We're Back!!

After our wonderful whirlwind trip back to the States, we are now back in China! I do apologize on the delay posting, but wow - I'm exhausted!! I tried to post the other night, but sleep got the best of me at 8:00! It is now 5:00 am and I am unable to sleep so what better time than right now to fill you all in on our fabulous time with family and friends!!

Once we arrived into Chicago, Danny's parents picked us up from the airport and we went back to their house for the night. Before we left in July, I made sure that we had extra carseats at their house so every time we fly back, we do not have to bring carseats (it's not a law in China to have carseats, but I'm not taking any chances after witnessing the driving skills over here!!). Michel came for dinner and we were able to function a bit, but my main focus was getting to sleep! I also left sound machines and the kids favorite night lights in the US so when we come it is something familiar. This also makes packing more manageable! I think we slept okay besides our dear Cooper being up several times!

On Thursday we all had hair appointments (except El who needed longer hair for the wedding!) and Danny and I had some serious shopping to do! We ate lunch at the mall and then Danny's parents took the kids back while we power shopped! I'm sure our credit card companies were near calling us because we only use cash in China and it was way too convenient to have our favorite stores all together in one place!! After our shopping adventure we headed down to my parents to get ready for the wedding!!

We were met at my parents' house by my sister Steph and her boyfriend, Jeff. They brought our favorite pizza! And yes MP, we got another jar of dressing to bring back!! It was so much fun to relax and watch Grey's with family! We even let the kids stay up late hoping they would sleep - of course that plan backfired with Cooper, but El and Eens slept until 9:30 the next morning!

On Friday, we did some more power shopping. This time with my Aunt Kathy in tow!! We loved spending time with all of my extended family so much this summer. I'm pretty sure that it has taken moving to China to allow my children to truly know their family better. When we lived in Bettendorf, we would rush over to LeRoy for holidays and stay maybe one day - it was never enough, but now we stay for extended periods of time and I couldn't be happier! LeRoy is where I grew up surrounded by my family - now I'm able to show my children the pleasures of living in a small town and the joys of their crazy family!! Of course, Starbucks is a 20 minute drive away, but that is actually not a big deal to me now!! I digressed!! This shopping trip centered around eating at Panera (with my brother Robby, Steph, and Jessica), finding party supplies for the kids birthdays, and going to Jewel to stock up on oatmeal, coffee, coffee creamer, granola bars, and candy!!!

On Friday night we went to the rehearsal for the wedding! We had a ball! Once again, surrounded by family, I was reminded of how many times I took for granted living closer to everyone. Besides, of course, the excitement of the upcoming wedding, the highlight of this night was meeting my new niece Jillian. I am so proud of my sister T for putting on a huge smile for everyone even though I'm sure she would rather have been sleeping! Motherhood agrees with her and I am constantly observing her because she is the most patient mom I know!! She must get it from our mom - I missed out on inheriting that trait!!! I also noticed on this night that our kids are getting older! Danny and I were able to have conversations with people and the kids entertained each other and played with all of the other kids there! I even caught El playing some bag toss game!! They were definitely in their element!! The above pictures are from the "tailgating" themed rehearsal dinner!!

Of course, Saturday was the day we had all been anticipating, and you all will have to anticipate a bit longer because that is a post all on it's own!!

On Sunday we slept until after 10:00am! We have never slept that late as a family, I am assuming the combination of jet lag and maybe one too many glasses of wine for myself contributed to that! We finally dragged ourselves up and got dressed in time to go to IHOP with Danny's parents before they headed back to Chicago! After breakfast we went to Steph's mom's house to watch her and Rob open presents! The kids had a great time catching spiders, but were totally grossed out when Steph grabbed one and was holding onto it by it's leg! She fits right into our family!! We went back to my grandparents' house (this is where we stay when we visit - my parents' house is right next door, but it is a little small for all of us and their 2 huge dogs!!) and rested! After rest time, we took Cooper to Chuck E Cheese with my mom and dad! This child has been talking about "Chuck E" since we arrived in China!! I think my mom and dad even had a good time, with the exception of the pizza not being the best!

On Monday we were blessed to spend an entire day at my sister T's house! She always makes everyone feel welcome so she agreed to let some very dear friends from Bettendorf and their children come for a visit!! This is 7 days after having baby Gillian, but I never saw her flinch when, at one point, there were 7 adults and 10 children in her house!! Thank you T for letting us all come over!! It was absolutely wonderful getting to see my friends because I really didn't think we would get to see any on this quick visit! Jenny, Shonna, Heidi, and Jeannie drove from Bettendorf to Peoria so we could spend time together - thank you so much!!!! This visit just reiterated that I have been blessed with wonderful, caring friends!! Over the summer we are looking forward to spending time with all of our friends in Bettendorf and Chicago!!

On Tuesday we made a quick trip to Toys R Us (I bought all of the kids Christmas presents!) and Target (I had been looking forward to that since landing!!). Afterwards, we had to say good-bye to my family so we could go back to Chicago and spend time with Dan's mom and dad and prepare to fly back. I'm not sure if good-byes will ever get easy for me. I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes a week later. I keep telling myself how lucky I am to have such a fantastic family that I don't want to leave them!! I also scheme in my head all of the fun we will have over the summer!

Michel came back over to Danny's parents' once we arrived!! We always have a great time visiting with him so I'm glad we got to spend time with him when we weren't completely out of it!! Danny's dad grilled yummy burgers and hot dogs (2 things we don't eat very often over here!) for us! It was a fun night and it took my mind off of us having to leave in two days!

On Wednesday, I went out shopping yet again for the final items on our list!! Danny and his parents took the kids fishing!! From what I heard the kids favorite part was digging for worms - I'm glad I wasn't there!! They had a great time though and I'm sure they will be begging Pepere to do it again!! For dinner we went to one of our favorite restaurants, Bob Chin's. Every time I go, I eat too many garlic rolls and appetizers and then by the time my meal comes I'm not hungry. I was bound determined not to do this again, but when my lobster arrived I could only eat half of it. Such a pity....After dinner I got to spend some time looking through Chinese artwork from Danny's grandma. Now that I live in China, I found this so interesting. The art is beautiful and the colors are so vibrant even though the pieces are very old.

On Thursday morning we loaded our nine suitcases into the cars and headed to the airport. I was worried about the kids saying good-bye this time because they knew what they were going back to in China, but we had no problems. I think it helped that they knew Danny's parents are coming to visit us at the end of this month!! We checked in our baggage and got through security very quickly - we are beginning to feel like pros at this!!! Our plane actually left on time and the kids enjoyed their kids meals, watching videos, and playing video games for the majority of the trip! They did sleep for about 5 hours which was a blessing because I was actually able to sleep too. I finally invested in one of those neck pillows and it did the trick!! We of course, in St. Martin fashion, had to have a little drama at the end of the trip - Coop ended up in time out at the back of the plane and Eens puked in the bag, but all in all it was a good flight!!

I am learning to appreciate each day as a gift and this trip was a huge gift that we were blessed to be able to take!! We are very fortunate to have such wonderful family and friends that love us unconditionally and support us during this adventure.