We live here:

You know those little surges of pure joy that can just hit you sometimes?  Those little moments that just whack you over the head and remind you how dang lucky you are?  Like when you notice someone actually put away their shoes for the first time in a whole week or you have an epiphany about what needs to be done for such-and-such a problem or you see the most amazing sunset you think you’ve ever seen in your whole life?

That happened today over and over again.  

I walked through the metro so invigorated by my surroundings.

As I maneuvered my way home it hit me how at home I’m starting to feel here.  And then I got to pondering about how much more relaxed and at home I can tell the kids are feeling.  How so many things that were so shocking and different have now become such an integral part of life.

Tonight (it’s already late, late Monday night here) was a blessed night because the kids didn’t have so much homework (mid-terms this week so the school has banned the endless hours of work they usually assign) so we could actually sneak away to meet up with Dave on a little adventure for Family Home Evening.

And I hope I’ll never forget how my kids looked.  How they danced to the song “Happy” on the way to the metro.  How their laughs sounded mingled together as we all maneuvered our way through the crazy streets where pedestrians do not have the right of way.

I hope they will never forget how they ooooo’ed and ahhhhhh’d over all the lit-up towers surrounding us when we walked out of the metro…

And Claire’s over-the-moon excitement when I told her we were eating in that blue world financial center down there below:

It was the tallest building in Shanghai when we were here eight years ago and now it’s towered over by that new one I posted a video about in this post back HERE.

My brother and cousin are in town and it has been a non-stop party since they arrived.  Love them so much.  Love how my kids love them so much.

Lucy couldn’t get her nose out of her book.

 Love that.

I love coming across cool art too.

The view from the 87th floor:

So grateful for this city we get to be a part of for a short while, and how I feel it changing us in good ways.

Sure, there are a lot of frustrating things we come across every day… we never know when the internet will work (which is especially tough with big school projects), they are remodeling the house next door and boy howdy, I’ve never heard so much noise in all my life.  We have plumbing problems and oh, and there’s a teeny communication problem with the language.

But oh man how grateful I am for all the good going on here.