Oh the water problems here! They turned the water off to fix a broken pipe. Estimated work time, midnight - 6am. Here it is 4pm and the water is still not working. They keep delivering 5 gallon water bottles as if that will help. Rhoda and I decided to call off the hike this morning just in case...turned out to be a good call. Todd went on his run thinking it would be back on when he came home to get ready for his flight to Beijing. He was completely soaked, no shower available. He went down to the pool to shower...water was off there too. So, he jumps in the pool, only they were disinfecting the pool so the workers came chasing after him. He HAD to! Brigham took Sophie down to Tonan to get haircuts. I said a prayer she would come back looking like a girl. They both came back looking fine. Brooke has a final tomorrow and then we can go somewhere, anywhere! We are itching to see something new before seminary starts up. ONE MONTH FROM TODAY WE GET TO HUG ALLY!! So exciting. Finish strong Syster. No email from Chase today.
Taco Tuesday-Rhoda and I picked up Fiona at the corner for the weekly International Women's Club coffee morning. They have a buffet at the Hilton Hotel. The club has so many members now, includng lots of moms with babies and young children. There were toys all over the floor of the fancy lobby/dining area. School then tacos and mini melts (dippin' dots). The girls also had a mini, impromptu modeling session, right in the middle of Seaworld. Not really our "thing", but the photographers were insistent and just wanted some photos of the girls in their clothing line...the dresses looked like the ones they sell at costco for little girls. Then they wanted a few of Brooke and Brigham took off- he wanted none of that! We had a good laugh, bought some fruit from the fruit cart and walked home. Todd arrived late home from Beijing. No word from Chase today either.
Wed: no word from Chase again. Hiked with Rhoda and the weather was perfect! Cool and breezy in all the right places of the hike. Brig went swimming with church friends and Brooke taught some things and learned some other things at mutual where they had an activity on teaching a skill to others. We started the Mandarin lessons back up today. Becky was here with homework, the kids were THRILLED. I was happy to listen from the next room, that they remembered most of what they learned before summer.
Thursday: Finally, Chase emailed today, which happened to be better timing...I could actually hear from him ON his birthday. He is "loving it so much", which is great to hear. It was hard not seeing him on his birthday but happy he is happy and doing so well. Lunched with Joyce, Sophia, Nicole, Christine, Anja and Rhoda at Simply Life.
Brooke took two finals and is loving the freedom between classes. The girls went toMacau (an hour's ferry ride away from Shekou) while the boys went (stand up) jet skiing with the Youses at a beach two hours away. We walked the Venetian shops and had fun touring the Portuguese/Chinese city. Such an odd combo, and such a beautiful place. It was mostly clean and we liked all of the old European style buildings and colors. There were import food stores, cobblestone streets, Chinese markets, an old library/courtyard and many upscale shops. (Thanks for the tips, Alicia!). The hotel shuttle took us from the ferry terminal to the hotel, to the shops and our show. We walked down a super busy street and at the end were the ruins of St. Paul. Very impressive, along with the amount of people that were there with us. So. Many. People!
Todd and Brigham both ended up with sunburns from the beach. They wore themselves out, ate some delicious fried noodles and had a good time with Shannon and Craig. China lets you ride jet skis right next to the beach, I guess...So they were able to try to jump the waves. The problem was that you ended up jet skiing between swimmers, surfers, boogie boarders, etc. But they had a good time. Thanks Youses.
While we were sitting at the pool in Macau, there was a family of four, parents and a baby and toddler. They were from Europe somewhere. Their little boy in his swimming suit, water shoes, life jacket and goggles on top of his head grabbed his parent's camera and took off running. It was funny to see the potbellied, flat footed, dark curly haired, euro swimsuit wearing Dad chase the boy over the bridges crossing the pool. The little boy was grinning with the camera, shining like a mirror, dangling in his little hand.
From Sophie: so when we went to Macau we ordered room service at 12 am and played a game then we went to a cool water show got hot coco went home got some rest then we went to the mall and then a market and got some mixed up flavor cotton candy and then we went to a cool church that had only 1 side then we went to forever 21 then we got a taxi to the fairy terminal and got home and saw the boys and ate pizza that is the end of sophie
Brynn: Macau was so dang fun! we shopped and walked and talked and just had the best time. on the last day, we saw some really cool ruins and it was also the first time i ever felt sweat dripping down my face:/ sanfords are here right now and it is a party!! hahahha. that is the end of brynn
We ended the weekend with a devotional and popcorn (when will I ever learn which butter NOT to buy? Some brands taste way better than others) . Coxs and Sears and Sandfords stopped by along with Kimberly and Holly. Brooke gave a thought and then we watched the kids perform tricks. We evidently now have a Taylor variety show...360 degree jumps in both directions, front walkovers, Rubik's cube, etc. and we planned out our morning exercise schedule with the Sandfords, Sears and Coxs. There was another new family today, The Stahle family from Oregon. He does something with food production and they have two little boys, Lincoln and Cole. We love the people we have met here, old and new. Todd and Brigham both gave great talks today on "The Witness" by Elder Packer.
I hope you all enjoy the rest from your Labors this weekend. Keep in touch. Come visit!
Love from China,
Taylor Family
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