Sanya

I've tried about 10 times to upload more photos from Elise's birthday, but I can't for some odd reason. So I'll just move on from Elise's birthday and tell about our trip to Sanya, a beach city on the island of Hainan in China. This is the southern-most point of China, so the weather there was fantastic.


Some of our best friends from LA, Stu and Barb Strother, are both business professors at APU. They lead their students on study abroad trips to China, so they invited us to come meet them and their group of students on this trip to Sanya. Adam talked to the students about starting our non-profit business, about the opportunity of teaching in China, and about living in China as an American. We also got to accompany the students and as they visited and learned about different companies, such as the Marriott hotel, a surf shop, and even an orphanage.

Sophia was very excited to pack her bags for the trip, and she was so excited to fly on an airplane! When she got on the plane she immediately buckled her seat belt then pulled her sunglasses out of her backpack and put them on because she knew we were going to the beach to see, "Mr. Sun." So cute! When we landed in Sanya we were so happy. The sky was bright blue and the temperature was hot and in the 80s. The city was also much cleaner than our city. Adam and I suddenly realized how much we needed this vacation. We're so thankful that the Lord provided this chance for us! That afternoon we got oriented to our little hostel motel and the beach just a block-and-a-half away.

I had never stayed in a hostel before and I didn't know what to expect, but this place was great! It was like a big house and our family had our own room. It was big so the girls could play well with the toys I brought. On the roof of the house were tables and chairs for hanging out in the great weather. We also would eat breakfast up there in the mornings. The owner of the hostel was Chris. He's from Singapore. He was really cool and helpful, and became a good friend to us.

Thursday we got to meet all the APU students. We actually knew two of the guys, Anthony and Moo, from when we lived in LA. They went to our Chinese Fellowship with us. It was great to see them again! We also saw Margo, who is the daughter of our good friends Eric and Leidy from LA also. Anthony, Margo, and the Strothers all brought gifts for us from back home so that was awesome. We got treats like Mac 'n Cheese and books for the girls and practical but wonderful things like vitamins, coffee, and bread pans for Adam and me!

Thursday morning we visited the orphanage. It was started by a Believing couple from the states. They adopted a Chinese girl who had special needs, and no one knew how to help them with her needs with therapy and all, so they started this orphanage for kids with special needs. It's an awesome place. After that I returned to the hostel with the girls for nap time, but Adam went with the APU group to tour the Marriott resort. They got to eat lunch there, and he was so nice and brought me back a REAL hamburger. It was huge and I scarfed it down. I know that's the most meat I'll eat all year. I ate that at 2:30 in the afternoon and I literally did not eat another bite of food until the next day, that's how full I was.


The next day, Friday, we got to visit the surf shop business. We learned about how Brendan started his business in China, and then he took our whole group to go surfing! We drove to a new beach that was quite secluded and so beautiful. The waves were great. This was my first time to surf so I took a lesson. I couldn't believe how well I did. I got up 5 of 7 times, and it was actually really fun. Adam had a blast getting back to surfing with his buddy Stu. They used to always surf together in LA and with Dave Knight too. Sophia and Elise loved playing in the sand and the water. The APU students were so nice to play with our girls. There was one kid named Lucus who Sophia especially loved to play with. His family are almond farmers in central California and they use John Deere equipment just like our family, so we figure that's why Sophia took such a liking to Lucus, the John Deere farm boy. Ha!

All the other times in between these events we just got to hang out with the Strothers which was so great. We miss them a lot. They're really great friends to us. It was fun to catch up and just laugh together. Even Sophia loved to be with them. It's cool how she's remembered them even though we moved away over a year ago. We had a great vacation. We were really blessed by the chance to rejuvenate and warm up.

Tonight Adam's dad and mom are arriving from Michigan!!! So I'll post again later about their visit!!!!