sunday snapshot: {harbin}

Finally, I am posting about our trip to Harbin. The only excuse for not doing it sooner is this last month has been an absolute whirlwind. We all traveled to Harbin. We returned and had our home study. Two days later Andy left for Korea. Days after he got back, I left for Japan. But now we are back into our normal routines.

We had talked about going to Harbin for quite some time. But what stopped us before was . . . the bitter COLD.

We wanted our kids to be just a bit older before having them outside in -15°F for hours at a time. But every year, there is an Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin. Harbin is one of the most northerly cities in China and sits close to the border of Russia. It was cold, but we had so much fun! I had such a hard time limiting the pictures to share with you. I narrowed it down, but be warned there are still a lot!

We are on a river that is frozen solid. In fact, we saw cars driving on it! There are many things that we enjoy about China, but one of them is that our kids get to do things that would never be deemed safe in the US. Here we are on a sled-like thing and are propelling ourselves with what were essentially ice picks. As I watched them use them to get the sled to move, thoughts of "you'll poke your eye out" kept flitting through my head.

Andy on a 3 person sled with Becca and Josh. They got theirs moving so fast that it tipped over. Somehow my sled was lacking in speed.

As I was cautiously picking my way across the ice, my two daredevils preferred to run on the ice.

Or run, then slide. Andy wanted me to be clear that he is sliding not falling. I, however, did not slide I just fell. But thankfully, I had on so many layers that it only hurt a bit.

Becca enjoyed sliding on her stomach.

After the river, we ate dinner and made our way to the Ice Festival. And like all things in China, it was big and contained lots of lights.

The kids had so many layers on. I was determined that they would not be cold. Or lose a finger to frostbite. So they had on lots of layers. Think of the kid getting dressed in the Christmas Story and that is similar to what our kids were wearing.

Cinderella's castle. The people in front give you an idea of how big each of these structures were. They were made with blocks of ice and illuminated with lights from within. It seriously felt like a magical winter wonderland.

Can you notice a difference between the last picture of the kids and this one? In the previous one, they were bundled and here they are ready to shed layers. The difference?

Because in the time between the two pictures, they were all constant movement. Running and sliding on the snow and ice. Running and going down slides. And even in the freezing winter wonderland, they got hot! Hmm, maybe too many layers?

We came back the next day to enjoy the slides in the daytime.

Becca's favorite was this tubing run. We have limited pictures of us on it because we were having too much fun to stop and take photos. You can see the ice buildings in the background.

I watched as they were fixing some lights that burned out. I heard that this entire festival was set up in less than 20 days. Amazing. Only in China.

Tori taking a break from the slides. She was adorable in all of her layers.

Andy in front of a Harbin beer (ice) bottle. Just to give you a perspective on just how tall all of these structures were.

Our favorite slides were the ones that we got to race down. The kids developed a method of going down the slides that was the fastest way possible.

Later that evening we met up with friends from Suzhou and went back to the river. There T fulfilled a lifelong dream. . . ice skating.

We then went to a second smaller ice festival. I saw smaller because it was smaller than the one of the previous day, but it was still huge. This is after all China, where everything is bigger.

Enjoying time with friends in the ice world.

On our final day, we went to a tiger park. It is not a zoo, instead the tigers are in HUGE enclosures and you board a bus that takes you through the park. The park is well-known for their breeding program.

Disclaimer: These next shots are graphic. And while this is a natural part of the animal world, some would say it is cruel. Be warned.

This jeep drove up with a chicken on top. Before too long, a tiger approached. And understandably, the chicken got nervous.

The tiger pounced.

And there was no more chicken. It was surprisingly fast. Which is just a reminder to me that while these animals are beautiful, they are first and foremost wild animals.

And yes, it was gruesome. But there are parts of life that are not alway pretty. I think that we can want to make things perfect for our kids viewing. Even in zoos, the animals during feeding time are given slabs of meat. While I understand that, nature isn't always so neat. So while it isn't my fave of things to see, I honestly don't mind my kids seeing this.

We once again packed so much in that it is hard to believe that it was only 3 days. And now, I am not sure that we will travel again in China until we go and pick up our son. Which many of you have asked about. And the predominant question: where are you in the process?

Which is a really good question.

I *think* that we have finished our paperwork. [whew!] My next comments are not to discount anyone's process, but there is just an added complexity when doing it here. Andy is paid in RMB. We have bank accounts in both the US and China. We were requesting documents from the US. And have mailed things countless times back and forth from China. And don't get me started on the pain of getting anything notarized. We are sending a big packet of papers to our agency this week. And then?

We wait. But each step is one step closer.

Click below to view other Sunday snapshots.

sunday snapshot: {thanksgiving #1}

Yesterday we celebrated Thanksgiving. Because Thanksgiving Day, Andy will be in Shanghai, the kids will go to school, and it will pretty much be life as usual. Not a holiday here. So we move the holiday up a bit. For the most part, it is like thanksgiving anywhere in the US: turkey, cranberry sauce, dressing, the works. But some things are slightly different. . .

No pepperidge farm. No cans of cranberry sauce. No cans of pumpkin.

Our pumpkin pie comes from this.

I was unsure how much this little pumpkin would make. Would it even be enough for a whole pie?

Turns out that I was wrong and it was more than enough for a pie. It probably would have been enough for two, but I didn't want to take the time to make a second crust.

Some of the challenges were not just making things from the natural ingredients. I had to hunt for the turkey. Went to three stores before I found a turkey. And I won't even mention what I had to pay for it. . .

And to get cranberry sauce, I used dried cranberries.

Then I have the added the challenge of my oven. Don't misunderstand me, I am so grateful that I even have an oven. Ovens are a rarity here in China. But it is tiny. I can fit the turkey and only the turkey [and it barely fit!]. I had to take out all the other racks just to get it to fit.

With all these extra challenges, you might wonder if it is worth it. Going to all that work.

But I love thanksgiving. I love all the foods. The sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, the dressing. Mmm, the dressing. Not to leave out the turkey, but I could eat only the sides and be so happy.

I love the sentiment of the holiday. Remembering to be thankful. Thankful for all that we have. Ultimately thankful to God, and all He has done for us.

So is it worth it? Oh, yes.

Our kids have been talking about this for a while now. They each have their favorites. Josh of course is all about the turkey. Though he also devours the cranberries. Becca is my girl and digs the sides. Sweet potatoes and dressing are her faves. And little T is our bread girl.

Maintaining these traditions even when we don't live in the US is important. Yes, it is so worth it. Especially because we don't live in the US.

The spread:

And because I am slightly crazy, this was only Thanksgiving #1. I will be cooking 2 more. This one was with our small group (from our international church) and we had 25+ people here.

But our small group is our family here in Suzhou. They are aunts and uncles to our kids. Our dear friends. I love how we have learned from each one of them. They are each here for a bit of time. Anywhere from a couple months to a couple years. I love how diverse we are and how that brings such a great dynamic to our small group. Just as an example, everyone in this picture is from a different country. [Wales, Germany, South Africa, India, Indonesia, and of course our little American]

After eating way too much. Because that is part of the whole tradition. We played games and enjoyed one another until we were ready to handle pie.

In the midst of all these people, my boy was curled up on the couch reading.

But the absolutely best part of the evening? The fact that I did not wash a dish. I was shooed out of the kitchen and my kitchen magically cleaned itself.

And we get to do it all again next Saturday. Though that one will be a slightly smaller scale. I love the holidays.

And when my kids are older and looking back on their childhood, I hope they remember that our house was a gathering place. A place where all felt welcomed. They will remember that no matter where we lived, certain traditions were always important. And remember how much we loved sharing those traditions with others.

I hope you have a great week and build some traditions with your own family.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sunday Snapshot: Organizing & Little Red Spots

It all started last week. Becca woke up one morning and had several red marks on her back that were really bothering her. Since they didn't look like mosquito bites, I immediately thought that they were spider bites. And yes, we are still battling the mosquitoes. Fierce little monsters. So that day we cleaned out her bed, washed all the sheets, and thought it would be better.

The next morning she woke up with even more. And I was perplexed.

But then I heard that one of the other kids in the neighborhood had chicken pox.

Uh-oh.

Even though she had been vaccinated, Becca indeed has chicken pox. And I sent her to school during the most contagious period of time. Oops.

But on the thankful side, she has a mild case. No fever, doesn't really feel bad. Just really itchy.

Definitely not mosquito bites. I think of this face as her, "are you really going to take a picture of me. Really, mom?"

No, B! Don't scratch! She has one just below her eye that is really annoying her. And one in her ear.

But somehow, she doesn't look that sick.

Then on Friday afternoon, I looked closer at the mosquito bites on Tori's face. Hmm, and now we have case #2. Thankfully, Josh had it 2 years ago. How he got them then and the girls didn't is beyond me.

So Andy and the girls stayed in this Sunday morning. We went to IKEA the other day to buy Becca a desk and various home organizing things. I know that it was a definite hardship for him to hang with the sick girls and build the desk.

The end result.

Then when Josh and I got home from church, Andy and J built a new shoe rack for us. You can see the old shoe rack lurking in the background.

There is something truly wonderful about building something with Daddy. Or a home improvement project together. But we rent our home and are not even allowed to change a light bulb. Not exaggerating, we have to call a property management worker to change a lightbulb or even hang a picture. So opportunities to build with Daddy are limited and these projects are to be savored.

 I am almost embarrassed to show you the shoe area before. But in the interest of full disclosure, here it is. And there are even more shoes littered around my feet.

And the finished, much neater version. We can now fit all the shoes for this season on the rack. And as no household in China would be complete without it, there is the required basket of slippers for guests on the right.

I find it immensely humorous that on the shoe rack, Josh has 1 pair of shoes. Just one. Equally surprising is that I don't have the most shoes on the rack. Granted, I tie for that dubious right. Can you guess who ties me for the most?

Little T, my petite diva shares that honor with me. My littlest loves shoes. Boots. Sparkly slippers. She truly believes that a girl cannot have too many shoes. So I find them on discount and second hand, and she rocks them all. Particularly her cowgirl boots.

And my next organizational challenge? The toy room upstairs. Since I will be home-bound with the girls and their chicken pox this week, I know I will have time to tackle this.

Sunday Snapshot: Friendly Football

football - unlike in the U.S., in most of the world football implies soccer so this has become part of our vocabulary as well ;-)

Yesterday Becca and Josh participated in a Friendly Football Match where several International Schools competed against one another. The day was hosted by Dulwich, another school here in Suzhou. Eton House (our kids' school) sent 4 teams: 3 boys and a girls team. 

The girls team posing after one of their games. And just in case you are wondering, the girls are each wearing an E and H for, you guessed it, Eton House.

Josh moves in to steal the ball. Can you see his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth?

Closing in on the goal.

And celebrating after the goal. Yeah, buddy!

Getting ready to pass off to his teammate.

Back to the girls playing in the final for their division. The girls fought hard, but ended up with second overall.

These 2 girls from the opposing team were small and tough. As we saw them closing in on Becca, we held our breath. But our girlie stopped them and prevented the goal.

Josh has really gotten a lot tougher this last year. Check out the elbow. A year ago, he would have just yielded. So should I rejoice that he is throwing an elbow? I'm going with a yes on that one.

I love, love the determination on his face here.

 The girls getting their 2nd place metals. Josh was disappointed because even though his team did really well, they didn't place in the top 2. So therefore didn't get a metal. And Becca who would have been fine either way got a metal. Let's just say there were tears involved and leave it at that. I thought this was supposed to be a friendly football tournament.

Josh with his team. Can you see him still battling the tears?

But considering that the match ended after 1, I think that hunger played a factor. Food helped put him on the right track.

Well, food and a really BIG piece of chocolate cake. There are few things that chocolate cake can't cure.

He is worried that his cake is going to fall over. The happy cake feelings were almost ruined by cake stress. But don't worry, the happiness of chocolate cake prevailed in the end.

Chocolate cake happiness all around.

We had such a great day. Even with Josh's disappointment, the kids will talk about this day for weeks to come.