Heartache...

I have been debating back and forth about whether or not to write about our day yesterday, but finally decided that most of you would want to know.  Mitchell got a call late last night and was informed that Ericsson is stopping it's R&D work in Boulder by March next year.  It honestly feels like someone died, that is the only way to describe it.  We have been part of the Ericsson family (in Boulder) for 10+ years now and they are truly part of our family in Colorado.  It is almost surreal that we can't go home to what was.  Mitchell has had such a fantastic journey there and completely fell in love with his job, the atmosphere, the work and especially the people.  I can't even begin to tell you how awful we feel for all of our friends who are now losing their jobs.  I will be praying for a miracle...a miracle to keep this amazing group of (super productive and dedicated) people together.  Mitchell says it was just a business decision, but a huge mistake in my opinion.  What does this mean for us?  We have no idea.  We are still in China for 2 years, but won't have a job to "go home" to when we return.  We are trying not to focus on it too much because it is so far off, but our hearts go out to our friends who are dealing with it now.

Catching up on a few pictures (no not the house ones yet...getting to it though) :)

Here are a few pictures of the playground at ISB, it is pretty impressive.  Also one of Addi's lunch menu, nothing like we have at home!  Notice 9/17 Chicken stew with Coke, too funny! :)  I will be in the kids' classrooms on Friday and will take more pictures then.

Here are a couple of Truman...he is such a messy eater I have to give him a bath in the sink a lot. :)

Forgot to add...

Things I am missing the most - Our friends.  I finally got pictures hung on the wall and I find myself stopping and starring at them every time I pass.  We miss you all soooo much.

Things I like about China - The Jonsson family.  I don't know what I would do without you guys.  Kristin, you have been amazing...thank you so much for making us feel so welcome and not completely alone and clueless. :)

Here are some of our favorite pictures (there are a lot more throughout the house)...

Rugby

Rugby season is in session!  Henry has successfully had two practices and absolutely loves it.  He is so excited because everyone who is 7 and up gets to start tackling next week.  Should be quite fun! :)  Hopefully they will pair them by size and not by age though!  I will be sure to take pictures...they got their uniforms on Sunday, so now he won't feel so left out because he doesn't match.  Here are a few pictures I took last week though.

Oh Adeline...

Addi has apparently been taking random pictures of herself lately.  When I went to upload pictures to add to the last blog post I ran across these.  They are absolutely hilarious and I thought you all might enjoy them too. :)  What a dork!!

Updates...

I will be honest...I never in a million years expected to be so busy here.  So busy, that I am struggling to find time to write an email, make a phone call and write on the blog.  It is seriously ridiculous.  I love it, don't get me wrong, I would rather have lots to do instead of nothing...I just never thought it would be the case.  I keep saying as soon as this happens (get all of our furniture, for example) I will have time, but then something else comes up too.  I will try to make the blog a bigger priority and write more often. 

We had our first out of town guest over for dinner this week.  Mitchell's colleague, Cash, from Dallas was in town and he was able to fit us into his crazy schedule.  :)  We had a fantastic evening, but it started (and ended) with an adventure.  Not 5 minutes after they walked in the door the power went out.  I don't think I have explained the power/utility situation in China yet and it definitely needs mentioning. :)  In Beijing you prepay your utilities and if you forget to recharge your cards you run out...no power, no water, no gas.  It is interesting.  Our garage is currently closed because they are resurfacing it (and have been for 2 weeks now) and we haven't thought to go down and check the meter for the electricity.  We can recharge the card at the clubhouse for power though (water and gas have to be done at the bank) thank goodness.  Once we had the lights back on we were able to share a nice supper and night of fellowship.  Mitchell took Cash to the clubhouse to get a taxi back to his hotel and they were told that you have to call 2-3 hrs in advance to get a taxi.  Yikes!  Instead one of the workers (Chinese-speaking only) volunteered to drive him back to his hotel because it was near her house.  Thankfully it was fine, but what a story for him to tell! :)

Nikki took me to the "secret handbag shop" this week to do a little unnecessary (but needed) shopping!  You walk down an alley and knock on a big steel door and wait for someone to come and open it for you.  Once inside there are rooms for everything...watches, clothes, purses, wallets, glasses, shoes, etc.  It is fabulous.  It is said to be better quality knock offs than the touristy markets...either way, it was a fantastic adventure and a must do with visitors!! :)  I bought a purple leather purse (channeling my inner diva for you Em!!), a leather briefcase for Mitchell, red converse shoes for Henry, a pink/purple/orange/yellow Coach purse for Addi (hahaha), a North Face coat for me and one for Henry, and pair of traditional silk Chinese pajamas for Addi all for $150!!  It was fabulous!

So we (I) broke down and got an ayi this week.  Ayi in Chinese means "auntie" and they are hired to be a helper...to clean, do laundry, help with the kids, babysit, etc.  I didn't want to have one because I thought I could do it all on my own.  Who am I kidding?  I don't have time to clean a 4000sq ft house and take care of the kids and be involved in their school...let alone have outings to the secret handbag shop! :)  Anyway, our driver recommended her so we decided why not giver her a try.  Well she was great...and then she quit on day 3 because the work was too hard.  Talk about making me feel mean!  Although the only thing I asked her to do differently from what she was doing was to use cleaning solutions...she cleaned (8hrs) on Monday with only water.  She did make dumplings with Addi one afternoon though.

Anyway, we interviewed more and found a new ayi who started yesterday and the kids absolutely love her.  She is super nice (doesn't speak English), very thorough and does a great job.  She starts full time on October 7.  They have already been making things to give her the next time she comes. 

Our indoor pool at the clubhouse opened this week, so we took the kids there on Saturday.  They had a fabulous time and we basically had the whole pool to ourselves.  The only down side is that they forgot to build a shallow end to the pool.  The hot tub is great, huge and shallow and the pool is big and really nice, but you can't touch. :)  Too funny!!  Anyway, here are a few pictures from the afternoon...

 

 

Hooray for Henry!!

Henry received the Dragon Award this week in class for sharing his ideas, asking questions and always remembering to raise his hand.  Great job buddy!! :)

Alive and well...

No I am not sick, haven't fallen off the planet, been eaten by aliens, etc. etc.  I just had a long and busy week, but am truly sorry for those of you who have been waiting and checking for an update and were disappointed. :)  Mitchell was in San Jose this week, but by golly I survived! :)  It was a crazy week and we had a lot happening (and to be quite honest, I was exhausted!).  Henry is signed up for rugby, and two ASAs (after school activities) at ISB, Lego building and Sports Medley.  Addi is officially in dance class, or "ballerina school", and is loving every minute of it.  She has a couple of girls from her class at school in her dance class and that makes it amazingly exciting.  :) I had a meeting almost every day last week and poor Truman had to just come along.  I am doing my best to be extroverted, get involved and try to make this our home.  It has been a struggle, but I am making progress. :)

Some of the highlights of our week - I bought plants!!  Kristin took Nikki and I to the Beidong Flower Market and helped us negotiate a fantastic price!  Our house has really livened up with color and feels a lot more welcoming.  Mr. Ren got rear-ended in our minivan, it is currently at the "factory" getting fixed and we have a loaner car that looks exactly the same as the other one.  I met two expat families that live in our neighborhood!  Both from Indiana and both super nice.  The drain decided to stop working in the master bath room shower this week and flooded the bathroom floor while the kids were in the middle of a shower.  Good thing there is also a drain in the floor outside the shower! :)  

I somehow convinced Mitchell to take Friday off when he got home from his trip instead of going in to the office.  It was only fair since he did travel on the weekend to get to the US, right?!  That is how I justified it anyway, but he still took a vacation day...go figure.  We met Dan and Nikki for a lunch date (since the kids were in school) in The Village at a Japanese restaurant.  I forgot to write down the name, so for now it doesn't matter...however I will be going back to find out because it was a monumental day for me.  I had sushi!  Seriously, I am not kidding!!  Most of you are either laughing at me or not believing me, but I ate real raw fish, sushi and here is the kicker...I liked it. :)  I know I can hardly believe it myself!!  It was crazy.  It was fantastic to go on a date, especially in the middle of the day, and to try something new.  After lunch I somehow convinced Mitchell to go with me to IKEA and just grab a couple of things.  It turned out to be a nightmare for multiple reasons (one being that we bought a mattress for Addi's bottom bunk, had it delivered and when it got here realized we had ordered the wrong size).  Needless to say, Mitchell hates going to IKEA even more now...this is how he got over it...

Let it also be noted that he went to bed at 730pm that night and didn't get up until 230pm on Saturday.  What a dork!!

Truman had his first bottle of formula this weekend.  I had Mitchell buy a couple of tubs of Similac at Target while he was gone to experiment.  Truman is still nursing, but when there is too much going on around him he tends to not eat very well.  He totally loves the bottle and had no issues drinking formula.  It was hilarious, he was so excited that he could be sitting up and drinking at the same time.  He also had his first helping of re-fried beans, which he also liked. :)  He wants to be big so badly and eat everything we are, but doesn't quite have the chewing it up concept down yet.  We are working on it though!

He was so gross!! :)

The other big news of the week is that Adeline cut off 5 inches of her hair!  The kids had school pictures last week and I gave Henry a haircut and Addi asked me why I never did that for her.  After a long drawn out conversation about the difference between long and short hair, she decided that she wanted to try to cut her's shorter for a while.  I didn't want to do it at first, but knew it would grow out if she didn't like it so I didn't try to talk her out of it.  She liked it and then was bummed that no one at school noticed.  She is now ready for it to grow back out...and the never ending cycle starts already! :)

I am sure I have more to share with you from last week, but will have to add them a different day.  I promise I will get pictures of our house and neighborhood uploaded soon.  It is taking a crazy long time making them smaller and then uploading them.  I am working on it though!  I hope you are all doing well!!  We miss you dearly!

Things I miss the most - our family in Iowa.  It was a lot easier when we were in Colorado and I could talk to you all whenever I wanted.  Our phone still works, but the time difference is so hard!

Things I like about China - other expat families.  Everyone works together and can relate to you.