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| If you can't tell, that is me on the Great Wall of China! |
Today was great! I am currently sitting in a sky rise hotel off one of the major streets in Hong Kong. It's amazing. We got into KC last night around 11:15 and got to bed just after midnight. At 4:30 this morning we were up and at it to catch a shuttle at 5:20 and then make a 6:45 flight. Our flight was delayed about an hour, which was fine because our original flight from Chicago to Hong Kong wasn't scheduled to leave until 1:30. Upon arrival in Chicago we learned that our flight had been delayed until 4pm due to technical difficulties. Fun stuff-about 9 hours at the airport. We finally boarded and the plane was HUGE! I sat next to Nathan Hardy for the next 15+ hours and we enjoyed ourselves. We were fed, watched a couple movies, read, played, minimal sleep, and spent some time talking doctrine. I really enjoyed myself...When we landed in Hong Kong, we grabbed some Hong Kong dollars and caught a bus to our hotel. Now, after essentially 24+ hours with minimal sleep, I really need to hit the hay. I love you! Tell the kids I love them!
May 17
Today was fun! Cade was up nice and early...After lunch Cade went to a Rangers game with dad. It was fun for him to take a "son" to a baseball game. One of the first hits was a grounder and Cade went, "Look! A grounder!" Dad was impressed. I am excited to hear more about your day. One of the clocks here we changed to China time. I am going to head to bed now-going to try to get up before Cade tomorrow and run. I love you!
May 18
Great updates sweetie! I really miss you guys, but having a wonderful time. I ate REAL Chinese food today...twice! It was delicious. I had a random assortment of things, all of which I enjoyed. We met with some MFT students and professors from Hong Kong. MFT is VERY small-just beginning-in China. It was great to hear what they had to say. We also watched a live case demonstration :)Traffic in Hong Kong is CRAZY. Cars really don't stop for pedestrians. So far I have flown in an airplane, taken a two level bus, rode on the subway, survived a taxi, traveled on a ferry, and walked. A lot. Nathan and I will go to the temple tomorrow. I can't wait. I have lots of thoughts about your emails, but have to get to sleep. We will go through the email messages in person when I get home!Love you!
Are you taking lots of pictures? Don't forget you need to be in some of them! Cade wants me to remind you that you need to bring him back a surprise. I am excited to hear how the temple went. We didn't have any plans yesterday but it was fun. It has been nice to have nothing but the kids to worry about. When they are awake I just focus on them and we are having fun. It is easier to be patient with them when they have all my focus. I think all the new activities here wear them out. They are sleeping great which of course makes all the difference for me. :) Cade came down stairs yesterday morning with his new ball and bat and shirt and wanted to play baseball. We played outside for most of the morning. Then during nap time I helped Kayla with a sewing project. She is making a maxi skirt like the one I made with Shan. I also sewed some patched onto Dad's scout uniform-he is at a woodbadge thing all day today...Not sure what plans are today but Cade is waking up pretty early here. Hope you are feeling well and look forward to hearing from you!I love you!
May 19
That was a great email. I have Cade a WONDERFUL surprise-he'll love it. Today we got lost going to the temple. Long story that I will share when I return. But we found it and had a great time. Did a lot of sight seeing, looked out over the city, visited a street market (did some appropriate and inappropriate shopping...). We also traveled up the world's longest escalator, just to come down. We finished the night by watching a 'light show.' Got some of it on video. Now I'm going to bed. Can't wait for church tomorrow.
May 19
So I think we should still email each other when you are back. I've decided I love getting emails from you. Inappropriate shopping eh? Can't decided if I am intrigued or shocked. :) Today was fun. Again spent most of the morning outside playing before it got hot. I think Cade could play baseball all day if I let him. Poor Rylee got slugged in the back of the legs with one of his hits...Then we went and looked at Dad's garden. We stood under one of the peach trees and Cade picked a peach. He thought that was pretty cool...We went to Abuelos for dinner. Does that ring a bell? We went there for our wedding luncheon. Fun times. Church is at 9 tomorrow so hopefully the 3 of us make there in one piece and on time. Sounds like things are going well for you. Love you and stay safe!
May 20
Hey I've got internet for a couple minutes. Love you! I agree about the email thing. I think that will help with the command to keep a journal. Today Church was incredible. I'll tell you all about it when I get home. We are about to take a ferry up to mainland China, should be fun. You are doing a much better job detailing your day than I am, but I will try to provide more details tonight.I love you.
Later that day...
So we are now in Zhuhai. We took a boat for about an hour to get here. The students have been very welcoming in hosting us. In order to develop a habit of documenting my daily experiences, I am going to back track and tell you about our temple experience and church today.Temple: I forgot to write down the exact address and didn't want to pay for internet service again to write it down. I figured that we could ask someone where the 'mormon temple' was and a taxi driver would know where it was. I was wrong. We spent some time trying to find a taxi (I never thought it would be hard to find a taxi in Hong Kong, but at 6AM it was not an easy task) and asking several different drivers if they new how to get to the temple, but no one did. We found one driver who thought he might know where it was, and so we got in with him but ended up at a catholic church :) By this time we had missed the session we were hoping to attend but still wanted to get to the temple to do something. After walking for close to an hour, we realized we needed to do something else. After speaking to a police officer who didn't know where the temple was, he suggested we go to Starbucks (it was closed) to use the internet. So we stopped in at a McDonalds and I used my iPod (good thing I had it...actually it has been at least as useful as the iPad) because they had free WiFi. We located the address and how to get there on google maps and started running. It was clear it was going to take us a little while and so we stopped a taxi and finally made it. (Not only should you have the address, but it should be in the language others can understand :) )They didn't have enough workers to do initiatory so they had us help out with baptisms and confirmations. The youth thought we were missionaries :) The spirit was powerful. It was so great to visit the temple. Later we went to visit a look-out point that overlooks Hong Kong-it was incredible. The buses here are kind of like riding on the bus in Harry Potter. Crazy. On the way down we rode a tram (all sorts of modes of transportation!) We then went to Stanley, which is a famous little market area for tourists. It was pretty cool, you would have loved it. There we ate at a little run-down restaurant where our waiter (kind of) didn't speak any English. He mentioned soda and I thought he said root beer, and so I ordered some. But then he proceeded to list several different alcoholic beverages. They don't have root beer in China-it was real beer. Fortunately I learned that before I placed my order. They took us upstairs, which was basically an attic like room that was a make-shift dining location. It was pretty gross: dead cockroach, cigarettes, blobs of hair, and cheesy Chinese soap operas. I was able to manage and the food was great. At the market I bought Cade a couple of surprises. Okay, one is a little advanced for him and I will probably use it...but he will LOVE it. Early Bday for me. Today we went to church. Because we didn't want to break the Sabbath, Nathan and I felt it was a great idea to fast today. I'm glad we did because church was incredible. I've learned so much the last couple days and church was no exception. We attended the Victorian 3rd branch, which spoke English. The people were nice and there were roughly a dozen visitors. The building is very tall. We had sacrament meeting on the first floor and priesthood on the 6th floor. In this building there is also stake and district offices and the Area Presidency office. It was incredible. After church we came back to the hotel, packed, and took off to the Mainland. So far, Zhuhai is great. It is a lot smaller than Hong Kong. Hong Kong was crazy. Not a big fan of big cities. It was like New York on steroids. Overall, I wasn't a big fan. I am excited for the rest of the trip, but more excited to see you and the kids again.I'm tired and am going to bed. I love you. It was so nice to see you. You are incredibly beautiful and I am so lucky to have you. Please tell the kids how much I love them each day.
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| This was a touch screen outside the church building in Hong Kong (below). You could tour the building or was Mormon messages. |
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| This was the stairway that led to our little eatery :) |
May 20
I am writing this on my phone while I am in bed so there will probably be multiple mistakes. But thanks for the detailed email! I loved it. Inappropriate shopping and beer? Maybe china wasn't such a good idea. ;) I am looking forward to hearing more about church. We had a great sunday. Very relaxing which usually they aren't. Joseph butcher was giving his farewell speech and bro butcher also spoke so it was a great meeting. Some people who dont know our family super well keep thinking kayla and I are the twins. Rylee did pretty good going into nursery but Cade kind of struggled going to primary. I finally gave him a handful of pretzels that he could hold and munch on and that did the trick. Then they both took good long naps. We had a big yummy lunch after they were down then I took a little nap...it was nice to have a mellow sunday and just spend time with family. This whole time me and the kids haven't really had tons of plans but it had been nice and we are really enjoying spending time with family. It is fun to hear alyssa and kayla go sit down and start playing the piano. I so wish I was better! I just need to start practicing more and making time for it...the kids went down and kayla made milkshakes. Blue bell milkshakes are pretty dang good...we are doing really good. I plan on running in the morning with dad and kayla. It was really fun to talk to you this morning. Good luck with another day in china!
May 21
Milkshakes are great. Yesterday some people ordered 'milkshakes' that appeared on the menu. The only problem was that they were milk-shakes, with flavored milk instead of milk with ice cream. Today they specified that they wanted an ice cream milkshake :) I ate squid today, wasn't great so I only ate one bite. I wound up turning a 30 minute presentation into 90 minutes because that's what they asked me to do. It worked out fine. The people here are exceptionally kind to us. It's sad they surpass us by such a large amount when it comes to hospitality. When the gospel comes in, it is going to flourish. I just don't know if we are ready for the type of growth China will provide to the church. I asked a couple of Chinese students to sing happy birthday to Nathan and Caitlyn (it is her birthday too) just before the last presentation of the day. Afterwords, these students arranged for a cake to be made for both of them. I am really enjoying my time here, it is incredible. However, I've decided that I'm more of a homebody than a traveler and can't wait to see my family. Tell the kids I love them. I love youHey I just had a few minutes before we take off this morning. How has your day been? I slept great :) Anyways, I love you!
May 21
Good to hear from you before you left. I got it later so I figured you had already left. Our day was good. I think the kids had fun...We had a good family night. It was just me and the kids. Had a small lesson and then played chutes and ladders. It was a good game for Cade. Later after Cade was asleep, mom, dad and alyssa had their family night. Dad shared a cool story I will have to tell you about it (seminary)...Well I love you and look forward to hearing from you.
May 22
I'm sorry you felt unmotivated and blah, I get that way occasionally too. And I also don't know why. But I'm glad you got feeling better. As I think about all the kids who get shipped off to daycare or otherwise shown little attention, I am grateful for any and all efforts you give to show the kids how much we love them. Thank you :) We are now in Guangzhou. It is very big, but I like it better than Hong Kong. Funny story- when we got off the bus this afternoon we tried to catch a taxi. The first one said that he didn't have enough room for our luggage. The next one said that, for whatever reason, he couldn't take us. We were turned down by several taxi's before we realized that the reason no one would take us was because it would only take a few minutes to walk there and they were confused why we were asking them for a ride :) We went to visit a historical place dedicated to one of the founders of modern China. It was a neat building. Tonight the people from South China Normal University will take us out to dinner, so that will be nice. I had a break and so I thought I would send a quick email. I will send another one later.Love you!Hope you are enjoying your sleep :)
Later that day...
Hey Sweetie! I miss you. We went out to dinner tonight...it was interesting. They brought out a whole chicken that had been plucked and then cooked. I took a piece and examined it before I took a bite (I do that anyways, but it was a good thing I did today), and discovered a very large portion of cold, very pink meat. It was disgusting. The Chinese girl next to me also took a piece of chicken and so I watched her to see what she was going to do. She was about to take a bite when she noticed a raw piece of meet. She then put the whole piece aside and did not eat anymore. It made me feel a lot better to see her do that too :) I've had several interesting experiences with food! In China, it is not "suitable" to get married (and completely unacceptable to have children) while you are in school. So when I tell the Chinese students that I am married with 2 children they are shocked. I love it :)Anyways, we can skype tomorrow (or later today for you-tomorrow morning for me). Love you
May 22
That is so funny about the raw chicken. Of all things you could get served that you are nervous about. Sounds like you and Nathan are quite the odd balls being married with kids...That was pretty exciting getting to talk for a second on that viper call. I kind of like that you sleep all day when I am awake-then I know you are safe and just sleeping. :) Today was good. Cade is really into playing ping pong. He does pretty good too. He has played with just about everyone. I took Cade and Rylee on a wagon ride just up and down the drive way. They loved it. Cade and I went grocery shopping while Rylee stayed with mom. She said Rylee was really cute in helping with laundry. I made dinner tonight and it went over well. That was pretty much it but it was a good day...I ran a just a little bit shy of 4 miles today with Kayla. She is fast so I mostly just kept up with her...I miss you and single parenting is not much fun. Hopefully we can skype soon. Love you!
May 23
I'm just sitting in an 'American' restaurant about to have a red bean milk shake. I forgot to tell you that Preston Omer was released on Sunday and Paul Plumb was called. Happened sooner than I thought it was going to. Oh well. We walked through a big park today. There were old people every where singing, dancing, and playing hacky sack. I took some video. You'll love it.Anyways, got to run. I love you!
May 23
Happy Birthday!!! By the time you get this it should be your birthday!! I meant to remind you on your last day of being 28 that it was the last day for you to be 28. But the days are so off I guess I missed it :) I am sad they did not show you your stuff until your real birthday but that is still nice that they did a mini party for you. [Jenna and Megan Hardy (Nathan's wife) sent some stuff with one of our professors to surprise us on our birthdays, which were just a few days apart. It was incredibly sweet of them:)] I tried to explain to Cade how tonight you would wake up and it would be your birthday already but to us it won't be until in the morning. He didn't really get it though. But at dinner he all of the sudden said F-A-N spells fan! I said how did you know that? He said I just did it in my head. He totally figured it out on his own. I was impressed. Today we went to Bob Woodruff park. They loved the water and the ducks. During Rylee's nap Cade helped me work on his apron. I brought it to work on. It is so ugly but he is so excited. He also watched Ice Age, the first one. Have you ever seen it? It is so funny. We need to watch it for a date night sometime. We also just played around the house and outside a bit. Both kids were down by 7:15...
Red bean milkshake!? Did you type that right? I will stick to blue bell... Let me know that you got in ok. I really miss you. I am sure Cade will be glad to see you but I think Rylee will really be happy. I know I will really be happy. Two weeks really is a long time. But we are having fun and glad we came to TX when we did. Let me know what you are doing and make sure to do healthy things-get lots of sleep and eat some veggies ;) Maybe you and Nathan can have a pushup contest. (hahaha-I am laughing to myself. Just kidding!! You are probably walking tons.)
Ok love you!
May 24
It sounds like you are having lots of fun, I'm glad. I am eating fairly healthy, lots of odd fruits and vegetables. And yes, we are walking tons. We just arrived at our hotel...it is interesting. Really neat, just in the middle of an old alleyway. The flight was fantastic. We had movies/tv shows/games/etc. on demand, a meal, plenty of leg room, a snack and beverages. And the flight was only 2.5 hours. I've taken plenty of pictures and even a little bit of video. The red bean milkshake was delicious...and healthy :)My birthday has been fine, haven't done much but travel. This morning the hotel gave me a gift for my birthday, which was nice. I thought Jared told them it was my birthday, but they just noticed my birth date from my passport. I've got to run, we are going to do a little bit of sightseeing this evening.Love you!
(Our ride from the airport to the hotel was interesting. Quite crazy actually. Here is our lovely cab driver.)
May 24
Hi! This is going to be short because I am tired but wanted to let you know about today. Cade is pretty pumped for his camp out. I hope he does well. We are going to have a girls night. Kind of funny because it usually is always girls but we are going to make plans and have fun. Remind me to show you a funny facebook thread. We are going to a splash pad in Allen tomorrow and Julia and her kids should be there. Jennifer Fermaint, the one that has done all the pictures for mom lately, might come too to get some pictures of the kids. Alyssa had her choir pop show tonight. It was really cute and she did a really good job...Did you know we are the same height? We just figured that out today. I got Rylee a couple small birthday gifts today. A small packet of bracelets and a little package of about 6 small horses. They were at the grocery store. Really pathetic for birthday gifts... I am glad your flight was good. Stay safe and I am excited to hear about the orphanage...Anyway I love you and am very excited for your return!
May 25
Thanks for your email :) I enjoy getting them. We went to an orphanage this morning, it was great. We had a chance to spent quite a bit of time with the kids, which was priceless. Universally, kids are adorable. Their stories are so sad. Many are simply abandoned. One boy was left on the side of the railroad tracks. Another story we watched in a video of a boy, who, since being adopted would always watch the sky for airplanes and ask when his mom and dad were going to come get him. They say it's one of the hardest questions to answer. It was an incredible experience. Tonight Nathan and I will go out to eat with Allen and his friends, it should be a lot of fun. Depending on when we get back I will send you an email and tell you about it. We also might be able to Skype. Just depends. Hope you are sleeping well!
So we went out to a very nice restaurant that cost (probably) between 400 and 500 dollars. They also offered Nathan and I about 300 to 400 dollars worth of gifts (and Jared too, but he wasn't there). They were very kind. I guess we will need to invite their son over for dinner :) They invited us over for dinner again on Monday night....should be fun! I will check in again tomorrow.Love you
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| I think this was noodles for breakfast... |
May 26
So I am just saying a quick I love you and going to bed. I will tell you about today later. It was a good day...love you and I am excited for Rylee's birthday tomorrow! Can you believe she is 2!?
Hi! Our little girl is 2! I think she had a good day. She ended up not having a nap because it took us too long to get out the door this morning but thats ok. On the way home from the animal park Kayla and Alyssa were out sleeping and Cade and Rylee were just up playing and having a good time although they were so beat and should have been sleeping. Rylee had an R pancake and loved blowing out her candle. She knew exactly what to do. It was cute... Cade was a good big brother and really wanted her to have a good birthday. Then we went to the animal park. It was very small but I think she enjoyed it. She actually got kind of nervous when some of the big animals got close. There was a tram ride with food attached to the cart so animals got close enough to touch. Then we came home and went to Great Wall to eat in honor of you! :) I tried to imagine what it would be like eating it for breakfast...(at several places we basically ate lunch for breakfast...) Well I am excited to hear how church went this week. I feel like you have been gone forever! Two weeks is a long time. The first week seem to fly by and now it is creeping...But I am very excited to be reunited.Love you!
May 27
Two weeks is a long time and I am more than ready to come home. I can't wait...So I forgot to email you about yesterday:In the morning we went to the temple of heaven. It was different than I thought, but it was still great. Many old people go there and hang out (literally-several guys who must have been in their 70's were doing pull-ups on the monkey bars) dance, exercise, play dominos and cards, etc. It is one of the things I enjoy most about the Chinese culture. Also, at the temple of heaven there are several old religious relics. It was interesting to see how similar the function of their "temple" was to the tabernacle. From sacrifice, to only one person allowed in the most inner place, etc. We then went to the dirt market, which wasn't very fun. Afterwards Nathan and I went to "Wu Mart" to pick up some Chinese snacks to bring back. Last night we ate at a Korean BBQ place where you order raw meat and then you cook it on a mini grill at your table. It was delicious! We then went to Tiananmen Square, which is their main government center, and watched the changing of the guard. Afterwards we went to the silk market to barter, which was highly enjoyable to me :)This morning we took a taxi to church and had a great time. A choral choir from Utah State was visiting and sat right behind us. They were amazing. They sang the rest hymn and a hymn after the closing prayer. Typically the music isn't my favorite part of the service-I enjoy it, just not my favorite part. But today, they were remarkable and I would have preferred to hear them sing for the whole meeting. I also ran into a kid that was a few years younger in High School that was on our wrestling team... After gospel doctrine (which was held on the fourth floor of a building and was some sort of conference room) he turned around and said, "Is your name Cole?" I answered in the affirmative, but I had no idea who he was. The last time I saw him was was when he was in high school wrestling. Then he told me his name (Jake Farnsworth). He was with a group of BYU students in the engineer program. That was pretty neat. After that Nathan and I came back to the hotel. Our group is visiting the forbidden city and the summer palace, but Nathan and just feel like hanging out in the hotel talking doctrine and watching bible videos :) The trip has been draining.Anyways, if we do anything else note worthy I will send another email later. Love you!
May 27
Hi! It was fun to talk this morning. Today has been good...We had a fun day. Did you get the picture text of the duck cupcakes? We had fun making those. I practiced the piano a little bit. We played in moms closet ;) We talked with the graffs some. They will leave utah on tues. I played with rylee yup in the playroom...Kids both took naps and were fun to be with. Have I ever told you my parents tradition for memorial day? If not I will tell you later but I am excited too be able to do it with them tomorrow. They started it after me and shan were gone. Hope you are doing well! I love you and miss you!
May 28
So today we went to the university all day, which was fine. Except something I ate at lunch didn't set very well and they really don't have toilets, they just have squatting areas. Up to this point I had avoided them, but it caught up to me today. We met more people who were shocked that I had a family and a stay-at-home wife. I am grateful you are willing to do that, it is such a blessing. Afterwards we came home and I relaxed for the night and straightened up my stuff. Not much action today, but tomorrow is the great wall! That will be great!
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| Family didn't realize it, but they visit the Great Wall too! The picture on my phone is of Jenna and the kids and a kangaroo...They went to the zoo for Rylee's birthday :) |
May 28Squatting areas?! That is so gross! Are you feeling better? I just had a moment so I thought I would write. Sometimes at night I get too tired to write a good email so I thought I would write some now. We just got back from our memorial day extravaganza which was done on true black fashion! :) Some of the things were fly a kite, kiss someone one, sandals for everyone, a treat at the asian market in honor of you, throw a rock in the lake, take a plant to someone, and take a picture by something yellow. pretty fun day. Melissa our cousin and her family will be coming over soon to swim...I love you and am excited to hear about the great wall. Here is a second email. Melissa and her family were here. It was really fun to see them. I was gone for almost an hour of it because I put the kids to bed. Neither one had had a nap so they were beat. She has 4 girls and they all look the same-they are really cute. We chatted and swam. When Melissa and family left we looked at all the pictures from the scavenger hunt. At every event we do, we have to take a picture. It was a lot of fun...So are you having your last day in China right now? I am very excited to see you. I feel bad that I will probably be asleep when you get home. Midnight is one thing but 3? I will be more alert to see you if I at least get a little sleep. Maybe I will go to bed early and then we can stay up all night talking when you get in. Except you should probably sleep since you will have almost no time to readjust to the time. We will see. But I am getting very excited to be reunited.Love you
May 30
Hi! I am very excited to be home! Hopefully it wont be too late. Today has been good. I started to watch several movies on the plane because they had movies on demand. One was too smutty, another was too cheesy, and I dosed off during happy feet and up. But the time went much faster than the last time.I'm excited to live with you again:) it is much different living with guys...Anyways, I will give you a brief call when I get on the plane. I can't wait to see you. I'm more excited now than I am on Christmas eve:)Love you!
The last couple of days were pretty busy and I didn't make the time to send detailed emails. I did a lot of bartering and had a blast doing it. We also spent some time in the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. I was most impressed with the Great Wall and could have spent a lot more time there. That is the place I would like to visit again if I ever return to China. Overall, going to China was a phenomenal experience. Really eye-opening. There was so much I learned and gained an appreciation for, especially my family. I learned that I am a home-body. I much prefer to be home with my wife and kids then out traveling the world ;)
2 comments:
That was awesome!
Wow, this is such a neat experience that Cole was able to go to China. That is also cool he was able to do so much there. I really can't believe that have toilets like that, is it everywhere?! My friend lives in Hong Kong and I may have to ask her about it. Too bizarre.
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