Lake Norman Birthday Party

My cousin Kathryn had a little boy named Blake a little over a month after Zeb was born. She has been talking about having a joint birthday party for them and Kayleigh ever since she found out we were coming home. So we decided to have a triple birthday party for all three of them at Lake Norman. We had tons of family come! Zeb and Kayleigh met cousins they didn't even know they had or had never met. It was a lot of fun but I was exhausted by the end of the day. Kayleigh loved the boat and jet ski but would not get in the water at all. I am convinced that it is because she can't see the bottom because at a pool she jumps right on in. Zeb however loved the water and didn't want to get out.

Zeb and his 9 month old little cousin Bryleigh.

Me and my cousin Kathryn.

John, Kayleigh, and little cousin Joe.

The birthday kids: Blake, Zeb and Kayleigh.

Once again Zeb had no problem with devouring the cake!

Kayleigh barely touched her cake. She just wanted ice cream.

We gave Zeb a bath in the lake to wash off all the cake.

Swings, Swings and more Swings!

Kayleigh and Zeb love to be outside. At home in China we have a small little playground with slides. However, I have never seen a swing set or swings at a playground in China. They may have them somewhere but not to my knowledge. Kayleigh's favorite thing to do is swing. A little over a year ago, when we lived in Thailand for Zeb's birth, she would swing everyday for hours if we let her. So my goal this summer, while in the states, is take her to the park to swing as much as she can. Zeb loves it too! There are a lot of really neat playgrounds near both of our parents houses so we have been taking advantage of the swings. Here are some great pictures of the both of them. I love the bottom picture. Zeb has started to want to walk around holding our hands which means that he needs to wear shoes when we go outside. So far this hasn't gone over very well. This was the first day I put shoes on him. His reaction you ask? He continued to hit his shoes and screamed in frustration because he couldn't get them off. Lets hope I can convince him to wear shoes before we return to China. I can only imagine what the grandmas would say if I took him outside without shoes on.

Fun with the Grandparents

We headed to my parents house for the first time since we landed in America. I had seen my parents at the airport but this would be the first time I had seen my brother, grandparents, aunts and uncles for about a year and eight months. It was great to reunited with everyone and to introduce them to Zeb. It has been raining a lot lately which means that we have had to be creative on what to do with the kids. My sister Holly told us about a place near her work that was indoors with lots of giant jumping things. ( Not sure of the name.) So my parents and I loaded up the kids and took them there to play one afternoon. It was a lot of fun. Kayleigh loved jumping and sliding down the slide. Holly met us there after work to jump with the kids. It was a great way to spend time during a rainy day.

A Blessing From Above!

Before we left China we had asked family, friends and our church if there was anyone that had an extra car for us to drive during the summer. It was getting down to crunch time the week before we left and as far as we knew nothing was set in stone that we were going to have a car to drive. While Hayley and Charlie were in China with us they got a phone call from my cousin to let them know that they had won a 2008 Corvette in a raffle drawing! They pretty much jumped around my apartment in excitement for the rest of the day. Hayley and Charlie decided to let John and I drive one of their cars this summer since they had an extra one to drive. I am convinced that God blessed them with this car so they could in turn bless us. They let us take a spin in the Corvette around the neighborhood. I thought John had died and gone to heaven he was so excited about driving!

Pickin Strawberries

Today we went to a strawberry farm to pick strawberries. It was a lot of fun. Kayleigh was eating the strawberries faster than we could pick them! We love strawberries so we were glad to be able to pick a ton of them. It has been cool here lately but we are hoping for warmer weather to come soon.

Henry's Wedding

After a week of craziness, it was finally time for the wedding. I had talked to Kayleigh a lot about what her duties were as a flower girl. During the rehearsal she had no problem following her bigger cousins down the isle. The actual day of the wedding right before she walked down the isle she had a small melt down. I had to promise her an ice cream cone from Chick-fil-a to get her to walk down the isle. She did a wonderful job! She sat with me in the front and asked me about 15 times during the ceremony when she was going to get her ice cream cone. My mom and Hayley took her and Zeb home that night but not before they went to Chick-fil-a for an ice cream cone. The wedding was wonderful and very sweet. We love Henry's new bride Alana. We are hoping to get some good quality time with the both of them while we are at home.

Kayleigh with her cousins Sadie, Graylyn, and Lilly.

John with Henry and his cousin Thomas.

The girls got bags with their names on them for being in the wedding.

The girls with Alana.

Kayleigh and Zeb with all their cousins and grandparents.

Fun In The Sun!

This week we went over to visit our good friends Jeff and Candice. They live a 2 minute car ride from John's parent's house. I am pretty sure I could probably attempt to walk there since I am so used to walking everywhere in China. They have a little boy named Mason he is 2 years old. Kayleigh and Zeb had a wonderful time playing with Mason and all his fun toys. We play outside a ton in China but we don't have a lot of outside toys to play with so this was a true blessing for them. It was so good to see our friends and catch up.

They have a miniature blow up bouncing thing with balls. Zeb loved for Kayleigh and Mason to bounce him around inside.

Zeb got soaked playing in the sink and drinking the water.

Twitter

We have just started to get into Twitter and it is pretty interesting. At first I thought, who has time to type into a webpage, every few minutes, what they are doing or thinking? Well, I started doing it and it has become pretty fun. I don't type every few minutes, but I might every few hours or so. Check it out.

You can follow our twitter page at:
http://twitter.com/zebgreene

Have Fun!

We Made It!!

Three planes and around 29 hours later we are finally on American soil. We were greeted by both sets of our parents and most of our siblings. It was wonderful to see everybody. The kids did really well on the plane. Kayleigh watched more videos than she has in her entire life and Zeb kept us all busy. After taking several short naps on the plane for the first 7 hours of our 13 hour flight, exhaustion won over and he slept the last 5 hours of the flight! Praise the Lord! We are hoping for a low key week although this weekend John's brother Henry is getting married. Zeb has already decided to learn to drive a car however he can only go in reverse at the moment. He hasn't gotten down the forward movement yet.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Today is Hayley and Charlie's last day in China however I'm not sad because we are getting on the plane and heading to America with them. We leave tonight at 12am to start our trip around the world. We should be on American soil around 10am Saturday morning. We have had a low key day of packing and doing last minute stuff before we head to America for 3 months. We had one last Chinese meal and our whole crew came over for one last T.V. night to watch American Idol before we head to the airport. Speaking of "lasts", one of our dear friends Ellie is leaving and returning to the states for good. We have been with her for 5 years. We are going to miss her very much but I am happy for her as she starts a new adventure. Tonight will be full of goodbyes.

Family Visit Day # 6- A Bust!

Today we woke up with plans to go to the West Mountain. I have actually never been there so I was really excited to go and see it for the first time myself. However, when we woke up Zeb was sick so we had to cancel our plans. After a doctor came to visit we were still able to go down town to eat lunch and to see the sites. That afternoon we headed to Walmart so they could experience shopping in China. They were pretty overwhelmed! After the kids went to bed, Charlie was kind and let Hayley and I go out to get pedicures. It turned out to be a nice day despite our cancelled trip to the mountains.

Our counter tops in China are really low to the ground so Charlie thought it was best to wash dishes on his knees!

Family Visit Day 5- Train Ride!

Today we got up and had a relaxing morning. Then I decided to take Hayley and Charlie to a local shop called Hearts and Hands. They have tons of handmade crafts that are beautiful. We finished up and had lunch at the restaurant next door called the Wicker Basket. After the kid's naps we headed to the train station to ride the train. It was so much fun. Kayleigh and Zeb loved it! Hayley and Charlie were able to see a little more of our city. It was a great day.

Family Visit Day #4- Paddle Boats!

About a month before Hayley and Charlie arrived I started to talk to Kayleigh about things that we could do while they were here. Her pick was to ride the paddle boats at Green Lake Park. We had a blast! It was a lot of fun and a lot of work trying to figure out the steering. Ellie went with us that day to show us where to go. We ate at another one of our favorite Chinese restaurants and then headed back to the house for some rest. That afternoon I took Hayley and Charlie to the market where I buy all my fresh vegetables, meat and fruit. They were quite amazed.

Family Visit Day # 3- Zeb's Party

Monday morning we decided to rest since our weekend had been so busy. We took Hayley and Charlie to one of our favorite Chinese restaurants. That afternoon we had Zeb's birthday party. Danielle volunteered to make the cake. It was amazing!! She even made a miniature train for Zeb to eat on his own. He absolutely loved the cake and had no problems digging in right away. Most kids cry during their first birthday party but this little man had a great time. He only cried when we had to give him a bath to wash off all the cake. It was a great party and I am so glad that Hayley and Charlie could be there to celebrate.

Here he is getting ready to dig in. We decided it would be best to let him eat in his diaper. In hindsight I am very thankful for this decision!

Cheers everyone! I've downed this cake no problem!

Zeb opening his presents. Marianne and David gave him this really fun truck that actually backs up and goes a different way when it runs into something. However, it plays this really annoying song that can drive you completely insane.

Family Visit Day # 2

The second day in Beijing we headed to Tienanmen Square and then to the Forbidden City. Once again there were huge crowds. We finished our time off with another trip to the Pearl Market before heading to the airport to fly back to the Spring City. We had a great time in Beijing but I missed Zeb so much!

Check out all the people!!

Family Visit Day #1

Hayley and Charlie arrived on Friday night so we started our site seeing of China on Saturday. Hayley and Charlie happened to arrive on May 1st which is labor day in China. We were not prepared for ALL the people that would be out and about for the weekend. We left for the Great Wall at 8:30 and didn't get there till 11:30! There were people everywhere. We had a great time at the Great Wall and Kayleigh loved riding the bob sled down the mountain. After we left the Great Wall we headed to the Pearl Market for some shopping and then dinner at TGI Fridays. To finish off the evening we visited the Olympic Village. We had a great first day with our family.

Here we are at the water cube.