Off to China!

We had the opportunity to get a wonderful rate on plane tickets to China out of the Kansas City airport so, with permission from our mission president and stake president, we finished our mission, packed everything in our car, cleaned our little house we have been living in, parked the car in the basement garage for a week, and headed to China to see Taylor's family and little Preston who was born while we served our mission.  Our friends, the Chamberlains graciously drove us to the airport.  The Josephson's who moved into our house while we were in China, will bring our loaded car to the airport when we return, and we will head west for home.

It seemed surreal that one day we are serving our mission and the next we are making the long flight to China.

Photo of Seattle from the airplane as we took off on our second leg of the China trip.

When we arrived in China, we were greeted by Taylor's entire family and this cute fellow, Preston!

Preston took to Steve right away.  It wasn't long before he allowed me to walk holding his hand, etc.  We quickly became attached to our new grandson and it was so fun to see Will and June too.

Shanghai was beautiful in November.  We had some rainy times, but it wasn't too cold and the flowers were gorgeous!

We always enjoy lunch at Elements Fresh and the kids were out of school so it was extra fun!

Friday afternoon, Jen took us and the kids to a jump place.  We were belatedly celebrating Will's 9th birthday with a fun activity!

We couldn't believe how big these leaves that fell from the trees were.  These are Steve's feet.

We love Preston's cute laugh.  He loves the attention when he gives us this facial expression.

Thanks for the footzone, Jen.  Steve was able to get a massage too so we were both happy.

There is a lot of construction around the corner from Price's home.  They are putting in a new shopping mall and new apartments.

Steve loved walking the kids to school while I tended Preston.  It gave Jen a chance to attend a class.

We made a visit to Taylor's new office.  The employees are busy organizing things and settling in.  There is a huge grand opening planned for the next weekend.

Our last afternoon in Shanghai, it was a bit sunny and more clear than usual.  Taylor took the time to escort us to the new Shanghai Tower, which is currently the second tallest building in the world.  Since we went to the tallest building, Burj Khalifa,  in the world in Dubai a couple of years ago, it was especially fun to go up in the Shanghai Tower.

The views from the tower were spectacular and our pictures don't do it any justice.

Once again, we were amazed by the beautiful flowers planted all around the downtown Pudong area.  Taylor says things are extra nice because of a recent visit by the President of China.

That evening after we visited the tower, Taylor also treated us to dinner at his favorite Japanese restaurant.  Yum!

This picture shows Taylor and Jen's apartment building in the background.  This is their guarded entrance with the beautiful flowers blooming.

On Sunday after church, ( did I mention that we were the featured speakers in sacrament meeting?), Taylor and Jen hosted their cycling friends to an amazing Thanksgiving dinner.  We enjoyed helping Jen put together the wonderful meal and visiting with their friends from all over the world.  Guests from Germany, Holland, New Zealand, France, Phillipines, China and US attended.

Preston took his first real steps while playing with some of the kids at the Thanksgiving dinner.

The desserts were nothing short of fabulous including home baked pies by Jen and treats from other countries brought by their guests.  The Pavlova in the middle was a big hit as were Jen's freshly baked from total scratch pumpkin and apple pies.

When we went to the airport on November 14th for our flight back to Kansas City, we had an extra piece of luggage or two.  The big box was a bike for Aaron.  The bag was a suit for Steve.  We were creative in our handling of the baggage but we got it all back to the US safe and sound.

After over 24 hours of traveling, our dear mission friends, the Chamberlains and the Josephsons both met us at the airport with our car and their Chamberlain's pickup so that they could take the bike back to the office to ship it to Aaron.  There wasn't a way for us to transport it safely in or on our totally loaded car.  We really appreciated their kind and generous efforts and enjoyed a final meal together at a Mexican restaurant near the airport.  We spent the next two days driving back across Nebraska and Wyoming to Utah!