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!