I'm a BIG BOY!!

"Hey Mom... I don't need to sit in my walker... I can push it" :)

Fun Family Lunches

Recently, our boss has invited us to her home on the weekends to enjoy lunch or dinner with her family. It is so much fun... I even feel a small part of her family.

They have a BEAUTIFUL house in the new developing area of Hengyang.

Here is the front view of the house - it is the most beautiful house I have seen in our city.
Here is the front yard. 

It was a pretty day so we spent a lot of time outside looking at fish

 

Here is Fei Fei (our boss) feeding the fish.  P loved watching all of them swim over for food.

 

A beautiful water display in the pond

 

I don't have any pictures of lunch (but it is the BEST food I have eaten in Hengyang... but we also snack on fruit before lunch.  This past weekend we had a fabulous fruit that is from Thailand.
I haven't seen it in the US... but the English name is Mango Stana.  Here is the outside.

And this is what the fruit looks like

After lunch we took a few group pictures.  P is proudly displaying his new facial expression.  :) LOVE it

Here is the group of us.  The girl in the white dress is Fei Fei's sister-in-law.  She is pregnant ... due June 20.  I am really excited for her.  She showed me all of the baby's clothes.  I even gave her a few things from America for the little one :)

 

Banana Nutella Popsicles

Super Delish
Blend 2 bananas and 2 generous scoops of Nutella (or more depending on your taste)
Freeze in Popsicle trays (yields 4 Popsicles)
Enjoy with a smile :)

Another Day in the Life of P and Me

If it is sunny, P and I normally get out about once a day to go buy vegetables on the alley and sometimes a drink from the tea shop. 
Here is my drink-  Mang Guo Bing (or whole mango blended with ice)
It is super yummy and $1.25

This is the walk from the back gate of our school to the front gate.  One of my previous teammates said "I think this is the prettiest road in Hengyang and we get to walk it every day" 
I completely agree... it is the prettiest street in our city.  Clean, tree-covered... beautiful!

And I am the luckiest person in Hengyang... but I have the cutest walking buddy.  Here is P in the Ergo carrier- smiling up at Mommy :)

After getting some fruit and the delish drink at the front gate, we walk to the back alley.  There is a short cut to get there... but you have to squeeze through a SUPER tiny door-- so tiny even the Chinese turn sideways when walking through.  I decided to gamble that P and I could still fit... I am twice the size with him on my front in the Ergo... but we made it :) 

Can you see how tiny it is... It reminds me at the Grand Canyon how they have some passages called "Fat Mans Misery" :)

Anyways... from here we buy veggies and walk home.  A normal afternoon for P and me :)

Completely Hilarious!!

It is with my husband's permission I post this hilarious story :)  afterall laughing is good for the soul.

This is Wyatt... you have seen him on our blog before.  He is Wes' best friend in China.  Recently, he has moved to be closer to his girlfriend (Sugar)  He is almost finished with college and is a working man (as is custom for Chinese Seniors to focus more of a job than school.)
Anyways, Wyatt came back to Hengyang for one month.  It is so nice to have him back.  One time, we asked him his favorite restaurant in Hengyang and his reply was "Avery's Cooking"  So as normal we invited him over to "Avery's Cooking" :)  After a fabulous lunch, Wes and Wyatt went out to practice some boxing.  About 2 hours later they come back to the house.  Wyatt is limping... not from a punch... but from a huge open sore on his foot (caused by not wearing socks with his shoes)
Here he is soaking his foot :)

Here is my handsome husband.  After boxing, basketball or any sport played in the heat of Hengyang... he comes home dripping.  Shirt always comes off.  He sits at his comptuer to start working on an exam for his students. 
After several minutes of just sitting, talking, chilling etc... Wyatt looks at Wes... shakes his head and say "you are fat." (as an American we would NEVER dream of saying this to someone... but it is completely acceptable in Chinese culture)
HAHAHA  Ok... I think we would ALL agree Wes is NOT fat :)  Wes is consistently telling me he has loss muscle tone... but I wouldn't classify as fat. 

Wes then shows Wyatt his muscles.  Wyatt's reply "you are fat" :)

Love that smile :)

And here I am.  Parker napping on me like a sweet angel.  I am trying to control my extreme laughter.

Wyatt is still doctoring his foot.  Wes says, "Wyatt, let me see your muscles."

He stands up takes off his shirt and say "take a picture of this."
HAHA!!

I bet you never would have guessed that thin looking Chinese guy would have that cut of muscles.
Oh boys and their muscles!!

Girls that touched my heart :)

Before coming to China, I had the priviledge of leading these sweet girls in Bible Study.  I started when Kelli (sweet face in the middle) was 15 years old.  Now they are all in college and doing great. 
I just talked to Kelli on facebook about the mutual love of Robin Jones Gunn (fiction author.)
I don't talk to them nearly as often as I would like... but they have touched my heart all the same. 
Love you!

Random catch-up... Where have I been?

As I write this, I am cursing gun-powder and fireworks while praying my baby stays asleep despite the war-like sounds outside our apartment.  I often wonder if P will realize how quiet it is in America :) 

Well... it seems to have been a little while since I have posted... so here is a catch-up of our daily life. 
Morning crazy face :)  See my teeth

So happy.  P has been WAY more active recently (as if he wasn't active enough)  He has learned how to flip himself out of the Bumbo and his walker.  So that means that he is now under CONSTANT supervision.  I don't know if you can see the walls and floors... but EVERYTHING in our house is concrete-- not forgiving on falls. 

He also has a couple new really cute expressions-- I will try to catch them on camera. 
We have a nice little routine going... and I am trying not to dwell on jet-lag and readjustment when we get back to the States... after all the Bible says think of praise-worthy things :) and jet-lag does not fall in that category.

Mother's Day was SUPER busy.  We have 2 team-time meetings on Sundays (one morning fellowship and afternoon girls book study)... Wes and I made "mother's days" cinnamon rolls for our morning meeting.  During the break of team events, Wes and I went to a park in the new developing area of the city.  It was really nice and green!! 

It was P's nap time... but he is such a good sport in the Ergo carrier!!

Lastly... something that made me chuckle -- we view of have five rice-patties of our back window (sometimes you can see all five - like pictured... sometimes the pollution is so bad you can only see 3-- in fact- just recently on a clear day I saw there were in fact five not just four :) 

Anyways, I noticed these two men working on of the patties.  It was funny to me that one man chose the attire of waders while the other one striped down to his undies :)

Let's just say- I wouln't even stick my big toe in this water... bless him for stripping down to get the job done!