Foreigner No More

Everyday for two years we walked down the street where children and adults point and call us "foreigner." In just a few days we will be leaving the city that we have called home for the last two years and head back to Ames, where people still might laugh and point, but probably not because we are white. Our last few days have been filled with good-byes, packing, debriefing and rest.

Eating at one of our fav. restaurants

Nora takes a spin on the turn-table.

As we wrap up our time here we are feeling thankful and excited. Thankful for the things we have been able to see and the ways we have been used here. Excited as we look toward the next season of life that the Father has in store for us. Mike has accepted a job working with international students at our home church. I am going to be Nora's mom and hopefully a little part time social services work mixed in there somewhere.

In other news we were doing a little online shopping and bought a house!!!

We'll be around after mid-August so stop on by. Jello molds, casseroles, and gifts of manual labor will be accepted throughout the month of August. :)

And Just for fun -

Things we're looking forward to in America

• Spending time with family - especially those Nora hasn't been able to meet yet
• Frozen food - Seriously the thought of having the option of cooking dinner in 30 minutes makes me a little giddy.
• Eating steak
• Mt. Dew
• Fixing up our house - oh, yeah and seeing it for the first time
• DRIVING
• Seeing the stars
• Cornerstone

Things we'll miss about China

• Cheap fruit and veggies
• Riding our bikes
• Talking to people who have never heard the name Jesus
• FOOD
• Our awesome friends who are so hospitable, loving, genuine and a little goofy.
• Every day being an unpredictable adventure

Things we won't miss about China

• Every day being an unpredictable adventure
• Living on the 5th floor
• Advice about how our baby is too cold
• Pollution and traffic
• Getting my feet moped with toilet water at the super market
• squatty potties

If you didn't receive our final update summarizing our term overseas, send us an email and we can certainly get it to you.

Italy Noodle and Manliness

I wish that you all could meet this group of friends. Some have been brothers and sisters for a long time, some are still young, some are still making up their minds, but they all have amazing stories. And they are hilarious. They started the semester as strangers, but now they are starting to study together and laugh together like a family, and we're so glad to be a part of it. Here we are in one of the study rooms in the dormitory. Check out the decor in this room, it's especially special. Winnie the Pooh stickers, soccer posters, Christmas tinsel, and a still life portrait of fruit.

I don't think Nora learned much at this particular study

Last weekend we had them over for Italy Noodle aka spaghetti.
Everyone was very impressed with my cooking skills , even though they watched me dump the pre-made sauce into the pot. The garlic bread was especially interesting to them since they don't use butter. I explained that butter is like oil. They wanted to dip into the tub with a spoon to have a taste, but I convinced them to wait till it was on the bread.

Man picture

Belated Father's Day

A little bit late, but still fun. A big fat THANK YOU to Jeff Ritzman and Doug Easton for being awesome dads and awesome grandpas. We'll see you soon!!

5x7 Folded Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Summer teams

We need a bigger place!

One of my favorite sights is a gigantic pile of shoes at the front door. This week we had ALL the summer volunteers come to our house and it was awesome! Look how much fun we're having... Makes you want to come to China doesn't it?

Wedded Bliss

This weekend our friends Pei Pei and Kiki got married! They are some of the first people that we met and we were so excited that they invited us to share this special day with them. They have been so faithful to the Father with their time and resources and I can't wait to see how the father will use their marriage.

Ode to Gu La Rou

As our time in China gets closer to an end, I'm realizing that there are still so many awesome things about this place that I still want to tell you! Mostly food. So this is my ode to gu la rou aka sweet and sour pork. I don't know what it is about this dish, but for whatever reason we just can't get enough of it. Chinese people don't eat it very often, but that's probably because it's mostly made of ketsup and sugar. I can't begin to tell you how many conversations we've had over a plate of gu la rou. Here are few more of the "the usual" dishes that we often eat.

cabbage

Green Leafy Vegetable

Sugary corn pancake with sprinkles

Eggplant
Potatoes

And many many more

Disclaimer: These pictures were maliciously stolen from Micheal Anderson

Coming soon to an America Near You

I'm not exactly sure what that title means, but if you haven't heard we will be returning to the motherland in less than two months! We initially committed to two years in China, but had the option of staying longer. This was a HARD decision. There were just so many things to consider...

God is really blessing the things that we are doing here - does that mean we should stay? We are really passionate about some of the opportunities we'll have in America - should we go home? The work here will never be done - so maybe we should stay? We miss our community of family and friends - should we go home? In America we can have a house and a car and Hickory Park and Mt. Dew - hmm, we should definitely go home. Shoot, now I have to think about right and wrong motives too? After many conversations, some tears (which I'm blaming on pregnancy) and much deliberation (seriously, we deliberated our buts off) we decided the right thing for our family is to come home. We still have lots to do in these next months and want to finish well here, but we are also looking forward to things to come.

Mike has accepted a job with at Cornerstone in Ames where he will be reaching out to international students at Iowa State as well as convincing American students to come overseas. We feel like our time in China has given us lots of life experiences that will help us in this new role. We know what it's like to be in a place the doesn't make any sense to you. We know what it's like to feel lost and stupid and confused and frustrated. But we also know what it's like to feel loved and thankful when someone takes the time to show you the ropes and share their life with you. We have been shown so much hospitality here and I hope that we will be able to do the same for international students at Iowa State.

To close this post, here a few pics of our lil' Cyclone.