What a fabulous trip we had! Here are a couple of favorites, click on the "Family Albums" on the top right of this page (password: lexi), to see the ridiculous amount of pictures that we took during our 10 day trip (Taiwan, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Zhongshan & Shanghai)! We celebrated Jon's 39th birthday in Taiwan, threw in some business meetings along the way, met some INCREDIBLE people, learned more about Chinese culture and their rich history, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves while we were there! Each time we go back, there are more new buildings, the streets are cleaner, and people seem to be smiling more. The middle class is growing like crazy, and you can see the growing wealth in every city. Back during my college days as a History major, I remember my Chinese History prof. telling us that by the year 2020, Shanghai would be the financial capital of the world. I can see that being an actuality, now that I have been there. Obviously, there is still a TON of room for improvement, all across China, and there are still MANY issues that need to be addressed and fixed. Overall, through the eyes of these two tourists, life in China is looking much better and brighter as they "gently" move toward a capitalistic economy. Our dear friends leave next month to pick up their second daughter from China. I wish we could have brought her home with us, for them. Soon enough, she will be in their arms :)!
A HUGE THANK YOU to Jon's parents, who stayed with our boys, and kept things "rolling". I think that they actually do a better job than we do, when they are in charge :)! As former school teachers, they are ON TOP of EVERYTHING! LOVE IT! The boys did great, we only had one "melt down" over the phone. I called home from the airport in Hong Kong, Jake (10) got on the phone and started to cry...telling me that he couldn't live without me (he had spent the night at my dad's place, the night before = tired, and was feeling overwhelmed with schoolwork = stressed). He doesn't cope very well with change of any kind (a first born thing, at least in this house). The mom in me wanted to jump on the next plane home and wrap my arms around him, but obviously, that didn't happen. It was the longest that we have ever been away from the boys, so that was a bit hard, but the time alone with Jon was invaluable! I feel like the boys have a new appreciation for me....we'll see how long that last :)!!! Love those little boys of ours....they are growing up so very fast!
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