Lazy Bones

So sometimes I feel like not much is happening, so what is there to blog about? So I have to come up with reasons to blog. Other times so much happens in such a short period that I don't know how to blog it all. The last couple of weeks have been the latter. So because I am lazy and it takes more effort to write a bunch of blogs at once than I am willing to commit to, here is a short summary of the last few weeks.

First, we had a houseguest last month. He needed a place to stay for a few days, and we were happy to share our home with him.

Say hello to Mo. He belongs to one of the Flagship couples who went out of town for a weekend. Spencer was hesitant at first, but he loved Mo by the end. He will never admit it, but he did.

Mo slept in the shower each night.

And he LOVED Spencer

The Great Wall I constructed to try to keep him in the front
room...that he kept jumping over anyways so we took it down.

Seriously, he followed Spencer everywhere

But he loved cuddling with me.

His favorite spot, right next to where the heat is fanned out
of my computer.

Seriously, he loved him.

And here are all the turkeys that my Primary kids (children's program in our church) made to decorate for the branch Thanksgiving dinner. Aren't they so cute?!

Oh, and I was recently called as Primary President. Yay me? (just kidding, I'm loving it so far)

The first thing I did when I got out of bed the day after Thanksgiving was go to the bathroom. Ha, gotcha there. Anyways, the second thing was to put up our Christmas tree and decorations!

I love our tree!

Homemade cinnamon ornaments

And we have even since received our first Christmas present to put under the tree, all the way from Turkey!

Some of the Flagship guys started a soccer team and entered a tournament, sponsored by McDonalds, and they won! Ok, so for the championship game the other team only had 3 people show up, but still...

Then the Flagship program had a "Thanksgiving" dinner. The meal consisted of Peking duck (I've never had duck before), sweet and sour pork, sweet potatoes, tofu, mashed potatoes, dumplings, cheese pie, lotus root, chips and salsa and nacho sauce (of which I ate more than anything else that night...), apple crisp...among other things. It didn't feel like Thanksgiving, but it was still fun and I got to try a few new things. Oh, and Spencer and some of the other husbands sang some Christmas songs.

Last week we had another field trip, which wasn't very exciting except for THIS:

We went to a silk museum and on one floor they have these HUGE looms that take two people to operate, and they happen to be hand-making some of the most expensive silk fabrics in the world.

Oh and we went to the place where people used to go to test for government jobs, and they had this dragon bench thing. And according to legend you receive different blessings depending on how many times you step over it. Spencer stepped over it 6 times.

Oh, and in case you are interested, my current favorite food is plum jipai (jee-pie), which is fried chicken pounded thin and breaded with some crazy orangish looking breadcrumbs, cut into strips, then doused with a weird red powder. Sounds sketchy but it tastes SO GOOD.

And also birthday cake Oreos. Yum.

And last but not least.....I'm married to Santa Claus.

I'll blog more about this later, but if you want to know more you can read about it on a friend's blog at http://www.islandschoolhouse.com/2012/12/santa-claus-is-coming-to-gaochun/.

So now you're all caught up!

Happy Thanksgiving! Pass the...KFC?

I love this holiday. So much. Family, friends, and lots and lots of food. The only reason Christmas beats it out for favorite holiday is because presents are added to that list.

I was a little sad to not be home for the holidays this year;  I have never spent a Thanksgiving or Christmas without my family. But I was so excited to invite our Flagship family over to our little apartment to celebrate with us.

But how do you have a realistic Thanksgiving dinner when turkeys have to be imported from the states and cost an arm and a leg? You improvise.

Luckily KFC is wildly popular in China and there is one just down the street from us. An excellent turkey substitute. Add mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, stuffing, sweet potatoes, coleslaw, rolls, delicious dip, apple pie, a crepe cake, and pumpkin pie (all made from scratch, by the way) and you have one amazing Thanksgiving dinner in China.

Just to clarify, I didn't make all those things.

But they sure were delicious. And it was a great day. There was lots of food, good friends, and even some football.

We loved having a bunch of our Flagship friends over, and I honestly could not have picked a better way to feel more at home on Thanksgiving day. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Chinese...history?

Last week's field trip was really fun. But I seriously didn't listen to anything the teacher was saying about where we were. And I didn't really take a whole lot of pictures either. It was just beautiful and nice to be outside, even though it was a little chilly/windy and had rained the night before. And it was fun to just walk around and laugh with friends.

We crossed the Yangtze River. 3rd longest in the world.

Beautiful pathways

What I did catch was that the location of the first place we went to is historically significant, but the building there was only built in 2001 because the original guy who wanted to build it however long ago ran out of money. But it's a cool building, let's be real. And it was up a small mountain, so there was a great view.

I loved the lanterns.

We LOVE the English translations,
they are always hilarious.

Chinese people are short. Brandon is not.

I luff him.

Seriously.

This is to show how windy it was!

Did I mention I loved the lanterns?

And the second place was at the bottom of the small mountain and it is where the Treaty of Nanking was signed, which leased Hong Kong to Great Britain. I didn't take any pictures there, but here is one from above, we could see it from the first place.

Very exciting, can't you tell?

But let's be honest for a minute here. This is really what all of these field trips actually look like:

MY Man

Indulge me for a moment.

I LOVE SPENCER. Seriously, I just love him. He is so good to me. I am so grateful for his love, for his kindness, for his patience and dedication. I love that he tries not to mind when I spend a little money on things that make me feel a little more at home here in China. I love that he always seems to know when something is wrong and how to make me feel better. I love that he doesn't mind being silly with me. I love that he wakes me up every morning (which is a major task) and takes the time to prod and kiss me awake, even though some mornings it takes a little longer than he would prefer.

I am so grateful for this amazing man who has chosen to spend his forever with me. I am so grateful to have the gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives, for our knowledge of eternal families, and for the joy and stability that it brings to our marriage.

First day of school in China!

Spencer made eggs, all by himself, by choice.
His mother and sisters will understand the
significance of this

I LOVE my man.