Colt had a fun day at school where they invited the parents to come help the kids decorate their own cakes. We all took some fruit. . . The kids were able to put some icing on the cake and decorate it with the different fruits. Chinese cake is like a guiltless version of cakes. It’s really not very sweet. . . and it’s got fruit on the top! Healthy right? So, we ate it for lunch 🙂
Colt and his buddy Lyric playing away. . .
My teachers sweet little 6 months old daughter, Muxi.
Crazy boys. . .
The kids like David’s new teacher. He is 27, but he looks a LOT younger huh? Colt REALLY thinks he cool 🙂
Our little nature lover got to go on another fun day with Daddy while we were in Thailand. David took him ziplining. . . You had to be 5 to do the course, and welp, Colt was 5! ha!
He was nervous on his first run, but loved it from there on out.
We recently had to do another visa run – we have to leave the country every 3 months because we are on a tourist visa right now. This is why we are trying to establish a platform to obtain a more permanent visa.
While it’s awesome to get to travel. . . it’s really quite tiring and hard with 3 small kids! So, this last time we chose the closest place with shortest travel time, Hong Kong. BUT, I also know that HK is super busy big city. We wanted some quiet rest away from the crazy. So D found a place on Lantau Island. Plane ride – 2.5 hours. 20 min taxi and Wah Lah! That is what I’m talking about when traveling with littles. . . that’s the best we could get, and we were so thankful.
We didn’t take any toys. The kids just explored and made friends on the beach (and played with their sand toys – ha). All we did was enjoy the beach and wonderful weather the Father gave us for 2 days, then came home. But, it was really a sweet time. This beach kind of had a “deserted island feel and look.” There was hardly anyone there, which was nice. The kids loved it. Colt climbed all of the rocks finding creatures and treasures 🙂
Thankful.
The travel. . . the only “bad” part 🙂
Will you consider coming to work with us?
This young boy, not much older than Colt, is out early in the morning cutting grass to feed their water buffalo. They use the water buffalo to farm and till the land for planting.
Superstitions exist here. . . this newly constructed home’s front door was splattered with chicken blood to bless/protect it.
All of the rice fields terraced about. . . . “the harvest is plenteous.”
That these precious children may know their Loving Father!
You can see the homes constructed in the background. They live in the top part and their animals sleep in the enclosed bottom part.
David thought Colt and this boy would get along really well. He caught this lizard-ish critter, right up Colt’s alley 🙂
“He leads me to green pastures, beside the still water. . .”
In a small town, this lady is selling her dried spicy red peppers!
Truly beautiful, but such a need exists!
Colt’s blue angry bird cake he picked out to share with his classmates 🙂
Sweet little boy. . . what an amazing boy he is too!
Blowing out the candles! CanNOT believe he is 6 years old!!
Silly faces!!
Aww. . . makes me happy 🙂
This is from a performance they had in June – Colt had some speaking parts in Chinese!
Colt and his BFF Lyric had the star roles 🙂
Their class performance
Graduation picture 🙂 He will go to first grade in English homeschool, but have another year in the Chinese kindergarten to help his language progress. It’s not uncommon for Chinese to wait until older 6 or 7 years old to start 1st grade.
Mom. . . you are going to LOVE it! 🙂
I canNOT believe Colt is 6 years old. This past year he has grown up so much! I mean. . . not only has he grown several inches, but his behavior and character have grown too. He is a sweet kid with a good heart. Yes, he stirs up Kylie at times. . . but for the most part he is listens well and obeys, is a good helper, and he is not the child that requires the most attention in the discipline area. He gives us hope 🙂
For his bday he picked out a blue angry bird cake to share with his class at school. Then Friday after school, we went to a newly discovered pizza place for dinner, he had a campout/sleepover with his buddy Jackson, and Saturday we had chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast and a swim party with more cake! Then Saturday night he and Daddy had a special dinner (whatever Colt wanted) out. I think he had a pretty great birthday weekend 🙂 He slept good Saturday night!
Happy birthday Colt! We love you so much!
Here are some pictures one of Colt’s teachers recently gave us. This is pretty special because it’s his kindergarten class pic – and it’s his first Chinese classmates/friends. He has just done great going to this local school. His language ability amazes us, and he has some pretty special little buddies. We are super proud of him! We are also very grateful to our Father for His blessing in this area. .
We decided to take a weekend trip as a whole family back to Qing Cheng Shan. We went with friends back to the mountain that David and Colt went to a couple months ago. It took us about 4 hours to get there through the standard various forms of transportation here (bus, “fast bus,” fast train, tour bus, and walking), but we made it! Once we got there it was worth it! It was a lot more crowded that when David and Colt had been before too. We almost didn’t find a place to stay the first night, and they were booked the second night. . . but it all worked out.
We started to hike the mountain on Saturday morning. Leisurely playing and enjoying the scenery as we went. My plan (since I was carrying Caden), was to hike halfway and take Kylie/Caden to the top via cable cars. BUT, when we got to the halfway point the cable cars were about as far of a hike as it was to the top . . . so we just kept trekking!
It took us all day to hike to the top and get back down, but it really was beautiful. The kids loved it! Really neat experience!
Kylie loved climbing through the rocks with Daddy 🙂
Our view from the cable car as we rode back down the mountain. Beautiful.
Pretty loooong ride. We actually rode halfway down, hiked another hour or so to the other cable cars that took us the rest of the way down.
First family pic ever under a waterfall. It was really beautiful, but that water was COLD!
Our Creator is amazing isn’t He?
Most of the mountain hike was up stone stairs like these. The kids did great. Kylie hiked in her flip flops 🙂 She refused to wear her other shoes. I originally thought we would just hike half way. . . but she was in the front leading the pack to the top!
The whole way up was beautiful scenery with spots to rest and play.
The coolness from the water spray and shade made the hike not nearly as hot!
One part of the hike, we had to cross a river on this boat 🙂
We found a net along the way. Colt used it to catch a million tadpoles. Shocking I know right?
Funny to get a pic of all the locals taking our pic as we played 🙂
Caden loved the water too. The kids didn’t seem to mind the freezing cold water. It was kind of refreshing for the tired feet!
