shock and awe

We were standing on a friend’s 11th floor balcony at about 12:02 am on Chinese New Year amazed yet again at the sight and sound of approximately 5 of the 6 million giddy people in our city shooting off fireworks together. There are not many non-Chinese people who get the chance to experience what we did during those 40 minutes of constant explosions and we’ve had the chance twice...pretty awesome. If you have a 50 by 50 list of things to do (aka: bucket list), this should be on it. While it gives you an idea, this video seriously doesn’t do justice to Chinese New Year Kunming Style. Enjoy!

Be A Piece of our Little Girl's Puzzle!

We could use your help to raise $6,000 towards our next step in the adoption process...so we created a way to not only allow you to be a part of raising funds, but your name will also be a part of the incredible visual reminder to show our daughter how God provided a way for her!

Here's how it works:
When you sponsor a piece of the puzzle for $20, we will write your name on the back of a puzzle piece. As pieces are purchased and the puzzle comes together, our daughter will not only have a beautiful picture on her wall, but a reminder of all the friends that came together to help her join our family.

To reach our $6,000 goal by March 1st, we only need 300 friends to buy one piece each!

Buy your piece of the puzzle through our ChipIn! account on the right!

Yeah Baby!

Have you seen the newest addition to our blog? Check out the ChipIn box on the right side bar...we're on the road to adopting a Chinese baby! We're so excited for the days ahead, and anticipate her arrival. We'd love your help as we work hard to raise the necessary funds to make this happen. Thanks so much!

sweet kicks

Since we met, Elissa and I have had the same conversation about footwear countless times. It goes something like this:

Elissa: Which shoes should I wear?

Jon: Which ones are more comfortable?

Jon: Which ones are warmer?

Jon: Which ones will keep you more dry?

Elissa: Oh, forget it, these ones are cuter.

Clearly my footwear creed is function over fashion. So, the picture below of me in Crocs should not be surprising. What is surprising, however is the second picture of Elissa ready to go out IN PUBLIC in her $1.50 teal blue chinese galoshes. Looks like all those conversations are starting to make a difference.

i want to ride my bicycle

Thanks to some seriously generous and thoughtful donations, I now have my very own bicycle over here! Thank you so much friends! Jon is saying that I now have my wings, and I think he's a little sad that i don't need a lift on his scooter for every single little errand i need to run. I have to admit, I have a new feeling of freedom when I hop on and take to the open road here...even though the open road is super cramped, loaded with cars, bikes, scooters, people and tons of other unimaginable entertainment. And I truly thought that I would obey the laws of the road once I started peddling on my own here in China. What a joke. There hardly are any laws...and the ones that exist are only there to be challenged using your own creativity. I better wear my helmet.

State Fair?

It's State Fair time in Minnesota, and while you may have deep fried pancake wrapped, bacon rolled hotdogs, we have some specialties of our own here in China. We wanted to share some photos from a recent annual festival we went to in Dali, China. It's just like the MN State Fair...kind of.

can demons possess scooters?

When I got off my electric scooter and tried to engage the alarm, there was only silence. It had been "losing it's voice" steadily over the last week, but now the voice was gone. That was a little unsettling considering the fact that i have already had one scooter stolen here. As it turns out, the alarm was the least of my problems last Wednesday.

When i came out of the store and hopped on the now silent scooter, a strange and funny thing happened. To be honest, it's only funny now as i look back on it. The only way to describe it is to have you picture a shiny blue mechanical bull in a bustling public parking lot with a confused 30 something white male on top as dozens of slightly amused Chinese people stare on. Yeah, that about sums it up. I am only partially kidding when i say that my scooter became demon possessed. I jumped off and backed away looking around as we all do in situations like this, scanning for a friendly sympathetic face. Then, without warning, the unmanned scooter began to rock back and forth as if taunting me, daring me to have another go-round. I cautiously inched forward and snatched the key thereby solving the problem...or so i thought. Imagine my surprise as the unmanned and now keyless scooter gyrated wildly adding bewilderment to my embarrassment.

I tried for the next several minutes to ride the scooter home. I am sure now i know how my mom felt sitting in the chevy chevette the first time she tried to drive a stick shift. Sorry for ever laughing at that, mom. Finally, when all attempts at driving failed, i was reduced to the ride of shame sitting atop the electric scooter, flinging both feet backward and working way too hard for every inch. I must say, most days I love my scooter. Last Wednesday was not one of them.