BJ Small Group

The past two years we were in a small group that meet every other Monday. This group was very supportive through our pregnancy and the birth of Anna. We grew spiritually because of this group. When we first started out we were studying the fruits of the spirit, we then moved through the book "Everybody's Normal Till You Get To Know Them" by John Ortberg. Our last meeting with them they planned to study the book of Revelation.

Each week we began with a delicious meal, not forgetting dessert of course. This was usually Jeremy's and my time to enjoy home cooked western food. Recently we started singing with the kids then send them upstairs to watch a movie or just go wild while we got down to "business."

Through this group we made some really good friends that we have really been missing since in Qingdao. We did not get to know all the people in our small group very well, when you have 20 people in your "small" group it can be hard. But we really miss meeting with them and fellowship that we had. The people in our group really helped us get through some rough times - we love you guys!!

Smells like Korean food . . .

The other day Jeremy & I wanted to go out for cheap Chinese food so we asked were a good "whole in the wall" restaurant was. Some friends told us and so we decided to walk there. It took us a little while to find the right street because we still don't know the area very well. After we found the right street and looked for the restaurant and thought we found it. We walked in and I said "Hey, this smells like Korean food." We sat down and looked at menu and Jeremy said "They have Korean food here." The waitress said, "Of course, this is a Korean restaurant."

We had never eaten Korean food before so we did not know what to order. The waitress helped us and we ended up with a great meal. It was pretty cheap and very good. Not exactly what we were going out for but we ended up liking it and got plenty full.

Underwater World

We have been trying to get around Qingdao and enjoy the sites while the weather is still nice. So on Saturday we went to the Underwater World. It was pretty neat. It started off with a museum (which we didn't learn too much since everything was in Chinese), then had a large part devoted to salt water life and ended with a small section for fresh water life.

They had a large aquarium that you went under while riding on a people mover that was not more impressive then any other aquarium that we have been to.

My favorite part was there huge cylinder shape aquarium that was surrounded by smaller aquariums (pictured above with Jeremy's silhouette). Anna was not as scared as she was when we went to Polar world, she got up to the glass and enjoyed looking at the fish.

The creature that fascinated me the most was the spider crab. This thing was huge! But I didn't get to observe it as long as I might have liked since Anna was ready to be done and go home.

QingDao, A Beautiful City

Yup, this is where we live!! Aren't you jealous? I am and I already live here. For the first few weeks as we would be on a walk I would turn to Jeremy and say, "Can you believe we live by the beach, I mean we live right here on the ocean!!" Qingdao really is a beautiful city. We are waiting for you all to come and visit us.

Anna & her doll

Anna has always loved books and recently she has discovered a new love for dolls. So now Anna thinks that dolls need to have books read to them. Here is a short clip of Anna reading to her doll. Listen closely at the end and you will hear Anna speak Chinese!

Anna Has Hair

The other day I realized that Anna has enough hair that I can actually put it up in pigtails. I think it is adorable but she does not like that much. She likes the idea of having her hair made up but she usually only keeps it in for 15 minutes. I love to put it up because it helps everybody know that she is a girl and not a boy.

Qingdao Polar World

Our first sightseeing in Qingdao was to Polar World. We were very excited to take Anna, I don't think she shared the same excitement. I really enjoyed taking her around to the different "cages" and pointing out the different animals. We would find the animal's eyes, nose, and mouth. She was a bit scared when the walruses swam by. Being a little kid you don't know that the glass will keep you safe. All she knows is that this huge animal is swimming right past her and could probably eat her up in one swallow.

We did not know when the dolphin shows were so we got to Polar World right after the last showing in the morning started. So we walked around the place first (a couple times) then eat lunch and then waited a little while longer for the first afternoon showing. Anna was getting a little bit cranky because it was about her nap time. But it was definitely worth the wait. Anna loved every minute of the show! Jeremy & I also thought the show was very good, the best we have seen here in China. The park itself was not that impressive. I thought it was a little bit over priced for what they had but the show was very good and worth seeing.

Anna's New Friend

Anna is adjusting to the new city pretty well. She is making lots of friends and her mom is trying to make some connections too. It takes a little bit longer for me than her. The other day we spend almost the whole day with another little girl who is about 9 months older than Anna. We went to a play club where they have lots of toys.

The girls had a blast rocking away!! Anna learned to play the guitar from her mother, although her dad would love to tell you it was him - but we all know better.

They had a little grocery store set up there as well. The best, or worst part (depending on how you want to look at it) of the play date was learning/teaching to share. But over all they girls did great!

That night we had Anna's new friend (and her mommy and baby sister) over for dinner. Anna actually liked sharing her daddy's lap . . . as long as he was reading a book.

QingDao Retreat

This past weekend all the staff and their families from our school went to LaoShan (a mountain) and stayed at a very nice hotel from Saturday - Tuesday. It was a time to spend with each other and to get some relaxation. Those of us with small children, however, didn't get too much relaxing done, but we really had a great time.

Saturday, we had a little meeting and a "get to know each other" game. We gathered together in groups with the same month birthdays and then learned a little bit about each other. Here is the best group - December birthdays.

Sunday, Jeremy & I lead the singing for our meeting. In the afternoon we went hiking on LaoShan. That was my favorite part of the whole weekend. I carried Anna on my back as we hiked. It was a little scary as we had to climb up and down (and sometimes jump) huge boulders. Everybody was very helpful and made sure that we were safe.

Sunday night, Jeremy & I were in charge of the nursery. We lucked out with that because it happened to be movie night, so the kids were really taken in by the movie (Curious George). Also, half of the kids weren't there b/c their parents put them to bed.

Monday, we enjoyed going to another seminar and then pretty much relaxed for the rest of the day. The three of us took naps b/c we were really tired from not napping on Sunday, and not sleeping too well at night since we were sharing a room with Anna. She spent the first night calling out to us wanting us to pick her up.

Monday night, we watched "Amazing Grace." It was fun watching it on the big screen like we were in the theater (uhmm, not that we condone theaters). We got to have popcorn and hot chocolate while we watched.

The retreat was a lot of fun, but we are glad to be home so we can catch up on our sleep!