New Apartment

We're getting settled into our new apartment and actually feeling a little spoiled here! We loved living in our old place, and we were very suprised and disappointed when our landlord said we needed to move out so he could sell it. But it seems like this new place is a big blessing. It was the only available apartment in our same complex, and after looking around at a few other neighborhoods, we decided it was best to stay in this area. We love this location, and our kids enjoy the playground with swings -- very hard to come by in our part of the city.

Here are Samuel and Helen, two of our friends and helpers on moving day -- taking a little ma jiang break after working so hard!

One of our favorite things about the new apartment is the spacious kitchen that flows into the dining area and living room. Those doors open out to the storage porch.

In the photo below, the front door/entryway falls between the table and the cabinet.

Sorry for the photo quality! This gives you an idea of the living room.

 

One of my favorite features of the living room is this desk we were able to tuck behind a loveseat. It's the perfect place for homeschooling with the kids and all of their coloring and craft projects.

 The next photo is boring but gives you an idea of our huge hallway. The bathroom is at the end of the hall. On the left is our room and the office; on the right is the guest room and the children's room.

Molly and Hudson's room is bigger than our last apartment, but nearly identical since we bought the furniture from our old landlord. (There is also a wardrobe that matches the desk.)

The landlord agreed we could spend nearly the first months' rent on a few pieces of furniture so this giant wardrobe has been a great addition to our bedroom. There are lots of shelves and even a mirror inside of it.

We have one room devoted entirely to guests. After living here for three days, we had our first overnight guest -- a Family Retreat volunteer. This weekend, a close friend will be coming for two days and next Saturday, Kevin's mom arrives! It's like we're running a B&B. :)

This photo shows our glorious bathtub (Molly and Hudson love it so much!) and washing machine. It is so much faster and quieter than the washing machine in our last apartment. And since it's not in the kitchen, it doesn't interfere with cooking or washing dishes. It's fancy!

A few more photos for those of you who love details. Back in the kitchen, here is a view of our pantry cabinet and the door leading to our second bathroom. This bathroom is smaller, but it does have a shower.

 And here are two views of the kitchen porch. It's a handy place to keep cleaning supplies, and it is big enough to serve as additional kitchen space for our rice cooker and crockpot.

I still need to upload pics from our office and back porch, but this is more than enough for now. I hope this gives you a good idea of our new place. It's on the 6th floor -- exactly 90 stairs to climb -- but it's going to be a beautiful home for us.
~Dayna

At a Glimpse

We hope you enjoy a glimpse of our week. Most of these photos reflect common activities or scenes in our day-to-day lives here.

Sunday began in typical fashion -- Dunkin Donuts with Paula, Cathy and Sherri. The kids love donuts (of course) and Dayna and I enjoy a toasted bagel sandwich. In this photo, Molly is with our friend Cathy, a CPA and the financial director of our organization here.

This is our Sunday international fellowship. Only foreign passport holders can come.

After lunch, we shopped at Tesco, a British-owned store similar to Wal-Mart. There are several foreign-owned stores in our city: Wal-Mart, Tesco, Carrefour, IKEA and Metro (American, British, French, Swedish and German). As long as you're willing to pay for import prices, most anything is available here ... well, except avocados. We miss avocados.

This is the view as soon as we exit Tesco. There are two Buddhist temples between our home and Tesco, which is a five-minute taxi ride or a 20-minute walk.

This is another view from Tesco. We hailed a taxi with all of our stuff.

We live in the apartments directly behind this well-known restaurant. We use it as a landmark to tell the taxi driver where to take us.

This is what we see when we are walking to the kids' school or to my office.

Our charitable organization is located on the 9th floor.

The kids were so excited to get bunk beds! We are very blessed to have so many friends who help us, whether with translation, transportation or even bed building.

Sweet dreams, Molly and Hudson!

For most of the winter, our apartment has been very warm. However, to save some energy and money, our complex shut off the heaters two weeks earlier than expected. It has been between 15-30 degrees outside, so it's been cold indoors. Thankfully, we have warm blankets! And thankfully, the outdoor temperature should begin to reach the 50s soon.
~Kevin

Holiday Spirit

Christmas is two weeks away, and this year, it truly is a white Christmas. Temperatures have been below zero. So it's a little cold and a little slippery, but we are very blessed.

We started celebrating a little early this year, since my (Kevin's) parents were able to join us mid-November. Almost everyone who comes to our apartment comments how warm it is. It's comfortable whether wearing short or long sleeves.

Many of the artificial trees for sale here are gold, red, blue, hot pink or white, but we were so thankful to find a vendor who sold us a green Christmas tree. The kids were really excited for us to put it up as soon as we brought it home.

We were able to buy some ornaments here; my mom helped the kids make more. My parents brought the children's nativity set, which is to the right of the tree. The nativity is fun for the kids, and it's also a great conversation starter with friends who come for a visit. Also, the organization we're with performed a drama about the first Christmas in Bethlehem. Many people know about Santa Claus and Christmas trees, but few know the true reason for the holiday.

Hudson and Molly made quite an impression as sheep. I played the role of Gabriel; I opted to forgo the halo.

It was hard to keep a straight face when I startled the sheep with good news of great cheer, but Hudson was very gracious. He told me later, "You were a good angel, daddy." Well, they did an even better job as sheep.

I was glad to be able to share more about the good news of great cheer at the end of the drama. For many in the audience, this was their first exposure to Bethlehem and a baby born in a manger.

Like kids in America, our kids can't wait for Christmas. All and all, they are doing very well. They have won many hearts here in China.

From our home to yours: Merry Christmas!

Family Visit

Kevin's parents arrived this morning, and we are loving the time together! We bought a Christmas tree yesterday to decorate together this week, and Molly and Hudson have already been making ornaments with Gram. I'm so blessed to have a mother-in-law who brings crafts and paint and beads for them to enjoy. (They packed two 50-pound suitcases entirely full of gifts and goodies for us and put their clothes and toiletries in their carry-ons. Amazing!) 

After eight months of virtual visits, it's fun to watch Molly and Hudson read books to Gram and Granddad, show them all of their favorite toys, and run over for hugs. We have so much to be thankful for this year.
Happy Thanksgiving!
~Dayna

Short-lived Fall

Fall in our city is the most beautiful time of year -- unfortunately it's also the shortest season. The evenings and mornings are cool but the afternoons are usually sunny and beautiful without much wind. You can tell fall is here because everyone begins stockpiling cabbage and leeks and other vegetables and drying them outside. While our friends in Oklahoma and Texas are posting cute photos of kids at the pumpkin patch, we found our apartment complex turned into a cabbage patch!

This photo above is the wider view from where Molly and Hudson were sitting. Our apartment playground was the perfect place for many neighbors to dry cabbage.

At least they left two seats open for people enjoying the fall weather! :)

The two photos above are of the the courtyard directly in front of our apartment door. And the two below are just to the right of our door. Leeks and green beans are hanging.

Practically every space around the complex is utilized.

I believe after they're dry, the veggies will be stored in barrels like this one below for the winter. (This neighbor is making good use of barrel space while drying cucumbers on top of it.)

Autumn in northeast China is also marked by the countdown to getting heat in apartments. Toward the end of October, the weather is a little unpredictable. We had a few days of snow flurries and high temps in the 30s. Thankfully those days were followed by sunny afternoons in the 50s and low 60s. The cold started to settle in the concrete apartment walls, but everyone who came over talked about how warm our apartment was. We are thankful for many huge windows that give so much natural light and sunshine. We have no control over when the heat is turned on (by Nov 1) or off (by April 1) and can't increase or decrease the temperature. This year, our apartment's water radiators began to heat on October 27. We are very comfortably warm now.

Happy Autumn, everyone!
~Dayna

Playground

One of our favorite things about our apartment complex is the playground. Molly and Hudson love playing there as much as possible. I took these pics about six weeks ago when we were first enjoying the warmer weather. Now it's hot and the best time to go is in the morning. We've been having tons of rain the past two weeks, but lately the sun has been peeking out for longer periods of time and we're trying to soak it up. Monday, the kids and I headed to the playground with bubbles and water squirters and had been outside all of 10 minutes when it started sprinkling.

Chinese playgrounds are really exercise parks, built with the idea that everyone should be able to use it (not just kids). It's pretty unusual to find swings, but thankfully there are two here in our complex. 

Molly on the treadmill:

These are meant for adults, but Molly tried to use them too. I've heard it's for exercising your lower back, and you can alternate your legs (kind of like skiing) or swing them at the same time. It's fun!

The courtyard/playground area also has a large fountain. I haven't seen the fountain part turned on yet, but there are several fish swimming in the water, and Molly likes to make me nervous by climbing up and walking around the edge. Here's sweet Hudson on our way back to our apartment.

The green ivy on the right is covering over our back gate. Nearly every day I wish that gate would be unlocked and usable. We live in the last building in our complex, and we have to walk around to the front gate to enter or exit the complex, then basically backtrack on the main street to walk to preschool, Kevin's office or our friends' apartments. It may add a few blocks to our daily walks, but I have to focus on the positive -- I'm sure it's quieter there without traffic in and out of the gate. I worry enough about cars driving fast around the turn there without having to look for cars coming in both directions. Also, the front gate has a security guard around the clock. We are thankful for this apartment complex. After three months, it feels like home.

~Dayna