Crazy hair day for school spirit week
Nicole as Michelle Obama
Friday, April 30, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
Dahei Mountain, Jinzhou
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Church, and Easter in China
This weekend was Easter and we had a great day even though it was freezing. We went to church, and then hosted a nice brunch with some great friends. That was followed by an Easter egg hunt at the school. We relaxed in the afternoon and then had a fantastic dinner with our friends.
We love our small church here. We go to our friends' home, which we walk to in approximately one minute. It is wonderful, very casual, but also very meaningful. Usually there are about 30 people. I am pretty sure Nicole loves wearing her "regular clothes" and Nike shoes to church every weekend. Many of our closest friends go and we have small group discussion every week after we listen to a podcast and sing along with music from an ipod. We take turns teaching Sunday school to the kids, and bringing snacks to share. When we move back home to the USA I am sure we will miss our church here.
But this year I am feeling homesick, I am missing my family. Part of that is because my parents were here last year at this time and we were in Okinawa with my Dad's family, and partly because Easter makes me think of First A.M.E. in Seattle. Damon has spent almost 40 Easter Sundays there, and I have spent every year since Damon and I met (15 I think). At First A.M.E. most women wear Easter Bonnets, and everyone dresses up. Men young and old, little boys in suits look very dapper. All the women wear colorful dresses, and the girls are all dolled up. For some years before we had kids, it seemed like a hassle, other years it was very exciting. Easter in Seattle has become a family tradition, since we moved to Portland in 2000, every year we made the three hour drive up to Seattle. Needless to say, church in China is very different than church at First A.M.E. Until we moved to China, every Easter of the kid's lives were spent in Seattle with a huge lunch and celebration at Damon's parents house. We always ate too much delicious food and had fun decorating egg cookies and hunting for Easter eggs with cousins. This is one of my favorite pictures from 2005.
We love our small church here. We go to our friends' home, which we walk to in approximately one minute. It is wonderful, very casual, but also very meaningful. Usually there are about 30 people. I am pretty sure Nicole loves wearing her "regular clothes" and Nike shoes to church every weekend. Many of our closest friends go and we have small group discussion every week after we listen to a podcast and sing along with music from an ipod. We take turns teaching Sunday school to the kids, and bringing snacks to share. When we move back home to the USA I am sure we will miss our church here.
But this year I am feeling homesick, I am missing my family. Part of that is because my parents were here last year at this time and we were in Okinawa with my Dad's family, and partly because Easter makes me think of First A.M.E. in Seattle. Damon has spent almost 40 Easter Sundays there, and I have spent every year since Damon and I met (15 I think). At First A.M.E. most women wear Easter Bonnets, and everyone dresses up. Men young and old, little boys in suits look very dapper. All the women wear colorful dresses, and the girls are all dolled up. For some years before we had kids, it seemed like a hassle, other years it was very exciting. Easter in Seattle has become a family tradition, since we moved to Portland in 2000, every year we made the three hour drive up to Seattle. Needless to say, church in China is very different than church at First A.M.E. Until we moved to China, every Easter of the kid's lives were spent in Seattle with a huge lunch and celebration at Damon's parents house. We always ate too much delicious food and had fun decorating egg cookies and hunting for Easter eggs with cousins. This is one of my favorite pictures from 2005.
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