Our Fourth

For the fourth we were invited to our friend’s, The Corl's, house. Todd was super patriotic and decorated everything spectacularly! In all my life, this was probably the most patriotic party I’ve ever been to, and we’re in China! Their house was decorated with tons of flags, red, white and blue and posters of flag scenes. They even had a Constitution hanging on the cabinet.

We sang the National Anthem, said a prayer, and dug into tons of American fare! We had burgers, baked beans, watermelon, potato salad and chicken, Yum!


Zachary and I went up to eat on the roof where all the kids were eating. Most of the adults stayed down stairs, but I can never turn down the opportunity to eat on a roof, with ocean & mountain views. Eating on a roof makes everything better. IMO.

After lunch we had dessert! I made lemon bars and a lemon, blueberry cake and another lady brought monster cookies! Everything was delicious. After lunch we sat around the living room and told stories and laughed. My cheeks hurt when we left from laughing so hard. We had to leave early, but as we were leaving everyone was planning to go outside for a watermelon seed spitting contest and to play kickball! So fun!

Lemon Blueberry Cake-Recipe found here. :)

It was a great afternoon.  I really felt for one of the first times since being in China, like it was a holiday!  Thank you Todd and Sue for a great party!!!

If you lived in China, you'd know...

-that indistinguishable smell walking up to a public bathroom.

-that awkward moment you walk in on someone using the squatty because they don't lock the doors.
-the frustration that comes when your VPN won't connect.
-the excitement that comes when you find that random American food that you never ate at home but are still ridiculously excited to find & purchase at least 3 of.
-the skepticism you have of anything brand named being sold on the street.
-the hope you have that the brand name is real because it's a great price!
-the feeling of being stared at all the time.
-the gratitude you feel from Chinese hospitality.
-that taxi drivers are like free Chinese tutors.
-there are so many places to see and things to do in China, some that you won't find in guide books.
-that moment when your Chinese friend, server, student, coworker, etc. farts really loud in front of you and you try to hold in a laugh, because nobody else seems to care or notice.
-that clausterphobic feeling you get when sardining onto a 8 am or 5 pm bus.
-the heat stroke you try to avoid when waiting in the 20 person check out line at noon, 4:00 to 8:00 pm or anytime on the weekend, at the supermarket.
-the delight that comes when you buy 4+ bags of groceries for less than $50.
-how to cross a street, with a gazillion cars, who do not yield for pedestrians, and not get hit.
-the sound of the knife sharpening guy or electronic repair mans magaphone chant attached to his bike.
-where to buy hard cheese, tortilla chips or avacado in your city.
-that with a bribe you could get anything done.
-with a bribe you could get out of any ticket.
(we don't do either of these, but everyone knows, if you really want something done, you could get it done with money)
-the frustration of renewing your visas.
-the paperwork involved with renewing your visas.
-that lines and who was "here" first don't really count in China.
-you'd sometimes pay an arm and a leg just to get good Western Mexican food.
-pizza is ridiculously overpriced.
-taking toilet paper to the bathroom is optional for your Chinese female coworkers and students.
-you always have to bring your own 'paper' to the bathroom.
-there is never soap in the bathroom.
-Starbucks is the place to use the public bathroom: hello toilet paper, soap AND toilet seat covers.
-that moment where you don't have a 1 yuan for the bus so you just put in the 5 yuan you do have so the bus driver won't yell at you for asking for change.
-that summer time is NOT the time to go to the beach in China, unless you want to be a sardine, in which case, it's the best time.
-clothes are expensive here.
-food is cheap here.
-the daily "eye exercises" song in Primary Schools. "yi, er, san, si!"
-that that sound of an American ice cream truck, that once got you excited, that now annoys you because of the let down.
-that that sound of an American ice cream truck is coming from a street cleaning car.
-there is no season wrong for Christmas music or the wedding march here.
-Maybeline is something fancy, like behind make up counters, here.
- your friends will educate you on the "most famous" singers and bands in America and be baffled that you don't know them. (Here's a little secret: You don't know them because they didn't make it in America.)
-the feeling of getting a taxi after you've waited 20 minutes.

Have you or do you live in China? Anything else to add to the list? 

Our Christmas in China

This is what the Christmas season has looked like around Qingdao. Ya, like a hazardous waste zone. These PM2.5 masks were a Christmas present from one of our coworkers. Hilarious. While the smog has been at an all time high, in the hazardous zones, we still had a great Christmas season. I know, I know. Christmas is over and responsible people have moved on to 2014 Resolutions and bucket lists and stuff, but for us procrastinators, with mom's and grandma's at home that are still interested in our Christmas day in January, I'm gonna still post this. I mean, it wouldn't be The Mosby's in China, if I posted things on time. Remember I posted about Halloween around Thanksgiving. Ya. So, without further ado, a little jig, aka post, about our Christmas Eve and Christmas.

Christmas Eve we spent with this handsome little one here, Justin. Zachary and I asked if Justin and his mom, Jenny wanted to go out for a Christmas Eve dinner with us. They have become like family to us and had been asking if we were doing anything special for Christmas. They attend almost every holiday and church party with us, so I know they were excited about the possibility of a Christmas party. But with no Christmas party to attend, we decided getting a nice dinner would be fun!

Unfortunately we didn't even think about the fact that Christmas Eve and Christmas is a Chinese date night. We showed up at our favorite restaurant, The Canvas, only to find there was a 45 minute wait! Say what?! It was appalling! ;) Us, the regulars at The Canvas, we're talking VIP status, were asked if we had made a reservation?! What the, what?! So we left. Because who waits for a table? It occurred to me later that we did, in fact all the time we did, in the States. It's been so long since we've been home that I forgot waiting for a table on a busy night is normal. So, we attempted to get a table at 4 other restaurants, who were also completely booked, and then settled on a small pub like restaurant with mediocre Western food. It wasn't the greatest but we still had a good time with our Chinese "fam."

Christmas morning we opened up our stocking at home. I received tons of Sephora goodies and perfume from Zachary. This Marry Me! perfume smells amazing. I love it. I don't know why I didn't start buying perfume way sooner. The real stuff actually does smell worth it! I use to think it was way to "luxurious" and my cheap-o self wouldn't buy anything but the fake $10 sprays at Ross. But, this grown up girl, is real sophisticated now, thus real perfume. And I like it. Also, please excuse my Christmas morning non-makeup, non-hair did look.

Justin and Catherine cleverly got us a Raclette Grill! We're stoked about having this! It's a fantastic party tool and great for barbecuing! The first time any of us had seen one of these babies, we were all together. This will be just another awesome thing we get to share with The Esser's.

Matching shiny Starbucks mugs from Z. Love them! 

Sephora free gift. A gold mirror with a blung out zebra keychain... which now makes a great Christmas ornament. 

Z with our baby boo. 

Sorry about Chara-girls leg spread look. We try to tell her it's un-lady like but she doesn't listen.

Family. :)

I found this little card hidden in one our extra stockings to me from our students. Adorable! They are so sweet. I had seen them sneaking around the tree a few weeks before Christmas but I played naive. I'm happy I did because it was such a sweet, nice surprise on Christmas. I love them!

Please not my beautiful chipped nail polish. Classy is my middle name. 

Zachary opened his long awaited Christmas present, an external flash for our camera. And a jump rope, of course.

Chara was a happy girl on Christmas. 

After we opened presents Justin and Catherine came over for brunch. 

Catherine made these auh-mazing scones and brought 6 different jams from South Africa. We tried all the jams and ate all the scones as a brunch appetizer! Hey! It was Christmas!

J & C brought Chara girl a Christmas present to open. Our sweet little house guest, Coco, helped Chara sniff it out and open it.

She needed a little more help! After Chara's presents we indulged in our huge brunch of steak and eggs,   breakfast potatoes, fruit salad, pancakes, fried eggs, bacon and a fantastic quiche with Zachary's home made crust. After brunch, we watched Elf, took naps and had a relaxing afternoon.

Christmas night Zachary went with a few guys to a China NBA (Aka. the CBA) basketball game and I visited with Abigail over coffee. We had such a great Christmas day! We are so thankful for all the Skype calls we had, friends over and delicious food we ate! We felt so blessed and praise the Lord for all His goodness and love. Hope you guys all had a great Christmas day, too!  **Do these pictures all look blurry to you? They do to me! Please help! Why?! They are NOT blurry in my photo album, only when I upload them to blogger. : ( Any ideas? **

Minute to Win It

Last month, one of our favorite restaurants, The Canvas, had a Minute to Win It game night to raise money for a club foot relief charity at a local children's hospital. It was such a great night! For 100 yuan, which all went to the charity, we were provided with a buffet dinner, a drink and Minute to Win it fun!

They also handed out reindeer ears and Santa hats to help get everyone in the Christmas spirit.

Everyone registered as groups of 4 to compete in the games for 3 grand prizes. The first competition we sent Zachary to complete. He did a great job with this "pick up the ornament and hang it on a wire" game. He had to use the paper towel tube to suck up the 6 ornaments, one by one, and then carry them across the room and to hang them by the hook on a thin wire.

Sorry for the blurry/dark photos! The night was TERRIBLE for photos! I don't know why.

Mission completed!

The next competition we sent Catherine to complete. Everyone was given 3 gingerbread cookies that, when they were told to go, they had to put on their face and drop into their mouth without using their hands.

Catherine did a great job trying on this extremely difficult task!

The next competition Zachary and I worked together on. We had to use our faces to carry an ornament across the room and hang on a wire. We made it there the first time super fast, but then the hook on our ornament fell off! So we had to start over. That was lame and not our fault. But alas, it's just a game so we let it go.

Justin and Catherine completed the next challenge where Justin had to put 6 balls on a spoon, one by one, carry them across the room by with his mouth, and give it to Catherine, on her spoon. Catherine then had to take the ball and put it in a cup. They did a fantastic job and were super fast!

Joe- Him and His wife own The Canvas. They are wonderful!
Justin and Zachary did this challenge where Zachary had to verbally guide Justin, who was blindfolded, on how to hang two balls on a ruler, which was balanced on a paper towel tube, without making anything fall. The guys did wonderful! And, of course, worked out a great system!

The next game Catherine and I did together. I had to tie a Kleenex box with a hole in it around my chest and stand against a wall while Catherine tried to throw balls into the box blindfolded. We did pretty good. (but not great..haha)

The last game Zachary and I worked on together. I was blindfolded and had to use my hands to make hot chocolate for Zachary and then give it to him to drink.

This was so much fun! I LOVE these type of games/challenges/jokes. You know the ones where someone behind you applies your make up or whatever. It's hilarious.

I was dead set on us winning this one! I made Zachary basically chug the hot cocoa. And guess what? We were the fastest out of any group!

We were set on winning third place because it had the best prizes! 4 free burger meals and a bottle of nice wine! And we won!!! We made a great team!

Our friend Eric was the host and score keeper! See our team up there? We were Team #1! 23 points!

Santa and his reindeer. :) 

This is also where we had such a great time for Zachary and Justin's birthday at the Mustache Party!

We had a great time and are so thankful for restaurants like The Canvas that host fun stuff for us to do!