2 days...

2 days from now I will be in the middle of my 18 hour journey back to Michigan. A 15 hour flight from Shanghai to Chicago, then a very short, less than 2 hour layover where I'm very afraid I'll miss my connection to Grand Rapids. That little puddle-jumper is only about 35 minutes but, oh, how important it is that I make this flight!!
I am traveling with the kids by myself as Ben is joining us in July. I am so incredibly excited to be home and see friends and family and yet I am having a very very hard time releasing my anxiety about getting there to God to let Him have it. I know it's pointless to fret and worry and yet I can't seem to let it go. How annoying, right? I don't want to have it. It gives me headaches and stomach aches and wears at my soul. How will Cooper do? Will he sleep? Will he lose it and go crazy and annoy everyone? Will I sleep at all? Will anyone get sick (fevers have been ravaging our house lately)? Will I make it through immigration in time? How will I possibly get our 4 checkes bags plus our carry ons plus the stroller plus 2 jetlagged exhausted kids through everything that needs to happen to get us to our connection and not miss the plane? etc, etc, etc...
Ugh, I'm so sick of thinking of all these things. I wish I could just be there. However, I do know that all the struggle of getting there will make being there even better. :)

In the mean time, here are a few things we've been up to while we finished up our school year here.

Here's Mia, Aubrey, Soph and Colin on Soph's last day of school waiting for the bus. Aww... :)

On the left is my friend, Penny, from England. She just had a little girl, Gracie, about 3 months ago. Such a sweet baby! My good friend, Liz, is on the right. The bump is growing! Everyone thinks boy but I'm firmly planted in the girl camp. We'll find out in October!

The line up waiting for the bus. Coop chillaxin in his stroller- he finished school the day before.

Happy to have this be her last day! All she's been talking about is seeing her friends at home!

Getting onto the bus with her usual "watch me leave!"

Soph's school bus. This is one of three that pick up kiddos for the British School and they're pretty full!

On this day the children were given their learning journals. These are binders that the teachers use to show how each child is meeting goals and progressing in school. It's full of their artwork and pictures of things they did throughout the year. A huge task for the teachers, no doubt, but I will treasure it forever! By getting their journals it says they are ready to graduate from Reception and move on to Year 1 (what is kindergarten in the US).

Sophia getting her learning journal. Happy girl. Proud mama and daddy. :) Growing up too fast!

That night it was decided that a bunch of us girls would go out for a drink to hang out and chat before we all head to our various parts of the world for the summer. These women have become my closest friends here and have seen me through my scary early days, my great days and my low days. God has deeply blessed me by knowing each of them.
Next to me is Leslie from Wisconsin, then Liz from England, Laura on top from Chicago, Sally on bottom from Australia, Penny in the blue from England and Heather also from England. Heather is moving home and also maybe Penny. Makes me truly sad that I may never see these people again!
God's blessings on them on their next journey.

On Friday afternoon we were invited by the mom of one of Soph's classmates for an end of year party. Wow. It was meant to be a pool party but, in true Shanghai fashion, it decided to pour rain. It was held in the clubhouse of their development and these people can put on a party!!
They had drinks, food, a professional photographer, games, you name it.
This was our saving grace with Cooper. He had not slept well at all for nap so we were very worried about having a tired, overstimulated, autistic boy in a new place with a bunch of people he didn't know. However, there was a ball pit. And a slide. God knew what we would need and provided. He was happy to play in here the whole time and was just as content as could be. :)

Oh, it's raining? Who cares?? :) When you get ten 5 yr olds together and there's a pool, there WILL be swimming! So all the parents stood by the edge of the pool in the rain while the kids happily swam away. After about 45 minutes we all dragged our shivering kids out of the water.

The hosts had these amazing put-together houses that you can color. These were really popular with the kids! That's Rachel, Soph's best friend here, and Moritz on the right.

Check out some of the food! Red bean paste spring rolls, chicken skewers, fruit, pizzas, fried rice, potatoe salad, cupcakes, cookies, moon pies, and more. Tasty stuff! Soph's favorite were the red bean paste spring rolls! Who would have ever thought? :)

Happy boy with his daddy.

10 of the 18 from the class- Joseph (host), Jing Ting, James, Sophia, Rachel, Imogen, Betty, Min Jun, Moritz and Charmaine. A great group of kids! Chinese, British, US, New Zealand, Swedish, Singaporian and more. But play and friendship is international!

This is a traditional Chinese treat (Zongzi) that is typically eatten during the Dragonboat festival. See, this is actually a long weekend celebrating the Dragonboat festival. The other kids have three and a half more days of school but we're skipping town early. :) The festival celebrates a poet who committed suicide in a river bc of political reasons and traditionally people throw zongzi into rivers to feed him. Ok.....
So, it's red beans and sticky rice (a bit sweet) wrapped in bamboo leaves, tied with string and then steamed. You serve it with honey. The hosts were very impressed that one of the Chinese families had brought this and said it was like an honor that they had. I was impressed at the effort put into the treat but not impressed with how it tasted. :)

Anyway, tomorrow is packing and organization day. Ugh, just got nervous again. So. Annoying.

The next post I do will be from home, though!

Please keep us all in your prayers in the next few days.
Specific requests:
-that Sophia, Cooper and I are healthy. Soph came down with a cold today and I'm worried the fever
  is next. :(
-that we have a safe drive to the airport with Ben and that he has a safe drive home without us.
-that we run into no issues checking in.
-that the flight goes smoothly-that the kids and I can get some much needed sleep and that the hours
  go by quickly!
-that our connection goes smoothly- that the line at immigration is short and I can get a cart easily for
  our bags and find all the places I need to go with little effort. That a kind soul sent by God helps me
  if needed.
-that we make our connecting flight to Grand Rapids!

Thanks again for reading and keeping up with us. It's weird to think our journey here is already 1/3 done! Crazy. God is good! :)