As I mentioned before, Chad went on a business trip to China. He was gone for 10 days and we missed him a lot. It was an interesting trip because China is about 12-14 hours ahead of us. As a result, we didn't get to talk to Chad as often as we would have liked. He was always sleeping while we were awake and vice versa. We were glad when Friday rolled around and he was coming home.
We were all really excited to see Chad. The boys even made a welcome home banner for Chad! Tanner designed and drew the banner and the other boys colored in the letters. It was a great team effort. Chad loved it!
When Chad got home we celebrated his birthday over dinner. We all had a fun time. It was so nice to have Chad back home again. Now we just had to be quiet enough so he could sleep and get back on our time schedule!
Not only did we give Chad gifts, but he had some gifts for us as well. He didn't have much time to shop in China, but he was able to bring some cool stuff back. On his short shopping trip he had an artist draw the boy's names. They aren't in Chinese characters, but each letter is formed out of something neat, for example a dragon.
Chad also brought home a cool chess set. The three older boys like to play chess, so they were very excited when they opened the little chest. Chad and the boys had fun playing chess with each other and Chad the next day.
The next set of gifts were a little different. They were things Chad was given as gifts and things he got from the plane. Chad told the boys they each got to pick one thing. The options were a tea set, a zippered notebook (complete with calculator) and two travel kits. As you might guess there was some discussion and negotiating as to whom got each gift. In the end Devon got the tea set, Kaden and Tanner got the travel kits and Trevor got the zippered notebook! The boys were in heaven!
Chad couldn't find anything for me so before coming home he picked up some Godiva chocolate from the airport! I thought it was funny, but I enjoyed every piece! Chad also brought home some chinese money for the boys to check out. I think the money is very cool. I love all the colors.
Chad had a great trip. He was impressed with the chinese people. He said everyone was very nice and respectful. It is a good thing he enjoyed the trip because this is the first trip of many.
2 comments:
So were the gifts "made in china?" :)
Yes, the time difference is quite brutal. It is 15 hours for my parents to talk to my brother. When we went over, we got up a bit early and talked to our kids at 8 am China time which was 5 pm CA time.
Did he get to ride the Chinese subway? That was quite an experience.
My kids loved the Chinese money too. I find it fascinating that they do not use credit cards at all there (maybe at the hotels they do). If/when Chad goes back, let me know, especially if he will be going to church there. I will have my brother look out for him or have him over for dinner or something! :)
If he has any extra time, you should show him my blog posts in case he is looking for things to see/do (Oct 2010).
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