Friday, January 2, 2009

Merry Christmas


Merry Christmas from the Steiners and Taylors.

Qiao Qiao's family.

Best friends.


We had a wonderful Christmas party with friends at a beautiful coffee shop.  Our friends are starting a Cultural Exchange Center and we met in their new building.


Julie assists in a magic show.


Natasha and Hudson.

Aunt Sheila got Madeleine a doctor's kit.


Reading with Gramps.

Reading with Aunt Crissy.

Christmas morning we had several friends over for a delicious brunch.

Teacher Ma.  She's the head teacher of our language school.

Brunch Gang.

Santa.

So Madeleine.

Our Jesse Tree.  
We started making the ornaments last year and finally finished this year!


We opened Christmas gifts on Christmas Eve.  A scarf for Mom.

A very special gift from Julie's cousin, Deborah, sent from GA for Madeleine.


Lilian lived up to her reputation as a 6 month old and chewed everything in sight.




Chinese textbook for Dad.

Madeleine's gift to Nana.  A fan.  She got Papa and Gramps instant noodles.


The train from Grandpa and Grandma.  Sent all the way from Ohio.


Oh!  Candyland!

A very Merry Christmas and aparantly a tiring one, too.



Downtown.

All bundled up on a cold morning in Xi'an.

This book has been well-chewed.  First by Madeleine and now Lilian.

Madeleine wanted to help Lilian stop crying so she kept putting more and more toys in her crib.

Phil makes gingerbeer.


Date night for Phil and Madeleine that included rides, Subway and a bus ride.

Madeleine's "I just drank Sprite" face.



Phil climbed to the top of one of the highest buildings in our complex to capture Xi'an on a clear day.

The closest buildings are all in our complex.  The dirt area will be a new complex.  The rest of the buildings are all new buildings that make up the district we live in.  It's literally called Tall New.




Home after a morning at Art School.  Our cat.

Madeleine's first time to help feed Lilian.


Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Christmas tree time


Lazy man's tree.

"Decorating all by myself, me."

Lilian's contribution to the xmas cheer.

Vintage ornaments.

The manager scene when a 3 year old is in charge.


Our friend found an article about a lost treasure of Xi'an.  It's an altar of sorts that was used by the Emperor for making sacrifices to ensure a good harvest for the year.  It was supposedly still located in a very busy part of the city but unheard of by most residents.  This Saturday morning we set out to find it.  It was a very cold morning.


Phil used Google maps to locate the altar and our hunt took us down this particular street that is very close to our language school.  Three wheeled bikes, like this man is driving, are very common for transporting goods.

Another common way to carry stuff.

The path that led us to the Altar.

Xi'an's Altar of Heaven constructed in 1420 and unearthed in 1999.

The only way to get in.

View from the top.

Peter, Madeleine and Clinton.



Winter static.

Aunt Sheila and a very sweet Lilian.

One of the first things we hear every morning is, "Can I hold Wiwian?"

Seriously sitting up all by herself.



Papa's idea of fun.

The girls.

Madeleine made a "cage" for Lilian.  They played for a long time together this morning.

View from our study window seat over to Madeleine's window seat.

The view from the kitchen at night.