Seeing The Unseen

We made a last minute decision to start off 2012 with a little refreshment. Maria and Bruna graciously agreed to watch our kids so we could fly out to Xi'an and visit some very good friends of ours; the Smith's, the Rice's and Liz. There have been less than a handful of times we have left our kids overnight in the past and most of those have revolved around traveling for our vocation and were not for personal reasons. So this was a real treat for us! (In my next post I will tell a little about our site seeing adventures in Xi'an and put up some of the great pictures I got there. It's a beautiful city!) Raising kids and making good decisions for your family is difficult in any culture. There are always many options, many opinions, influences of upbringing, family & friends, cultural pressures. Deciding how to structure your home, balance work & family, discipline & educate your kids, create family values & priorities is never easy. Add to t...

This past week we had the wonderful opportunity to spend a short few days exploring Xi'an a bit. The city is absolutely full of culture and history. It is overflowing with beautiful old architecture, temples, and history lessons. We didn't have time to fully explore all the Xi'an had to offer, but we really enjoyed the parts we got to experience. I am looking forward to reading up more on the history behind it all, and maybe getting the chance to visit again someday to see a bit more. In the dead center of the old city is the Bell tower with the Drum tower just a short walk away. The rest of the city spans out in a circle from these beautiful old buildings. At night they are nicely lit up and make the downtown quite attractive. Behind this area is the muslim market which is a fun corridor of vendors bargaining for their wares. It's a great place to buy quaint souvenirs and antiques. Bargaining is half the fun for both seller and purchaser if you can do it ...