Christmas lights....

I love to go down to Temple Square and feel the cold and see the lights and the nativities. This year 

was no exception. Unfortunately  not all our friends could join us, but we had fun with our good friends the Sniders. They have three ADORABLE kids that I just love to death. I got to babysit them earlier in the week and we had a good time. Because it was only 7 of us, we all piled into their van, which  made parking easier as there was a Jazz game and MoTab concert at the same time. The kids did really well and I got to take pictures of those cute kids. Daniel pushed Noah around the whole time and they were happy campers. It was fun. I was able to take some pretty pictures. It was the next day before I realized we missed the Windows at Macy's. I hope they do it every year, because I won't be able to make it down again this year. The girls loved the fountain at City Creek with the fire and water and music. I love traditions!

 The Snider fam.

 The girls. I loved Grace's little purple hat.

 The fountain was pretty cool. I'd not been to City Creek before.

 Noah all bundled up. He was quiet and happy the whole evening.

 I just love the lights and the temple. It's just beautiful.

 Daniel had to walk slightly hunched over because Grace's head was close to the ceiling and didn't want to bonk her head.

She was done by the time we got back to the car.

Yimi and Stuart

Yimi was probably our biggest help in China. Every time I needed something translated, or someone to interpret, or money on my phone, I called Yimi. This spring she started dating, her now boyfriend, Stuart. He is awesome. They bath have been very good to us. The Wednesday before we left they took us to dinner. It was a yummy dinner and a good time.

They are awesome and we wish the best for them. I am planning on keeping in contact with these two. We love you and miss you Yimi!

Our last activity in China

On November 13, our last Tuesday, we went to dinner with the IT department from the factory. They  have been such a wonderful group of people for us. So many friends and so much help. They also gave us an amazing gift.

Dinner was yummy. Here are our last few pictures.

 Digging in!

 Garlic spinach, fried beef and beans, cucumbers, bamboo shoots. All very good.

 Seafood and mushroom soup.

 Yummy!

 Fish. Head half only. It was really good fish. Like really good.

 Fatty pork. It's like spam that's all fat. I didn't even try it.

Frog legs. It actually tasted pretty good. Like chicken. I'm not kidding. I hope you get the chance to try frog sometime.

The group. Back row:Mike, Charlie, Ray, Michael, Dragon, James, Ashley, Daniel. Front row: Molly, Karen, Yimi, Angela, Licy. I'm going to miss them all so much.

As a going away gift, they gave us a calligraphy set with custom stamps. Mine says "xia bai tu" and Daniel's is Da Xiong Mao. Little white rabbit and big panda. They also gave a book on how to write the characters and a practice mat so we can continue to work on our Chinese after we are home.

Mine is on the left, Daniel's on the right.

We already miss them so much.

Our Trip to Fuzhou

On Sunday Oct. 28 we took the train up to Fuzhou, a city about 2 1/5 hours north of Xiamen by train. It was a fun day, but a long one. We left for the train station at 7:15 and arrived in Fuzhou around 10:45. We had Yimi, Stuart, Molly, Tanner (a visitor from Clearfield) and Daniel and myself for our little adventure.

We spent some time on a shopping street that had 9 alleys or side streets that went crossed it. The alleys were about 300-800 years old. Now having said that, they didn't look that old. But we explored a couple and it was quite interesting.  We had a lunch of dumplings on this street and then wandered some more.

Then we bussed/walked to a small island that was much less impressive than the guide book. After that we headed for dinner. Dinner was good old fashioned Chinese food. I'm going to miss that!

It was a fun day.

Pictures:

 On the train.

 Yimi.

 Confused at something Daniel was showing them.

 The country side - the rice fields.

 Those gray arches in the center are actually entrances to family burial grounds. The cremation remains are kept in a crypt.

 Weird food.

 Getting on the bus.

 On the old street.

 Small incense holder.

 The ceiling.

 Looking out from the roof of the temple at the taller apartment buildings.

 Tanner ringing the gong-like bell bowl. It sounded very cool.

 Popular because I'm a westerner.

 Talking with other tourists.

 My fortune. It pretty much says "chill out, wait for things to happen, enjoy things as they are." Good advice.

 The awesome little cabinet where the fortunes are kept.

 Yimi and Molly. Two of our besties from Xiamen.

 Daniel at lunch. They were shuijia - dumplings. They were pretty good.

 Stuart (Yimi's boyfriend) on one of the very old alleys.

 Molly telling Daniel about what we were seeing.

 One of the locks.

 The cornice.

 One of the alleys.

 Carved Jade. The way they are each connected means the entire thing was carved from one piece of jade with no breaks.

 He was laying out this clay that is then baked hard, lacquered, and the then the shape is covered in gold gilt.

 Wood carving.

 The tiny little island with European buildings.

 The view from dinner. Those older buildings are hundreds of years old.

 Molly at one of the door ways.

It was a fun trip and we enjoyed spending extra time with some of our best friends from Xiamen.