In the Air

It's that time of year...the fresh snow, the smell of evergreens & fresh baked cookies, everyone out doing their Christmas shopping...WAIT...STOP...that isn't here sorry! We do have carols in the stores, large displays of plastic decorations and a lot of expats getting ready to leave the country on vacation! We successfully found an artificial tree (key word artificial as nothing about it looks remotely real), some bright and fast blinking LED lights (the only option!) and now we just need some presents to go underneath (as you can see the tree starts about 2 feet off the ground!) - we try not to look at the tree too closely because it could give you a headache or worse yet, cause some seizures! Good thing Christmas isn't about anything but JESUS!!! He is all we've got and He is all we need!

We celebrated the holiday season with our church group here (fondly referred to as the B team!) - actually had a meal with all the typical US fixings including sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, apple crisp and pumpkin pie. It was absolutely delicious and such fun to have some fellowship with other families!

Andy ran in the Shanghai Half-Marathon last weekend (him and 25,000 of his closest friends!) He went with two other guys he has been running with and ran with them for the first ~5 miles until they got separated at a water break amidst the sea of runners. He finished strong at 2 hrs 6 minutes - it sure was easy to spot him coming across the finish line as the only blonde person!

Our latest distraction is air quality - apparently really bad in Shanghai since the world expo ended (not trying to impress any foreigners any more!) and also in our house with the discovery of mold in both of the girls bedrooms. We are having the Cadillac of air/mold/water/lead/radon tests done (along with lots of calls to the landlord to fix the mold issue) and will hopefully have a plan soon so we at least feel like the air we are breathing is clean! Please be praying that the issues get fixed!

We've had a variety of school field trips (Anita - Zoe saw first hand Coke in a bottle being filled!), Christmas concerts (Zoe and her friend Genevieve from Singapore in the picture) and a start at the Christmas shopping. Can't believe it is 17 days to Christmas (or 12 days until we leave for Thailand!) - praying for you all as we prepare to celebrate our Saviour's birth!