Back to Our Life in China

We flew back to China on September 9. Our new teaching contract didn't start until September 15, so we assumed that we would start teaching on Monday, September 19.  That would give us a week to get over our jet lag and get settled in.  Wrong. We got in late Saturday night and found out after church on Sunday that we were to start teaching the next morning, September 12. Yikes!  We hadn't even seen the syllabus until then. On top of it, our luggage didn't arrive with us. We finally had it delivered late Sunday evening.

Seeing one of our old friends here in Guangzhou. This lady has Cerebral Palsy and works all day selling newspapers and magazines.  She dresses in Chinese attire and always wears a hat. We always exchange "hellos" as we pass her newsstand. She was so excited to see us that she was waving at us from a block away. It made us feel as if we had returned home. 

Views from the Canton Tower.  It is 1,916 feet tall.  We visited it on our first day off. We never had a day last year when we were both off and the air quality was good enough to see into the distance. The views were spectacular. 

We rode in the enclosed glass "bubbles" around the top. 

The next day we visited Lotus Mountain with the Homer's. It was another beautiful day in China. 

The sailors coming up the Pearl River knew they were getting close to Guangzhou when they saw the pagoda we are standing by. 

They have old quarries on site that are very interesting to explore. 

This was a restroom at Lotus Mountain. We were wondering what a Momen is.

The mid-autumn festival was celebrated last week. Everyone gives each other moon cakes that are made just for this holiday. 

Our university hosted an activity for us where we learned how to make moon cakes and also dumplings. 

They are molded using these ancient molds. 

We then got to taste the finished products. This is Neen with Rick. He is one of our favorite students at SCUT. His English is excellent. 

This is a typical scene outside our apartment. They set up tables in the parking lot. 

We are getting ready for the National Holiday. It is the first week in October when the country celebrates the formation of the Communist Party. It was officially started on October 1, 1949. The entire country has a week off and most people travel somewhere.  

We will be flying to Bangkok, Thailand for several days and then on to Chiang Mai. We are looking forward to eating lots of delicious Thai food!

Back in the Good 'Ole USA

We had a two month break from our teaching in China and we made the most of it. The first place we traveled to was Jacqueline and her family's new home in Stevensville, Montana. 

Enjoying our time with Tristan and Cash. 

The Williams family's new home. 

New silk pajamas from Grandma and Grandpa straight from China. Our little Ninjas.  We took the boys back to Pocatello for a ten day fun-filled stay. We took them back to Stevensville in time to celebrate Tristan's 10th birthday. 

Our next stop was in Provo and then Salt Lake City to see Sue's sisters and to celebrate Dallin and Chelsea's wedding. 

We continued on to Portland via Verl and Kathi's home in Meridian. 

Ava and Grayson in their Chinese pajamas. 

Rick got to spend a guys-only day on the Lewis River with James and Arlo. 

We spent several days at the beach in Seaside enjoying our time together. 

Check out the crab that Ava caught!

We then flew to Southern California to celebrate Auntie Viv's 80th birthday. Rick's dad had flown in from Missouri for the party. We stayed at Randy's house in Mission Viejo and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

Our last weekend in the US was spent with the Winmills in Victor, ID. 

We went into the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming and hiked around Jenny's Lake. 

It was a beautiful 8 mile hike at the base of the Tetons. 

On the way home we stopped at Mesa Falls.

The weekend was very relaxing and a wonderful way to end our 2 month summer vacation. We leave Friday, September 9, for another semester in Guangzhou, China.