12:2 Times July 2008

All-American Summer

As we cruise through our last months in America before departing for China, we are making a point to enjoy some American summer activities.



Six Flags Over Texas. We had a great time on a weekend without the baby. We arrived in the morning and immediately head for the Titan. (The Titan reaches speeds over 85 mph and the first drop is 24 stories, not the mention the extreme G’s on the corkscrews.) After one spin on the Titan, I was out for the day. M’Lynn however continued to ride coaster after coaster. The lines were amazingly short and we finished the park earlier enough to enjoy the next summer item.

Baseball. We walked out of Six Flags, moved our car to the end of the parking lot, and walked to the Ballpark. The game was full of homeruns and the Rangers even won (not that either of us are Rangers fans). Plus, we’ve watched our share of Rockhounds games here too.



Swimming. What’s a summer without some swimming? No summer at all! We took Kanyon swimming for the first time and he kicked his feet and splashed the water in his face with his hands. Not much different than taking a bath, only this time it was in an extra large tub.

Fireworks. We enjoyed some Fourth of July fireworks and BBQ with family for the holiday. While fireworks are common in China, the BBQ is much different.

BBQ and other foods. Last on the summer list is BBQ and other American foods including hamburgers, steaks, chips and hot sauce, Tex-Mex, Starbucks, and many others. All of these are not available in China, or at least not of the same quality.

Family Reunion



Well, not really a reunion, but rather a wedding of my cousin. It felt much like a wedding as all of my aunts and uncles were together again for the first time in years (first time in year that we have been able to be there). We were missing a few cousins, but it was great to get everyone back together for the wedding.

We traveled down to San Antonio, baby in tow, to see all the folks. Most of the time was spent hanging out before and after the wedding. The wedding itself was great too and was a real Texas Cowboy wedding. After the wedding we drove over to the reception. It was in a great old general store that was cleared out and now functions as a hall. We had a blast! Check out the Texas family photo at the left!

August Finish Line

We have entered our last weeks on the job. Our final day working for both of us is July 25, 2008 (also Kanyon’s last day of daycare). We hope to finish strong and provide a smooth transition to our replacements.

Then after a week of packing and moving out of our apartment, we have a month of time with friends and family. For the first two weeks in August, we will be living in Garden City with M’Lynn’s family. Then we will move up to the panhandle and live with Jeremy’s family for the final two weeks before we depart from training in Los Angeles on August 29, 2008.

We are looking forward to spending time with both families and relaxing the last month in the States. We will be available if you would like us to stop by and talk more about China, or simply to catch up.

Newsletter No. 2

One of our favorite parts of teaching in China is to be able to share the stories, adventure, photos, and work with all of you back home. It is such a privilege to share this with each of you.

Many of you probably received our second newsletter about our return to China. If you did not receive this letter, but would like to receive future letters sent from China, please respond with your mailing address. Or if you have a corrected address, are moving, or know others who would be interested, please send us the information and updates.

We will continue to publish the email newsletter (monthly) in addition to the snail mail version (about every 6 weeks). They will be different and unique from each other and would like all of you to receive both. We’ll have plenty of stories, pictures, and updates to provide from our work in China.