Staying out of trouble...
while everyone else decorated the tree!
I let the kids decorate the whole thing this year. Most of our ornaments were homemade :).
Baby @ 4 months!
Congratulations to Rebecca & Tongwei! Their picture did not upload, but their wedding was beautiful!
sweet smiling faces waiting in anticipation
After the ceremony there was a large buffet of food and also a yummy dessert table the emcee encouraged all to eat at first!
Enjoying the music!
Lily turned 10, and lost a tooth! Her birthday began with a scavenger hunt for a coupon at the end to celebrate the loss of a tooth :).
One present from each sibling. Lily got socks, stickers & some fun little stationary things.
We all enjoyed some strawberry short cake for Lily's birthday.
That's a lot of candles! We had such a fun day celebrating our fist child entering into the 2 digits :).
And a few days later the star finally gets placed on top of the tree.
The best birthday gift ever!
Abby & Tammy flew in from another city in China to spend the weekend with us!
Abby also turned 10 a week after Lil.
We enjoyed such a wonderful reunion.
Josh & I got the girls matching jammies for their 2 day sleepover. They were all smiles!
After attending our town's annual Christmas fair, Lily & Abby had a birthday party and invited two more friends Lydia & Corrie for dinner & cake.
I love this age... the girls were so much fun.
They played "Pass the Present" (somewhat like hot potato) and all got a little gift.
The girls had lots of giggles as they made their own Christmas tree ornaments. They were very creative.
The last day of our visit we went to Green Lake.
I love the architecture.
The weather felt really cold though!
We warmed up with hot noodles for lunch.
I don't think I've been to this park without hearing a couple bands of older Chinese guys on their instruments. We said, "Wow, look at that" to his instrument and music and he said, "Wow, look at that" to the foreigners.
There were lots of seagulls this time of year.
I would like to wear this kind of hat when I'm this lady's age.
catching up
These treats on a stick tasted amazing. Sugar coated fruit. Yum.
Time to feed the birds!
We are so thankful and blessed by such a great visit with such good friends.
Did I mention we finally found the coconut we were looking for?? Only a couple dollars at Green Lake, who knew?
I love it when the three little girls decide to get dressed themselves (and match each other!).
Dass & I had a fun girls night painting pics (for family). We have such a nice time one-on-one.
We finally finished our bodies! This was our last meeting for Classical Conversations (week 12) before our Christmas break. We are half way done already!
Xiao Li made some really yummy (heart shaped) pumpkin bread for our family. It was devoured in less than 5 minutes.
Our friends' new resturaunt!
They had their grand opening on Christmas Eve.
So on Tuesday, Josh stayed home with the kids while I helped Susan prepare some yummy treats.
We made Apple Strudel Muffins, Lemon Bars, Brownies & Beer Bread. Susan is a fast learner!
Check out that amazing 3 door oven. Imagine how many 9x13 pans one could fit inside!
We had a nice day together.
Did someone say it's Christmas?!
For the sake of saving room in our luggage (in 4 months) we all printed pictures of what we wanted for Christmas and then opened the pictures along with a box of cereal!
I wasn't sure what the reactions would be- but all were thrilled!
(We RARELY eat cereal here because it is all imported and pretty expensive).
We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Eve service at our friends' house and then had a memorable time Christmas Day at another friends' house eating lots of soup & bread. Most importantly, it was a joy to remember our Savior who was born as a baby and grew to redeem his people!
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
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