Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Home sweet home
We arrived back in Chengdu safely last night. This morning we awoke to a bright sunny day - and we are already missing the sky. Nonetheless, it's nice to be home and get things unpacked. Back to our regularly scheduled life.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
America
We've enjoyed our time in America. We leave on Tuesday, April 27. You'll notice some themes in these pictures, things we have really enjoyed here that we just don't have available to us in China - grassy lawns, clear blue skies, and big clean playgrounds. We've been really glad that our girls have had this past month or so to experience and enjoy these things. We have really appreciated all the little things that make the States such an easy place to live.
We'd planned on just spending two weeks here but that turned into more than a month. That meant that we got to see spring bloom in all its glory. When we got here everything was brown and now the daffodils have bloomed and faded, the trees have all leafed out, and the lilacs are blooming.
Just arrived in America after about 21 hours of travel.
Puzzle time with Grandma
The whole reason we came to the US - so Julie could receive treatment for MS at the Cleveland Clinic.
Refilling the bird feeder.
Arby's. Something we don't have in the PRC.
A rest stop on the way to visit Phil's sister and family in Pennsylvania.
Lilian meets her cousin Micah for the first time.
Phil's sister Miriam with her nieces.
We had a gorgeous day to spend in Harrisburg, PA. It's a nice little city.
"Are you sure Canadian geese are safe to turn your back on?"
Downtown Harrisburg.
Enjoying a brisk morning on Doug and Miriam's deck.
Exploring the Pennsylvania woods.
Tracking some deer.
Beautiful emptiness.
Back in Ohio, at the playground closest to Phil's parents' house, where we stayed while we were in the US.
At an orchard.
Puppies for sale outside the Kidron livestock auction.
Calves to be auctioned.
Another great thing about America - drinking fountains!
Lily throws a fit.
Road trip!
On the way to visit Phil's grandparents, aunt and uncle, and cousins in Indiana.
Lovely day for a drive. The sky here is so unbelievably blue.
Dairy Snack was closed, so second choice for lunch was Mike's Dairy Bar.
Maddie's great grandpa tells her a Three Bears story.
An amazing playground in Ft. Wayne.
Family around the dinner table.
Aunt Joy introduces us to Bill Peet.
Four generations.
Back in Ohio, Maddie teaches Lily how to play the piano with her feet.
Julie loves Cracker Barrell. I (Phil) don't know why, really, but she does.
Oh, the delight.
Brand spankin' new Dover Park.
Lily and the stray cat regarded each other. Lily was fascinated with and terrified of the cat.
Maddie and Carly.
Wes, Jessica, and Carly drove up from North Carolina to visit.
Hanging out in the garage while the children play.
A grilled dinner on the back porch.
The longest line we had to wait in the whole time we were in the States - for ice cream at Softies.
Coloring Easter eggs.
The day before Easter, a rabbit dug a little burrow in the front yard.
Easter egg hunt with some friends.
Easter morning.
Easter.
The Ohio and Erie Canal towpath.
Lily's chocolate bunny (on the left).
Great Amish-style home cooking.
A trip to Amish country.
The Farmerstown auction.
Maddie, ewe, two lambs.
Grandpa puts Madeleine to work.
Lily hones her streaking skills.
America is pricey.
Swings! So rare to ever find a good swing in China.
Grandpa finds more chores for Madeleine to do.
A really friendly horse by RW Leather, a great Amish-owned leather shop near Walnut Creek.
Picking dandelions outside the shop.
The girls love drinking fountains.
Mandy, our former student who now studies in St. Louis, came to visit us!
More swings.
Darryl and Karen Miller generously invited us to come spend some time with their miniature horses. Maddie was a natural around the horses.
The house Phil lived in from when he was two until he was in kindergarten. From here on out the pictures are a bit out of order.
Another lovely day for a drive.
The local library had some chicks in the kids' section.
That same friendly horse at RW Leather.
At the Millers' horse farm.
The white speck down there is Madeleine, who had run after half a dozen deer. She did not catch them.
Milkshakes at Blazin' Burgers.
Enjoying the lawn. Maddie never gets to lie on the ground in China.
Another trip to Blazin' Burgers. Lunch this time.
And that's it. Our next blog entry will be from China again!
We'd planned on just spending two weeks here but that turned into more than a month. That meant that we got to see spring bloom in all its glory. When we got here everything was brown and now the daffodils have bloomed and faded, the trees have all leafed out, and the lilacs are blooming.
Just arrived in America after about 21 hours of travel.
Puzzle time with Grandma
The whole reason we came to the US - so Julie could receive treatment for MS at the Cleveland Clinic.
Refilling the bird feeder.
Arby's. Something we don't have in the PRC.
A rest stop on the way to visit Phil's sister and family in Pennsylvania.
Lilian meets her cousin Micah for the first time.
Phil's sister Miriam with her nieces.
We had a gorgeous day to spend in Harrisburg, PA. It's a nice little city.
"Are you sure Canadian geese are safe to turn your back on?"
Downtown Harrisburg.
Enjoying a brisk morning on Doug and Miriam's deck.
Exploring the Pennsylvania woods.
Tracking some deer.
Beautiful emptiness.
Back in Ohio, at the playground closest to Phil's parents' house, where we stayed while we were in the US.
At an orchard.
Puppies for sale outside the Kidron livestock auction.
Calves to be auctioned.
Another great thing about America - drinking fountains!
Lily throws a fit.
Road trip!
On the way to visit Phil's grandparents, aunt and uncle, and cousins in Indiana.
Lovely day for a drive. The sky here is so unbelievably blue.
Dairy Snack was closed, so second choice for lunch was Mike's Dairy Bar.
Maddie's great grandpa tells her a Three Bears story.
An amazing playground in Ft. Wayne.
Family around the dinner table.
Aunt Joy introduces us to Bill Peet.
Four generations.
Back in Ohio, Maddie teaches Lily how to play the piano with her feet.
Julie loves Cracker Barrell. I (Phil) don't know why, really, but she does.
Oh, the delight.
Brand spankin' new Dover Park.
Lily and the stray cat regarded each other. Lily was fascinated with and terrified of the cat.
Maddie and Carly.
Wes, Jessica, and Carly drove up from North Carolina to visit.
Hanging out in the garage while the children play.
A grilled dinner on the back porch.
The longest line we had to wait in the whole time we were in the States - for ice cream at Softies.
Coloring Easter eggs.
The day before Easter, a rabbit dug a little burrow in the front yard.
Easter egg hunt with some friends.
Easter morning.
Easter.
The Ohio and Erie Canal towpath.
Lily's chocolate bunny (on the left).
Great Amish-style home cooking.
A trip to Amish country.
The Farmerstown auction.
Maddie, ewe, two lambs.
Grandpa puts Madeleine to work.
Lily hones her streaking skills.
America is pricey.
Swings! So rare to ever find a good swing in China.
Grandpa finds more chores for Madeleine to do.
A really friendly horse by RW Leather, a great Amish-owned leather shop near Walnut Creek.
Picking dandelions outside the shop.
The girls love drinking fountains.
Mandy, our former student who now studies in St. Louis, came to visit us!
More swings.
Darryl and Karen Miller generously invited us to come spend some time with their miniature horses. Maddie was a natural around the horses.
The house Phil lived in from when he was two until he was in kindergarten. From here on out the pictures are a bit out of order.
Another lovely day for a drive.
The local library had some chicks in the kids' section.
That same friendly horse at RW Leather.
At the Millers' horse farm.
The white speck down there is Madeleine, who had run after half a dozen deer. She did not catch them.
Milkshakes at Blazin' Burgers.
Enjoying the lawn. Maddie never gets to lie on the ground in China.
Another trip to Blazin' Burgers. Lunch this time.
And that's it. Our next blog entry will be from China again!
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