China Pics#1 ---The Great Wall

Somehow, I managed to get the layout that is quite squished. I can't figure out how to change it, and I'm not uploading the pictures again! For those not aware of my recent escapades to the far East, I spent two weeks in China the end of June. My cousin Katie lives in Shanghai where she teaches English at a private boarding school. I spent about 9 days in Shanghai, and then we flew NW to Beijing, where we spent 3 days touring that beautiful city. We accessed the Great Wall at a point called the Guyu Pass, which was a strategic point militarily for the Chinese. The Wall actually formed into a little circle at this point because it was considered a likely area of access by invading enemies from the North (the Mongols). I climbed to the sixth little parapet/outpost on a very hot and humid day, but had a lot of fun doing so. As I got higher and higher, the view got more spectacular. Unbelievable to imagine how difficult it must have been for the Chinese to build not only this massive of a structure, but how difficult it would be to do so on such rugged and mountainous terrain. The padlocks seen in the top left picture are left by young couples to sort of be a sign of the steadfastness of their relationship.


While the steps within the wall made it much easier to climb up the mountain versus a foot path, they were very uneven; no two steps were alike. So that required one to look down frequently while climbing up the wall (at least this clumsy woman had to). The air got progressively cooler, so by the time I got up quite high, the cool breeze was refreshing and I wish I could've gone farther and enjoyed more sights: maybe next time! The Wall was certainly all that its name describes it to be: "Great."

MOPS and Me

This is a new endeavor for me---the whole process of posting pictures. If any of you read this in the next day or two, you're probably figuring that the art of posting anything on my blog is new for me!! Now that I'm a novice at uploading pictures, I think this will be more fun for me. Some of you are waiting for pictures from both Honduras and China, and don't worry....I'll work on that hopefully this weekend. Twelve hour work days don't afford me a lot of free time in the next couple of days.
But, I thought I'd start with my MOPS picture because it is personally one of my more recent favorites. These were 'my girls' this past year at MOPS; lots of estrogen in one room for 2 hrs! Each one brought a different sort of 'spice' to our mix, and I wouldn't have had it any other way. Grandma Viv (Viv Gamez) and I were the leaders of this pack and we both had a fun year with them all. Thanks to all of you Moms who let us care for your kids; it was a privilege, and at times (I'll admit)..... a challenge. I love Emma's big cheesy grin (front right); Olivia's mischievous smile; Amber's wide open mouth ---I think she was singing. Actually she had a great song during our 'song time.' I always let each one of the girls pick a song to sing; when it was her turn, Amber said she had a song for us all. It was called the "Duck Song."
I told her that we didn't know that one, but she could teach it to us. And before I could even get ready to listen, she popped up and started flapping her arms as she ran around the table 4-5 times all the while she was singing about flying ducks. Then she calmly sat down and said "that's my Duck Song." Rock on Amber! The girl's got creativity. And of course, Rachel has been playing with markers, as she unabashedly displays with her left hand; the incriminating piece of evidence as to where the marker spots came from is obviously held (cap off of course) in her right hand. Gotta love it! Erica and Katelyn round out the crew there in the back row. They were my quieter two, but get them one-on-one and they are quite chatty. We met the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of each month, September through May this past year, and Lord willing, I'll have the opportunity to spend my Tuesdays with 4 and 5 yr. olds again this Fall. If you love an unpredictable life, then spend a few hours with these little ones and you'll find that life truly has not an ounce of boredom.