I shudder each time I think I what happened last week to little Yue Yue, and haven't had the frame of mind or desire to imagine or write about the scenario that left a toddler who was hit by a van to die on the side of the road in front of hundreds of people. The problem is that I can imagine it completely. There's more behind the story, let me assure you. Imagine a culture where the Good Samaritan is usually accused of being the bad guy.
I think that my friend Amy summed up my thoughts much better than I ever could have.
I recommend reading this post to understand the circumstance more fully, from another who has lived in China for many years and has hope and compassion for those who walk in fear.
It is most definitely that time of year-- soup time. And I have most definitely found that when yummy (or even outright delicious) soups have become part of our weekly meal planning, both my time and my grocery budget expands. We are no strangers to soup, and living in Vancouver, we have soup every week at Regent after Tuesday chapels, and every week with our small group. This week I had the privilege of washing dishes after Regent's soup lunch-- 500 bowls rinsed by hand before putting in the Hobart. But I digress. I wanted to post a few of our soup recipes that we make over and over again because, well, they are JUST SO YUMMY!
Hope you can try some-- I frequently put the ingredients in the crockpot to cook and smell throughout the day.
I made this one last night to honor my friend Jen who claims to dislike swiss chard. This was just to prove to her that it can be delicious (plus, our garden is full of it!) She called this morning asking for the recipe-- even her 7 month old son packed it in!
If you love Thai food, then this one's for you. I've made it a couple times as well, using tofu instead of shrimp. It takes some shopping for... or you could get a thai soup packet I suppose.
This is as pretty as my yard gets, and my house, for that matter.
Do you like that little window gem? Josie made it herself, even the little decorations on the corner of the frame. This was a craft project we did with the community last week-- a huge hit and really fun for me too. Just contact paper on one side with a little paper frame, and then put colorful leaves any which way, and seal it up with contact paper again! Tada!
And our little corner of the world. These red bushes have been making me smile all week. I love fall!
With the influx of children and their increase of age, we are realizing that the toys we have are becoming greater in number and more spread around the entire house.
So we've had to find some storage solutions.
Luckily there was a huge sale today at Michael's. We are now proud owners of all the toy baskets we could use.
Yesterday morning Asher came into our bed before the sun was up (which isn't saying much these days), but as Dave and I lay there half asleep, Asher started making blowing and buzzing sounds with his mouth. This went on for quite some time, and Dave and I both found ourselves sprayed by him. Later that day, I had a candle lit and he began the process again, only making his "hot" sound too. I realized he was practicing blowing out the candle. Here's a little clip that would explain just why he was practicing this particular skill. You see, I think he's determined to make the candle go out with breath, and not with fingers during his next opportunity.
As suspected, Josie has been enjoying all of Asher's new birthday presents immensely. We carried a box of toys from my mom home with us on the plane and Josie has been waking up early to make sure she has as much time as possible to enjoy them. I think she actually learned how to play during our weeks away and has been totally immersed in building legos and puzzles lately which I've been thankful for.
These little gems were given to Asher from our good friend Jamie-- and guess who has played with them the most?
But, I have been impressed that Asher was able to stack them on top of each other by himself. And today, we made it all the way to the playground sans-stroller and without me carrying Asher. He walked by himself the entire way! I'm impressed. This little guy is sure growing up fast!
And now, when people ask me how old my kids are, I can respond-- I have a one year old and a two year old. I don't really blame them that I get raised eyebrows and a look of awe.
Getting back to Vancouver a couple days ago I realized just HOW NICE it was to be with friends and family for an extended time. I think I almost forgot what it was like to have my own house, my own sink full of dishes, my own loads of laundry needing washing next door, my own clutter in the house.
Boy was it nice to be with friends and family. Nice that my daughter can look through these pictures and identify her cousins.
Nice for my kids to know they had cousins. Nice for us to know we have friends -- some of who have known us almost 15 years.
Some who have knows us our entire lives.
I think Dave's college friend Luke summed it up pretty well when we said goodbye to each other after several days together. "Oh, it hurts to say goodbye, I was just getting used to being together!"
But back at home, we arrived in time to go to church and help with Sunday School, and then to a birthday party of our 2 neighbor's two year old girls.. and I'm refreshed to realize that we are here now, and making good friends again. Friends who are becoming like family.
After spending close to a week in Wheaton celebrating my 10th reunion with such wonderful people, we traveled to Michigan to spend time with Dave's college roommates. Wonderful hardly describes what it's like to be with people you adore, and to have time to spend with them that allows for walks on the beach or along dirt roads with falling leaves, mulitple cups of coffee and pancake breakfasts. Sharing stories of the past 10 years and watching your children play together. That is special beyond words. Fun for me to get to know Dave's friends better-- and even watch video footage of early college years. Some things have changed! (and some things haven't!) Here are some photos from our time in MI with the "Mother Russia" (the name of the house Dave lived with these guys in) crew.
I do have about 2000 other photos to talk about our time in Sawyer, MI, but since this is one of the only pictures I have of our whole family smiling, I thought it deserved its own post!
We are here in Wheaton, getting ready for homecoming weekend, and having a great time (despite my children's facial expressions:) Check out their new experiences on "the farm"-- so fun to experience a mid-west Autumn!
