Thankful Thursday & Our day

China 2008: March 27th
China 2008: March 27th (click to see album)

I know I missed last week’s TT, so here goes:

  • For cute little Dustin born to Jeanette, Brian and big brother Jack last week. We can’t wait to meet you blue eyes!
  • For Travis’ successful surgery.
  • For the 3 of us being completely healthy for the entire trip.
  • For all the people who have prayed for us during the trip. We are so grateful.
  • For the kindness of the Chinese people. We have really been treated well and with respect our entire time here.
  • For the KHUSA subs…. you guys are so faithful and I am grateful.
  • For Kiki as my tutor. She was a perfect match to me and she really made this month special for me. And as a bonus I feel like I learned a lot.
  • For not being “afraid” of Mandarin anymore. I don’t know how to explain it, but it just doesn’t seem so overwhelming anymore.
  • For all the wonderful emails and blog posts that we have received on the trip. The connection to home has been wonderful.
  • For the work that World Vision is doing around the globe. I know I have said it before, but we had a conference call today and to once again hear stories about how people are working to change the lives of children and their communities brings me to tears.
  • For anyone that sponsors through World Vision. You are MAKING A DIFFERENCE and saving lives in a tangible way!!!
  • For Mike’s boss and the elders of the church allowing us the time off to make this trip. It’s been so amazing to be immersed in a different culture.
  • For the staff of the school taking care of us this month and making us feel so welcome in the country. (2012-8-20 Removed dead link. School may not exist now. -Mike)
  • For getting to come home in a couple of days 🙂
  • For not having to hear round the clock coverage of the primaries. Even though it was the first time in decades that Texas mattered!

Today Mike went to school and I started organizing our stuff to pack. It looks like a small tornado hit the place! We mailed our postcards and then stopped to pick up a few more odds and ends. I had to get one last Totoro bun (YUM) and we got some wonderful sandwiches for lunch at Tous Les Jour. We bought Nadia 10 more books…they are so bright and cheerful. We got her a set of 6 that were $0.70 each and come with a CD that we “think” has the Chinese version and English version of all the stories. For that price we decided to chance it. I can’t believe how cheap books are here. We also found out that we are flying out of the brand spanking new Terminal 3 of the airport that opened the day we arrived here.

Here is Nadia with all our water bottles for a month.

Water!

High theft item at Wal-Mart? Honestly…. they were padlocked.

High Theft?

The Lotus Center that we went to at least every other day for grocery items. You shop differently when you have to carry it home.

Lotus Center

The street the school and our apartment building are on.

Zhongguancun