The Birthday Party

For all who have wanted to see the backhoe cake, here it - finally - is! I got the idea from a Family Fun magazine and it was well worth the effort to see how much Joshua and David enjoyed it. Their excitement about the cake really fed their enthusiasm for the party, which surpassed expectations. The boys were overjoyed to be celebrating with their friends and Joshua played the host especially well, cheering on his pals and leading them to the next activity..."C'mon you guys, let's go play hot potato!!"...and lo and behold, they all followed him, amazingly! So, thanks to Family Fun for the great party ideas! Thanks also to all those who came, especially the Davidsons, who came without their son and acted as the official photographers. The photos below are unofficial, meaning if there is anything wrong with them, it is my doing, not Bill's. Now you may dig in and feast your eyes.

Funny Things

Joshua in particular has been saying some pretty funny things lately that I wanted to share before I forget them all.

He saw a car idling and said, "Hey, why is he letting out exhaust? Why is he wasting gas?" (Hmmm...must be the environmentalist in Mommy getting through to him...)

He told his first joke all on his own, a twist on the classic "why did the boy throw the clock out the window?" His version went like this: "Why did the boy throw the house out the window?" "Why?" "He wanted to see a housefly!" I don't know if he caught the double meaning but he thought it was hilarious anyway.

The other night we were going out after the boys were in bed, and as Joshua went to bed he tried to persuade us not to go. We told him we were going to some stores and to get coffee and talk, and he responded tearfully, "No, don't go to any stores. We already have enough stuff!"

Happy Birthday, Joshua and David!

Today, Joshua turned 3 and David turned 2. We love our little ones so and they are changing so fast! Here are a few pictures to show how they've grown.



Joshua, a few days old

David, a few days old

Brothers, Dec 2006

October 2007

November 2008

Chris and I are grateful to God for our children and the privilege of loving them. We have been entrusted with the care and training of their bodies, minds, and souls, and we take our task very seriously. We so often bemoan our sinfulness and weakness that causes us to fall short of being the parents we would like to be. We get angry, we lose patience, we fail in countless ways. Yet, God is faithful, so we persevere by His grace, trusting His promises, praying for our boys. We rejoice in the hope we have because of Jesus, who paid the penalty for our sins on the cross. His victory over sin and death proves his power to do the same for us and our children! God's strength is made perfect in our weakness, and it is our fervent prayer that in their Mom and Dad's weakness, Joshua and David will be drawn to God's strength, so that they trust in Him.

We tried to capture some of who they are right now in these birthday poems, which we read to them at breakfast with their balloons, presents, and birthday pancakes.

Joshua at 3

I know a joyful, loving boy
Who grows by leaps and bounds.
He often serves his folks with joy;
His thoughtfulness astounds.
He asks important questions, like
“Why did Jesus have to die?”
And gaily rides his shiny trike
Under God’s blue, sunny sky.
He loves his books and trains (whoo-whoo!)
And loves his brother dearly too.
Who is this child who makes us glad,
Whom God has given to Mom and Dad
To love and shepherd faithfully?
It’s Joshua! And today you’re three!

David at 2

I know a grinning, singing boy
Who jumps and throws with zest.
He runs about all day with joy,
Then with his blankie takes a rest.
He copies all his brother does
And repeats all that he hears.
He’s ticklish as he ever was
All through his first two years.
The piano keys he gladly thumps
And sings “Amazing Grace,”
And with a hug after he bumps
Tears dry without a trace.
Who is this effervescent lad
Who overflows with love?
Who is this gift to Mom and Dad
From our dear Lord above?
Who is turning two today?
It’s David! Happy Birthday!

China, Part VI cont'd

More sculpture

Another sunrise



And here are the mountains

China, Part VI

First of all, Qingdao is a beautiful city of 8 1/2 million people. We were honestly quite surprised by how clean it was most of the time, on the ground and in the air (and people did swim in the water there but I don't think I would). Along the lengthy waterfront rises a tall skyline, which you can't even fully see at one time because it bends around two sides of a peninsula. Not too far inland a sharply rising, striking mountain range dwarfs the cityscape so that at times one doesn't know whether the mountain or ocean view is more captivating. We enjoyed plenty of walking around in such a pleasant environment, and the weather was absolutely perfect the whole time. Here are some samples of sculpture and architecture that we enjoyed in Qingdao.




I found myself astonished at how much I liked the sculptures. It's not an art form I've been drawn to or easily appreciated before. But in Qingdao, they were almost all pleasing to my eye and seemingly understandable. The large amount and pleasing aspect of the sculpture in Qingdao will stand in my memory as one of the unexpected happy surprises of our visit. The top one is in Music Square, and the bottom one is near the entrance to the Olympic village for the sailing regatta.

This is just a sliver of the skyline, but I especially liked the building on the left. Another favorite is below.

Big Boy

Digressing from China for a moment, the big news since we returned from China is that Joshua is using the potty! We've been putting a diaper on him at night mostly because he wants one, but at least two nights he has stayed dry anyway. He's doing a terrific job! (Especially considering how jetlagged he was when we started...that didn't seem to faze him at all!) I guess he was ready. Yay Joshua! We're so grateful for how God is helping you grow up, little bud!

China, Part V

Some sights of China that caught my eye.

China, Part IV cont'd

The Forbidden City, some details


Here are the drainage dragons I mentioned earlier.

I think our guide said this is the largest solid carved rock in the world, and that it weighs over 200 tons. Or was that metric tons, or 2,000 tons? We can't recall exactly. But the more interesting part was how they transported this monolith into the palace. Who could haul such a thing? However they harnessed it, they had to dig wells in the road every 400m or so, such that water would flood the road. Then it froze (I guess it was winter when they did this), and they slid the huge sculpted block along the ice. Pretty incredible.

One of many gilded copper lions standing guard throughout the palace. They were all a little bit different, for significant reasons, but I don't remember the details of this particular one.

A sundial, supposedly still functional. We weren't sure how to read it, but if you know, please tell us. It was about 3:00pm in this picture.

We don't have many interior pictures because we weren't allowed to go into many buildings. The living quarters had windows through which you could see some simple furnishings, but really, this place didn't have the splendor you might usually associate with a palace. The striking things about it were the sheer vastness, the echoing stone, the sculpture, and the distinctly Chinese architecture.

Thinking about what life was like for those who built the palace and for the people who lived in the palace was also stirring. Our guide described the selection process for the emperor's concubines. I felt sorry for the women who were forced to leave their families and everything they knew and loved never to leave the palace walls again, where life wasn't so happy for most of them.

China, Part IV cont'd

The Forbidden City, honing in


The palace buildings basking in the soft glow of the setting sun.

Many architectural details, such as the carved figures at the corners of the eaves, had significance. For example, you could tell a building's rank by how many figures it had and what the figures were (a dragon in front of many figures indicated a high rank). As another example, rows and rows of dragon heads, with holes in their mouths, stuck out of walls for drainage purposes. Much more decorative than gutters and downspouts!

Each square brick in the floor took 120 days to make. Millions of bricks. Fathom that in the 1400s.

Look at this magnificent paint! Despite the increased crowds and increased hotel prices, I'm glad we visited China after the Olympics. Seeing the palace without seeing how it is supposed to look wouldn't have been the same.

China, Part IV

The Forbidden City, in general

This was the home of the Chinese emperor, his wives, his concubines, and probably many other members of his entourage during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Construction began in 1406 and was completed in 1420, with refurbishments periodically done later. It was the political center of China until the last emperor Puyi's abdication in 1912, amid the political upheaval that eventually settled with the Communist Party in power. Now that we have been here, we want to see the movie "The Last Emperor." Our English-speaking personal guide told us that Puyi was a progressive fellow. Among other things, he had sections of the inner court revamped (or should I say, re-ramped?) to accommodate his daily bicycle rides.


Notice how Mao dominates the front entrance to the former imperial palace. Almost all in the throng outside the palace wanted to have their picture taken with Mao smiling benevolently in the background. To me, having a huge color portrait of him on the palace wall was much more disconcerting than was his huge stone mausoleum across the way on the other side of Tian 'Anman Square. It seemed to me that the palace has been preserved for remembering China before the revolution, long past, and so his prominent photo there seemed out of place. But perhaps many Chinese look upon him as a savior who freed them from the monarchical rule that the palace represents. In any case, he is evidently still revered by many in China.

The palace was huge, but included several wide open courtyards. Underneath the whole thing lie 15 layers of brick, with the strata laid in opposite directions, to prevent any with evil intent from digging a tunnel under the palace to attack the emperor. It was not as plush as the palaces in Stockholm or Versailles (the only other two we have collectively visited to which we can compare), but the painting was certainly ornate. We benefitted from the recent re-painting done for the Olympics. Not all the buildings had been repainted, so it was easy to see the toll time had taken before restoration.

Mom graciously stayed in the hotel with the boys so they could nap while Dad took us sight-seeing.

China, Part III

In China, a lot of things made a strong visual impact.


Some things I was instantly able to appreciate, like this beautiful arched bridge in a park in Qingzhou.

In other instances, cultural differences stood out starkly, as when folk music issued from a single string accompanied by a sort of gutteral yodel. I didn't have time to cultivate an ear for traditional Chinese music, so in this case, the impression was auditory and not particularly pleasant to my western ear. But it was nonetheless uniquely Chinese, which I did appreciate.

Bicycles are a primary means of transportation in many places.

Like living sculpture, these beautiful scarves danced.

China, Part II

Staying with Chris' parents in Qingdao proved to be a real vacation. Despite the jetlag and a full itinerary of sightseeing, our time there was restful and restorative. For one thing, we had almost all the comforts of home, and some additional ones that we don't usually enjoy at home - maid service twice a week, Mom's home cooking, and oceanfront property with a gorgeous view.


Sunrise over the Yellow Sea, from the living room. We reveled in the sunrises - they were incredible! And we got to see a LOT of them, since we were up around 3 or 4 a.m. most days.

We also all enjoyed watching the ships at sea. Qingdao has a busy port, so in addition to the myriad fishing boats and little motorboats, there were huge container ships and tankers waiting to get into port or heading east on their outbound voyage. The man in the center of this photo is one of the many Chinese people who exercise out on the boardwalk in the morning hours. We'll have more to say about exercise, but I'm sad to say I think the photos are still in China.

China

Many of you know we were visiting Chris' parents in China during the last two weeks. Thanks to everyone who prayed for us. God definitely blessed our journey and we had a wonderful experience. We spent about a week Qingdao, which is where Chris' parents live. Then we took the high-speed train to another city, Qingzhou, for a day, and finally spent a few days in Beijing. We don't have all of our pictures, but we have enough to show you some highlights. Unfortunately a huge folder of pictures from Qingdao malfunctioned and is apparently gone, so we won't have most of our Qingdao photos until we can get them from Chris' parents, hopefully at Christmas. Meanwhile, below are a few glimpses of us in China during the last couple of days.


Temple of Heaven, Beijing

The Great Wall

Us up on the Great Wall with Chris' parents, Malcolm and Debbie
(and David snoozing in the carrier)


An interesting aspect of our time in China was adjusting to fame, in a way. While we were not well known, we stood out. If we went for a walk and stopped to look at something, we were often quickly surrounded by Chinese who wanted pictures with the boys. They would touch their cheeks and say "beautiful face" in Chinese, and shake their hands and ask how old. Sometimes people just picked up the kids and walked a few steps away to show them to their friends. It was a little unnerving at first, then we sort of got used to it. The boys never freaked out and generally went along with it pretty well. Joshua took to waving like a prince when moving through a crowd.

Our little celebrities

Thanks for sharing in our adventure with us! We'll be posting more about the trip as time permits.