to decorate some cookies that we made. I think the girls really enjoyed themselves helping make them and then decorating them. It was fun to start feeling like the season of Christmas. It has been hard to get in the season with all that has gone on the last 6 months. We feel like a whirlwind to say the least.

We decorate our Christmas tree!!

Once the weekend came, Dec 13-14, Chris was able to help me put things in there place and now our home is feeling more like a home. We now have to put pictures up, but have a feeling it will be a while because we need to find a man with a drill. I believe the walls are made of concrete so you need more than a hammer. We also thought it was time to put our Christmas tree out. I was told you could find lights here, but we could only find the flashing multi-colored lights. Yes that is right our tree is a colorful blinking tree. It is not my favorite, but as Chris says it fits our experience of China so we went ahead and bought them. Maybe next year we will find some clear ones. Here our some pictures of us decorating.

Our shipment from the states come!!

Wednesday, Dec 10, our sea shipment came, all 133 boxes and it was quite overwhelming. Our driver was here and he couldn't believe all the boxes and I wasn't quite sure were we would fit it all. The house was a wreck and our sweet ayi was helping but putting things in all different locations. (food with the kids room, etc.) I honestly don't know were we will put everything, but we will try.

We say goodbye to Humble and Hello to China!!

Well, December 6 was the day for us to leave. We left the hotel at around 4:30 am to catch our flight to China at 6:00 am. Chris's parents came in to help us with the transport and to take our car back with them. They were much needed help. Pops weighed our 12 baggage's to make sure we had the right weight and GrandB kept the kids entertained. It was hard on all of us to realize this would be the last time we would see each other for a while. I got about 2 and half hours of sleep that night so I was also quite tired. Anyway, we got to the airport and said our goodbyes. I was doing pretty well until Avery started to cry and then I lost it along with GrandB. I think she really understands what this move means. We finally got on the plane and made it to Newark, NJ at 10:30 am and were suppose to catch our next flight to Beijing at 12::15 pm which turned into 5:00 pm. That's right we stayed there til 5:00 pm. The airlines did give us lunch vouchers and we had a good lunch, but then we had to wait another 5 hours till we left. While we were there, we found our Cohen had to have a ticket. It cost us almost 400 dollars for him and he got nothing, no food, no seat, no luggage, nothing...He only weighs 12 lbs. Anyway, the flight to Beijing went well. We got there 7:30 pm Sunday evening and found out we had to stay the night in Beijing. Beijing was a cold 30 degrees. They put us in a hotel and we caught the shuttle at 6:00 am only to be delayed another 3 hours. We were suppose to leave at 7:50 am and didn't leave til 11:30 am. We finally got to Chengdu at 1:30 pm. It wasn't as cold here, only 45 degrees, but we made it and all the kids did great despite all the difficulties.

Rylan CDC class takes them to China to say goodbye!!

Attached our some pictures of Rylan's class. Since Rylan was moving out of the country, her sweet teachers, Michelle and Bekah, decided to take the whole class to China. They made passports and flew on a pretend plane, dressed up, and even got to have a fortune cookie. They had blast!!! I know Rylan loved it and she will miss all her friends dearly as well as her teachers. When I talk to her about going to a new school in China she still says no and that she wants to have Ms. Michelle and Ms. Bekah has her teachers.

The movers come to take our stuff!!

December 1 was the day the movers came to move everything to storage. There was a team of 10 that came in and packed up all our belongings. They were really efficient to the point that we had to ask to unpack somethings like Chris's tennis shoes and the stroller. There were things that went missing so we think they are now in storage for the next 3 years. It was hard to see all things go..it was really hard to see the words on every box that said LONG TERM STORAGE. Everything is now beginning to hit me. It is hard to believe that our home will no longer be ours. This house was our first home, our place were all our kids came home to. We saw Rylan and Avery take their first steps in this house. It was a great house and my prayer is that someone will have the opportunity to make wonderful memories like we did.