Christmas in Beijing

It's kind of difficult to get into the "Christmas spirit" when you live in China and are married to a Chinese man. We have a beautiful (fake) tree which he bought after our other fake tree was destroyed (by me). We have wrapped presents, which I of course wrapped, which are hiding under the desk so that Ollie won't try to throw them around the house for fun. I even sometimes play the Amy Grant Christmas and Motown Christmas albums I have always loved but still, it's not exactly feeling a lot like Christmas. Maybe I'm feeling like this because, for only the second time in my life, my parents and my sister and her family are not here anymore to celebrate with us on Christmas day. Maybe I'm just too old and grumpy to start feeling festive without the help of lit up houses and constantly played Christmas music. I look forward to when Ollie gets excited for the season, when I can share the Christmas story with him and he'll understand it and be in awe of it. I look forward to have a few more kids who can help Ollie put on a Christmas performance for us like my siblings and I did every single year no matter how old we were. And someday, perhaps we'll be able to celebrate Christmas in America. I do feel blessed, though, that this year Ollie and I are going to visit my parents in the UAE. I also feel blessed that despite not knowing what will happen with potential jobs, that God has a plan for me and is in total control even when I feel completely lost. Once I know more I'll tell you about these opportunities and whether or not they work out.
Here's an amazing shot of Ollie with the Chinese Santa who didn't want to hold him because he was afraid he would cry and make a scene. I wasn't having it. He got a donation for charity and was going to sit there and take it, damnit. Ollie wasn't that bad and didn't scream or anything and we got our little memory.


This is Ollie with his best friend, Berkley. We went to Joy City Chaoyang to see if there was a Santa since I had seen a pretty amazing display during the day. There was no Santa but people lined up to take a picture of their kid (and themselves) on this heart chair. So of course we did too. This was taken on the stairs while we waited.