Brett was here!

Here are some pics from our time with Brett- really sweet- highlights including the slide down from the Wall at Mutianyu, the acrobat show, Trivial Pursuit, catching up...

(Notice where Titus is in these pictures...my boy who used to always want to run around just wanted to be held (with his blankie!)- my back is still recovering :))




(Took a cable car up-- I had to mask my dislike for this cable car so the kids wouldn't worry...) :)



One of the funny convos had between H & G the day we went to the acrobats:

H: i will be an acrobat, i am an acrobat

G: no you're not- you're a people.

H: if i want to when i grow up i will be an acrobat

G: no you wont

H: well acrobats are real people

G: no they're not.

H: they are people.

G: no they are not.

H: they're people.

G: yep. don't be an acrobat

H: well i'm going to be an acrobat right now.

Emails and other things...

Just had 4 sweet days with my cousin Brett. So thankful he came! Had a fun-filled time exploring, catching up, playing games like "I Spy coat edition" (created by Grace) on the subway...

Quick update on the kiddos:

TT, Tito, T-tus, Ti-Ti...is just as mama-needy as any of our kids have ever been. My once independent, always wanting to get out the door little boy only walked about 5 steps on the Great Wall- wanting to be held held held :) Needless to say my arms are getting huge...He is really a delight to all of us, making us all laugh often with his antics, faces- we love our baby!

G is as sweet as ever- often just smiling at someone until they look at her, often saying, "Don't be mad or sad.", often asking, "How can I help you mama?" (Oh I love that one!) :)

And as far as our almost 5 year old- in the past weeks, Hudson has sent the following sweet emails/text messages to various family members...they usually either include the time here in Beijing, sports scores, the weather, or just love.

hi lin you the greatest LIN LIN IN THE WHOLE WORLD LIN LIN I LOVE YOU A LOT LIN LIN BYE

HI LIN LIN IT IS HUDSON IT IS 509 IN BEIJING HOW ARE YOU LIN
IT IS 73 DEGREES IN BEIJING I LOVE YOU SO MUhc LIN BYE

subject: JESUS IS WITH YOU
THE ILLINI OR PLAYING THE 2OSU THE CHW BEAT THE BOS AND THE CHC BEAT THE SD OK BYE

my favorite book is samuel what is your favorite book no i hav not been too the park lately what is your favorite park i love you mimi frum hudson bye

text message from Sunday:
I love you mommy so so so so so so so so so so so much.

So thankful...

207. for these 3 kiddos
208. for chilly weather
209. for heat that will be turned on in November!
210. for our cousin Brett
211. for good current reading (Mahaney's Humility, Clowney's The Unfolding Mystery, Brett's Hipster Christianity, and Keller's Counterfeit Gods)
212. for the sweet little classmates in GJ's class who were almost in tears over the ducks that didn't come back in the "5 Little Ducks" song
213. for our tutor friend staying with us and how its improving my language!
214. that the Eagles (ACS) are in the playoffs :)
215. for our apt.
216. for good memories with cousins (8th grade trips to OK, Alpine Slide, spills, the fire...)
217. for the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge that's been poured in our hearts

Memory

As much as I liked remembering phone numbers and things of the like as a kid (nerdy I know), Hudson has been amazing us with his memory- little details of past nights, etc. lately. But especially in regards to football scores...

We had a dear friend who went to UNC in our living room a week or so ago. Hudson was talking football - and so we started talking UNC football. Hudson then mentioned, "They lost a game 30-24. They had two chances to get a touchdown and the guy dropped it twice and they lost." Me and Craig had no idea this happened. Our friend looks at Hudson- thinks for a second- and is shocked. He said that is EXACTLY what happened in their game against LSU a month or so ago!

On Sunday we had some friends in town that are originally from Wisconsin and are big Packer fans. Somehow talk of the Bears-Packers game came up, and Craig asked Hudson, "Do you remember the score of that game?" (kind of joking/kind of wanting to remind our sweet friend who did no small amount of smack text messaging before the game)- Hudson thought for a second, "20-17".

The next day we were looking at a few NFL scores- H has decided that behind the Bears- he also likes the Colts, Saints (may have to do with watching the Super Bowl last year), the Broncos (Tim Tebow), Falcons (not sure why), and Rams (St. Louis). I'm ok with this-- I'm not sure what score it was, but he saw one and said- that's the same score as when Arizona beat Iowa (also about a month ago). :)

These are just a couple of several times of recalling scores, etc. for us. Hope to funnel that memory mostly into storing up the Word in his heart and also Chinese characters...

Here are the goofballs yesterday:

fall night

I've blogged about past failed "family nights"- but this one was sweet (and simple!). A couple weeks back, we collected some leaves, bought a couple pumpkins, printed some fall coloring pages and declared it "fall night".

Used our pumpkin, apple, and leaf cookie cutters on the PB/J sandwiches, played some tic tac toe, did some leaf rubbings, rolling pumpkins relay, and pass the pumpkin- the highlight of the night. All 5 of us sat in a circle passing the pumpkin as we sang a song (mostly all kids' Sunday school songs). Whenever the song was done, whoever had the pumpkin had to pick a new song. The most fun part was having Titus in on the action- every time slowly passing the pumpkin- sort of wanting to hold it, wanting a reaction from others, but also wanting to be a part of the game so passing it too. T's only word of the game though was at the end of "The B-I-B-L-E". (Bible!) We all cheered for him everytime he said it- probably 20 times (trying to encourage his talking!). :)

Gramma Mac

It's nice to have a cousin who can write so well- especially today.

The loss of my dear gramma this morning has resulted in much- overflowing thankfulness- and tears- and lots of "mommy, she's with Jesus!" reminders...Good news sharing, remembering, reading.

After a quick spiral down in health over the last few weeks, Gramma McCracken went home to be with her Savior this morning. The kids and I had been praying since talking with Kayly on Friday that Gramma Mac (GG (great gramma)) would somehow be able to communicate her desire to go to her real home in heaven. Miraculously yesterday morning (Sunday night in the States), she woke up suddenly and did just that- and was able to talk with all her 4 kids. This being sweet, as our friend here said "extra-ordinary", grace from the Lord. It's the same extra-ordinarily gracious God who gave me a Gramma that persevered to the very end- that He kept till the very end- and that is with Him now. She was an example, an inspiration, an encouragement- and much more.

Its hard to remember her here- wanting to be with family, wanting their help to remember, wanting it to be more real than it is here- so far away. Its hard to be throwing around the possibility of whether or not to return to remember her with the rest of the family- and friends. Its hard to think of what time we could've spent together over the last 3 years of living overseas- the tea parties, talks, stories, goodies we missed out on. But how can I not be filled with thankfulness?

- for our- mine and hers- great salvation, great Savior
- for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken
- for the resurrection and the life and His promise that he will resurrect her body (with her gorgeous smile and all)
- for the incredible influence of grace that growing up in our family had on me
- for the sweet 83rd birthday celebration we could be at in January 2009- and the visits with her those couple months in the States
- for her generous, loving support and encouragement- how she loved so well her whole life those who left their home for Him
- Surprise cookies
- fun, generous, entertaining packages sent during college (and gift bags all my life) cracker jacks, 2 yrs past the expiration date chocolate, McDonalds toys, George Washington signs and all!- (for my Feb 22nd b'day)
- leftover lipstick on our cheeks
- running up the center aisle every Sunday morning after the Breaking of Bread to Gramma and Grampa's pew- hugs, lifesavers, and other treats
- decorating Gramma's MASSIVELY HUGE Christmas tree every Christmas - with boxes and boxes of ornaments
- the way she played the piano
- singing around the Breakfast room table- edifying songs like "Johnny Trebeck"
- laundry chute fun
- Princess Diana coloring books
- tea parties- with Mrs. Mellon (Gramma) Mrs. Rockefeller (Lin) Mrs. Vanderbilt (me) and Mrs. McGillicutty (KK)
- her obvious, adoring love for Grampa McCracken
- always looking great- oh I need to get better at this!- never remember seeing her wearing pants, ever.
- her giving, selfless hospitality- towards those in need- her widowed sister, visitors, college students...
- for her being able to live in her classy apt all the way til about 5 weeks ago
- to be "babysat" by her and Grampa
- the little note I carried around in my wallet from Gram- with Joshua 1:6 and Psalm 139:9-10 on it

GG's 83rd b'day (January 2009) playing Scottish songs for us all to sing-along with- in a way no one else I know can...




Titus meeting GG (March 2009)


Easter 2009



"Her children rise up and call her blessed." Proverbs 31:28

"So teach us to number our days..." Psalm 90:12

"I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die." John 11:25-26

Girlie girl

Craig picked up a box of "honey nut loops" at the import store when he was over on that side of town a week or so ago- Grace has started liking these, and all our kids have been requesting bowls of cereal before bed...trying to break this habit! The requests usually come just as the toothbrushes are coming out. Anyway, the back of the cereal box has a picture of a monster truck and I think it says, "Draw a monster truck" or something like that. H & G didn't know what monster trucks were, and it just so happened that Uncle Scott had just had a dream involving monster trucks (a pretty funny one) that daddy shared with everyone. Ever since that night, the kids- especially Grace- have been requesting monster truck stories. This is not my strong point- mine have all involved parades...monster trucks being in parades. I'm not sure I even know what the purpose of a monster truck is. She asked me last night for 4 monster truck stories- I said sorry, no- don't have time or the creativity :)

G has had a good week at school, been growing and seems older- asking nonchalantly while reading her bible, "How was running daddy?" or always after a meeting "How was your meeting?".

In the middle of an exciting 1 Samuel battle story, we were all "wow"ing and she whipped around toward me- caught up in the moment- and said, "Wow! I LOVE you!" and gave me a big hug. G makes us laugh a lot...and is having more and more of her own ideas- including going "real bowling". We went last week- thinking it was a great idea and wanting to stay in out of the heat/pollution. Here's a picture of her showing her muscles (because bowling balls are HEAVY!)-



And! It cooled off a TON overnight here. Went from shorts/t-shirt/fans on to our breath being visible outside this morning! Here she is in a new fall outfit that she hadn't worn yet- Hudson told her several times how pretty she looked, went to grab the camera, took her picture, and showed me this picture saying, "mommy, doesn't Gracie look pretty?"




thankful for...
Sovereign Grace kids' music - especially our "To Be Like Jesus" CD
loneliness- and Elisabeth Elliot's book on it
the "Cross that lifteth up my head"
Ren Dong's wedding and the guests it brings to town this week w/o Daddy
my 3 little buddies this week
sweet emails from sweet friends
Hudson's subject line in an email he sent yesterday "JESUS IS WITH YOU"
Craig getting a chance to meet up with some great guys this week
knock-off Monopoly Deal cards I found on the street!
rain
cooler weather
our house helper's trip and all the stories of His work and His people's faith

What is happening to my kids?!?

Uncle Troy just sent this sweet jersey- yes we all love it in our house- it hurts a little that he's a cardinal, but...