We made it!

And are so happy to be here. 

It was hard to anticipate what kind of emotions we would have upon arrival.  Having lived here before (seven years ago) and having desired for so long to come back, what would being here really feel like?  In His mercy, it feels good.  Don't get me wrong, we've definitely had our moments of "what are we doing here?" and "oh my, I have no idea what's going on" and "I'm never going to be able to speak this language" and "I am so incredibly inadequate for this."  But, in general, we all are very happy to be here (and not only because it means we don't have to travel again for a long time). 

The biggest miracle (in my opinion) is that Katie is absolutely ecstatic to be here.  In fact, the morning we left Seattle she started singing a song from "Ni hao Kai Lan" and continues to sing it every day....
"We're going to China, we're going to China, I feel so happy, I just want to sing, Gao xing, gao xing, gao xing."  Prior to this, Katie's attitude about moving here has been less than enthusiastic.  I honestly can't explain her change of heart except a work of divine providence. 

The flight went fairly well. Katie was an absolute rock star.  Caroline, on the other hand, not so much.  She eventually passed out for after screaming and flailing wildly for about 45 minutes.  (She had been awake at that point for almost 15 hours, so you can't really blame her.)  That said, we got here.  And things went so smoothly at every step of the journey, there was not a shadow of a doubt that He was with us and had gone before us.  Thank you for praying!

As for life here, we are spending most of our time just getting settled and taking care of the million of logistics that need to be dealt with.  We are SO thankful for our friends P and M who are walking us through every step of it.  Adam got registered today at the university where he is going to study and will start classes the first week of March.  We're hoping to find a preschool for Katie sometime this week so that she can get into more of a routine.  I will start meeting with a tutor as soon as everyone else's schedule gets nailed down!

We love our apartment and are enjoying making it feel like home.  I particularly love the view (see photo below).  It captures the whole panorama of life here....big city skyline, amazing rooftops of the temple across the street, and even a shot of the mountains that line the western edge of the city.  The Father knew just what would bless my heart. 

Jet lag has definitely been an issue for the kiddos, but we're thankful that every night has added an hour, so we're hopeful that tonight we'll make it to 5am!

Every day both Adam and I try to have some adventures in language and culture.  For me today, there are two!  First, I ventured to the Walmart (yes, Walmart!) with both girls in the sit-n-stand.  Definitely got a lot of looks and was thankful to have been able to hang on to the stroller on the escalator ramp, but we had a really good time.  I managed to communicate with some folks and the girls had many admirers.  The coolest thing that happened though was that Katie had requested to purchase pickles and honey while we were out.  Hm...wasn't sure I was going to be able to come through on that one, but I told her we'd give it a shot.  So we get to the grocery aisles and I look up and (I am not kidding) one of the aisle signs says IN ENGLISH "Pickles"  "Honey."  Are you kidding?  I told Katie to never forget that because (I believe) it was the Lord's way of telling her, "Katie, I love you, I am here with you, and I care about you very much."  How cool is that?

My second language/culture adventure has yet to happen, and I actually need to jump off the net to prepare for it.  My friend M took me to a market yesterday to order sheets and duvets and curtains (truly amazing what you can do here for very little cost).  I get to go back today (without my friend) to pick some of the things up.  The adventure part comes when I attempt to ask her if she's made the curtains for the living room yet and if I can change the fabric for them.  Sounds simple, right?  Not for me!  I'll let you know how it goes.....