Surrounded by Suitcases and Getting Excited

I am sitting in the playroom surrounded by suitcases and I can bearly contain my excitement. In two days we will be heading back to the US for two months. It will be a whirlwind trip, and Dustin has to work most of the time we are home, but it will be just fantastic to be back home again.

Thankfully, the good Lord has brought us all to a place where we will have things to look forward to upon our return here to China in August. I am also grateful that when we return, it will be to our home that is now mostly furnished (I at least have all the kitchen essentials, bedding, and towels).

Our exciting news here is that we finally have pictures on our walls, so the house is finally looking more lived in. Three months of white walls are finally over. We had bought pictures in Hangzhou and some of the pictures we had brought from home are finally framed and hanging in our house. It took this long to find someone to frame the pictures, and then another day for someone to come assist us in hanging the pictures.

It turns out that all our walls are cement, and our initial attempt to hang pictures resulted in only a very bent nail. Thankfully our new ayi had a friend come over and help us drill all the holes (not worth trying to buy a drill here).

Our ayi continues to be a delight to have around. She has assisted me in a lot of the packing, although most of the suitcases are packed with other suitcases (We will have a full load of things coming back with us in August--like as many cherrios as we can pack and carry--these are still impossible to find here).

Dustin and I are really looking forward to seeing family and friends, and eating some of our favorite foods that are just impossible to find here. (I did just eat at a fairly good "diner" for lunch today, and I think they do a decent job on American classics).

My goal is to be packed mostly by tonight, so that we can just enjoy the pool and relax before we head on to the long plane ride. Tomorrow is to be 91, and it is already humid (I would say crazy humid, but I have a feeling this is nothing like it is going to be when we return in August). I am actually a little concerned that the weather is going to feel cool to us when we get home, but I guess we will adjust.

We are praying that the boys do well on the plane (that they will have the Cars movie like last time) and that the jet lag will not be so bad. Most people have told me that what we experienced coming is about the average--4 days until your schedule adjusts.

Overall, we are counting down the minutes until we land in Indianapolis, and we are going to cherish every mintue we have in the US with family and friends.