Chen

"You know he is blind, so the night is nothing to him ... 

I think that is the perfect metaphor"

Ai Wei Wei

Video from the NYTimes ...

more from the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/28/world/asia/chen-guangcheng-blind-lawyer-escapes-house-arrest-china.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha2_20120428

Lobster Dinner

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Boston Bound ...

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A note for Mr Johnson

Tonight as I get ready to head to bed in -5 Greenwich Mean Time, Mr Johnson is across the Atlantic and two hours ahead of GMT. He'll wake to a hearty German breakfast,and spend his morning sipping strong European coffee and sparkling water.

I wrote him this note on my way to bed ...

Today we:
did church and Sunday School
Panera (because you don't like Panera)
Chinese school
went to the MALL (which is exhausting with an almost 13-year-old!)
(so we had to share a cinnabon)
we came home and watched 1/2 of a dolphin tale
I've blogged
and created millie's birthday invite
and ate marinated olives with chopsticks
(and missed you ... marinated olives are much better shared, on the front porch, under blankets if it's cold.)



Hearts!
your Tai Tai

Easter 2.0

April Birthday Girl

Bei Bei celebrated her golden birthday this month when she turned seven on the seventh. It's always such a relief to me that our "Baby Bea" arrived after her due date! (Her predicted "due date" suggested her arrival would fall on the same April date that Mr Johnson and I share already share!)

She waited five days and joined instead what we have dubbed the "April Team."

I was still jet-lag groggy this April 7th, but we wanted to do a little something extra for our golden girl. Friends of ours decorate their boys doors on their birthdays, and although I thought Bei Bei would love it, I wasn't certain. Would she'd feel trapped with a paper covering, or delighted that she would get to make a triumphant exit through the paper? Erring on the side of caution, we decorated the backside of her door with golden streamers and a banner. Next year, she has assured us, she would love to have her door decorated over!





breakfast in bed

Easter 2012

We spent Easter Monday recovering from a lamb and sugar induced coma. (Millie and I are just finishing up our jet-lag!) In the evening we ran my mommala to ORD, after her two week stay helping Mr Johnson hold down-the-fort-at-The-Bungalow while The Millie Girl and I were in 中国。

Easter is a special time of year ... The most critical holiday on the Christian calendar and the crux of the Christian faith. This was our first Easter at our home fellowship in seven years! (We spent our first repatriated Easter in Minnesota with family last year.) It was a special day, augmented by the presence of my mom, and with our family unit of five reunited in a row after a fortnight spent on separate continents.



After church we grabbed brunch at our favorite new bistro then headed to Chinese school with a quick break at a playground before classes.









Then we headed back to The Bungalow, where we raided Easter baskets, ate Easter sugar cookies and had lamb for the second time in the same day!

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