2015 Feb and March Birthdays - the Year of the Bike

This year may be the year of the goat / sheep / ram in China, but apparently in the Miller Family, it is the Year of the Bike, because Luke, Grant, and Heidi all asked for bikes for their birthdays.

Luke was first - he opened his presents in the basement.

He was happy to receive this "Polar Pen" from Mallory.

And this Chinese chess (or Xiangqi) set from Grant.

And....his bike.  He now prefers to ride this bike rather than his scooter. 

His friend gave him a WWII Chinese propaganda poster.

Next....Grant's birthday.

He received a mini projector --- uses it to watch movies via his phone on the wall or on the ceiling.

And...the bike.  Yes, Grant dressed the part.

Grant's cake.  Lemon cake!

Grant turned 17.

Heidi turned "25".

And yes, Heidi received a bike, too.

Mallory and I went to a dance at her school for 4th graders and their parents.

When we came home, Mallory and I demonstrated one of the dances we learned for Heidi.

Heidi went shopping with her friends to a place that sells....old stuff.  Apparently is was several warehouses full of things ranging from antiques to relics from former regimes to junk.  Stuff was packed to the ceiling.  

Like these ceramic figurines of Mao and the gang.

Heidi found these old calligraphy brushes.

Some other things that have been going on --- we've been dealing with 2 issues with our house, and we think we finally have them resolved.  The first problem -- a leak in our bathroom.  We noticed water on the floor, emanating from the corner, where the wall meets the floor.  It was not by the toilet.  We had 3 or 4 different workers / repairmen come to the house to look at the leak.  Every time, the tried to fix the toilet, despite us showing them that the water was clearly coming from the corner.  They even resealed the toilet -- which is half a meter away from the source of the water.  Finally, we were able to convince them to look at the pipes behind the tiles.  This is a photo, midway through the repair, after they finally replaced the leaky pipe, and were waiting to tile it back up.

The second issue we had was with the electricity.  Starting over two months ago, the power in our house would switch off  at random times.  Sometimes it happened when we had several electrical things running in the house, including the heater, but not always.  We had repairmen at our house probably 10 times.  Keep in mind, none of them spoke English.  The electricians were convinced that it was a problem with our AC/Heating units.  The AC repair guy said their units were fine, and blamed it on the electrical system in our house.  After lots of back and forth between the management of the compound, our housing agent (who discussed things with the landlord), and dozens of repairmen, they finally figured out that they needed to replace a couple of fuses in our fuse box.  So, for the coldest part of our winter (which really wasn't that cold), we didn't have heat from the central heating system.  We do have floor heating on our main level, so the downstairs was mostly warm, but the bedrooms upstairs were always freezing.  Mallory would bundle up in sweats, a long-sleeve shirt, and jacket when she went to bed.  The repairs finished up at the end of last week, and so far this week, things have been working fine - so we're hopeful that it is finally fixed.

Luke performed with his choir - the Men's Ensemble - at a choir concert on Heidi's birthday.  Yes, those are candles and incense on that pedestal at the front of the stage.

And...Mallory and some tulips.

Heidi spent a few days in Hong Kong this week, mostly to attend a women's conference for our church -- a couple of hundred expat women from across Asia came for a few days.  They were able to hear talks from several women.  They also heard talks from President Wong, the Hong Kong temple president and Elder Wong, from the area seventy. All very good, from what she said.  When they arrived on Thursday before the conference started  they were able to work in a half-day at Hong Kong Disneyland. And yes, it's the happiest place on earth!  Heidi said they were a bunch of 8 year-olds all over again while riding the roller coasters. 

Heidi is missing her sister -- they took a photo together here many years ago.

2015 - January and February

Mallory made the pies for National Pie Day this year.

We had a few families over for the annual pie feast.

Heidi found her favorite restaurant from London has opened up a store here in Shanghai.

At the beginning of January, stores and restaurants started decorating for Chinese New Year.

Shopping at Carrefour on Saturdays became really crazy - much busier than normal.

I think these are dried chickens.  Or maybe dried ducks.  I didn't buy one this year - maybe next year.

Ford has an annual party in early February -- a big dinner, with entertainment provided by each of the departments.

I got roped into being part of the finance portion of the show.  My part involved a bit of light dancing, mostly just walking in sync with 7 or 8 others.

We were all suppose to be modeling clothes -- I am wearing a white tuxedo that cost about RMB 85 (no more than $14) on Taobao.

Luke and Grant are enthusiastic about the year of the goat / sheep / ram (we keep hearing it called different things).

Heidi went with some friends to learn how to make noodles.

Apparently it is a lot more difficult than it looks

Mallory made her own puzzle, and stumped Heidi and me.  We couldn't figure out how to put it together.

Luke and James needed some paint for a school history project.  As they got home from the store, one of the cans of paint dropped and exploded right in the entry way from the garage.  Luckily, it didn't cause any long-term damage.

Luke was in a drama performance in February - it was a series of one-act plays written and directed by students.  Luke and James are still learning how to pose in photos.

Grant and Luke had a couple of swim meets the last few months - in Taipei and Nanjing, as well as two in Shanghai.  These photos are from their last meet.

  Both Luke and Grant improved a lot in swimming this year.

At the end-of-season awards ceremony, both of them received awards for breaking various records -- personal records, school records, etc.  And both of them lettered in swimming.

Since returning from Boracay, we've heard fireworks every couple of nights.  This is the aftermath of the fireworks shot off one night in the courtyard of our compound.

Mallory dressed up like Harriet the Spy for book character dress up day.

And Mallory made a new house for Cica, the cat that lives on our back porch.

On Saturday we signed up to volunteer at the local library for English story time.  We didn't know exactly what to expect, though.  We took turns reading books to the kids, and in between we lead them all in singing a bunch of kids songs.

I think this one was "Wheels On The Bus".

I don't know what this building is, but it was right across the street from the library, and it looked interesting...