Our New Cousin

Emily Catherine Winkle was born on May 11, 2009 to Jason's brother Johnny and his wife Amy. She weighed 6 lbs 7 oz and was 19 1/4 inches long. She was a month early, but really right on time. She is our first girl cousin and the kids thinks she "looks pink". Here she is:

Winkle Happenings

Just thought we'd put a little update on here for everyone about goings on over on this side of the world. We are all healthy and happy and enjoying the Spring weather. We are planning on moving to our long term home in about a month. It is a great place with a fun playground that the kids love. Pictures will follow the move.

Jason leaves tomorrow for ten hot days in Thailand (105 degrees last week) to work on our business visa. We are starting a consulting business that we hope will be up and running very soon. Hudson is losing his second tooth and is beginning to read short books. HG reads about a book a day now and we are running out of things for her to read. Micah is having lots of fun being Micah. He is our little comedian and keeps us all in a good mood. Felicia is finishing up the homeschool year and we are planning for visitors this summer.

Life is exciting here in China! Hope all yall are well!

Mmmmm Mmmmm...

It may seem a bit strange to post pictures of dessert on your blog, but these were so delicious and there isn't just a huge variety of sweets here. These are frozen chocolate-covered peanut butter bananas. A great treat on a hot day that can take the place of ice cream. I'm not saying they are the healthiest thing in the world, but healthier than a sundae or donuts, right?

A Trip to a Different Park

The next stop on our World Park Tour brought Felicia and the kids to a hidden gem on the side of some mountains near our city. A group of homeschool moms put the trip together and the kids really enjoyed the fresh air, cool grass and bright sunshine. Here they are playing....

A Little Perspective Would Be Nice

I stumbled across this tonight (in China) and it helps to put things into perspective. Yes, the economic downturn in America is bad. Yes, things are more expensive for the standard of living most of us live. Yes, paying large percentages of our paychecks for taxes is no fun.

But check this out:
How rich am I?

Put in your salary. Pretty high up there, eh?

Put in $730 ($2/day) You would still be better off than 40% of the world. Are you kidding me? Next time you get 2 items off the dollar menu at McDonald's, realize that is more than what 40% of the world lives on. Wow. That makes me sad. I used to love getting two double cheeseburgers for lunch in the States. It is hard to fathom that so many people in this world have less than that.

"That's what we have elbows for..."

Our precious, sweet, gentle little girl said this line to Felicia the other day when they were out running some errands and the topic of getting through crowds was being discussed. When Felicia asked where she learned this, HG responded, "Daddy!" It really is the preferred method of getting on and off buses and through lines at stores. It isn't done in any sort of rude way, but it just is what it is. If we teach our kids that it is rude, then they will feel like 99% of Chinese people are rude. If we teach them to do it, they will fit in better with the culture. The 87 year old grandmas use their elbows the most.


Her is our little China doll. Watch out for the elbows!



She says the lines next to her eyes make her look more Chinese!

Happy Easter!

We had a nice little Easter celebration here last weekend. The kids dyed eggs, baked and decorated bunny cookies and had an Easter egg hunt with some friends in a neighborhood nearby. They all really enjoyed it.