Out for morning walk
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
REMEMBERING CHINA
This idea was inspired by my friend Laura and a wife/mom blog I like to read. Laura mentioned that I should start taking pictures of things around town, or in our life that I don't want to forget as we move back to the U.S.-you know, places we go or things we do that we might not ordinarily think to take pictures of. And one of the blogs I read is currently doing a series where they post pictures each day of ordinary life happenings, in order to help them and the readers stop and reflect of the beauty and glory of everyday life as a stay at home wife and mom!
So, with those ideas floating in my head, I have decided that for the next 60 days, I will post a picture each day featuring some aspect of our life here in China. Some of them will be places or faces I don't want to forget. Some will be things unique to life in China and some will just be pictures of what we do everyday. I think you will enjoy and I hope this will be a great chance for me to stop and reflect and praise God for the life he has given us here in China!
So, with those ideas floating in my head, I have decided that for the next 60 days, I will post a picture each day featuring some aspect of our life here in China. Some of them will be places or faces I don't want to forget. Some will be things unique to life in China and some will just be pictures of what we do everyday. I think you will enjoy and I hope this will be a great chance for me to stop and reflect and praise God for the life he has given us here in China!
Friday, April 9, 2010
Our first goodbye
Our friends, Daniel and Kayla are going home for the summer and won't be back before we move to America. So that meant saying goodbye to them for who knows how long. It was our first goodbye and I was surprised at how emotional I was. I am very emotional, let's face it but I wasn't expecting the tears to start flowing until later in this process. But there they were, welling up inside of me and running down on to my Papa's John's napkin as I watched them and their 3 little boys head out of the restaurant. (Thankfully I didn't wallow for long-just a few minutes later Kayla called me and invited me to join her and some friends for some late night Karaoke. Nothing soothes the soul like singing 80's songs at the top of your lungs with a bunch of other stay at home moms. It was awesome and I will post about that later.)
Anyway, back to the saying goodbye thing-It's weird. I feel like this uprooting and moving to a "new life" is more than my brain can comprehend. All that we are leaving, all that has happened here, all that we are looking forward to, and all of the unknowns. It's just too much for me to wrap my brain around. On top of that, my brain is full of details like, "what date should we fly home? And how much should we sell our couches for? and should we go ahead and buy that table and buffet from Melinda? (We bought it, by the way!) It's all so overwhelming that I'm having trouble thinking on much more than a surface level. But my heart on the other hand , seems quite in step with this whole process. Though intellectually I haven't been processing things much deeper than details, my heart seems acutely aware of what my brain cannot put into words-thus the waterfall of tears while saying our first goodbye.
Thankfully we have some great mentors and friends who are helping us to put into words what is going on in our hearts. Today we met with one of them. Over a McD's big American breakfast, I was able to really process out loud some of what I am feeling and thinking. Our friend asked great questions. What are some of the highlights of your time here? Most difficult things you've faced while here? Who will you miss the most? Do you have any regrets? What would it be like if God had given you everything you thought you wanted when you first came here? (first of all, I wouldn't still be in China 6 years later!) There were lots of tears this morning at McDonald's as well.
It was so good to slow down from the mad dash that is our last few months here and look back, remember and rejoice. Seeing God's hand at work in our lives over the past 7 years fills me with hope and excitement for what he has for us in this next chapter.
*Picture from '04 with my first good Chinese friend, Antler!
Anyway, back to the saying goodbye thing-It's weird. I feel like this uprooting and moving to a "new life" is more than my brain can comprehend. All that we are leaving, all that has happened here, all that we are looking forward to, and all of the unknowns. It's just too much for me to wrap my brain around. On top of that, my brain is full of details like, "what date should we fly home? And how much should we sell our couches for? and should we go ahead and buy that table and buffet from Melinda? (We bought it, by the way!) It's all so overwhelming that I'm having trouble thinking on much more than a surface level. But my heart on the other hand , seems quite in step with this whole process. Though intellectually I haven't been processing things much deeper than details, my heart seems acutely aware of what my brain cannot put into words-thus the waterfall of tears while saying our first goodbye.
Thankfully we have some great mentors and friends who are helping us to put into words what is going on in our hearts. Today we met with one of them. Over a McD's big American breakfast, I was able to really process out loud some of what I am feeling and thinking. Our friend asked great questions. What are some of the highlights of your time here? Most difficult things you've faced while here? Who will you miss the most? Do you have any regrets? What would it be like if God had given you everything you thought you wanted when you first came here? (first of all, I wouldn't still be in China 6 years later!) There were lots of tears this morning at McDonald's as well.
It was so good to slow down from the mad dash that is our last few months here and look back, remember and rejoice. Seeing God's hand at work in our lives over the past 7 years fills me with hope and excitement for what he has for us in this next chapter.
*Picture from '04 with my first good Chinese friend, Antler!
Thursday, April 8, 2010
THE BATH TIME CHALLENGE-update
You might remember the bath time challenge I gave to Tim, Kathi and Mary-find a way to get EG to not scream, cry, or flail violently while we rinse her hair. Some of you had great suggestions about special cups, shower head attachments, and visors all made specifically for keeping the water out of kids' eyes while washing their hair. The Huffmans brought none of these. With no weapons in hand they still somehow managed to coach EG through the washing hair routine without crying. There really wasn't any special trick they used, that I know of- and now-a few baths out from their departure this girl is very proud of her no-crying-during-the-rinse abilities. "Mommy, I didn't even cry at all," she says! We can lay her down to rinse or rinse with the shower head or dump water on her all at once, and she still manages to hold it together emotionally. Way to go Huffmans. I have no idea what you did, but it worked!!!
Monday, April 5, 2010
Huffmania Recap
We had a great time with the Huffmans! What a blessing to have them in our home for 10 days! There was lots of quality time with the grandparents! 
We enjoyed lots of long talks, several WVU games and more than one Wii bowling tournament.
We were really glad Aunt Marv could come! She is now EG's hero. Mary is great with kids and it was so fun to show her our life here! She and I enjoyed more than one bowl of popcorn and M n M's! (OK, more than three) Chef Timbo taught Xiao Li to cook a delicious western meal. They were both be in the kitchen and we could hear Tim jabbering away in English to her and then she'd respond back in Chinese. It was really cute! They definitely managed to communicate and turn out a phenomenal meal.
We loved showing Mary around our town. Can you find the two red heads at the market?
By the second day she was out buying drinks and taking EG and Jack to play! By the end of the week, she had been awarded honorary Mayor of our town and got to drive the police car! 
We all crammed into this "bread van" more than once for trips into the city!
We enjoyed a trip to the wildlife park, where we got to feed lots of animals! 
We got to get up close and personal with some of them! 
EG had a great time feeding the animals.
Especially this guy! 
We celebrated all birthdays falling between February and April. We discovered that EG is a really neat eater. She is very meticulous about eating her food and wipes her hands after every bite! 
Jack on the other hand....
We enjoyed lots of long talks, several WVU games and more than one Wii bowling tournament.We were really glad Aunt Marv could come! She is now EG's hero. Mary is great with kids and it was so fun to show her our life here! She and I enjoyed more than one bowl of popcorn and M n M's! (OK, more than three) Chef Timbo taught Xiao Li to cook a delicious western meal. They were both be in the kitchen and we could hear Tim jabbering away in English to her and then she'd respond back in Chinese. It was really cute! They definitely managed to communicate and turn out a phenomenal meal.
We loved showing Mary around our town. Can you find the two red heads at the market?By the second day she was out buying drinks and taking EG and Jack to play! By the end of the week, she had been awarded honorary Mayor of our town and got to drive the police car! We all crammed into this "bread van" more than once for trips into the city!We enjoyed a trip to the wildlife park, where we got to feed lots of animals! We got to get up close and personal with some of them! EG had a great time feeding the animals.Especially this guy! We celebrated all birthdays falling between February and April. We discovered that EG is a really neat eater. She is very meticulous about eating her food and wipes her hands after every bite! Jack on the other hand....
We are so grateful the time, energy, and money you spent to come visit us. We were blessed tremendously. We are looking forward to more opportunities to see you guys in the near future!
A side note: In my five years of being a Huffman, there are a few things I've learned about Huffman family rules. These rules were confirmed once again during their time here. These are unspoken rules but very important nonetheless.
First off, all Huffman women are REQUIRED to wear extremely big sunglasses. I am working my way up to "extremely big." Mine are still considered medium.
Secondly, all Huffmans must be slightly obsessed with Tim's Red Wine-Dijon Mustard Salad Dressing. I've never spent more than like 5 days with them where we didn't have this dressing.
Thirdly, all Huffman women must have the stamina to shop for purses for hours at a time in harsh, extreme conditions. I was pushed to my limit this trip. All Huffman men must be slightly annoyed by the dogged determination they see in Huffman women when it comes to purse shopping.
Finally, all existing Huffmans must be extremely warm and welcoming to new Huffmans and make them feel like they 100% belong. You guys are great at this one. (And the big sunglasses one as well.)
A side note: In my five years of being a Huffman, there are a few things I've learned about Huffman family rules. These rules were confirmed once again during their time here. These are unspoken rules but very important nonetheless.
First off, all Huffman women are REQUIRED to wear extremely big sunglasses. I am working my way up to "extremely big." Mine are still considered medium.
Secondly, all Huffmans must be slightly obsessed with Tim's Red Wine-Dijon Mustard Salad Dressing. I've never spent more than like 5 days with them where we didn't have this dressing.
Thirdly, all Huffman women must have the stamina to shop for purses for hours at a time in harsh, extreme conditions. I was pushed to my limit this trip. All Huffman men must be slightly annoyed by the dogged determination they see in Huffman women when it comes to purse shopping.
Finally, all existing Huffmans must be extremely warm and welcoming to new Huffmans and make them feel like they 100% belong. You guys are great at this one. (And the big sunglasses one as well.)
Love you!
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