Tree Service

Our backyard trees were infested by some kind of bug. It made the leaves bulge out in bubbles, and when I opened them (I know, sick), out came little flying nats. GROSS!

So the gardeners came in to cut the branches.

Little did they know, there were two hard working boys willing to help.


It was hilarious to hear their exaggerated grunts and strains to prove their toughness.


Tanner doing his share.


And in no time, all the trees were trimmed and bugged branches hauled away.


Hunter thought it was a bonus to find an old plastic candy-filled Easter egg from back in March. A little too well hid, apparently.

Looking inside, we saw imported candy, don't worry, we still didn't eat it.

Happy Birthday Barry!

So here's to celebrating... Barry style.

1. We said hello to roughly 37 people.
2. Dropped off a very small gift to someone.
3. Hugged our family (Malissa Grannis, Calvin Messmen) good-bye as they flew back home.
4. Taught English- and taught slang from a popular American song.
5. Met a new friend, Grace at the grocery store.
6. I wore blue.
7. Colored too many Star Wars pictures (but for Barry it would've been transformers as a kid).

What's a birthday without balloons? Then we bought 20 bottled waters and set off to find all the people that deserved them most...

These guys. EVERY single day, there are groups of them sweating and grinding just to make the landscaping pretty here in ShangHai. I love the way Tanner notices them and always tells them "XingKu, XingKu!" Which means "you're working hard". Chinese people LOVE to hear that, and Tanner loves the response he gets.

The boys memorized lines in Chinese "thanks for your service. You work very hard. Drink this water." Then they'd hop off the bike bench and hand it over.

Side note: When buying water, Hunter got some peach juice. He asked if he could have it to himself, and not have to share w/ Tanner. To avoid the envy of his little brother, he even said he'd wait 'till we got home to drink it. It really was a treat, as I never buy this normally.

Then we got to the bottom of our bag and only had 2 waters left, but the last group had 3 guys.
Hunter realized this too. And I told him "we'll wait 'till one of the guys leave so we can give the others the 2 waters."

But kids are so pure and innocent. Quietly he said:

"Mom, I think I want to give my peach juice to the man that doesn't get water." Lame that I took a picture of such a quiet moment, but I had to.

Earlier on this venture Hunter said "Mom, are we sharing the gospel when we give water?" I said "Sure!"

Then I thought about Christ being the living water, when we partake of it, we will never thirst again... and this is about as much missionary work we are allowed to do in China.

In China, missionary work is against the law, currently. You cannot proselyte your religious beliefs with the local people, only with foreign passport holders.

I thought long and hard about what Hunter asked on this special day. While we cannot share the gospel, our actions can have just as strong of an impact. And the time will come when we can freely share of 'the living water' with all of our Chinese brothers and sisters.

But for today, we can share His love... through kind words, bottled water, and peach juice.

Happy Birthday Barry, we felt you close today. Thank you for all that you have done to mean so much to so many people.

Taking People Watching To The Next Level

Tim has told me I have a staring problem. It embarrasses him sometimes. He must be relieved when I wear sunglasses in public. Honestly,I'm never judging; I'm just a people lover and I love to learn about people and wonder what they are thinking.

It's gotten out of control. I've even taken pictures of people. Sick, I admit. But there are some things I just have to show you. The picture would save me 1000 words.

But I know you well enough that I know that you want to see. So here's one for you... while we were vacationing in Australia:

You love a person that can confidently wear spandex in 2009.

But now I'll zoom out...


See, now you love him more... too sweet, no? It almost looks like I photo-shoped his son in the picture. You should've seen him talking so sweet to his little one.

But of course, I'd never video someone. Not while Tim's there, I mean.

Cooking

Like most kids, these guys love to help in the kitchen.

Hunter is the mixer (without any help from me anymore, seriously), and Tanner is the bowl holder.


So funny to see how serious Tanner takes his job too. lol


Here are the beginning stages of mashed potatoes.

I think Tanner's job here is to make sure there's water in the pot.

A Sweet Occasion!

A very special event here in ShangHai! My fellow foreign friend (yah, it's weird to be called a foreigner, lol) decided to join us! Wenda became a member of our church. It's amazing to see all the steps that took place leading up to this sweet occasion.

Here is a picture of Wenda with all the other 'foreigners' that attended her special event. It was the 2nd one I've been to that was done all in Mandarin. I got to give a talk. It was amazing to see everyone participate in the event with all their different language abilities.

Taiwanese return missionaries spoke. People who have studied on their own, people of all different nationalities came together as one to support and be there for our friend Wenda.

Congrats Wenda, you are a fine 'example of the believers'. 1Timothy 4: 12

-Tim and I are off to the far right, front row. And you see the boys on the front row as well.

ShangHai Zoo

We went to the Zoo, and had 'great fun'! Note: 'great fun'- a word I'm adding to my vocab after establishing a great friendship with Charmain, from India...

Hunter with the Flamingos.

Tim got the boys 'binoculars', or as Hunter would say "Bio-noculars".

Camel rides available upon request.

Me just a sheet of glass away from this amazing creature. It truly felt like a spiritual experience seeing this majestic animal.

Then we saw them outside. You know how when you were a kid, you used to think that above all the noise, some animals would hear and interact with you... like they knew you or heard you?

Apparently, I never out-grew that. And I kept calling for this panda. Look to the Left of the tires, he's hanging upside down. Then later he did summer salts back to back down the hills. I told the kids "you know he did that just because you came today, right?"

My dudes.

My dudes.

Bio-noculars.

Look closely, do you see that black vertical object? That's a bear on a leash.

There he is again. Animal rights activists, don't come after me... lol

Then there was the poodles that kept this positions for at least 10 minute stretches.

This part cracked me up. We all know Ostriches can be some real mean birds, possibly deadly. And look, home boy here is pecking his head over the 3 foot fence, like it's nothin'.

Here he is giving me the eye.

And instead of making the fence high and restraining the animal, the sign indicates restraining the human, lol. Let's translate "please don't step over the fence to chase the ostriches".

This is a forget-me-not Hunter picked for me. I will forever have a soft spot in my heart for the name of this flower. While in Taiwan, Dave (my #3 brother) sent a one liner "forget me not". My brothers are some of the best!

Tim swinging with the boys. I wish I had pictures of all the fun stuff I do with them, but there's never a photographer at those times, ;).

My dude.

Tanz in his favorite spot.

Never mind the random elephant held by a very thin little rope (think pencil thin). Not that a thicker rope would restrain him, but anyway.

The latter is so you can crawl up top his back for pictures. We opted out.

But this little baby reminded me of the one we met in Thailand named "chocolate". I loved him at first sight!

Apparently the feeling was mutual, lol, he kept slobbering us with his trunk.

Then there was a part of the trip where you get to get in a vehicle, and go through large caged sections of the zoo (think Jurassic park with the ultra high voltage tall fences). This was the Lion section. There were tons, everywhere.

Then the bear section. We must've seen every species of Bear within.

This on just jumped out of the lake.

Then the Tiger section. this one got close. But as you can see, there was glass between us.

Funny little primates, they had limbs that reminded me of humans.

Then a final picture of the boys and I.

The Other Reason Why I Married Him...

Between the Kites, 3-D puzzles, industrial fire crackers, and now Nerf guns... I don't know what the dude is going to bring home now days.

I mean really, how's a wife ever gonna complain about when she gets flowers when I get this?


Sure is a fun guy.


Even Tanner learned how to use it.

But you know of course Mr. Chen had to get in on the action. Swear the man was a soldier in another life... oh you just wait 'till I post about the water gun fight he had with the neighborhood kids. Pretty Intense... intentional capitalization on that Intense.

Tim wanted a picture of the dudes and their weaponry. Thanks for the fun, babe!