Visiting Grandma at Work

On Monday we went to visit Luann at work, and she got to show Malachi to all of her friends. He wore his Halloween costume which

1) made him look chubby and cute

and 2) helped him sit in the highchair at Applebee's.

He crashed long before we got home.

Saturday Impromptu Photo Shoot

One highlight of Saturday was taking great pictures in the leaves in front of my parents' house!

Birthdays in MN

Last weekend we went up to MN to celebrate three birthdays in my family. First, my dad and sister Melissa had birthdays in Sept with my dad's being the big 6-O! And then today is my mom's birthday. It was so much fun to have everyone home without the stress and crazyness of a wedding. (don't get me wrong, the wedding in June was wonderful too!)

Everyone had fun entertaining Malachi or being entertained by him. I think he's a lot more fun than even a few months ago.

Grandma decided to try giving him a graham cracker. Loved it. Took bites with those four big teeth and ate the whole thing!

Things I'm Loving

Today's blog is brought to you by the letters C, P, and S. And a number. $1.25

Things I'm Loving

Counter space - ah... sigh...
Carpet - love sitting on the floor
Coupons - love feeling like I'm saving a little money
a Car - even though we share one, I'm quite content on the two days that I get it
Crafts - ah... I love crafts! I think I forgot that. So with the discovery of Pinterest, my crafting has come out again.
Craft materials - that are easy to find.

Pinterest - like I said, it's so great. Collect all your favorite pages in one place. Get great DIY ideas from friends' boards.
Plywood (not plaster and concrete) walls WITH insulation - nails go into the wall again. Sigh.

Swagbucks - it's pretty sweet. I'm still getting the hang of it, but it basically gives you "swagbucks" for using their search engine. There are other ways to earn more, and they can be redeemed for fun prizes if you get enough of them.
Skype - now helping me keep in touch with friends on the other side of the world
Selling MaryKay - I really love it! Let me know if you want to hear more. :)
our Son who's 7 mo. - scoots around which is awesome. Starting to get up on those knees. So much fun.















So, on that note, I'll tell you a couple things I really miss:

Friends who were like family.
My rice cooker.
Culligan-type water delivered to our door by a sweet man for $1.25.
Cheap public transportation that was fairly reliable and went all over the city.
Beautiful wood floors.
Two IKEAs an hour away by train.

But I want to enjoy life wherever we are, and for now that's Iowa. :)

Big M

So this is my first attempt to post from my phone. We'll see how it goes!

Of course the easiest thing to blog about is Malachi. He's 7 months now. Army crawling, but starting to get his knees under himself. Loves going after his family on Skype. Favorite toys include toes, door stops, boxes, and sweatshirt strings. Ah to be a baby...

We're Back

We've been back in the US now for a little over a month. Some highlights...

A gregarious welcome at the airport from family and friends

A generous mother-in-law who welcomed all three of us into her cozy home for two weeks

A lovely baby shower for our little 小孩儿 Malachi

A spacious town house to rent within our budget

Muscular family and friends who helped us move

A stimulating new job for Eric at Central Campus

Two sharp teeth for Malachi

A trip to the renowned Iowa State Fair

Enthusiastic visits from family

An introductory 60th birthday celebration for Grandpa

It has been a whirlwind, but we're slowly adjusting back to life here. I think we'll keep blogging on this site at least for a while, so I hope to write more soon!

Getting Ready to Leave

We have less than a week left here. The end of our time has been spent sorting, packing, cleaning, watching Malachi learn to roll over, saying goodbye to friends, selling and giving away our stuff, and seeking the Father on our future.

Last night Eric accepted a teaching job in Des Moines, so that's where we're headed. It's nice to know, and now we can start looking for a place to live. In some ways I think He let us wait so we wouldn't get distracted from greater things. We actually feel called to go to Louisville, KY so Eric can finish his masters program at a sem there, but it just wasn't coming together. So we decided (after LOTS of thought and PR) to come back to DSM for the year and then seriously plan to move to KY next year. At the same time we're open to the Father leading us in another direction if that's his will.

We're looking forward to... a dishwasher (hopefully??!), a car, mint chocolate, Doritos, caramel rolls, Target, Chipotle, and of course being able to see family and friends and call them at normal hours.

But we're not looking forward to... teaching Malachi to use a car seat, people who've heard it all when it comes to the Father, impatience, and having to drive everywhere.

We know we won't miss... everyone staring at us, people thinking it's fine to poke at Malachi when he's sleeping, all the honking, and crazy traffic.

But we know we'll miss... people who don't complain, special "foreigner" treatment, our soybean milk maker, Taobao, our family of five, small house worship on Sundays, and of course our "family" and friends.

It has been an incredible two years. Full of challenges, but as Eric and I were talking, we know we wouldn't change it. We've learned so much and grown so much. Excited to be back in the US, but sad that we may never again see those that we're leaving behind.

再见！

Nights on the Town

Eric and Mitch's man-date... They had steak for dinner, played video games at the arcade, and then went dancing in the street with the older ladies while wearing tiger hats. They may have gotten more attention than Malachi does.

Andrea and I got dressed up for our night out, went to a Thai restaurant downtown, and then planned to watch some Gilmore Girls. A small baby may have adjusted the plans a little, but we still had fun.

First Visit to the US - wedding & after

Saturday morning

Our beautiful sister Shana before the wedding

Malachi and his uncle Patrick and great-uncle Duane... receding hair...?

Malachi hanging out with his aunt and new uncle Tyler

What a stylin little guy

Three sisters

So excited to have Tyler in our family

Eric and his brother Kevin

Malachi sleeping through literally the whole reception

Jet lag

On Monday we had a little more time with family.

We took Malachi on a walk, and he met the puppies.

On Tuesday we headed to the Cities, got his 3-month pictures taken, did some shopping, and crashed before flying out Wednesday morning. When we got to the airport we saw that our flight to Chicago was canceled, but thankfully they were able to get us on an earlier one. We said a hasty good-bye to our moms and were able to quickly go through the first-class security line. The flights went well, and we made our way back home safely!

First Visit to the US - travels there & pre-wedding

A couple weeks ago Malachi made his first trip to the United States. We went back for my sister's wedding and had a really good time.

We had a heavy laden trip by taxi, train, and subway to the airport as we wanted to take advantage of our 5-bag allowance plus diaper bag, two carry ons and two personal items. (Thanks, MiQi, for helping and running through the train station to catch your train back!)

Malachi did pretty well on the flight and even did some sleeping in the bassinet.

We got in late to MSP, but our family was patiently waiting. They were all pretty excited to see Malachi. And maybe Eric and I too.

This trip was Malachi's first time in a car seat!

On Thursday I got my dress fitted, and we helped decorate for the reception. At night was the bachelorette party.

On Friday we got to have brunch at my grandparents' and Malachi had his first exposure to blood sausage. We also got to have down time with family.

In the evening was the rehearsal and dinner. The three of us dressed in the traditional clothes.