Monday Monday
~
. Seminary and school
,
school, school. It's like pulling teeth to get little ones to sit down and focus. Brynn says, with tear
y
eyes," but the TV is right there, and the kitchen is right there so it's so hard to concentrate." The kitchen sees a non-stop stream of visitors all day long. Chase has resorted to the downstairs laundry room for his class work. He will be finished-done-graduated soon.I ran to the overseas market. My plan was to shop/pay/have them deliver like usual, and then run home. I was told today that they were too busy to deliver and they were going to be closed for Chinese
N
ew
Y
ear tomorrow so I couldn't get groceries. We will have to wait until February to get our cheddar and tortilla chips. American idol for Family Home Evening. Letters from Ally. Love that girl.Tuesday
~
Todd was off early on a run with our neighbor. School has started. I've been on the phone all morning trying to figure out Chase
'
s visa situation before he gets deported. It's tough to get answers when I don't speak Chinese. Every
,
if you aren't in school or working
,
they
don't consider you as part of your family as far as residence visas
. He has til the 10th but government buildings are closed for the new year holiday until the 8th. He used his single entry already. To be continued... Taco Tuesday the last Tuesday of every month is our tradition. Glad not to make a mess in the kitchen. We went to
B
askin Robbins and then the kids all rode S
Brooke especially
Wednesday
~
Lunch with friends. Salads were good. Enchiladas were not. Gross actually. Dutch tulip flower market. Packed with Chinese buying potted plants for their entryways.
We parked on the side of the freeway along with many others.
They have orange bushes and hang red envelopes on them
at the entry to their homes and neighborhoods for good luck
. The flower market also had fish, turtles, rabbits, lots of decorations and snacks. Then on
to
the Ho's for traditional Chinese hot pot. They had so much food...pork pepper meatballs, cuttlefish meatballs, shrimp balls, beef and tendon meatballs, fish bar, squid (with tentacles), chicken, fish fillet, dumplings, kelp tied into bows, lamb, beef, three kinds of noodles, watercress, lettuce, mushrooms, black clams, white clams, tofu, fried tofu. Chinese custard for dessert. Our contribution? Hazelnut gelato, pineapple, dragon fruit, mandarin oranges, apples, bananas, pomelo, and caramel chex mix. First time I've made it since we arrived in
C
hina. We all missed it very much. A new friend today, Victoria, moved here from
S
hanghai. She was friends with a guy who works manufacturing car horns. For
US
bound cars, they have to be able to honk 50,000 times. For
C
hina bound cars, they are tested to 500,000 times. They
really use their horns.
Thursday
~
tried to help Rhoda with her phone, and taught her a few tricks and recommended some apps. Then visiting teaching with Pon. She hopped in the taxi with a sticky rice ball and hunk of what looked like 1" thick bologna. Some type of meat with gelatin squares in it. We arrived about 30 min or so later and had a nice visit. Anna has two sons and an adopted Chinese daughter and will soon adopt a Chinese boy. After our visit we went to their local market. It was fun to see where they shop. Got some macadamia nuts in the shell and when we ate them at home, we found that they were honey roasted. So good. The Nash's came to our house for New Year's Eve tonight. We ate Indian food and watched
Jade
their adopted almost 2 year old,
dance her heart out. Chase is out with friends and the fireworks are so plentiful it
is
one solid sound. Brooke had two final tests today and Chase took his last two finals of his high school career today. He's finished! Good feeling
,
for him anyway. I'm a little sad to see him go, and this is one step closer. It's hard not to be happy for him though, great things headed his way.
He celebrated by going to play basketball and then out for hamburgers (hanbaobaos) with friends.Friday
~
HAPPY NEW YEAR! (THE CELEBRATION THAT NEVER ENDS!)
Nash's organized a New Year's Day breakfast at the church.
It didn't disappoint. They served eggs, perfectly crispy fried potatoes, homemade scones and bacon, lots of bacon, they dubbed it, "a trip to Thailand worth of bacon". Lots of visiting and children playing and crafting. The whole group then migrated to the Tovars for a BBQ. We rode on the subway with 7 adults and 12 kids. As if we don't get enough stares with just our family, this group caused quite a stir. We had two cute little red headed girls in the mix, little girls with curly hair down to their waist, and some blue-eyed babies. We passed a running taxi with three sleeping people in it, no one in the driver's seat. We also passed lots of fireworks coming and going. The house was packed with lots of branch members and we had a good time chatting, playing monopoly and eating good food.
Saturday~Slept in! Boys were out with friends, playing basketball and volleyball. Watched American Idol and that's about it. Girls cleaned their room and did some laundry. I love days like this.
Sunday~Church was only 1 hour today because of Chinese New Year. Most people have time off and leave for the break. The locals go to the smaller villages and cities where their parents/families live. Since Shenzhen is relatively new, a lot of people leave to visit family but a lot don't head this way. The borders are packed with those headed to Hong Kong or the airport. Burtons and the Nash family ate dinner here and the kids went to the park. The Nash's are staying with us to be here for the Super Bowl kick off in the morning. It's a new twist having to make breakfast snacks and appetizers since the game shows at 7:30 AM. We had a little pack meeting at our house, watched Ephraim's Rescue, Settler's of Catan and now putting all the kids to bed.
Another week down. Have a great week!
Another week down. Have a great week!
Love from China,
Taylor Family
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