Moganshan, Halloween, The Great Depression

The kids returned from their China Interim trips with exciting stories and souvenirs!  I asked them to write the top five things from their trips:

Eliza (Xiamen)

1. The hike around the tea plantation

2. Shopping in a Tulou house (picture below)

3. My nice roommate

4. Touring a Tulou house

5. Learning new things about China

James (Yangshuo)

1.  A long bike ride

2.  Zip-Lining

3.  Rock Climbing

4.  Kayaking

5.  Beautiful Landscapes with mountains

Emma (Mosaic: Chinese Arts, Theater, and Fashion in Beijing)

1. Improvisation Workshop

2. Murder mystery on the train

3. Eating Peking duck

4. Painting a mural at a migrant school

5.  Shadow Puppet workshop

That weekend was the beginning of a week-long holiday in China: “Golden Week" or "Moon Festival.”  During this holiday people buy and make moon cakes.  Some are filled with red beans or pineapple and other interesting flavors. 

John and the kids were off all week and my cousin Todd Mains stayed with us since he had to visit factories for his business the week before and the week after the holiday.  We decided to go to Moganshan (a mountain retreat) about a 3-hour drive from Shanghai.  I went online to book a place and everything was sold out since we decided so last minute.  I called several house rentals and the only one available was too large and expensive for just one family so we invited other families in our district to come along (the Shaners, Petersons and Dyers).  It was such a nice getaway!  The kids each had a friend to hang out with.  The house had five bedrooms and was at the highest point of the mountain.  It took about 45 minutes to drive up the mountain.  An Ayi lived in the house and cooked us eggs and toast for breakfast.  We brought food for the other meals.  We loved the cool fresh air and the long hikes.  At night we played games.  Rollick, a game like charades that the Becky Olsen gave us, was a riot.  It was so much fun to have Todd with us!  He helped James and two other boys on a merit badge while we were there.
 

This is the house we rented

On a hike

Hanging out

The kitchen was outdoors

Todd helping the boys with the Family Life merit badge.

John and I took a hike at 6am and this was the view.

Group hike

Bamboo Forest

Karin, Emma and Annika in front of Mao Zedong's house.

When we returned we had a “cousin b-day celebration” -- celebrating John’s cousin Teresa Vanfleet and Todd’s b-day.  Teresa just finished up her internship in Shanghai after several months.  We enjoyed getting to know her better.  She attended my Wednesday night Zumba classes.  We were sad that it was time for her to go back to the states. 

 

This year was probably the quietest Halloween we have ever had.  John took the kids to our branch Trunk or Treat Saturday morning.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t go since I was teaching Zumba and Zumba Kids from 9-12.  They had a good time and Eliza brought several friends.  Halloween night John and I took Eliza and Tessa around with some of Eliza’s friends in a western neighborhood.  James went trick-or-treating with his friends in a different neighborhood and came back with tons of American candy.  He said almost every house had candy that the dads had brought back from business trips in the states.  Emma went with a bunch of her friends and didn’t get much candy at all, but she had fun hanging out.  The next day we didn’t have school because of Parent/Teacher Conferences.

James was a ghost

The rabbit and Alice from "Alice and Wonderland"

Eliza was a cockroach, using a costume from last year's middle school play.

Our district rebroadcasts General Conference a week after the US.  We enjoyed all of the talks from our church leaders.  Emma took pages of notes for seminary credit.

On Saturday, October 26^th we had a fun district youth activity.  We had a pizza party, played games and watched an acrobat show.  When I asked for RSVPs so I could purchase the tickets I had 78 RSVPs!  What a great turnout.  John and I enjoy our callings with the youth.  John’s BYU Bishop Madison Sowell was in town that weekend, so he joined our activity and then came over the next day for Sunday dinner after church.  It was fun to catch up with him.  He works at Southern Virginia University now and spent over an hour trying to recruit Emma.

A few of the young women in our district waiting for the acrobat show to begin

"Bishop" Sowell

On Saturday Nov 2^nd Tessa and Eliza had an all day Girl Scout Activity.  It was well organized with fun activities.  That night Emma went with some friends to the One Republic concert.  She had so much fun at the concert and has been playing their song “Apologize” on the piano any spare moment she gets.

Tessa's Girl Scout Daisy troop

 

Eliza's Girl Scout Troop

My parents entered the MTC this week!  They are going to serve in the Singapore Mission spending most of their time in Penang, Malaysia.  We already have our plane tickets to visit them this Christmas!

This past week the 8^th graders have been doing a “Great Depression” simulation.  They could only spend $15 on a weeks’ worth of food.  James bought oats, eggs, granola, rice, milk, a pomello, an onion and apples.  They also had to be completely electronic free and do their homework by candle or flash light.  He also washed his school uniform by hand and had to take cold showers.  I can’t believe he did it and he rarely complained.  I made him drink a green drink for breakfast each morning since he wasn’t going to eat any vegetables.  He thought that would be cheating but John told him it was “government issued.”  He took baked oatmeal to school for five days and I honestly don’t think he will want to eat another fried egg for a long time.  The project ended Friday after school.  I had a hot homemade Gluten Free pepperoni pizza on the table when he got home.  He devoured it.  Then he left on a camp out where he is working on his cooking merit badge.  A few hours later John came home from work, changed his clothes, and headed to the camp out.

Unfortunately we have to move because the house next door to us (we share a wall) is doing major renovation.  This construction project will last 1.5 years--which means non-stop dust and jackhammers and noise.  We are moving into a different house on December 14^th.  It is about five minutes away.  I’m trying to get excited, but the thought of packing and moving is stressful.