handsful

Last week was the Autumn Moon Festival, and annual holiday in China. It is characterized by watching the full moon, hanging lanterns, and eating moon cakes. It dates back 3,000 years to moon worship.

Last Sunday, we had dinner at the table and then had our little celebration. We read the origin of the Autumn Moon Festival, the legend of Chang’E, and the origin of the mooncake. Then…

We opened up the mooncakes. This was our first time ordering mooncakes and trying them. They came from Chinatown in San Francisco. I ordered a variety of flavors, but ended up with only one flavor. White lotus paste. Is your mouth watering?

Slow down, buddy.

Randy gave us each a slice. Hmmm…the inside looked like chocolate which I think made it taste worse. ‘Cause that was NOT chocolate.

Lainey had 2 slices. I mean, she crammed them in her mouth and wanted more. I just don’t understand that girl. Her favorite thing to eat lately is celery. With ranch dressing. It’s amazing having a child eat anything!

We tried mooncakes. Maybe next year I’ll try and find a recipe that I can tweak a bit? In the meantime, we decided to send in a replacement for the mooncakes.

Now, THAT’S chocolate.

Moonpies count…right?

I’m sure most of you have heard of the yearly prayer event called “See You At The Pole”. Here’s a bit of history…

“A small group of teenagers in Burleson, Texas, came together for a DiscipleNow weekend in early 1990. They came seeking God. Little did they know how powerfully God was about to move. On Saturday night God penetrated their hearts like never before. The students were broken before God and burdened for their friends. Compelled to pray, they drove to three different schools that night. Not knowing exactly what to do, they went to the school flagpoles and prayed for their friends, schools, and leaders. Those students had no idea how God would use their obedience.”

“Now, more than 3 million students from all 50 states participate in SYATP. Students in more than 20 countries take part. In places like Canada, Guam, Korea, Japan, Turkey, and the Ivory Coast, students are responding to God and taking seriously the challenge to pray.”

That’s us on the far left side sitting down…

We homeschool. We have no flag pole. So, we’ve never participated in SYATP until this year, when our new homeschool group “reserved” the flag pole at our local Y. We met at 9am (another perk of homeschooling…traditionally schooled kids must meet at their poles before school starts, around 7am) and one of the moms in our group had completely planned our time. There were scripture readings, prayers, and music…all by the kids.

Payton asked to be included in leading a prayer. He was assigned a topic to pray about (strongholds in our world that attempt to push God out) and he talked it over with Randy. When it was his turn in the program, he stepped up and told everyone that they could join in and pray as they felt led after he started it. He did well, had lots of kids pray (including Abbey, Marley, and Ethan), and then closed the prayer.

The boy always has at least one hand in his pocket!

I loved our morning…I love how free we are in the US to sing praise songs and pray right out in the open, with no threat against us. I loved how, just by gathering at a flag pole, we could be used by God to shine the light of Jesus to others. Can’t wait till next year.

(thanks for the pictures, Bonnie!)

Kristie, in China adopting her precious Katie, snapped these pictures of Dylan while he slept. The nanny told Kristie not to wake him.

Makes me think of the pictures of Lainey that we received from a traveling family. The nanny jerked her right up, and the pictures show a very confused, sleepy, and down-right angry Lainey!

She told me that the kids are 2 to a crib…I’d love to know who Dylan’s cribmate is.

Be sure and visit Kristie’s blog – it’s listed on the sidebar under “Luoyang Families”. Thanks so much, Kristie, for another glimpse into our son’s life while we wait :)

Who’s that tubing behind our ski boat??

Yep. That’s Gram (Randy’s mom), forgetting she’s a “grandmother” and taking a turn on the tube. It didn’t take much talking her into it, either. You go, Gram ;)

Pa-Paul got a shot of the kids doing what they call “Rodeo” on the tube. All pile on and hold on for dear life! Wonder where Dylan will fit? (making a note to get a bigger tube…)

Saturdays are FULL these days! Payton is playing basketball in an 11/12 year old league…he’s played b-ball since he was 6, and still loves it. This is the first time he’s had someone OTHER than his dad coach him…he’s handling it well. Randy, on the other hand, absolutely hates NOT coaching his son. I’m sure he’ll be offering his coaching services next year.

Interestingly, the kid in the green shorts is the son of the owners of the house we’re renting. Follow that?

Payton being Payton…they won, by the way :)

On the way home…

Abbey took this close up shot of Lainey…nice!

Then, I took this nice shot of Abbey. What a smile she’s got.

In the past, Abbey has done horseriding, gymnastics, basketball, and softball. Although she’s enjoyed them all, she hasn’t found anything she truly loves. That might have changed last week, when she played in her first ever volleyball game. She had had 1 formal practice. One. And, we were astounded at how well she played. Like she’s played for years. It was really cool to watch.

That’s Abbey, hitting it over…she can serve well, and has already figured out how to direct her hits to where she wants them to go.

The team. See the guy with the brown shirt? Yes, that’s Randy. Coaching Abbey’s team. Has he ever coached volleyball? Nah. But, they needed coaches and Randy is most definitely a coach. Thankfully, the other guy standing there KNOWS volleyball inside and out, but doesn’t know how to coach a team. They’re the perfect couple. I mean, coaching team.

This past weekend, Payton’s game was at 9am, and then Abbey had games at 2 and 3:30. A total of 4 hours spent in a gym. But, we’re loving it. I might need to invest in a bleacher cushion, though.

How often do you remember having your hair done during science?