the week between Christmas and New Year's

We took the entire week off from home school.  It was wonderful.  As much as I love schooling these kiddos, a break was just what everyone needed.  Now, tomorrow (Jan 2) we head into what Matt says I should call "the J-term".  Four weeks of January school and then we are gone for a month.

We've had several old friends in town around the holidays and it is so sweet to reconnect with them.  So much change in our transient lives and I love to re-introduce the kids to people who were important in their early years.

Matt and I have known Zhang Man for 12 years!  She was a guest at Julianna's first birthday party!

And even though we now live in different countries, she consistently finds a way to visit us.

We re-took the same pose on the same sofa :)

and a group photo too.

The day after her visit we enjoyed a "stay-cation" at a local hotel with wonderful (heated!) pools.  Hopefully this little bit of vacation will get us through the next loooooong four weeks of gray skies and polluted days until we fly south for the winter! ha!

We came back home to two more evenings of guests for dinner!  and then it was the weekend, which around here is more popular for it's birthday celebrating than any sort of New Years fanfare.  John Paul is not one to down play his birthday, and he is ecstatic for the big day!