It's that time!... well, almost

Yes, it is almost that time of year again.  We dusted off the suitcases that have been stacked on top of the wardrobes.  I have started packing!  We are come to the US for the summer.  We will be in the U.S. for almost 2 months this summer.  We are pretty excited about visiting our friends and family.  We will do some shopping to stock up for next year, and hopefully get to enjoy some peaceful time with family and friends.  We will leave our apartment and head to Shanghai on Wednesday.  Our flight leaves Thursday around noon.  We will fly to San Francisco (11 hours) then a short lay-over (2 hr. 40 min) then fly to Chicago (4? hrs) another short lay-over and then fly to Memphis.  We plan to spend the night in Memphis and be in Henderson the afternoon of Friday the 17th.  We will be in Hixson on July 17 and stay for a couple of weeks (actually 3 Sundays) (I think).  Please pray for smooth travels.  When traveling that long and that far and with 3 kids anything can happen. We can't wait to see everybody!

Cook-out (part 2)

Benjamin called these " water trees" I don't know what they are called, but they were really green and growing in this swampy area.

We did not go fishing this time, but there were several ponds.

There were many rose bushes planted on the hills.

The kids played hide and seek among the terraces. This is Eryn running.

Jon LOVED being here. He is not a city boy. Spending time out here was good for him.

It was beautiful, and so peaceful.

The drive back to the city. The highway and mountains almost looked like the smoky mountains, except for the huge buildings in the middle of it all.

This Saturday was great. Li Wen and Li Hong are so sweet. Their family is welcoming and relaxing to be around. We are thankful to the beauty of God's creation. We are thankful for Li Wen and her family. Please pray for her as we continue to minister to her and she to her family.

Cook- out

This post is going to have a bunch of pictures. As a matter of fact, I had so many pictures that I felt like I needed to break them into two separate posts. About the time, I finished uploading them all to Blogger, I thought that I could have made a video out of them. Oh well, maybe next time.

A couple of weeks ago, we were invited to go with Li Wen and Li Hong's family to a barbecue. We drove for about an hour. We were outside of Hangzhou, but not very far. They called it the country side. It was really a great day.

Right away, we found a HUGE snakeskin. Thankfully we did not see the snake that shed this!

Honeysuckle! Jon taught Grace, Ching Ching, and Benjamin (an American) how to eat honeysuckle. My kids already knew how to do this.

Setting up for the cook- out.

Grace (Li Wen's daughter) and Ching Ching (Li Hong's) watch as Jon prepares to build a fire. This is where we cooked the potatoes.

This guy is studying art. He drew Benjamin's picture. He also drew one of Liam, but I did not take a picture.

Barbecue!

Don't worry, we had veggies too! See the beans?

I think Hallie and Ching Ching are playing "Mother may I"

They called these wild strawberries. They were good. They were like raspberries.

They spotted some more berries up this ravine...

The berries on the plant. Li Wen and Li Hong said they used to pick these when they were kids.

Some of the scenery. It was beautiful and very peaceful!