Easter was low key this year.  We had just received our UAB and HHE shipments a few weeks before, so I was distracted with settling in, and didn't put Easter baskets together for the kids.  I did, however, help fill a zillion eggs for our combined youth Super Saturday activity in Shunyi where part of the activity was an Easter egg hunt.  The embassy Easter party was a few hours before, but none of us were really feeling up to going.  I spent the morning on wechat, texting with the young women's presidency to try to figure out if we should cancel the activity due to the bad pollution, or if we could move it somewhere indoors. Luckily Amy Tanner, the YW president, offered up her house in Shunyi.  Our scheduled venue for the Easter egg hunt and games was planned for Chaoyang Park, a few blocks away from us.  Bri and Rhea walked the park with me for two hours to find a suitable place that was private enough, close to an entrance and exit, and would work for the activities.  Alas, we had to leave that idea behind. 

We organized the downtown kids to meet together to catch the subway.  It's about a half hour ride on the subway, with walking to the subway to catch it, and then arranging for a ride from someone to pick us up from the subway to drive us wherever we need to go.  It saves us a lot of money overall when taking a group that large.  It's only a dollar or so per person each way (about $24 total for the group), instead of $60 in three taxis.  So we'll take the subway when we can.  And of course the kids didn't mind being together.  ;)  Avalaon and Aaron B, Joseph B, Porter S, and our kids took the subway and Lizzie and Adam met us there.

 After the kids got to visit and make some cream sodas, Bri gave a nice message on prioritizing their lives and putting the gospel first.  Then the games started.Kjirsten M. led us in some fun games she had played at EFY.  The kids had a ball!After the adult leaders hid the eggs, we moved outside for a quick Easter egg hunt.  The kids were being goofy with the bags they were given to hold their eggs (thank you Amy T!), so we had to grab a pic.Leaders hanging out--President Tanner, Bri, and Glenn Bailey.

Ben, Josie, and Lizzie

Joseph and Asher

Avalon and Kjirsten & O'Mailey

Mayah

Thomas was happy to report that he found an egg with 100 rmb in it! ($15)

The kids settled in the family room to examine their eggs more closely, hoping to find good candy and more money.  ;)

Funny enough, Rhea also found another 100 rmb and Savvy found 50 rmb!  We had some very generous egg fillers!

A fun activity getting these two groups of kids from downtown and Shunyi together, as well as the boys and girls.  Despite the pollution and having to move the activity indoors, the kids had a great time!

We got a ride back to the subway and took it home, this time with Adam and Lizzie joining us.  The boys of course were on their phones, enjoying some game time together.  ;)

And the girls enjoyed chatting!

It ended up being a perfect day of Easter activities and having fun.  We really appreciate all the effort of everyone that help make the youth program and activities so successful for our kids here in Beijing.  We're trying to figure out what quantity of activities is doable with the branch being so spread out and how often we should try to meet together as YW and YM.  We'll get it figured out and continue having fun!  

We had a wonderful time with the Young Women at Sister Tanner's house decorating Easter egg cookies!  It always feels more like a holiday when you make goodies related to the holiday!  Sister Tanner lives in a beautiful, large house, perfect for our activities.  She has been good enough to host a few activities for us.

  

Sister Tanner also made all of the frosting and cookies for the activity.  Both were beautiful and beautifully displayed!

Before the cookie making, the girls made Italian sodas and played a few games to get to know each other better.  It was our first activity with our new Young Women's presidency:  Amy is the president, I'm the 1st counselor, and Karen Anderton is the secretary.  This was a wonderful activity to get to know the girls better and have fun together.  For one of the games, we were told to pick some toilet paper squares.  We found out that for each square we picked, we had to tell something about ourselves.  We laughed because Lizzie took a lot of toilet paper!

Then the cookie making began.  There were plenty of cookies and designs to choose from!Sister Tanner demonstrated how to work with the frosting and a few techniques she likes to use.The girls had a lot of fun together, especially Savannah and Kjirsten who ate some of the sugar and started singing Hamilton songs.  Sister Tanner put the music on in the background to help accompany them!

Rhea had fun with Avalon and Vivi.

And I got to have fun decorating too!  I had one little tiny bite of a cookie after my family, even Thomas, raved about them.  Thomas is a picky food connoisseur, even with sweets, yet he said, "These are my favorite cookies."  They were delicious!  I'll have to get the recipe!  This activity definitely helped it feel more like spring!

After 7 months of waiting, we finally got our stuff!  Our shipments from Latvia and Virginia both arrived in Beijing in September, but there was a problem with our red card application.  Apparently SIA changed something after Bri filled it out, and we only got our stuff after head of GSO suggested that we apply for residence cards.  That worked!  We got everything!  Over the seven months without our things, we had to buy all new coats, winter clothes, kitchen stuff, etc. that we already had.  So now we have double of a lot of stuff!  

Ahh, it's like seeing old friends!A week or so after our UAB came, the HHE that we packed out of Latvia was delivered!  We couldn't believe this day finally came!  Here's our moving crew!  Luckily Frank, on the left, spoke English well.  They all worked hard and were pleasant and willing.

As I was taking the inventory of the boxes coming in, Bri started tackling the home decor boxes with all of the fun knick knacks from our travels.  It really was like seeing old friends!  We haven't seen our stuff in almost 2 years!The kids made room for boxes to come in, so when they got home from school, they were ready to unpack.I had the movers unwrap all the bookshelves and exercise equipment and cut open all the boxes before they left.  According to the contract, they will stay and help unpack.  But I like to unpack and know what has been unpacked and where things are put, so I had them do the obnoxious part of cutting open the boxes. ;)Once the bookshelves were unwrapped, Bri went to town emptying the book boxes.  First things first for this guy.  ;)

It was so nice to get appliances that we've been missing for seven months!

And to finally get our piano after 2 years!  We've missed making music with it!Rhea was happy as a clam having all her stuffed animals here, her floor cushion, bed pillow, books, etc.And just like that, the boxes were empty and out in the hall waiting to be picked up by the complex to recycle.  I think it took us less than 12 hours to empty everything.  Probably the shortest unpacking ever!  I guess it helped to already be here seven months to think about where everything was going to go so there was no guessing once it arrived!  We acted pretty quickly in getting pictures hung up within a few days as well.  Nesting and settling!

Friends and colleagues have asked me if I'm glad our stuff arrived or if I'm ready to send it all back or throw it out.  My response:  I'm nothing but happy.  Our "stuff" reminds me of where we've been, the memories we've made along the way, and how we've changed or progressed individually and as a family.  It feels warm, cozy, and inviting.  More like home! 

The every day pollution and random dust storms from the Gobi Desert have brought our AQI up pretty high recently.  We've had a few days of 2000 aqi, and then days leading up to that and days recovering from that.  I finally had to purchase some N99s.  I went and visited Sarah Johnson who lives above me, and she pulled out some examples of different masks and different strengths.  The advice was so useful! 

I got home and ordered Cambridge masks off of Taobao.  I've had to use it a handful of times since, and I've been so grateful to have them!  I don't want to have headaches or allergy symptoms again from the pollution!

Kjirsten is such a sweet girl, and only a few years older than me. One sunday in March, I attended Zoom YW with my mom, feeling sick. I looked at my phone and saw a text from her, asking her how I was, because I wasn’t saying very much in the class, which isn’t like me. 

I told her I wasn’t feeling very well and we chatted back and forth a bit, catching up. Then church was over and I sat in my room, trying to rest with my dad and sister in my room with me. The next thing I knew, my mom was saying, very suspiciously I might add, that I had a visitor. When I stood, she tried to flatten down my crazy hair, only making me more wary. When I stepped into the family room, Kjirsten’s warm hug greeted me -- I was so shocked I almost started crying! 

We sat down and started talking. She had brought her dog, so we cuddled as much as she would allow, being a conscious dog.

We chatted so much, both her parents and my family. Then I noticed the treat and little goody bag she had brought me with a few face masks, I did with my mom later, an apple, a bag of popcorn, and just the most kind card I’ve ever been given. 

Kjirsten is the nicest person here and I am so glad I have her as a role model in my YW class and as a person in general. 

- Savannah