the Rest of Halloween

Halloween is not my favorite holiday. The reason is simple: Neither John nor I am very creative. We never could come up with original ideas about costumes or pumpkin patterns. Besides, I don't have time to make costumes even if I do have ideas.

I'm totally fine with not going to any Halloween parties. But as an ESL teacher, I'm obligated to go for the sake of my students. They need to have a REAL Halloween experience!. So this year, we dressed up in costumes my friend Kate made a couple years ago. It was silly, but my students loved it :-) We had fun escorting them go trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. They had their fun FIRST Halloween!



And these are our pumpkins for this year~~
The characters say DEAD GHOST! In China, it is a mean nickname for the husband. We did it just because they are easy characters to carve and they are Halloweeny :-) Told ya, I'm not creative~~

Neil's Big Day

Neil is my cousin Megan's boyfriend. He came over in August to study English and go to BYU. Soon after he got here, he attended Megan's baptism. Then he started taking missionary discussions at our apt twice a week. He is a very humble and spiritual kid, funny as well. Chinese guys never impress John, but Neil is an exception, together with my brother and my dad :-) Basically my family is cool, haha :-)

In late September, the missionaries challenged him to be baptized. He prayed and thought about it for a week and showed his desire to be baptized. We were thrilled for him. John baptized him on Saturday, Oct 24, in the Chinese ward. Mom and Paul came up to support him.

I am grateful for the Gospel in my life, for the blessings it has brought to people I love!

Congrats, Neil! We love you!

We tried out a new Chinese restaurant called Munchies. The food is OK. A couple dishes are worth going back for.

BYE BYE, FSOT!

We've been (at least me) sitting on needles for the past three weeks to wait for John's FSOT result. Today the needles are gone because John PASSED it! He's so smart :-) So the next step will be the essays and interview, and practice Chinese. If he passes the Chinese language phone interview, he'll have a better chance to get a job offer early. So for the next month, me, Neil, and Megan are going to cram him with Chinese :-)

At the same time (day), I got a job offer to teach Chinese with the US army in California or Hawaii. So we have to decide whether/where I should take the job, CA or HI, or just stay put.

I hate government procedures. Why does it have to take so long to get anything done? There are so much uncertainty ahead of us, but we're excited!!

Congrats to my baby! Thanks for being so smart :-)

Halloween 09- Costume

We went to the big Halloween store across from the mall, trying to pick out some costumes. We didn't pick out any, but sure had some fun playing with many.

It's Halloween again!! -Corn Maze FUN~~

John was looking forward to the Corn Maze fun because he thought he was going to see the show pig there. Sadly, the old maze was closed and there was no pig at this new one :-( But we still managed to have some fun. We decided to have a competition. Of course my team (me and John) won! It took us 15 minutes to find our way out of the maze!! Let's just say that John's got a gift in the spatial memory department. He has to go back and rescue Kate and Mama after they were in there for 45 minutes and called for help. Haha, Kate is so gonna kill me for posting this :-)








THE WINNERS: 15 minutes to get out of the corn maze!! It's gonna be on John's resume if he has it his way :-)

God's Grandeur=Utah mountains in the Fall

A couple weeks ago, John, Kate. Megan, Neil and I went to Alpine loop to enjoy the beautiful fall leaves. Every time I go into the mountains, I can't help but feeling God's love and miracles through the beauty of nature.

In Memory of Max Cole

This is a long overdue. I guess John's right. I feel like if I don't face it, it never happened.

Max Cole is my American dad. I met him and his wife Deanna in China in 2003. They taught me English and I helped them find their way around Qingdao. We developed a special bond between each other. Max is one of the most honorable men I've ever met. He is honest, hard working, humorous, shy, smart, and very down-t0-earth. He reminds me of my dad and my grandpa.

Last week in Moscow Idaho, he overworked himself and wasn't able to get his sugar level high enough before he slipped into a diabetic coma. By the time his children discovered him, he had already left us.

I am eternally grateful for Max. He made it possible for me to come to BYU and finish my degree; he made it possible for my brother to go on an LDS mission in Seattle; he made it possible for me to join the church and have an eternal family. He changed the story of my life, and he'll continue to guide me on my journey.

I love him and I'll miss him until we meet again.