Starting the year off with a bang...

Well, I haven't blogged in a long time so you would think I would have lots of interesting stories to relate but honestly, I don't know where the last3 weeks have gone since we got home. The jet lag was a joy to get over as you can imagine. And it took a week or two to get back into the swing of China life.


We had Christmas Eve and Christmas day in South Texas and it was absolutely beautiful! The weather was warm enough that the girls swam both days. That is my kind of Christmas!!



We flew back to Chicago on the 26th then onto Shanghai on the 27th. The girls did great on the flight. Kate slept for very little of it and actually was quite the card, as usual. We were about 2 hours from Shanghai (been on the plane for 11 hours) and the pilot came over the system and was telling us a number of things and from out of no where, Kate stands up on the arms of her chair and yells so most everyone could hear her, "EVERYONE, BUCKLE YOUR SEATBELTS". Needless to say, most everyone around us thought it was quite funny! So it's good to know that she entertains countless strangers as well as us! The last 30 minutes of the flight she was "racing" up and down the aisle as Leah and Lauren slept. She's a funny girl, that one!


We got home and much to Leah and Lauren's pleasure, Santa had indeed found our house in Shanghai and left gifts. He delivered stocking gifts to Texas but left a note saying the "big" gifts would be waiting for them at home. The girls were happy to tear into a few more gifts before crashing!

We spent the next week just getting over the jetlag and trying to get unpacked. On New Year's Eve, we went to a fun dinner at a restaurant that has a huge sand pit right in the middle of it. The girls loved it and we got to celebrate the coming in of the Australian New Year since it was an Australian restaurant and they are 2 hours ahead of Shanghai time. On New Year's day we actually rung in the US New Year at 1 in the afternoon here. Honestly, I think it is the first US New Year I've seen in several years since usually I fall asleep by 11!
I think this picture is so funny even though the quality isn't great...check out John's face...but somehow he felt it safe enough to give to a 5 & 6 year old to blast off! :)

The next week was spent getting back into the regular routine of things. We started school again and John was gone to Xuzhou for most of the week. We are now gearing up for Chinese New Year here in Shanghai. CNY is actually Jan. 26th but the big parties and fireworks are on CNY Eve, the 25th. And then there are celebrations for the whole week. Leo has told us that at midnight on CNY Eve every family pops firecrackers and some families will shoot off actual fireworks. Evidently, for the whole week we will be hearing and seeing a lot of fireworks! That should be fun - but Leo warned us, by the 3rd day, all the noise is "just kind of annoying" - his words! I thought that was funny! So in fact, the Chinese people really do start their year off with a bang.

I'll definitely post pictures of any festivities that we witness. I hope you all had a blessed Christmas. And I hope your New Year is filled with all the things you love!

For those who want to see a few pictures from our Disney trip, click here...

12-2008