JOSIAH & EVIE JOY

hot pot with a playground- the good life :)

2012-02-06T07:19:00.000-08:00

this is where we have been enjoying hanging out :) it is only about a 10 minute walk from our house and in the middle of the day it is normally not too busy! we were so excited to have stumbled upon it and find this fun playground! this day there were a few other kids there as you can see the 2 boys with their guns...

Sissy loves the horsey :) one day she rocked so hard she flipped but that doesn't stop her! You think our kids wear a lot? Check out this little boy pictuerd- he is one stuffed kid! :)

This is us eating hot pot :) not really exciting shots but we like it!

some January play-learning fun!

2012-02-01T22:40:00.000-08:00

so what have we been doing on the rainiest-coldest month of the year? and when the city's population doubles or triples and when we get out, we have to trek through the cold rain to our desired over crowded destination, yes we haven't been really excited about this month :) but tried to make the most of it! Evie Joy loves lacing! We got these awhile back from our friends Karissa and Alison but recently she has really been able to lace them all on and off! More recently they sent us some lacing cards and she loves doing them as well! (Also please note the common theme that Evie Joy loves wearing her footed pj's - she has many beautiful clothes but she is very stubborn everyday to wear her pj's so we use them as her 2nd layer of 3 or 4 layers when we go out :))

we loved this moment above- they were "cooking" together!

And below "praying" together! super sweet and super rare- they fight a lot these days.

size sorting "Nests" for the Letter N

I restocked our corn, rice and beans for playing so we have been enjoying playing with them the past few weeks!

Oh yes, and this day...well Evie Joy (in another set of pj's) kept asking to watch Thomas- we hadn't watched Thomas for awhile so i put a show on and we set up some tracks and kept adding tunnels and McQueen and Jesus' stable...it was a fun few hours of playing on a rainy day for us!

blocks...last week was the week of blocks! hours a day we created and re-created so many interesting things with our blocks. Mommy and Daddy and cars and cakes...One of my favorites is Evie Joy made a blue block Daddy and ran from it because it was going to spank her :) and the real Daddy was not even home :) cracks me up!

and please notice her football pj's this day!

oh yes and below- this day Evie Joy refused to take a nap. She received several spankings from Daddy who was here during nap time that day and still did not nap :( so after hearing her yell for me to come look at her, i finally did- she was dressed like this saying she was "Darby" and the lei was her underwear :) She is all about putting her "underwear" on these days- she has used a rope, a basket, i forget what else right now, but non-conventional items for "underwear"

And you can see on the table in front of EJ the verses on a 4x6 paper. We love First Look Preschool Curriculum for memorizing verses. They have actions for us to practice so the kids love to have Circle Time and practice verses :) And we still love our Magic Erase board bought at a yard sale with cousin Chanse for 1 dollar!

Josiah is working on his new pattern pictures from Alison and Karissa! Also loving these! We've tried doing some other things for patterns but these are definitely more fun for Jo and EJ!

Josiah and his 2 kuai letters! love them! and his new scissors he loves from Ali & K! They sent these little boxes with each of their names on and inside they have a school pencil, colored pencils, crayons and Jo scissors- they kids get so excited using their personal boxes!

Josiah has been loving his new LeapFrog videos about Math so he has been all about counting and pretending he is adding and subtracting like Tad & Lily :)

Jo was using the letters with his Word World cards to make words!

Evie Joy so proud of her pattern pictures- she calls this one "Brother"!

So we've been learning a lot :) Trying to survive January! WE do get out everyday at least once but it is usually raining so we don't have a lot of pics from our outing adventures :)

Little Girl Learning Big-Gril Stuff!

2012-01-30T22:11:00.000-08:00

Evie Joy feels so big learning her ABC's and playing brother's Leapster games! And everyone must notice how stylish she looks learning :)

Learning to Spell GOD

2012-01-27T04:25:00.000-08:00

We have some praise music videos and the word "God" is repeated several times :) so it was cute to see Josiah pick up on it and begin learning to spell the word "God"- when he writes words like his name and above "God" he thinks getting all the correct letters is all that is important- i was trying to explain that "God" backwards is "Dog" ha- but in his little heart it was still "God!" :)

A few Highlights from Evie Joy's Frist Real Semester at Chinese Preschool

2012-01-20T03:57:00.000-08:00

above was an attempt to get some shots but um, my battery died ( like i said on the other post, i only had one week to attend dancing time to get some shots) but i did get a few below!

she really got into her marching- the kids love it that teacher says "R-E-R" when marching :)

and Evie Joy loves clapping- she says "Pai Pai Pai"

she loves eating at school- her teachers always say she eats 2 bowls of rice?! at home i can barely get her to eat a half of a bowl of anything!

pretty sure part of it is that her teachers feed her like this!

here she is from a distance in class. i am afraid if i stood in the open she'd cry...

her class is the "Small Small Class" so they didn't participate in the New Year's Day celebration but Josiah's class invited Evie Joy to join them so here she is with all the big kids!

she had no idea what to do in the competition!

here is her attempt at the blow painting!

below- Daddy was very resourceful!

And here is her report card- Pretty much, she looks good but needs to dress herself, she knows how to be clean and careful- she needs to work on cleaning up and right now, i forget what else?!

Kids' Preschool Dancing 3

2012-01-20T00:31:00.000-08:00

this year i go to University class at the same time the kids have Preschool so i haven't gotten to stick around for fun dancing videos and pictures, but last week I was out of school and they still had class so i attempted to get a few videos :) enjoy!

preschool dance 1

2012-01-19T22:21:00.000-08:00

Preschool Dance 2

2012-01-19T22:19:00.000-08:00

Local Preschool Fall 2011

2012-01-19T05:35:00.000-08:00

i attempted to take a few pictures here and there the last 2 months of Preschool...so here you go! above- picking Jo up, he was eating with his class, but he spotted me and ran to give me a hug but you get to see his class in action eating lunch :) He doesn't really like me to pick him up during lunch time because he likes to stay long enough to "shui jiao" as he says - that means sleep, but he doesn't really sleep, he just lays down for like 10 minutes with his class - but he likes to end his day that way so i just wait until 12ish to pick him up :)

these are a New Year's Celebration Competition! They always love Josiah to participate in these types of events- he did well of course, he won his first round- no one captured his flag but i think he was a little tired after that and quickly got out the second time around :)

below- for New Year's they do these blow pen pictures- Daddy did most of the effective blowing :)

DANCING! Yes, my Jo is still a super good dancer! He is in the middle left with his hands up.

In the back left, with Lightning McQueen on his head!

Excited Sissy was joining this dance with his class!

He is always Qin Laoshi's special dancing helper! Here everyone is going in-between Jo and Qin Laoshi!

gettin down with Qin Laoshi

His certificate and report card! He has learned to share with others and is teacher's helper! He needs to work on his love for collectiveness, his sense of community and communicating with others- it kinda cracks us up but we want to never forget his first report card!

hopefully i will get some fun dancin videos up soon but i'm not really tech savvy so hopefully i can figure it out for you :)

stuffed kids!

2012-01-10T18:35:00.001-08:00

some times i think they just look so cute in all their layers :)

a lot of rainy days...

2012-01-09T04:13:00.000-08:00

this is what we look like on a lot of recent rainy days

josiah would rather play wtih the mcqueen on his umbrella handle rather than use the umbrella to be keep dry...

you can't really see Evie Joy...Daddy gets quite annoyed with the little princess because she is already super slow and then traveling with her umbrella she is like triple slow....

but when it takes like 10 minutes to walk out to the road, then we wait for a bus or taxi another 15-20 minutes, the umbrella is nice to keep off some rain :) and our rain boots are super because we aren't attending preschool in wet feet all day!

Evie Joy's Christmas 2011

2012-01-06T07:29:00.000-08:00

so here is our attempt at re-capturing some of Evie Joy's Christmas!
It was fun with Evie Joy this year because it was the first year she really began understanding the story of Christmas and could be excited and celebrating!

This is our first Christmas Dinner with friend Kelly and Chris- she loves playing with Kelly!

MiMi gave Evie Joy a dress that had a matching dress for baby doll :)

very excited to play with Ivan!

friends Ivan and Winnie came and spent the week with us! Evie Joy loved playing with them and getting tons of extra attention and love!

Josiah 4, Evie Joy almost 2 1/2! Christmas 2011! She is so funny in her smile-s he always smiles so big, her eyes close :)

Christmas morning- a few friends came over- we (more like they) did this cool Christmas puzzle!

I love my froggie pj's if you haven't already noticed! i have lots of pretty clothes and warm little outfits too but my pj's are my favorite. I beg Mommy and Daddy to wear them everyday!

i got these cool high heels! had to take my froggies off to try them on! my local friends loved them!

me and my special friend Nancy- she has been our tutor for a year and a half now and she is gong back home now to find a real job :(

Again, froggie happy! love this smile on this kid! I got my cool high heels, a Noah's Ark, some books and puzzles and Boz videos (the only show i really enjoy) and a Princess castle! Oh yes and lots of candy! A funny is that she got a book about Jonah and she said Mommy i've gotta go get my Jonah boat- haha- i tried explaining that was the wrong story- it was Noah's Ark!

oh yes, i loved playing on Winnie's ipod!

the ladies and us under the tree Christmas morning!

our family with our special friends- Ivan and Winnie!

This was from our second Christmas Dinner- 2 little girls from Brother's class and a little boy from the playground :) I'm sporting my pretty red Christmas sweater

During their visit, Ivan and Winnie cooked dinner for us, which we ate way more of than Mommy's Christmas Dinner! Here i am eating some fish eye. After I ate it, I said, " Can i have more?! " haha

This was our Christmas/ New Year's Party with English Corner Students- i kept my hair bow in maybe 20 minutes???

here i have on my red pj's because the froggies (my favorites) were dirty. I'm beginning to enjoy all pj's that feel like the froggies- yup i wear them everyday! Here i am helping our friends act out the Christmas story! I usually am a sheep in the play and can "baaa" like the best of them!

I did not want to get lots of pictures taken like brother but i was more than happy to get my picture taken with Jack! WE love Jack! He is one of our friends who comes over to study English!

This is me - i'd rather pick my nose than get a family picture....

somehow, i changed my mind (not easy to do!)...so here we are! The Rymers :) Josiah is 4 and 1 month and I am 2 and 4 months!

This is our 5th party :) My teachers came over to party with us! And don't i look so pretty?!

We played Wii dance- my moves are getting really good!

love this picture of the little dancers!

Christmas 2011 Highlights!

2012-01-06T06:36:00.000-08:00

Okay so this Christmas post is all about Josiah- i will do one for each kiddo since i do print these out every year and a half for them to keep...so here goes Josiah's Christmas week.... eating Christmas dinner #1 with friend Chris/Juzi (Orange is her Chinese name) and Kelly

friends Ivan and Winnie spent 5 days with us celebrating- it was a super fun extended sleepover! EJ and I really loved them being here, they were like an Auntie and Uncle!

they even got us to smile together for these shots!

Christmas morning- some girls from the college came over :) I got a Larry Boy car and Mac- McQueen's trailer- I got some books and videos and puzzles too but they sure were amazed at how 'much' i got! I am so thankful for MiMi and Poppe and my friends who sent me packages with my presents in them!

Larry Boy! But i am a little concerned about Larry Boy and all the Veggie Tales- i mean they don't have arms?!

This was my Christmas Dinner #2 friends- the 2 little girls are twins in my Preschool class- there names are Huan Huan and Le Le - Huan Le means Joy - the same as Evie Joy's name Xi Le....and the little boy is a playmate from a playground- he was actually a little stressful to play with at my house...and our friend Sonia came over too :)

These girls are fun! The thing that stood out about Josiah this year was him retelling the Christmas story daily, acting it out with the nativity and singing Christmas carols- he learned Joy to the World in Chinese and sang it to all our company and around town- everyone loved that! He also made up his own version of "Angels We have heard on High, Glorrriiaaa...shepherds and wisemen!" A true blessing to hear him embracing songs of the Saviors birth.

Winnie and Ivan made us dinner, which i like much better than Mommy's Christmas dinner, but i wasn't too fond of the fish eyes!

our family with our special friend!

This is our friend Jack who we love :) He comes to English Corner at our house with all the girls...Anyways we really like Jack!

I was in a pretty good mood, willing to take lots of pictures with giddy college girls!

I was super sweet about getting a family picture- EJ not so much...

finally she was cooperative- my sister is "tiaopi" i tell everyone, meaning naughty!

here i was encouraging her because she finally decided to have a good attitude about the picture!

what a good brother i can be!

This was party #5- my teachers came! of course i was lookin sharp!

They were super fun guests- we played my wii dancing game until 11pm!

yeah, i'm a really good dancer!

mostly evie joy crazy jumping dancing

2012-01-02T04:30:00.000-08:00

Christmas party dancing

2012-01-02T01:44:00.000-08:00

at our last christmas/new years party the kids teachers actually stayed until 11 pm dancing :) they loved wii dancing and of course the kids were so excited their teachers got into it!

our very first christmas play!

2011-12-29T07:13:00.000-08:00

c see my Jo back there stuck between all the Chinese animals?! he was waiting so patiently for his dancing panda at the manger debut :)

and there he is on stage with the birds and bunnies and i think that is joseph behind the animals :) anyways, it was our city's first real Christmas play of the real Christmas story- every year for the past few years it is popular in this country to celebrate Christmas- to have a "Christmas party" - they sing a few songs, give out candy, wear Santa hats- i mean it is a fun party- but they do not normally do a play like we did when we grew up to act out the true meaning and history of Christmas- so this year Daddy helped write a simple play for a local English school (most kids here take extra English class somewhere to improve their English because they are tested on it all the way up to doctorate level) - anways, we have mentioned before- jo attends English class for free, sometimes Daddy helps out at the school for free and they asked him to help them learn the Christmas story and write a simple play for the students. So on Christmas day, we went to the very large park in the middle of our city and performed alongside the other English students...we think it is a great beginning to our friends here learning the true meaning of Christmas :) And of course our Mommy and Daddy were so proud of us for doing so well in front of so many people!

When Evie Joy walked on stage, the audience literally ohhhed and ahhhed!

Evie Joy as an angel! All the angels sang "Silent Night" together on stage :)

Josiah so loved singing,not shy at all!

he just can't stand still and clap and sing, he's gotta move! :)

Most of the cast :) We were confused and already undressed EJ....but you can see the angels, wise men, shepherds, Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, animals...

They all sang "Joy to the World" and "Jingle Bells"

A little free time so back to DANCIN!

2011-12-29T04:52:00.000-08:00

so the last 2 nights we had some free time so we took our kids dancing :) jo was so great :) so here is a little glimpse!

little Christmas helpers & crafters

2011-12-29T01:06:00.000-08:00

i never really am very good at getting my pictures in perfect blogging order- the top one is some of our beautiful artwork on display :) on top of the picture are our turkeys and christmas trees made out of cups; below the picture left to right-jO's Cmas tree, Evie Joy's angel is on top and Jo's on the bottom- made with their hands and feet, then their Reindeer made with hands and feet- Evie Joy's is on top, Jo's on bottom, then their robots-earlier post

angels with feet and hands, Evie Joy's is on top, Jo's on bottom

here the Reindeer with hands and feet- Jo's is on top, EJ's on bottom

We just took pictures to remember our fun crafts because i am allowing the kids to choose a craft they made and give it to people they are close to as a special gift :)

Josiah wanted to make Santas :) I couldn't find cotton balls, go figure so we used tissues :)

We made angels out of white paper plates :)

And you can see some of our Jesse Tree ornaments we made and hung on the tree every day

Oh yes and you can see our beautiful candy cane ornaments we made :)

I made 9 different kinds of rich yummy Christmas cookies and everyday Josiah would ask for Snowman cookies so we made sugar cookies just for the kids to be able to create fun shapes...

His first of many snowman cookies he ate- i love it that every time he eats one, he pretends the snowman is saying "no don't eat me, ahhhh" haha it is quite funny!

and then he says "ump bye bye snowman!"

here are some of our beautiful creations-

Some December Learning Fun!

2011-12-20T07:09:00.000-08:00

Evie Joy loves glue! We made a wreath out of her hand cut outs. It was a little small :) But we liked it!

Daddy was gone for a few days and this was our last day without him...and we began struggling...and then pulled out some fun learning activities our friends from the states sent us and everything changed! it was so amazing! and we were so thankful!

i loved it- Jo wanted to paint a Christmas tree! I thought he did so well!

Evie Joy is more of an impressionalist or something like that :)

and we've been into styling hair- we made daddy look so pretty!

just some fun pictures of us using our animal chopsticks! we love them! here we are eating french toast with them! ha!

The door is from our Chinese class at home- We've learning about expressions so we took turns drawing on the glass door with different faces and saying what they represent in Chinese and also we practiced making those faces :) The large yellow one is "hai pa" "afraid!" can't ya tell?!

These are our jiqiren (robots) made of rectangles. We dipped sponges into paint and here you go :) We practiced our body parts in Chinese as we made them :)

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas!

2011-12-17T06:31:00.000-08:00

Evie Joy was so excited about decorating our tree! I call it our Dollar Store Tree because we something called a wholesale market and at the wholesale market there are 2 little shops with maybe 10 baskets of Christmas decorations you would find at the Dollar Store in America. And this is all the Christmas decorations we have where we live but we are so thankful to have found them and we really like our Tree and our decorations!

as you can see the kids put a lot of the same ornaments low and together :) ha!

they love practicing and retelling the Christmas story over and over with their nativity

And here we are with our crazy busy living room :) our tree, stockings and new Christmas Veggie Tales while Mommy is baking cookies :)

We are also everyday adding to our tree ornaments we make doing the Jesse Tree Lineage of Jesus Advent study each night. WE love it! It is so fun to act out and color our ornaments and learn about the true historical meaning of Christmas! So, we'll have to post a picture later with all our handmade Jesse Tree Ornaments on it :)

Evie Joy loves being a Super Hero!

2011-12-17T01:08:00.001-08:00

fun around the house :)

2011-12-17T00:52:00.000-08:00

we totally fit together in one suitcase :) ha! that would be much cheaper next time we fly international rather than 2 tickets!

Daddy is lovingly blowing up our jump-o-lean

us while daddy is blowing it up, we say we aren't scared, but kinda are a little!

but we are being super sweet while we wait and pretend to not be scared

we bring all our blankets, pillows, friends in the jump-o-lean...?! not sure why that makes jumping fun?!

us jumping! yay! fun!

fun shots out with some friends!

2011-12-09T23:07:00.000-08:00

went out to eat some hot pot :) we love some hot pot (a huge pot of soup, throw some veggies and potatoes, tofu and strange meats in and there you go) and we love to drink the soup afterwards! of course, we do not get it hot (Daddy adds his hot spice in his dipping sauce)

We met some friends at yet another park MiMi :)- i mean what do you expect us to like to do? We dont' have a MiMi and Poppe's house or a Mall or a Pump it Up ha- i mean our Parks don't even have playgrounds- they do have some grass normally which is a treat and some places we can run around and climb...Anyways- this is a huge park beside the river called Da Zhou Park, about 2 mile walk from our house- the picking oranges Park is called Da Zi Ran Park, 20 minute bus ride from our city-the rock climbing park is Da Qian Park, 20 minute walk from our house, the ride rides park- Ren Men Gong Yuan, 10 minute bus/car ride from our house- Temple Park, on the other side of the river closer to our house, 20 minute walk from our house- that about covers our Parks and fun weekend sites :) where we try to go and make friends and enjoy life a little :) We are super thankful we have some choices of places to go and take our kids and they enjoy! Super Thankful!

Evie Joy all bundled up- it's in the 40's here- not too cold but to be out in 40 degree temps half the day it gets pretty cold

love this one of Josiah! He asked me to take his picture!

This is our new friend. It was her birthday so we went to the park with her and out to eat!

bundled up kids on the street....

From "eating good street" we can never get a taxi home (just a mile) but still hard to walk a mile with a 2 and 4 year old...jo actually does well but EJ not so much...she was so dirty DAddy was reluctant to carry her and ended up carrying her like this, ha!

Evie Joy's Big Girl Bed!

2011-12-09T21:23:00.000-08:00

Whelp, my Evie Joy has grown up :( WE thought she'd love being our baby girl forever! She still loved the pack n play while in the states but when we got home she began throwing big fits, she slept in her tent for awhile, in the middle of the floor some, by her door some on the cold concrete floor...so we were very excited that her bed finally arrived (ordered from the Chinese Internet :)) much cheaper than anything we could find around here or have made. She was very impatient when Daddy was trying to put it together so we gave her and Brother the task of cleaning it- she loves cleaning :)

a very excited Evie Joy at 27 months in her "little girl" bed! She says Mommy you can sleep in my bed, DAddy is too big but you are just right :) ha!

This is her at real sleep time :) Now she sleeps with her head at the other end :)

a little learning at home these days...

2011-12-07T04:25:00.000-08:00

above- making shape people with Nancy, our Chinese tutor :) We love her!

Evie Joy and Josiah are a mix between Pilgrims and Indians in the duck boat :)

We were studying about children around the world- one day studying Africa, Jo drew a camel- bottom picture above- and he was like i need to draw him a tree so he can eat from it :) i loved that!

The top picture was Alaska, a polar bear :) on the side of the Alaska picture up top, he also drew Jesus in the manger and the 3 wise men- they all go together, don't they :)

We made some turkeys out of toilet paper rolls- Josiah was super careful how he painted each feather And Evie Joy made the paper turkey- she loves coloring, cutting, pasting so she loved this- Jo cut his up...

Josiah, not sure if he is a Pilgrim or Indian, cooking his food over the fire

above- a bit blurry but i love it- Josiah is an Indian in his tent and Evie Joy is a Pilgrim in her duck boat crossing the ocean :)

Pilgrim Evie Joy

Evie Joy loves reading the Bible- she spends huge amounts of time each day reading and rehashing her bible stories

practicing drawing shapes with pudding :) we've been learning our shapes in English and Chinese :)

They love drawing on the wall in our kitchen- MiMi got us some smaller white board markers and they are awesome especially when Mom is in the kitchen cooking for hours a day, give kids lots of fun :) Evie JOy is pretty obsessed with writing her name since Josiah has learned his full name and practices writing his name, she is always pretending and somewhat writing "Joy" and says "Evie Joy Rymer"

dancin...right now they are loving what we call the "Kangaroo Hop" cd from Tara- almost everyday we hop and dance to that cd

I think my Jo looks so big here-wow! He is loving this Leapster writing pad MiMi gave him- he has learned so much from it and it has been an awesome tool for him to practice writing his letters and shapes and even people :)

Not sure if you can really tell what we are thankful for but this is our thankful tree- thought Josiah did a good job tracing the title too :) Mostly Josiah is thankful for his toys and Evie Joy is thankful for her family...toward the end of the month Josiah finally got the idea that he was suppose to be thankful for real things, not just toys so maybe it was a good learning activity :)
Whelp, that's all for now...We are always learning so i'm sure they'll be more to share soon :)

Some things I just love about Evie Joy- post 2 years!

2011-11-30T03:48:00.000-08:00

This is my precious Evie Joy dressed up- she says she is a cowboy! :)

And here she is all ready to go after a great day at Chinese Preschool! Love that girl!

I was thinking a few weeks back about the many things i so love about Evie Joy these days so i made a list and wanted to record them here also:
~I love it when she says "No Brother Don't do that!"
~"I didn't poo poo, I just farted!"
~she breaks out into singing "You Yi Wei Shen!"
~says "Obey Mommy DAddy!"
~"no, i not tired"
~"I exercising"
~"okay" with a nod
~"yeah-s" (yes)
~"I do it myself!"
~"Please, can I have milk"
~"Xiao Mama guo lai"
~"MiMi, I eat my booger"
~On the plane "In China, I buy my squeaky shoes"
~"Mommy, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you"
~to Llama " I love you, sit in your chair, eat your dinner"

I love her sweet kisses and her "thank yous"

Most recently
~God of Jesus "This is My Son, I am so proud for him" ( in a deep Darth Vader type voice)
~"I not little, I just right!"
~looking in the mirror "I so pretty, I xiao mei nu"

She reads books for hours a day. She loves studying and practicing her Chinese- these things are awesome :) She also loves Boz, the friendly bear- the only show she will watch :) Mama is happy she likes to watch something at least and for our sweet friends who have sent us Boz to enjoy!

And I Love to hear her sing OH HOW I LOVE JESUS! It is the sweetest something!

She spends alot of her "free" time reading the Jesus Storybook Bible rehearsing the stories Daddy has most recently taught her and spanking anything/one in sight (which she is not allowed to play but still tries)...we are a bit concerned this must be how she sees us...oh dear!

Right now she is laying on top of the couch saying "This is my bed!" eating a cough drop- she is kinda excited she is sick so she can have cough drops- strange child!

I love her little dance moves and hops- they are precious! I am just loving her 2 years plus- very enjoyable! painting, dancing, learning, growing- precious! I am trying to be deliberate to just sit and enjoy her daily- I know this little preciousness will not last forever and it is a great gift. I've most recently decided it is a great tragedy if mommy(s) don't deliberating take time and sit and enjoy their kiddos- there will always be things to get down- we need to enjoy the very gifts God has given us to love and cherish!

Just today she said Oh learn my ABC's, lianxi Zhongwen ( Practice Chinese!)- hilarious---Josiah tried to explain to her that she had it all wrong- ABC's are not Chinese :)

And i love her sweet prayers- right now she seems to have such a soft heart towards the things of God- it is such a breath of fresh air to my soul!

Praising God for my Evie Joy!

Pickin Oranges or something...

2011-11-28T06:24:00.000-08:00

above- daddy picking oranges way up high with some type of pole net thing...we heard you could go to Da Zi Ran Park and pick oranges- sounded like fun...but it was extra money or something to run back through the trees ourselves and we got distracted by the playground...

EJ enjoying the seesaw

crossing the log with friend Chris

and the bridge...

we had fun with our friend :) and ate a few oranges Daddy picked!

around town a little

2011-11-26T06:11:00.000-08:00

this is how we travel :)

we love to get out of the buggy to run up and down this ramp- strange?!

We have been enjoying going to the Temple Park and bringing a few cars, sharing them with friends, making new friends :)

this is the public restroom i use when out :)

Happy 4th Birthday!

2011-11-22T16:49:00.000-08:00

shawoo this is a long blog post...but hey celebrating 4 years old is kinda a big deal :)
we started the actual birthday day with taking some chocolates from the states to my class!

i sure enjoyed eating up a few handfuls :)

We had "yummy" beer pork for dinner...yes, what a meal Mommy tries on us for my birthday, but i happily ate it knowing i was gonna get my cupcakes!

We had some strawberry cake mix so we went with that haha! actually i like the icing best!

i love how happy my jo is here- he was so excited about celebrating his birthday! but he was like, where are all my friends? why aren't my friends at my house? ...

Sissy was so sweet to sing Happy Birthday to me all day!

i was excited about my McQueen race track and Sally car!

and i waited not real patiently for the weekend...we had a small party at McDonalds! And i was so excited that some friends came!

our sweet friend Nancy came to celebrate!

And John came!

Mommy made some mini cupcakes ...

the twins who are my classmates came! Mostly we loved the coke noise makers...they had to ask us to stop blowing inside :)

our sweet friend Kelly, our neighbor came

just jokin around jo!

the twins brought me a cake- it was fun blowing out the candles, getting sang to, all the love and attention!

then of course we went to "The Peoples Park"

Kelly and Evie Joy :)

Riding the carousel with Nancy- decided it was a bit bumpy compared to the carousels in America

fed some fish

EJ jumped around in this water floatation device with Kelly and Jo did with Nancy and Dou Dou but Mommy actually took a few pics with Nancy's camera and Dou Dou's dad took some pics with his awesome camera so maybe later he will give them to us to share :) this is all we got for now! haha! hope you enjoyed my birthday as much as i did! since then i've been pretty sick :( so hoping my happy 4 year old days can begin soon...even though i'm sick, i'm still in good spirits with McQueen and Sally!

Josiah- 2nd year Chinese Preschool!

2011-11-21T05:40:00.000-08:00

Josiah with some of his classmates- almost 50 this year!

He loves Qin Laoshi and Chen Laoshi- they even came to our house last week to play!

enjoying after class swinging with sissy

looking so big! his teacher says he has grown up from last year a lot! yay!

another day she told me he enjoys story time and activities but he didn't want to work on drawing his apple very long...well not sure who really wants to draw an apple for longer than a minute anyways :) but we are very thankful for his progress and hopeful for a good year!

the beginning of Evie Joy at Preschool

2011-11-18T02:49:00.000-08:00

this is my cry face. when daddy drops me off i cry- my teachers say it doesn't last very long, but don't i look pitiful! this day i also began crying moments before Mommy arrived to pick me up so she took a pic to share :)

this is me with my class- i have 25 in my class- we are called the xiao xiao ban- the small small class :)

this is what i love to do- swing! sometimes i get to swing after class because we don't do that during class. mommy and daddy aren't real sure what we do in class. teachers told mommy we went for a walk and i made lots of friends :) also one day she asked me what i learned at class and i said "pai pai pai, kai kai kai" clapping my hands (pai is to clap your hands- not sure what the kai stands for - maybe kai xin- happy?)

me and brother after class!

Teacher Lu and Teacher

don't i look like a big girl?! the past few times my teachers promise i have not cried at all (not even a little bit). i say " i am a little girl, i am not a baby, i don't cry at class, but i still wear diapers so i'm not a big girl!" Evie Joy is too funny with her insight :)

josiah's recent artwork!

2011-11-16T06:11:00.000-08:00

i love this first one! One day we were practicing writing letters and he turned his paper over and drew a picture of himself! He's never shown much interest in drawing people, himself, anyone, so it was so sweet for many reasons that he drew himself! So this is his first official self portrait! i love that his hands are directly below his ears and he has no body- he is Sponge Bob like, only arms and legs and a huge head :)

Practicing writing the letter G...thought this was a pretty good one!

he has been coloring in the lines the past few months, but it is interesting that he doesn't find it necessary to color the entire space inside the lines :)

getting very good at sorting

And an attempt at drawing an elephant himself- Mommy is NOT an artist so she got a book on easy to draw animals and well here was an attempt by Jo to follow Mommy's directions and example :)

some recent artwork!

2011-11-16T05:28:00.000-08:00

this is some of Evie Joy's delightful artwork from the past few months...
this first one is displaying her love for opening a marker, placing the cap on the marker, then coloring a tiny bit with that particular color, putting the cap back on, then choosing another marker and repeating all said steps. she did such coloring on the long airplane ride for 6 hours! she really has been into coloring the past few months!

above picture is an example of her excessive scribbling especially if she has plain paper, this was a favorite a few months back...she'd even scribble through half a coloring book if we'd not be paying too close attention

she loves these only need to use water paint books :) they have been a recent fav...sometimes she loves them a bit much as you can see her painting rips the paper!

more excessive scribbling- such a display of art!

and even all over poor Minnie!

Fun Sunny November Day at the Rock Park

2011-11-09T06:03:00.000-08:00

Evie Joy was cooking pickles, not sure why but she sure was having fun!

so impressed with the kiddos climbing all over the rocks themselves!

Josiah way up high! It was fun for Mommy and Daddy to just be slackers and hang out at the bottom and let them climb away :)

EJ didn't go quite so high but she did well for a 2 year old :)

excited to be there- one of their favorite places in our city!

I told them to hug for a picture- they didn't quite get the concept of huggin and looking at mommy :)

Chanse gave this to EJ when she was born- she has almost outgrown her sweet Ni Hao Kai Lan shirt! She picked it out to wear today!

not sure what she is doing here- but look at that face :)

Jo jumping the little rocks

EJ full of big cheeses!

running around fun :)

I love Chattanooga in the FALL!

2011-11-06T18:46:00.000-08:00

we had so much fun playing in the leaves in MiMi and Poppe's yard!

kinda hiking the VFW trails...they are so cool- those Volkswagen people really know how to bless a community :)

EJ really into the sticks

EJ taking the easy ride...on daddy!

beautiful 80 some degree weather in October at Chester Frost Park! Yes, we love us some FAll in Chattanooga!

PUMPKIN PATCH!

2011-11-05T21:34:00.000-07:00

we had a fun trip to the Pumpkin Patch with Isaac, Owen, Karsten, Charis
I love these of Alison and Eric with all the kids, it's like a fieldtrip :)

hilarious attempt at a group shot!
enjoying the hayride

riding the bull
climbing the tires
riding the tractor
dancing with boyfriend isaac!
not so sure about this slide!

4 Generations...

2011-11-04T21:35:00.000-07:00

Pappaw, 81, Poppe 56, Daddy 33, Josiah almost 4, Evie Joy 2
loving Poppe reading to them :)

Josiah teaching MiMi some Chinese!

2011-11-03T21:38:00.000-07:00

i love these! josiah was practicing his Chinese and was so proud to get MiMi in on the learning!

EJ & Katilyn- musical duo

2011-11-03T21:36:00.000-07:00

Evie Joy had so much fun playing the keyboards with her good pal Katilyn!

Chattanooga Zoo & Aquarium- Tourists we ARE!

2011-10-29T09:34:00.000-07:00

hanging out with MiMi is always fun...actually we went to the zoo with our friends Katilyn and Hannah too but we will have to do just another carousel post sometime with them in the pics with us :) anyways, we loved the jaguar- we waited for a long time and he was hiding far away but then MiMi prayed something...and then he came to hang out wtih us! He was so friendly! It was so cool how God answered such a non-important prayer! WE love MiMI's prayers!

This day we went to the Aquarium with MiMi! MiMi loves penguins! hee hee!

Daddy tried to get us eaten by the shark!

Evie Joy the Diva!

2011-10-28T00:00:00.000-07:00

MiMi & Mommy went to a yardsale and these glasses were in the FREE box! Let me just tell ya- i loved em!!! And the cool Dora bag was a deal of steal too :)

Coolidge Park with MiMi- a gazillion shots of fun!

2011-10-25T21:33:00.000-07:00

these pics are a bit deceiving because well in fact JOSIAH loved every minute of the fountains, but Evie JOY would not have anything to do with them for a long time...but then...she was ALL for em! It was an awesome 85 degree Sunday afternoon we got to spend with MiMi at Coolidge Park :)

playing at the Ocoee

2011-10-20T20:59:00.000-07:00

we had a super fun day exploring the Ocoee with our friends the Brooks! God gave us an extra special gift with a Super Sunny Saturday with warm temps to just play! Soooo fun and relaxed! We loved climbing the rocks and swimming around!

sleepovers with the BROOKS!!!!

2011-10-19T20:22:00.000-07:00

camping at Harrison Bay!
love these of the Mommy (s) and their babies! Evie Joy is 2, Josiah almost 4, Isaac 5, Charis 4 months, Owen 4 and Karsten 2 1/2
dancing to some BOZ

making smores by the fire!
love these of the boys with not really into it EJ!

What wonderful friends the Lord has given us! WE are so Thankful for the funtimes we spent together these past few weeks! It was so sweet- when Josiah spent the night he would sleep on the top bunk with Isaac! So sweet!

Ready for my Beauty Pageant

2011-10-17T20:07:00.000-07:00

hahaha! i went upstairs with Auntie Diane and i came down looking like this!!! Auntie Di announces "I'm ready for my Beauty Pageant!"

Fun Times with LILY GRACE PIERCE!!!!

2011-10-17T19:28:00.001-07:00

Evie Joy is 2, Lily is 3- We had fun playing at Imagination Station & dress up at her house :)

Brother loves him some Lily- she is his American girlfriend! But we kinda loved on her a bit much sometimes :)

Josiah is almost 4 here, Lily a little over 3 and Evie Joy a fresh 2!
Lily even dressed Josiah up!!! ha ha!!!

Brunswick Part Two...

2011-10-17T19:02:00.001-07:00

Evie Joy and Josiah with Big Daddy! They love their Big Daddy!

with Grandma!!!! Love us some Grandma!

Josiah was hilarious here- he said to Julianne- we can get married! haha! i guess marriage was on his mind after Auntie Michelle's wedding!

EJ of course lovin the swing!
above- lovin some Chanse! below- Joseph and Julianne in their Chinese outfits :)

fun times with cousins Joseph & Julianne!

2011 Brunswick Fun Part One...

2011-10-17T11:30:00.000-07:00

Evie Joy & Graysen! So cute- she saw him coming and said "Graysen!!" and ran up to him and gave him a big hug!
Aunt Pam planned a picnic for us at this super cool place where we saw some reptiles and dressed like them :)

Evie Joy & Josiah love swingin at Grandmas' house!
It's kinda taking me a long time to upload photos so hopefully i can do more soon! Sorry to all our blogger fans out there!

my Mommy's Mommy's family Fall 2011

2011-10-07T20:05:00.000-07:00

Evie Joy with Madison
Alyssa and Evie Joy

Alyssa, Alison, Evie Joy and Josiah!
yikes- everybody who came to Mumaw's house to eat with us and visit, kinda like we just picked a random day and had a holiday :)
Mumaw with most of her great-grandbabies
Alison and Josiah!
Mumaw and Josiah!
Alison, Bella, Madison and Josiah!

More Fun at Heritage Park!

2011-10-05T03:05:00.000-07:00

Evie Joy loves playing in the water!
poor sweet Karsten tries to love on Evie Joy but she doesn't really reciprocate much!
i love this little head tilt one- she looks like me when i was 2 :)
beautiful little creek lovin Evie Joy!

fun at Heritage Park

2011-10-03T05:54:00.000-07:00

Josiah had so much fun playing at Heritage Park with the Brooks boys and Daddy too! Owen is 4, Josiah almost 4, Isaac 5 and Karsten 2 1/2

Evie Joy LOVES being apart of MIchelle's Wedding!!!!

2011-10-03T05:42:00.000-07:00

these are all kinda coming up placed randomly but um, i am not sure how to switch them around and i'm currently "borrowing" someone else's internet in good ole' America to even put up a post so ...we are just gonna go with what came up! Evie Joy loved getting her nails done- haha- she was half asleep but still very much enjoyed girl time with MiMi and Michelle getting her nails done for Wedding prep stuff and shopping with MiMi- see new Princess umbrella! very excited about that! And which obviously shows She absolutely loved, adored, felt like a true Princess herself- getting her picture taken with the Bride Michelle! EJ was all big smiles and so super excited as you can see!

happy birthday time at mimi & poppes!

2011-09-20T01:18:00.001-07:00

Since we were in the states right after EJ's bday and 2 months before Jo's bday we decided to have a small family celebration at MiMi and Poppe's!

Evie Joy was very excited about the potty for her baby doll! She really loves the potty!
Josiah was really into opening presents! This was fun! Evie Joy would open one and just play with that one forever, but Josiah was like okay, here's one, great...where's the next?!

he's pretty excited about getting some new cars :) he is loving them these days!
Aunt Pam got him some kind of toy mouse- mommy is not really a big fan, haha!

we had a Dora/Diego theme! Poppe was pretty excited about Dora! ha!

Dora is trying out the potty!
love these of them blowing out their candles
2 VERY EXCITED kids!
love this sweet picture!

EJ needed a little help from Daddy with her candle!

pandas...

2011-09-20T00:42:00.000-07:00

we live near a cool panda reserve/park/zoo...not sure what you call it, we finally made it for a visit after living here for over a year! they were really gentle and playful :) and we of course got these cool souvenirs so we can be pandas on cold days too :)

playdate friends!

2011-09-16T01:54:00.001-07:00

this was day 2 in the states :) with our sweet friends- Lindsey 2, Evie Joy 2, Karlee 4, James 6, Isaac 5, Charis 4 months, Josiah almost 4, Karsten 2 and Owen 4! These are our sweet friends who send us packages with love and pray for us when we live so far away! WE are so super thankful for fun play times with them while in America!

love this one with Granddaddy & Betty!

2011-09-16T01:47:00.000-07:00

recent family pictures

2011-09-16T01:40:00.000-07:00

it's kinda hard to get all the kiddos lookin and smilin at one time...but these are pretty good considering!!!! we are very thankful to have a few days all together! Denise drove 15 hours both ways by herself just to spend time with us! What a Blessing! Denise is 26, Jo almost 4 and Evie Joy a fresh 2 :)

Evie Joy's 2nd Birthday Celebrations!

2011-08-30T23:37:00.000-07:00

our sweet tutor Shelly came to town to celebrate with us all day!

We sent to our favorite park- Ren min Gong yuan

LOVE riding rides with my daddy!!!

our friend John also met us at the park- a family friend and her little girl came to hang out and play with us!

this picture is purely to show mommy's muscles :) haha! they do look good in this picture :) daddy might not get many pictures of mommy's face, but he got her muscles :)

fun at the sandpit!

love her curls!

fun at the zoo!

pizza noodle bake for dinner! strawberry cupcakes and chocolate cake! and special dora napkins and plates form mimi and poppe!

all princessed up!

MiMi and Poppe got me a baby bag with baby doll diapers! I love it!

the first time the candles were lit, i couldn't blow them out so brother wnet ahead and did it for me! haha! but daddy relit them! i tried really hard! i think daddy ended up having to help me some!

this is my favorite!

then i was so sweet, i said "brother's turn!" so then we relit the candles again and brother blew them out, again! :)

a little dress up!
and peek a boo!

and noodles! i mean whose birthday isn't complete without going to the zoo, eating at McDonalds, watching potty power, having a reporter come over, having 2 kinds of cake, getting baby diapers and to top it off, having the noodle shop Ayi come to my house and make noodles for me!!!?!!!! I mean what a great day! :)

we are so blessed to get to spend such a special day with our dearest friends!

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR SWEET EVIE JOY!

scissors, the letter H & a random evening at a park!

2011-08-30T00:09:00.000-07:00

nothing too exciting- evie joy is enjoying learning how to use scissors :)

this is some of the interesting old school type playground/exercise equipment found all over our city...we went to a park one night and i thought i'd capture the kiddos on it so ya'll could see what it looks like

the love of writing the letter H- Josiah really enjoys writing H's - maybe because they are pretty simple but hey- it's a pretty good lookin H so we'll let him be proud

Evie Joy says "Brother can I erase?!" And then gets at it! She loves erasing! haha!

sweet ole- josiah!

2011-08-29T00:47:00.000-07:00

just a random day at home playing :) thought he was pretty darn cute and sweet in these pics! he is 2 1/2 months from 4 years old- yikes!

Evie Joy at 2 years old!

2011-08-28T00:25:00.000-07:00

check out her little painted toes :)

this is my baby, ahhh- she is 2 years old! Evie Joy! And oh how she is bursting with personality! She definitely is not into posing for pics like her brother- she is a beauty and has a naturally beautiful smile but Jo always was into the camera "cheese" smiles- she is not- she is different- she is a girl! She likes to change her clothes, shoes and hats many times a day- when her feelings are hurt the least bit she can scream for an hour- she loves babies and cooking- recently she is very into coloring- not really in the lines or even one picture at a time- she is all over the place and book but very intently :) - she loves outside- she likes to ride in the buggy and run errands, go for runs with mommy, bike rides with daddy, play at the playground, go swimming...anything and everything outside...josiah is much more of a home-body than she is- she will tell people boldly they can not rub her face, take her picture in chinese but in reality she doesn't really care. She loves milk...way too much! We have no idea how she looks like such a chunker when she barely eats- so it must be all the milk, really we try to limit her but sometimes we give in- She loves papaya- the other day she ate 2 of them! And dippy- she loves dippy. She might not eat all her meal but she will finish off all the dippy! She is very verbal- much more than her older brother. She can say almost as much as Josiah can in Chinese- we are quite impressed with her. If her temperament were only a bit more stable, we would have already enrolled her into Chinese Preschool- so we are planning to try again in October :) She is very sweet to say "Thank you" for everything- "Thank you Mommy for changing my diaper" "Thank you Mommy for taking me to the playground, for going swimming, etc..." Very very sweet! But very strong willed- she rips books, breaks toys, throws toys, hits computers...like her older brother never has...she has a bit of an "umph" in her personality where josiah has proven to be more gentle spirited. I "hear" i was quite a terror when it came to toddler fits also but of course i don't remember...she has just now began showing an interest in watching a 5 minute elmo podcast, for some reason she really likes the show potty power and sometimes a little tiger and poo and xi yang yang (chinese show about a sheep and wolf). she loves reading- she reads books for hours a day and she loves singing! She learns new verses and songs every week- it is so fun to see how smart she is and just soaks so much in. Recently she is really liking stories about Abraham and Elijiah- she also loves singing the songs "Inright, Outright, Upright, Downright happy all the time," "Jesus Loves Me" and "Jesus Loves the Little Children" in Chinese. She loves playdoh, painting, playing in sand, rice, water. She loves pretending she is a monkey :) She is becoming quite the dancer :) WE love how her little personality is coming out. LIke I said she can be very strong willed - like the other day she just went up and kicked 3 babies, but she also knows how to just make peoples day around here- she'll start talking to them in Chinese and they get so tickled and light up, it's really precious- she also loves hugs and kisses and to cuddle, which is a special gift since jo wasn't really into that. We are pretty sure somewhere under all her girlishness is a hidden genius :) She is definitely a girl and a second born when it comes to understanding, expressing herself and her ability to do many things. She really amazes us. We just pray to be able to tame the also hidden monster wanting to roar at us all :) She is very much a JOY!

sin and evidences of grace

2011-08-26T23:34:00.000-07:00

So I'm not usually up for writing a ton on here- a few stories, milestones, events...but lately i've noticed something about my children lately- SIN! yup, not something surprising or new for those of you who have children of your own- but i've noticed it a lot and how sneaky and cute it can be, deceiving, even look pretty, sound sweet but truly it is ugly and horrifying how much we actually sin...i'm sure i didn't need to have kids to realize this, but it is something that just seems to be a several-times-a-day kind of discussion with me and my kids these days...i don't really enjoy it because i mean i'd rather feel good about them being cute and sweet and innocent but there is nothing good about believing a lie- and the reality is as my husband explained to me- not that they are learning to sin- but what is already in their hearts is becoming so evident in the way they live. So, i find myself yet again praying and asking for God's perspective to be faithful to my kids in pointing out their sin, teaching them about the holiness of God, that He detests sin and their only hope is in the redemptive love of Christ. Some people seem to think that is way too deep for my precious little faces, but that is their reality- they have no other hope- Christ is their only hope and i have a lifetime of teaching them that. The other difficult thing about teaching them about sin is seeing my own sin more clearly and how it is rebellion against my Great Savior, that it saddens Him so each time I choose to not heed His voice, when I choose to throw a fit about how I don't' want to do something He's called me to, when i choose to handle a situation with a complaining heart rather than a thankful heart, when i grumble about how hard the glorious life is He has called me to, when i don't' appreciate that He loves me, adores me, wants to challenge, prune me, make me more like Him- I'd rather trade all that in for a momentary satisfaction that i took control of whatever situation. I'd rather respond to life, to people however I feel and then seek God about it and even maybe, like my kids say "oh I'm sorry"...I don't feel like I'm the greatest example of a sinless person to my children. And maybe that is part of God's point- I am a perfect example of a person desperate for His redemption every moment of every day! I am the perfect candidate for showing them how much we all need Him!

so then i found myself contemplating how sinful my kids are, which they are...
and God surprises me with a few unexpected blessings from my kids-
We are on the elevator and Evie Joy says Mommy, Pray for this Auntie- The lady asks what Evie Joy said and I explain...we go home and pray for her. Josiah sees some cross bookmarks in our home and asks if we can give her one...grace- in the midst of their sin, God is still speaking! I love this! I love that He is not silent and He doesn't just leave us in our sin! Then we go out to play another day and Josiah says "Mommy this is my friend. We need to pray for her, she is wearing a false god!" Then another day he says "Is Daddy telling that man about God?" Antoher time, Evie Joy then out of know where says "Ganxie Shangdi" which means "Thank God" in Chinese - we were like thank you Evie Joy for such a great reminder! I love that they are learning more than how to sin :) I praise God for His grace on sinners and that He can speak to children about deep spiritual things because for in fact we are all called to become like children to even draw close to Him.

So now I'm going to stop writing :) but continue praying Where Sin Abounds, May Grace Abound More!

our half day vacation spot

2011-08-26T07:04:00.000-07:00

so it's been 100 degrees here for over 2 weeks straight with no rain and well it's been really hot...so we found this actually somewhat remote spot in our city- it is at the fancy International Hotel in town-we went to the last 2 saturdays to swim. it is a little pricey for us- like 20 bucks american - around here that is pretty way over the top expensive - other swim places cost around 2-4 US dollars- but if we actually traveled somewhere and paid for travel and lodging it'd be way more, so we figure this is ok to spend 2x during the summer days of over 100 degrees :) anyways, there are only about 5 other people in the entire pool when we go and it is actually pretty clean...it was the most relaxed day(s) we experienced in the past year- very delightful & refreshing!

love us some exercise!

2011-08-25T07:29:00.000-07:00

they are so cute trying to exercise with mommy- it is really sweet that they get excited about it and really try but they don't last very long and get easily distracted, i mean what can you expect from a 3 1/2 and 2 year old :) ej is really getting good at some inner thigh squats :) and jo is getting good at his planks :)

our friend's wedding from our perspective :)

2011-08-24T05:44:00.000-07:00

josiah shakes hands with the bride during the ceremony :)

the pre-wedding show was josiah and evie joy dancing :)

they looked so stinkin cute but were not really into posing for mommy

jo with our good friend- it was her brother's wedding

our adventure to the bamboo forest

2011-08-22T09:03:00.000-07:00

a few weeks ago we went to the Bamboo Forest with our friend John!

We were pretty excited about being so incredibly close to this giraffe. We had never been so close to one before, it was really cool!

but we both cried getting out picture taken on the fake giraffe...could be that it was our naptime and we didn't get to take it?!

this is mommy after the 300 kungfu panda stairs up and down to one of the many temples...

stuff we do outside of temples of false gods...get our picture taken by mommy, but give her sassy looks, but still look incredibly adorable!

we found some seats to hang on, literally while we sang songs about the One true God!

we Loved the waterfall!!!

this is us with Mommy playing behind the waterfall...there was a path! it was fun !

this is us playing at the bottom....we are a tourist attraction...

we Love John!

Evie Joy took a long nap on MOmmy's back in the Forest...gave Mommy lots of exercise!

we Love noodles for breakfast!

This is how Evie Joy travels on long distance buses...she climbs and falls and yells...

and this is Josiah...he is practicing his Chinese :) He loves this free app I downloaded to study Chinese, it has games and flashcards and he loves it! He is a great traveler :)

Maybe there is hope for EJ!

Whelp! if you made it through all these, you are a trooper. Thought about leaving a few out, but hey, i kept them in so the kids could have them as a memory so no worries if you skipped a few :)

the creative learning side of us!

2011-08-15T23:12:00.000-07:00

josiah is learning how to measure- evie joy was a willing participant!

decorating the square with some local kids!
we are super thankful for our friends in America who sent us sidewalk chalk!

And friends who sent us washable paints! Look at our beautiful drawings!
We are Artists!

i'm pretty sure this is some kind of new dance move?! :)

love gettin my nails done :)

2011-08-15T00:49:00.000-07:00

Evie Joy is all girl when it comes to dressing up, shoes, hats, getting her nails done :) very sweet little girl! she said "mommy don't mess them up" for days after, haha! too cute!

other random july-ness, nothing too extra-ordinary!

2011-08-11T05:44:00.001-07:00

these are just some random july chronicles of evie joy and josiah...
enjoying some watermelon!

a early morning play water/ study some Chinese outside fun!

not real sure what this is-josiah said he was exercising?!

what exercises he only knows!

they love this part of our communal life here- that every time a kid has a car outside, they also get a turn to ride it, so even though they might not have that car or any ride cars, they often get to ride other kids!

it was super cute ej was pulling jo but i didn't get the camera out in time!

random visit with friends!

2011-08-11T01:47:00.000-07:00

this is a super duper cool playground that had all this high tech equipment, ride like toys, a balloon room! anyways, super fun! we went with some friends who live in the big city!

we love this- a sign that says no split pants, this is the first ever we have seen!

balloon room!

EJ's best buddy - she calls him Spiderman!

EJ making a local friend!

i love the way she is looking at Daddy here!

this is Josiah's very best foreign friend over here! they love to have sleepovers every few months when we make it to their city for a visit!

we thought it was super cute, they both had the same Big Brother shirts !

Evie Joy's Memory Verse (1 of many :))

2011-08-09T07:42:00.000-07:00

Daddy taught EJ & Jo this verse last week and it was so cute, we were actually at a temple of some other false god as we call it bc there are too many to keep up with...and she quoted it out of nowhere so i was like, oh i gotta get that on camera!!

Evie Joy Madness!

2011-08-09T07:14:00.000-07:00

Top- Evie JOy loves hats, she loves playing rice and beans and well she decided to make a new hat :) Bottom- She loves putting things inside shoes...sometimes we find fun surprises inside our shoes!

the kids kinda singing "There's Just One God" in Chinese!

2011-08-09T06:39:00.000-07:00

Josiah & Evie Joy love to sing "There's Just One God, not 2, not 3, not 4, Just 1 God!" in English so we translated it into Chinese and they are singing it everywhere and for everyone! It's Sweet!

Josiah at English Class!

2011-07-31T23:22:00.000-07:00

This is Josiah at English class with Teacher Shine. He is always her special helper. He attends "Joy International School" every Wednesday night. His classmates, I think are 5/6 year olds. The owner of the School invited Josiah to come for free so the classmates could practice their English with a real, live English speaking boy! And Josiah ended up loving it. He looks forward to it so much! He calls it "Teacher Me Teacher Me" because when they raise their hands that is what they say, haha! But it has given him the opportunity to be a big boy in an English speaking context (he still attends Chinese Preschool twice a week also). They are very strict about the children only speaking English at this school so it gives Josiah an opportunity to learn and play a little with other children using English also! It has been a good Semester for him!

swimming at our pool!

2011-07-30T22:58:00.000-07:00

Evie Joy helping with laundry...

2011-07-30T22:56:00.000-07:00

she loves the idea of helping out with laundry!

Evie Joy loves gettin a taxi!

2011-07-28T22:16:00.000-07:00

tired enough to sleep in the car! yippie yay!!!!

2011-07-25T01:00:00.000-07:00