Chinese Sunday & Monday...

 I love Sundays in China.  I was able to get Jen, Will, June and Taylor to pose for a quick family photo before we left for church which starts very early at 8:30 a.m.  It is such an amazing experience to attend church in their branch with people gathered from all over the world to worship, take the sacred sacrament and teach one another the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.  As it was the 5th Sunday, the women, men and young women and young men all gathered together for the 3rd hour meeting.  The young people gave presentations on principles in the Strength of Youth pamphlet.  These young people gave very impressive and well prepared lesson segments.  These young people are spiritual giants.

 Here June is styling my hair. She had a great time making Grandma beautiful!
After lunch and some naps, Jen and Taylor took us to a tranquil private park Jen discovered doing her workouts.  We met some friends of theirs from Australia at the park and the kids had a great time playing with their friends and riding their scooters around the pond. Some fisherman on the dock caught a lot of tiny silver fish.

 Back at their apartment, Britton and I became fans of their big massage chair.  Britton listened to music and maybe books, I am not sure.  I read one of Jen's books about China's history called The Three Swans.

 We were glad we visited the park on Sunday afternoon because Monday it rained.  We walked to the little ready store a few blocks from Taylor's place.  We needed bread and Steve wanted to give Britton the chance to taste a Chinese donut.  He liked it.  I tried a small waffle like thing dipped half way in chocolate.  It was pretty tasty but not really memorable.  You see the street sweeper with her broom made of sticks.  They sweep the leaves and gather them up every day.

 We took Will to school on Monday but kept June with us since she is only there a couple of hours.  That way we didn't have to keep running back and forth to drop her off and pick her up.  Her class is like a pre-school so she doesn't miss a lot.

 You will notice the Christmas tree and decorations in the background at the outdoor, high end mall.  Apparently there is no rush to take down the holiday decorations.

 It's not a trip to China without our regular trip to Carrefour (sp?) a big French-owned supermarket. They carry everything from underwear to appliances to food.  There is a mall with a food court underneath the store.  We haven't ever really explored that level.  We like to check out all of the food displays, etc.  I also absolutely love their woks and pans.  It seems like I bring one home almost every visit whether I need one or not.

 Britton is standing in front of one of the more sanitary looking meat displays.  This store is definitely a cut above the ordinary Chinese markets.  There are a lot of self serve items, which don't seem too appealing to us as we watch the locals pawing through the stuff.

 When we picked Taylor up from his work, we got a tour of his office and their facilities.  They have training rooms, offices, assembly and repair rooms and rooms where the employees park their bikes they either ride to work or ride during their lunch hours.  There are also showers and rooms to change and clean up.  It is definitely a cycling culture.

 That evening Taylor took Steve, Britton and I down to the Bund area of Shanghai.  It is beautiful at night with all the lights. One side of the river has all the new skyscrapers and unusual high-rise buildings.  The other side has European-style architecture from the prosperous era of the l920-30's.  We love to go there because we know that Steve's dad, Bill, walked among those same buildings when he was in Shanghai after WW II.

 This same area of the bund was so crowded on New Year's Eve this past year that several people were trampled to death when an incident occurred that caused everyone to push and try to get away. Since it was a weeknight of a rainy day, the crowds were unusually small when we visited.

 Britton and Will during the ride to and from school on rainy Monday.