Beautiful Bali!

Late Christmas Day after spending an enjoyable morning opening gifts and feasting on a big breakfast, we headed to Indonesia to spend a week on the Island of Bali. We first flew to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (5 hour flight) and spent the night in anticipation of a morning flight to Bali. We left the freezing temperatures of Shanghai and headed to the balmy, humid temperatures near the equator.

Only the strong and brave attempted to boogie board the waves of the Indian Ocean. Lucas and Lance were particularly persistent about catching the best waves. Surf's up, Dude!

Part of a one day tour of the island included a stop at a monkey forest. What fun seeing these Macaque Monkeys in action! The forests were so lush especially now during the rainy season. We did tote our umbrellas with us but for the most part the rain didn't interfere with any of our fun.

Bali has some beautiful scenery around the island which includes the view of some active volcanoes. Lance was wishing he could go on a climb of one of them but it is a long, full day and there were just too many fun things to do. Luckily, the volcanoes decided to stay quiet during our visit.

The kids had plenty of pool time in the expansive hotel pools. Wade has become a good swimmer since joining us in March. He had never stepped into a pool before his adoption and now has a confident stroke with rhythmic breathing. He loves the water and managed to spend hours in it over the week.

We took in a show which dramatized the battles between good and evil and how the evil god was not able to be defeated. The island is strongly Hindu and they believe and worship many gods. Spiritually it is a dark place. There are temples everywhere and the people make small food and flower offerings to gods for good luck and protection from evil spirits in their businesses, restaurants, etc. Even our drivers had offerings on the dash of the car for safe travel. How we wished these people could know the true God and be set free from the idol worship and fear they live with everyday.

The day we headed to the surfing beach we stopped at the Uluwatu Temple out on this beautiful rocky cliff. This was the southernmost point of the island accessible by car. There was a two week Hindu festival going on while we were there and throngs of local people headed to the temple with baskets of fruit and food to offer to the gods. Once again we were saddened by the dedication of the people to dead gods who can do nothing for them. We had a chance to attend a small Christian church on Sunday and were filled with hope seeing these people who are there to share the Gospel with the Balinese people. There is hope for Bali - God loves them!

We stopped to view the rice terraces which were being prepared for planting in a couple of weeks. It was a beautiful vista of these terraces built into the side of a mountain. We happened upon an old farmer who made hats out of banana leaves and Wade and Lance bought one from him. The boys also tried carrying his load which was quite heavy. The response from Lance was, "Wow, this guy is buff!"

We stopped for a picture in the monkey forest. Here is an example of the many rock carvings we would see throughout the island representing different gods. Most of them had offerings laid beside them.

We enjoyed some adventure thrills during our week in Bali. The kids enjoyed some time on a jet ski and the four of us below went on our first SCUBA dive. During our honeymoon Rich and I had taken a class in the hotel pool but it freaked me out so I never had any interest since then. At our hotel, they were once again offering free lessons in the pool and Rich and I along with Stacia, Lucas, Lance and Elise all had a try at it. It was fun and I was able to get over my hangups. Rich offered to have us all do a beginner dive but only Lucas and Lance were interested. I was ambivalent but he signed me up and I felt that I couldn't pass up the opportunity even though it was a challenge to my psyche.

Our first dive was a success and we were rewarded with some views of beautiful fish and starfish. They gave us food to feed the fish so we were pretty "up close and personal" with them. My ear is still plugged up!

Thank you God for this wonderful opportunity to visit this beautiful island and enjoy some close family time together!

Christmas Festivities Galore!

Last Friday, Rich invited his employees to our home for a Christmas party. We had a lovely catered dinner with mostly Chinese food. Rich planned several fun games where he was able to give away lots of prizes. "Lucky Draws" are always a part of Chinese parties and celebrations and almost everyone went home with a prize that night. The grand prize was a weekend stay package at a very nice local hotel. The highlight of the evening was when Rich read the Christmas story from the Gospels. Included in the gift he gave each person was a book in Chinese about the Miracle of Christmas. If they didn't know what Christmas was about before, they sure do now!Last Thursday, Stacia and Lucas hosted a Christmas party for 20 of their closest friends from school. They were all in a party mood as semester exams had just ended for the week. The party included LOTS of food contributed by all, a white elephant gift exchange with lots of stealing going on, cookie decorating, ping pong and a Christmas movie. It was a great way to begin the Christmas season before most of the kids took off to their various travel destinations.

Snow in Shanghai???

Yes indeed it snowed today in Shanghai! It flurries once or twice a year, usually without any accumulation but today it stuck around long enough for some fun. Our poor pansies that were planted a short while ago were weighted down with the white stuff. The snow is great for adding to the holiday spirit.

The boys had to get out and throw snowballs and Wade helped to build his first snowman. It was good packing snow and everyone came in soaked!

Watching the drivers was another interesting experience today as most of them didn't clear off their windows or side view mirrors. It probably didn't matter as they seem to drive without looking most of the time anyway! Luckily the snow did not stick to the roads or Shanghai would have been an absolute disaster. It sure was a beautiful sight though!

December in Shanghai

The neighborhood gardeners were out in full force over the past weekend planting pansies all throughout the compound. This gardener was busy out in front of our house. It was about 70 degrees that day. It is just beautiful as the winter grass seed has come in and the grass is very green. This tree where the flowers are being planted is chock full of ripe pomelos, a local citrus fruit which is like a gigantic grapefruit. Rich, Wade and I enjoyed a lovely walk throughout the garden marveling that it was December. We do at times miss the snow of Michigan especially at Christmas time but the milder temperatures of Shanghai have grown on us. I guess this is the payback for enduring the scorching, humid summers we have here.

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas....

By Sunday after we had digested the Thanksgiving feast we cranked up the Christmas music and got out the tree and all the trimmings. What fun to have Wade experience this custom with us. He seemed to join right in without hesitation and with a smile on his face - especially after I got out the antlers and Rudolph nose. With all of the help, the tree was up in no time!

Wade's First Thanksgiving Feast

On Friday evening, November 26th after a day off school for 4 kids, work for Rich and a basketball tournament for Stacia, we all sat down for an intimate Thanksgiving feast. The kids couldn't wait to dive into our traditional family favorites of party mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, corn mush, green bean casserole, gravy, hot spiced cider, pumpkin pie and of course the turkey (a bargain around here at $100 usd). It was well worth the long hours of cooking and preparation as everyone gorged themselves and gushed with compliments to the cook. As we went around and said what we were thankful for, Wade said that he was thankful to have a family. We are thankful to have him as our son. Of course, we missed our family across the ocean around our table!

Wade had no problem loving this particular American feast, especially the turkey - Two thumbs up!

Update Family Picture

This past summer we had the joy of getting an updated family picture taken with Wade as the newest member. He fits right in with our family in so many ways. He has adjusted well and seems settled and happy. He has taken on some family chores, works very hard in school and he speaks English amazingly well after only 6 months at home. Wade has a new buddy in the neighborhood who goes to school with him. They moved here from Ann Arbor and he and Gavin play so well together. We continue to be amazed at how God is grafting him into our family and are so thankful for his many blessings!