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| Pretty barn with lights and decorations |
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| Nice big sheep dog! |
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| She loves the lambs! |
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| Went on a hike up the hill to see the little cabin |
茶
Showing posts with label Minnesota. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Minnesota. Show all posts
Saturday, April 16, 2016
Family Trip to a Lamb Farm
On Friday we went on a homeschool trip with several other families to visit a lamb farm in Wisconsin. We spent the day learning about llamas, sheep, and stock dogs. All kinds of other animals were on the farm too. They raised the lambs mostly for their wool, and the llamas are also shorn for their wool. We had a great time in the fresh air and sunshine!
Thursday, July 2, 2015
Birthday Celebrating
Yesterday was my husband's 39th birthday. This is Jeremy's last year, and mine, in our 30's...And today was our son Hudson's 5th birthday. We took a drive to the pretty town of Lanesboro and rented some bikes for a 10 mile bike ride, and then buying some bikes for Hudson and Annalise on the way home.
In our car ride we had plenty of time to talk. We talked about how old we are...I can remember when I was in woodworking class in the 7th grade, getting my 80's permed hair stuck in the drill and having the instructor help take the drill apart to get it out, all frizzed and singed. And the stuck-up girls in my home-ec class with their Esprit bags laying on the floor, stepping one on accidentally as I was flipping pancakes at the stove and one girl saying, "you're stepping on my Esprit." Later, I even had an Esprit bag. :)
Later, at home we sang and had Panda bear Birthday cake, chocolate cake on the inside with cream cheese frosting on the outside. Don't laugh! I decorated it myself.
We are loving the Minnesota summer and the green countrysides right now. Huge change from the cement and well-manicured gardens in Shanghai. Though we will miss all the folks in the park doing their tai chi and group dances. I am so thankful we have the next couple weeks free before my husband's new job starts. I am so proud of him!
Here are some photos from our last week in Shanghai...
In our car ride we had plenty of time to talk. We talked about how old we are...I can remember when I was in woodworking class in the 7th grade, getting my 80's permed hair stuck in the drill and having the instructor help take the drill apart to get it out, all frizzed and singed. And the stuck-up girls in my home-ec class with their Esprit bags laying on the floor, stepping one on accidentally as I was flipping pancakes at the stove and one girl saying, "you're stepping on my Esprit." Later, I even had an Esprit bag. :)
Later, at home we sang and had Panda bear Birthday cake, chocolate cake on the inside with cream cheese frosting on the outside. Don't laugh! I decorated it myself.
We are loving the Minnesota summer and the green countrysides right now. Huge change from the cement and well-manicured gardens in Shanghai. Though we will miss all the folks in the park doing their tai chi and group dances. I am so thankful we have the next couple weeks free before my husband's new job starts. I am so proud of him!
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| Annalise lost her front teeth, so cute!! |
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| Sayde on the glass floor of the Pearl Tower |
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| Our hilarious shoe choices that day |
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| Annalise's favorite building in Shanghai |
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Life is Good in Minnesota
We have returned back home to Minnesota and our time in Shanghai is officially over. Jeremy put in his notice at work last month and we spent many weeks preparing for the return and saying good-bye to all of our friends and church family in the city, not knowing what was up next for us. This was one of the most difficult aspect of our decision to leave...The church community we had become part of...a one to two hour commute to visit friends in their homes for all the kids groups, Bible study groups, and our home cell group. Here in the States, these groups do not exist! We hope that we can bring the sense of fellowship, and how we desperately need it, back home with us and get things started here. We will miss this kind of community, but believe this can be possible here too.
We know that many seeds were planted and new life begun as we left Shanghai. Jeremy was able to witness to many friends, even Chinese Muslim. We gave away lots of literature. Lisa met another friend who, along with her husband, held prayer and worship day and night and was able to connect a couple of our other searching friends to this family. We were a little more bold and focused this time than last time.
Right now, we are adjusting to a life back in Minnesota. Jeremy starts his new job in mid-July. Thankfully, we have a couple weeks to settle in.
We know that many seeds were planted and new life begun as we left Shanghai. Jeremy was able to witness to many friends, even Chinese Muslim. We gave away lots of literature. Lisa met another friend who, along with her husband, held prayer and worship day and night and was able to connect a couple of our other searching friends to this family. We were a little more bold and focused this time than last time.
Right now, we are adjusting to a life back in Minnesota. Jeremy starts his new job in mid-July. Thankfully, we have a couple weeks to settle in.
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Visit Home
We are now back at our home in Shanghai after a visit home to the States. Finally a rainy-looking, foggy morning here in the city so I felt like catching up on our news. Jeremy's Grandpa passed away this month in Illinois and we were able to travel there for his funeral, see Jeremy's relatives and attend church on Easter Sunday. It was a last minute surprise visit. Our kids did great on this visit and were very happy. We travelled from there to Minnesota to stay with our families. The only people who knew we were coming was my sister and Jeremy's sister!
Returning to Shanghai was a much more difficult, sacrificial decision this time around. Last July when we first arrived it was a big adventure. This time we know what we are getting into and all the normal difficulties we face in every day life. We've learned to rely on God more for everything and to do hard things, because this is hard. On our visit we had the freedom and the luxury for two weeks of driving our family around in a vehicle, with everyone safely buckled into their own seats, and safety seats for the kids!
We all crammed into a taxi cab on the way back to our apartment from the airport, all five of us to four seats and only one working seatbelt in one seat. Taxi minivans don't exist here. Sayde's car seat was back in our apartment, never used here. Though we did have a nice chat with our taxi driver in Chinese. I wish we could take taxis more often. So when I say that it is a sacrifice to live daily life here overseas, I do not believe that it is to sacrifice our children. Big difference! God made it very clear about 4,000 years ago with Abraham that He does not approve of or call for that.
We still haven't figured out transportation, that is why we only take the Metro/Subway on a normal basis and we are comfortable with that. Thankfully we live right next door to a station. If you lived in Shanghai you would see me often carrying or strolling Sayde while holding onto both kids' hands as we go to the subway or walk to the park. If we live here longer, I would like to get bicycles - not motorized - with a baby seat and a wagon in the front. This is a European style and it can carry more than one child!
Now I will write about some positive, happy stories in our family. The jet-lag from our travels re-set the kids' bedtimes. Within the first week back in Shanghai, the kids were going to bed at 6:00 pm and waking at 6:00 am. They are now going to bed around 8:00 pm most nights and waking from 6:00 am and 7:00 am. Hudson's chapped mouth and chin is almost healed up now after we found a jelly contained in an orange tube, his favorite color. He applies it all by himself. Sayde has been running around at the children's playground giggling and going down the slides over and over again all by herself. She said hello in Chinese all by herself to the man in our hallway who smokes by the window. When eating, she can say "bao le" when she is full.
We like our new Chinese teacher and can sneak in some spiritual language with her. While we don't teach English, we do bring up words or language that we want to learn in Chinese and can chat in Chinese over things such as fear - how we have no fear when we are in Christ.
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Wheelbarrel ride from Gandy
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Returning to Shanghai was a much more difficult, sacrificial decision this time around. Last July when we first arrived it was a big adventure. This time we know what we are getting into and all the normal difficulties we face in every day life. We've learned to rely on God more for everything and to do hard things, because this is hard. On our visit we had the freedom and the luxury for two weeks of driving our family around in a vehicle, with everyone safely buckled into their own seats, and safety seats for the kids!
We all crammed into a taxi cab on the way back to our apartment from the airport, all five of us to four seats and only one working seatbelt in one seat. Taxi minivans don't exist here. Sayde's car seat was back in our apartment, never used here. Though we did have a nice chat with our taxi driver in Chinese. I wish we could take taxis more often. So when I say that it is a sacrifice to live daily life here overseas, I do not believe that it is to sacrifice our children. Big difference! God made it very clear about 4,000 years ago with Abraham that He does not approve of or call for that.
We still haven't figured out transportation, that is why we only take the Metro/Subway on a normal basis and we are comfortable with that. Thankfully we live right next door to a station. If you lived in Shanghai you would see me often carrying or strolling Sayde while holding onto both kids' hands as we go to the subway or walk to the park. If we live here longer, I would like to get bicycles - not motorized - with a baby seat and a wagon in the front. This is a European style and it can carry more than one child!
Now I will write about some positive, happy stories in our family. The jet-lag from our travels re-set the kids' bedtimes. Within the first week back in Shanghai, the kids were going to bed at 6:00 pm and waking at 6:00 am. They are now going to bed around 8:00 pm most nights and waking from 6:00 am and 7:00 am. Hudson's chapped mouth and chin is almost healed up now after we found a jelly contained in an orange tube, his favorite color. He applies it all by himself. Sayde has been running around at the children's playground giggling and going down the slides over and over again all by herself. She said hello in Chinese all by herself to the man in our hallway who smokes by the window. When eating, she can say "bao le" when she is full.
We like our new Chinese teacher and can sneak in some spiritual language with her. While we don't teach English, we do bring up words or language that we want to learn in Chinese and can chat in Chinese over things such as fear - how we have no fear when we are in Christ.
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| Sayde on the slide |
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