It's Hard Saying Good Bye

It's not easy saying good bye to good friends leaving me. So I don't! "I hope to see you again" works for me. Hopefully in Malaysia, Germany, California, Saudi Arabia or Oman!  

Natalie, Marina, Cecilia, Jerry, Jill and Sebastion, Yanti, Yuhai, Miranda and Natalie Foxwell. 

The day before the pumpkins and I flew to the States we had a little farewell lunch at my place with many friends who are moving away. Everyone brought a dish which makes for an awesome international feast! I love these people and love the time I had with them. It's such a blessing to make many friends from all over the world while living in this corner of China. 

One friend, Steffi, couldn't make it because her son got sick but she wrote me something that was really sweet. Thank you for being my first friend here in Hangzhou. You made our transition a little bit easier. I wish more people would be like you. I know Good bye are not the right words, so I say hope to see you again.

I was so shocked to read that she wished more people would be like me! And so touched. Thank you Steffi! What a dear woman. We met while picking up school uniforms and I told them where to find great pants for school and invited them to come over for dinner. That's it! And we've been friends ever since. 

Graduation day. Isaac, Jacob, Brian, Rahul and Ian. 

Brian and our familywas the assistant basketball coach this year at H.I.S. It's not a normal thing for a parent to be on the coaching staff but Eric Chernoff made it happen and invited Brian to be a part of it. He attended every practice he could and a tournament held in Hong Kong. We had the team over for pizza, cookies and BBQ's and every Saturday possible, Brian gets a team of adults to play against them. He's awesome. I love that Brian is involved in this way and able to be an influence in these young men's lives. 

The Eppinks and our family ate dinner at an awesome Chinese restaurant bordering the tea-leaves country side just before they moved in June to Oman. This country side is just 15 minutes away from where we live and it's beautiful. This was our first time eating here and we plan to take friends here in the future. Great food and the kids can run around too!  

Callie ate a fish eyeball! Mees who's 8 followed suit and did it too. She said it was good and that it tasted like chicken. I have no idea what put the notion to eat a fish eyeball into her head. She's very adventurous in many ways! Thijn and Mees are good buddies with Callie and Brock. They will all be missed!

As you can tell there are many that I will miss. They can't help but be my friends the poor things. I just love them too much. 

Portraits of the Children

Photographing just the children was so much easier then doing a family portrait! Brian drove us to Nine Creeks on Saturday where a creek crosses the cobblestone path nine times. Chinese people were camping out and putting their feet in the water. It was really enjoyable to be outside up there even when it's hot and humid. It's cooler up there and the water is really refreshing. It was a fun outing and Brian even mentioned that we should do outings like this more often! We were surprised at how the Saturday crowd was not overwhelming.  It was lovely. 

Children have so much personality in their little bodies and you can see it in a series of photographs. I don't have an extensive series from our outing because we kept it quick and easy. But everyone had a good time. Crazy! They must be getting older. There have been times where I am at my wits end trying to get a decent shot of one of my pumpkins. I remember Brock refusing to smile when he was four years old. And getting them all in the same shot and happy is just a challenge no matter how you slice it. I try to do their pictures once a year after their birthdays in the Spring. I finally got to it!

 
I could post 10 of Chael and he would have a different facial expression in each of them. He's so funny. He doesn't last long in front of the camera but when he's on he's on! He is really fun to watch play. He plays so well with his brothers especially.

Dash wanted to be by these rocks. Sweet handsome boy! He will only wear shorts which is totally appropriate now weather wise. He's always drawing lately. There are pads of paper and pencils all over the house. For some reason, whenever he asks me to draw him something it is not right. His vision was different I suppose. But Daddy doesn't seem to have the same problem. So now I just tell him to ask Dad! 

 

Brock's teeth are growing in! I love this smile. He is such a goofy dude. I think he would be really good at Crumping. It's a type of Hip Hop dance that is very intense and dramatic. He looks like he's crumping when he's doing his thing like talking about something that happened or imitating a monkey. 

If it were up to her she'd be wearing a pony tail which she wears everyday! She was not thrilled with this hair style or me doing her hair for pictures. The compromise was that I would keep it off her neck. It's so pretty down though. I tried to explain to her that it's not a bad thing that her mother want's her to look nice for pictures. She is not fond of anything that is girly. But she'll wear these cute button down shirts. If it were up to her she'd be wearing soccer shorts and baggy t-shirts. I'm sure I put my mother through something similar. She was always telling me to laugh like a lady and to act like a lady. And she wanted me to wear feminine clothes when the grunge phase and cut off jeans were really popular. We're a little bit alike. 

With Zoey! Zoey Doyle is moving to Saudi Arabia with her family. We got to play with her for the day while her parents got things organized for the movers. She and Dash are the same age. 

Racing and Playing

The Hangzhou Branch representing! Carston Fieglesen, Steven Sheffield, (Annie Sheffield not shown), Brian, Brock, Sarah and Callie Phillips, and Kristy Williams.

We ran the Hangzhou Dragon 5K run Saturday, May 17th! It was really cool to do it as a family. It's a race put on by H.I.S and it's my favorite event/activity that the school does. We were a little rained out this year but it didn't stop the children from enjoying the slip n slide. Brian, Callie, Brock and I all ran the 5K. I'm really proud of them! I tried to talk Brock out of it but he was adamant about running the 5K and not the 1K. Callie did it last year so I knew she could hang. They finished strong and did such a great job. Callie finished before Brian and Brock by just a few seconds around 33 minutes! Brock decided to steer to the side lines about 15 feet away from the finish line. I was cheering him on and Brian had to turn around and get him and then he ran through the finish line. I have no idea what he was thinking. He's a little shy of all the fan fare? So funny! 

My hard core runner gals! Natalie (5th female) and Kristy (2nd female) keepin it real. 

Brock's new drinking cup. They think trophies are so cool. Carston and I placed first. But neither of us were impressed with our times. It definitely wasn't a PR for me. It was a great community and family day. 

Saturday night we went next door to a Baby Shower for Matthew and Elizabeth put on by the Williams. Ice Cream Sundaes and good times with great people all from our branch. A few aren't in the picture.

Teacher Appreciation Day! "Thank you for helping us grow!" These were $10 each and I would do this gift again. I think they turned out lovely.  

Happy Birthday Ms. Katie! Brock's teacher is really lovely and we made her a special Cookies N Cream Cake and delivered birthday presents from the class. 

Wow for presentation right? Crunched up Oreos in the cake batter with a cream cheese frosting and crumbled Oreos on top. Paper banner tied to skewer sticks. I made mini cupcakes for the kids and she was able to take this one home. So special!

Dash with his teachers on a special activity morning where parents attend. Liu Laoshi and Gao Laoshi. Two more weeks of school Dash! He says he would rather stay home but he's learning Mandarin and we hope happy enough. We get good reports from his teachers and he's happy when I pick him up. You can do it, Dash!

Friday field trip day! The Aquarium with friends, Thomas, Charlie and Joy.

West Lake on crystal clear day!

Chinese door love.

My first very own garden! Thanks to Karl I had some beautiful starter tomato plants and one basil plant to repot and grow. I bought the compost and Brian, my farm boy, helped me repot. So exciting! I've been wanting to do this for ages. I know it sounds silly but this is really a big deal for me.

My super cute skater girl! Callie skate boards after school on Wednesdays and was voted captain this year. She's really good at helping others learn and her peers help her out too by keeping the rules. 

6am. Nine Creeks trail. My peeps doing their early morning stretching. 

This is an incredibly clear view for us. We had three days of amazing air quality and visibility! I was amazed by it. It's not our norm. Gorgeous! This is on my run home from a fun 15-miler through Nine Creeks. Saturday, May 23rd.  

Tiger Springs in bloom. Wednesday stairs run. 

Color- Yes please. Jaguar- Yes please. Found this beauty in our complex. 

Talent Show, China's National Day and Trip to Shanghai

Vanessa, Sarah, Frances, Yanti, Jerry and Miranna--PAFA Style! (Karmen and Marja not in photo.)

H.I.S.' Talent Show had a special surprise performance at the end. We represented PAFA (Parents And Friends and Associates) and did a little dance to Ray Charles' "Shake Your Tell Feather" and Jerry and Rob were the Blues Brothers. These gals I danced with are so much fun and we had a great time working (dancing!) together. This was all Jerry's idea... I was there to support. We had a good time shaking our tail feathers!

Jerry and Rob: Blues Brothers!

People asked me if my children were in the talent show. Nope! (Just me! haha. But that was a surprise...) They are a bit stage shy but do perform on the field and court. Next year we have ideas for the children to do the song, "Everything is Awesome" from the Lego Movie. And they would be dressed up like lego guys! 

Street food for dinner with friends.

After the talent show we met up with friends, the Williams', Goh's and the Sheffield's, for some street food across the street. No school the next day (Thursday) for China's National Day! So it was like having two Friday nights that week. 

Brian and Sarah with Frank Sun

Frank is our friend who we got to know well when we lived in Shanghai. He was one of the first Chinese Nationalists called to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (AKA- Mormon church). Elder Sun was the second one to receive a mission call and the first one in the field! He went to the local Chinese branch when we first moved to Shanghai. At that time the expat branch was able to have church activities with the local members. We got to know Frank well and it was a fun reunion to see him again. We met him about 12 years ago. Frank served his mission in Australia, went to BYU-Hawaii and Buffalo, NY for school and he's now living in China again working for the church in Shen Zhen. Love you, Frank!

Susan, Kristy and Sarah at Yu Yuan Gardens.

We had a District Women’s Conference in Shanghai on Saturday, May 3rd. I needed to go into Shanghai to get things for family in the States so I went a day early with Kristy and we stayed the night at Jeannie Griffiths. May 1st was Chinese National Day. We took the train in on Friday morning and met up with Susan at Carl's Jr.! They definitely have the best shakes in China. It was 10 something in the morning. But that chocolate shake was so good!

Our shopping spree took us first to the knock off market on 588 Nanjing Xi Rd. We grabbed a delicious bite for lunch at the Wagas Bakery. Yummy. We then went to Yu Yuan Gardens for jewelry action. My jewelry gal moved there. We even made it to Ikea and then Element Fresh for dinner. Lafa Bread Salad with Miso Yogurt dressing, Grilled chicken and feta cheese... so good! I had a roller bag stuffed. But I still didn’t get all the ties I was planning to buy. The selection is mainly skinny ties now.  But we did well! 

1938 Lane House on Jiao Zhou Rd. We owned 100sqm on the top floor from 2004-2009 and lived there for three years before we rented it out and later sold it.

One of my favorite parts of my Shanghai trip was going running on Saturday morning. I was just two miles from where we use to live in the Jing An District. Brian and I had purchased our first piece of real estate, the top floor of an old lane house built in 1938 for nine British school teachers. We moved in just after Callie was born. 10 years ago! It was 100sqm and really charming. Hardwood floors and raw brick. It had a shared entrance and I was really hoping to see Da Mama and Da Baba who own a little smokes and drinks shop on the bottom floor and live on the second. We moved to Hangzhou when Callie was three and Brock was one month old. They use to spoil Callie and sit her up on a little chair on top of a big chair and feed her Chinese food like a queen. It's no wonder she use to prefer Chinese food to my cooking! I hope to see Da Mama and Da Baba again. They would get a kick out of seeing all the children. 

On this run I went ahead and did the five-mile loop I use to do when I lived on Jiao Zhou Road. It was so cool! Things have changed so much and I was really nostalgic seeing that part of Shanghai. We usually don’t stay anywhere near there when we do visit so this was a unique visit. 

This is very unique architecture to Shanghai. Old homes. They are being torn down and replaced with new complexes and sky rises. But there's still little pockets in the Jing An District of these very Shanghainese homes. I love these olds streets.

This is a Chinese Muslim Mosque. It's the only one I've personally ever seen in Shanghai or anywhere in China. There are a lot of Muslim Chinese people from Xin Zhang who come to the big cities for work. And they have a great cuisine. 

When I use to live in this area, I would go rummaging in these places that were being torn down. We'd find some cool stuff that people didn't want. Total junk but cool to us. Trunks, ladders, ceramic pots, chairs and cabinets. But this is what it looks like when it's being torn down.

The hat rickshaw. 

"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do with out." Amen!--to my Shanghai brothers and sisters.

Nine miles later I made it back to Jeannie's house. Wow, is she an awesome host! Waffles and cinnamon/fruit syrup, grapefruit juice, oatmeal with fruit and cinnamon. Delicious. I learned a few tricks for future hosting. (Not that I have a waffle maker. But leaving a toaster out with the already made waffles and then people can toast themselves to reheat. Brilliant!) One of the high lights for me was leaving a few minutes early on Saturday morning so she could give us a tour of the French Concession. She is a Shanghai history buff and it was a really special treat to have a personal tour from her. So fun! 

Robert, her husband is the Consul General and they are finishing their three years in Shanghai in a few weeks. They've spent many years in China and Asia. I wish I took a picture of them. 

Some Chinese PJ's for the boys! Something I bought for them in Shanghai. They love them!

Love you too, Spidey!

Getting to church by foot and scooter. In the rain! Brian had to meet a client that day. 

Michael Kusugak, a real eskimo!

Michael and his wife Geraldine came to H.I.S. and shared with us the traditional way of life in Canada's Arctic . He's a children's-book author and a wonderful story teller! He lived in igloos as a boy! Fascinating life and story. And I would love to procure some of his books.