Another post office endeavor

We've been here almost 2 years now. But getting to the post office hasn't really become easier! ;) So here's the random adventure of today... Could be titled "4th time's a charm?" or "Why I hardly ever try to mail a letter..."

So yes. Today we finally made it. But it was the 4th try.

First one was a week ago. I wrote a letter for the first time since returning to China while Hadassah colored, as we were going on a picnic with friends and would be walking right past a place I'd seen a post office. But on the way there I didn't want to dampen the excitement of getting to the park by stopping, and on the way back, the kids were already melting down as it was past nap time. Another day.

Then on Tuesday the girls were both actually awake at the right time to go before the office closed at 4:30 PM (as listed on the English version of the university's website). Wrote a quick birthday card for my sister to accompany the other letter and finally made it out the door at 4 PM. Only to bump into Ryan, unexpectedly coming back to get some money to pay the taxi downstairs on his way to get documents from a random office to send for our taxes to be done. "Jump in with me!" he said, so I discarded my plan to borrow my friend's bike and went with him. The taxi dropped the girls and I off across the street from the office I'd seen. The sign was lighted up and everything, but the office was closed and empty. At least it was next door to "Zoo Coffee" for Hadassah to play at until Ryan picked us up on his way bike. Strike 2.

This morning I was determined. Ellie woke earlier than normal from her morning nap, so I figured she could get another little nap in the Ergo as I rode my friend's bike with Hadassah in the seat on the back. Took me four times of saying "let's go!" only to remember something I'd forgotten, but we finally got out the door and loaded up. And what a beautiful day for riding a bike!! We wound our way around to the place I'd found last year on campus that had a post office. Only to find the building was in renovations, and my gesturing to my letters and saying I wanted to buy postage to a lady at another random desk yielded no results, so I headed home. Ellie is taking longer to fall asleep in the Ergo carrier these days, so she was still moving around until we were almost home. Dassah confirmed that yes, her eyes were closed (since I didn't have a good angle to check) so I asked "Are you good, Dassah, if we keep riding?" and she was. Thankfully one of those last minute things I'd grabbed on my way out the door had been pretzels, and she was happily eating a snack as I rode.

So finally, I went to the only other place I knew around here. Down Cang Yuan Lu. Turn right on Dong Chuan Lu. Cross the big intersection at Hu Min Lu. And yes, it's open! Hadassah did a great job sitting on the bench sipping water from her cup or crawling around on it (told her she could get off ;) ) while I got the postage.

So, happy 21st birthday, Jubilee. Your card is finally in the mail. Look for it in the next 2-3 weeks or so. :)

But, we made it. Though Ellie woke up on the ride home, she was happy to just look around and wait to nurse until we were back. There were leftovers in the fridge for a quick warming up (since all of that riding had taken 1 1/2 hours!), and we even got to go outside to play after lunch.

 And with the sunshine so warm and two days of rain past, I couldn't resist Hadassah's desire to play in the puddles.

Especially when we saw some friends outside and they were doing it too. Sure, she managed to get her pants wet too, but hey, you're only a child once. And she'd been so patient riding on the back of a bike half the morning! I did "super baby!" with Ellie in the shade and enjoyed the children's delight. Though I don't think Hadassah understand why I didn't want to join her when she invited me to take my shoes off too. Maybe I should have... ;)

 But we had a happy Dassah in the elevator on the way up. Yes, we almost always end up with a stick too... We have a pile of them outside of our door.

You just never know what a day will hold! But what a beautiful day outside (at "moderate" air quality in addition!) it has been.

Picnic by the Huangpu River

It was a great family Saturday morning.

 Little girl likes to play just like Daddy...

 We went to our favorite park by the river... first time for Ellie!

 Her smiles and interest in life are the best!

 Dassah loves to explore. So much fun to see what catches her attention :)

The boats are often big. We enjoy watching them passed by, and Dassah is especially thrilled if they do a loud HONK!

 God's amazingness.

 We enjoyed our picnic. Forgot a blanket, but found some young grass that wasn't prickly!

 Dassah loved running over the bridge!

Brought back memories of when she wasn't even one year old and had to have help to do so - she kept wanting to do it until the grandparents wore out! ;)

 Still beauty.

 We wandered through the woods on the way back. Did us all good, and Dassah had fun for at least 15 minutes imagining things (like finding squirrels and chasing away growly bears) with her big bamboo stick :)

We are so thankful for times like these...

Walking before the sun went down

Looking back at last year's pictures, as I begin making our 2015 photo book, I noticed that the month of March definitely has the most pictures of them all. I have a feeling that this year we'll end up with the same imbalance. Spring is just so beautiful around here, it's hard to resist capturing it as best we can with the camera. The following works of art are courtesy of Ryan. When the day was so beautiful early last week, I called him and asked if he wanted to go for a walk while we still had the sun. He came home from work an hour early, and we so enjoyed God's creation...

 Blossoms over water

 Pink and green

 Camera effects adding to the artistry already there

 White against light blue... the day was absolutely perfect!

 Hadassah has discovered that if she goes up to people who have food, they usually give it to her. So although I had forgotten to bring bread for the birds (Murphy's Law, I always bring crumbs when the birds end up not being around and always forget when they end up being there...) she snagged a cracker from someone else. ;)

 Light and dark contrasts... Such a peaceful place to walk

 White and bright

 A sleepy little one woke up after a while. Oh how I love my sweet baby!

 So Ellie got some Daddy carry time on the way back while Hadassah got to ride in the Ergo. It had been almost a year since I carried her in the Ergo, so she thought it was pretty special! It was surprisingly not too hard either, despite her big girl size! And Ryan was ever the gentleman and gave me his shirt to wear since I thought it wasn't cold enough to warrant a sweater. I always underestimate the late afternoon wind, though, and somehow he's never as cold as I am, so it all worked out. :)

My big girl and her travel puppy!

 Pear blossoms in bloom

Hadassah always loves walking on this "balancing beam" - has since she started to walk a year and a half ago! How time flies...

Beauty. Thank You, Lord.

Celebrating the Resurrection

We started celebrations on Saturday night as we have to go so far to church that I knew I wouldn't want to cook on Sunday. When the guests were about to arrive I noticed that I'd unknowingly dressed both Hadassah and Ellie navy and stripes and polka dots, so of course I had to take a sister picture! But getting them BOTH to smile at the same time... yeah. Pictures get harder with more than one child and we only have two right now!

This is often life here. Hadassah always has things to say, Ryan is a great Daddy to fully enter in, and Ellie just watches.

We had a wonderful feast! One of our American friend families came and helped with the food, making the meat (which intimidates me usually!) and seven layer salad. I spent a lovely afternoon in the kitchen making the delicious sides... deviled eggs, cheesy potatoes, bacon green beans, and white, soft crescent rolls!

And of course wonderful desserts - great excuse to make them! Did a brownie strawberry trifle and a key lime pie, which turned out to be the favorite of most!

I meant to get a picture of all the people at the table, but forgot until the other family had left. But I'm so glad I thought to get a picture with "Y" and "E." These ladies have been such sweet, true friends. And I honestly don't know where I would be without them. "Y" was our first neighbor, "E" is just a few buildings over now, and they have both done (and continue to do) so much translation for me and are my guides to how life works over here! Their English is outstanding.

Easter morning came early. There is no time change in China, and so it gets light here around 5:30 AM and often Hadassah is making noise pretty soon after... But when we have such sites like these early in the morning, it makes everything better. Already, Hadassah loves "reading" to her little sister. :)

I love it. The cuteness! And yes, Hadassah often has one sock on and one sock off as she loves to pull her socks off!

After these cute cute snapshots, when I got them all dressed in their dresses - running behind time of course - I tried to snap a quick picture of them before we headed out the door. But Hadassah kept pulling Ellie's bow off and Ellie wasn't her usually smiley self around the camera, so yeah... Sometimes the unplanned snapshots are best anyway!

But we had cuties in the car on the way to church!

Without even trying Hadassah and Ryan matched quite well! So springy - I love this green color!

We asked someone to get a quick family picture at church. But already we're realizing family pictures are harder to get with more than one child! ;)

For a few minute, Hadassah wanted to hold Ellie's hand... Gives this Mama's heart joy - especially since there are too often times these days she's trying to be not so nice!

I had Ellie jump on my lap to the song "See What a Morning" which just added to the joy of singing and celebrating Christ's resurrection!

And what a beautiful line-up! Songs about the resurrection are my favorite, and to have them all at once is so much fun. Hadassah laughed and smiled so big when we sang the last song, as when that one plays at home, she always says, "It's my favorite!" so was pretty thrilled that they did it at church!

Ellie was her smiley self kicking beside me for the first part of the service. Then  I actually got to hear most of the sermon this week too, which was a blessing, as Ellie nursed just before the service and then slept half way through, and Hadassah did a fairly good job being quiet with books and puzzles and coloring.

Some friends invited us to join their Easter lunch after church, so we got a second feast which was delicious! We were somewhat regretting it on the way home, though, when our taxi driver took a long, slow way, the traffic wasn't great, and it was 3 PM before we got home. So late for Hadassah's nap, and Ellie had a hard time settling down to sleep the rest of the day after 3 naps in the carrier. It's the reason we usually just pack PB&J for the car on the way home. It is so hard to live so far from most of our church Body. It's hard not to have the time to really connect with most of the people there. But, we are so grateful that we have them to worship with, for the friends we know close by, and for the friendship of those further away too. Hey, at least it's a sign that there are SO many people at our church we would want to get to know more if we lived closer! :) But, I am grateful for where God has us. It's not perfect - life never is - but it is full of so many blessings. I just have to remember them and not get lost in the things I'd like to change. :)

And the biggest blessing of all? Christ is Risen. He is Risen Indeed.

A walk to Burger King and back

Walking without children is such a treat. I guess I've always been a walker... I used to go for walks along our dirt road almost every day growing up, and I fell in love with Ryan while we walked and talked over many different weekends. So when we had a date last Friday (so thankful for friends who swap babysitting!!), the weather was just too good to get in a taxi or on the subway. We walked. And talked and talked, about anything and everything. I felt like I jabbered, just happy to have his undivided attention for 2 1/2 hours! :)

 I love my man. And everything is so much more vibrant when spring is in the air, blossoms are all around, and you're walking hand in hand.

 And I love that he carries my bag even when it's pink and makes me blush by randomly pulling me into swing dancing in the middle of our apartment complex. You should have heard the cries of Wàiguó rén! as a group of about 10 kids rushed over to rush and giggle, especially when he kissed me at the end. I don't like making a scene, but I don't mind it as much when I'm so in love with him. And the springtime does make me want to dance!

 The Shanghai Lily against gray always makes us happy.

 We found a little hidden path along the way and breathed deeply of the scent. I love all the white and pink blossoms out this time of year! And the way the perfume hits you at unexpected times brings such delight to the senses - especially when you smell many different random - and often not so great - things as you walk along a road with many little shops!

 And I know... Burger King isn't exactly on the top 10 or even top 100 places to go on a date! ;) But when we wanted a burger and wanted to walk, it was pretty nice. :) It took about 40 minutes at a fast pace (felt so so good!) to get to the mall it's in, and we even snagged a semi-secluded outside seat. We'd eaten pretty healthy all week, so the burger and fries tasted great! And especially with all the walking, we felt justified!

 We picked up treats from Dairy Queen (funny how the few familiar fast food shops make you feel at home even when you rarely stopped there in the States!) and sat in this romantic spot to eat. :) We were going to sit closer to the river, but upon further inspection thought it looked better from farther away. ;)

 The ice cream was delicious, and it reminded us of a time in our engagement when we sat on a random piece of cement along a road. I love building memories with this guy.

 Legs swinging, hand in hand... We felt like kids.

 Then, knowing Ellie would be needing to go to bed soon (though she thankfully took a bottle of pumped milk while we were out) we began our twilight walk home. Shanghai does a great job with their outdoor lights.

 Talking, laughing, and enjoying the random sites of small stores.

 You just never know what you're going to see. Yes, that's a wedding dress. On an e-bike. Randomly parked outside a formals shop, with no one in site. How I wanted to know the back story of that one!

 Near the end of our walk, we focused on thankfulness. "What are you thankful for about China, Ryan?" His first response was "that tree." It's such a beautiful, iconic site in Shanghai. We continued to name things... a truck that looked like it was two different vehicles welded together. The ease of walking places. The colored lights decorating trees.

Then it was home sweet home. We remembered how beautiful it looked outside this time of day, and vowed to take more family walks after dinner with the weather getting nice. And as we went inside to a big girl who didn't cry at all this time (finally making progress!) and a baby who was wailing (but calmed down as soon as I took her, yes, it makes a mommy feel needed!) we were refreshed. We had time. Just us. Together.

Last year, part of why we wanted to leave China before we'd planned is because it just didn't seem like we were ever going to get regular date nights. We really value time to just be Ryan and Anna and continue building friendship and love while being out away from home and chores. It's not absolutely necessary to a good marriage, but it is so encouraging and a blessing. And just look how God has provided. We serve an amazing Lord. Sometimes, we just need to keep trusting and holding on, for you never know what is around the next bend.