The end of 2009 and of the Decade

(its hard to see, but the lemons say 2010)
So, the year is within a couple hours of being done (at least here in China!) Can you believe it??? 2009 has gone by so fast, and we think that it has been a really good year. January found us in the middle of a Canadian winter that was VERY cold. We really started making our plans to get to China a reality, with Chelsey getting her passport, us looking at dates as to when we could go, and applying for the programs. February, just after we bought our plane tickets mind you, we found out that we were going to be parents (remember the banana that made Chelsey cry??) and we were really excited about it, but also a little confused as what to do about our plans for China. After much prayer, and deliberation, we decided to push forward with our plans to go to China, even if it meant that the baby would be born there. March we took a quick trip down to Rexburg so that Chelsey could take a French test to test out of the class and graduate. Unfortunately, she missed the mark by 3 points! We were sad (and still have not yet figured her class out) but C'est La Vie. April went by in a blur! We were so busy getting ready for China and spending time with family that we almost missed finding out that our baby was going to be of the pink variety. May, we got on the plane, not knowing much of the what next, and made a 12 hour flight to Beijing! We spent most of may trying to find a job and an apartment, at the same time as trying not to spend all our money. It took some time finding the job that we felt comfortable with, as well as one that would get us the visas that we needed. We found that job, right after we got an apartment, and found out that we would have just enough days left in the month to earn enough money to pay the next months rent! They also told us that there would be "No Problem" in changing our visas. Three weeks later.... "Sorry, you are going to have to leave the country to do it." Welcome to China - Things change fast here. We knew that we had till August on our current Visa, and while weighing our options, we decided that it would be best to go home in August, have the Baby in September, and then come back on new Visas. We spent the HOT HOT HOT summer (it was even worse on Chelsey!) working our poor little butts off earning as much money as we could. We did not even go see many of the sights as 1) it was too hot and 2) days that I had off Chelsey had to work, and vice a versa. We have not even seen the great wall yet, is that not sad? We buy our plane tickets to go home, with Chelsey right down to the wire to get on a plane (most airlines won't let you fly past 36 weeks pregnant). Our plan was to fly Chelsey out first, then me the following week at the end of August. SURPRISE comes baby 5 weeks early, a week before Chelsey was supposed to get home. Jada, you sure came at an awkward time, but we love you! So all of a sudden, we are rushing around like chickens with no heads, trying to get everything figured out and done. Thank you Beijing First Branch! Without your support, I have NO IDEA how we could have done it all. Things worked out, we got our visas extended, plane tickets cancelled and re-booked, a passport and visa for Jada bean, and all kinds of other errands that kept us running around Beijing. Jada was small, but healthy - huge blessing! Believe you me, that night was one crazy night. Lesson learned - always have a plan 'B' - especially when a baby is due. We spent the end of September, all of October and most of November back in Canada, with out jobs, waiting on the stupid letter we needed to take to the Chinese embassy to get a new visa. We really enjoyed the time with family, and everyone loved having Jada around. As we had no idea how long we were going to be in Canada, we had Jada's blessing that first Sunday back in Canada. As the days turned into weeks, and slowly turned into months, we helped my parents repaint and re-carpet their upstairs. It was a lot of work, but it sure looks nice! They gave us a little money for it, which was a huge blessing in helping us make it through December in Beijing! We also had fun on Halloween, and even got some photos taken by a good friend of ours who is a professional photographer. She did a really good job, and also did it cheap! We loved the photos, and being able to surprise our parents with them for an early Christmas present. We finally got the letter and booked our plane tickets for the following Wednesday, went up to the Embassy on Thursday, got our visas on Tuesday, and left that next day. Wow, eh? It seems that this whole year, from start to finish has always been right on the edge of something! Yet it all worked out. Our money was about to run out that we had left in Beijing, and I got back to work with just enough days left in the month to pay rent (Sounds like May, eh?) As when we got back in November, our birthdays were coming up, so some of our friends helped through us a nice party, including a cake from Coldstone - yum! December came racing around that corner, and though we did not have a lot of money, things were starting to settle down and shape up. We got some pictures and carvings on our walls, as we had not done anything to the apartment to make it 'ours' yet. We are still planning on getting a 4 foot horizontal scroll to go over our couch, but for now, it looks good. We had a Christmas with tea pots, decorations and birds showing up in our home. All in all, it has been a really good year. We had many wonderful (and sometimes stressful) adventures. Even though it seemed like life was always on the edge (causing the stress), we had HUGE blessings that came right as we needed them, and we never fell over the edge - passports/work/visas/etc all came right before it would have been too late - sometimes within a day of it happening. We look forward to many more adventures in 2010 -- and we hope and pray that it is less stressful!!!!!!!!
We wish you all the best in 2010
Mike, Chelsey, and Jada-bean too!