Last year, same as every year, we got out there and hauled some barley! It’s incredibly tiring and relentless for about a week and then, it’s all over like nothing extraordinary ever happened. The fields look like baren wastelands compared to the bounty it just held. The barley is cut, carried, stacked, and dried. Then, it’s shaken, roasted and milled for barley flour; a main traditional staple. The community time together, is priceless.
Last summer, we had the privilege of hosting a handful of camps that focused specifically on families. It was such an amazing time. Since we only have 5 rooms (fairly large ensuites, that sleep 3 – 6 people) we were able to host only 5 families at a time for each weeklong camp. The whole experience was an amazing thing to witness and host. We ran activates that we normally run for private adventures and did them all together as a group. Since a lot of families live in cities and live quite divided lives (between school and work), our home here was able to give them things they don’t normally get: life in the Great Wide Open, loads of challenges outside of their comfort zones, and a good dose of family time together. We met so many interesting people and were able to see people grow right out of their old skins. Life in light and growth is a breathtaking gift.
It was haircut time! Now the question is, keep it short for the summer or grow it all out??? Jubilee had the adventure of a local shop cut. Hosanna had the Mom Cut adventure.
Last June and the June before that, we hosted some epic BBQs. We are so SO ready for the next 3rd annual Red Hill BBQ. June, we’re coming for you!
I’m pleased to post that Hosanna has finished Book 6 of the Barton Spelling and Reading Program. Her reward? A new Kindle, hand carried over by a friend. We are so proud of her and all her hard work!
Over the last few years, I’ve been collecting photos of the things that Jada has designed. It’s always fun to see what she makes from bedding!
We start school in January and go until December. There are many reasons for us to do this but mainly, it’s because it’s what works best with our schedule seeing as we are quite busy in the summer. We are so thankful to be American (from MN and IL) and able to homeschool a bit more freely than our other European and local friends. We go all year with some breaks in-between the crazy and for the summer months, do 3 days full school, 2 days half-day for the weeks. This year, we rang in the new year with a field trip! We went up to Litang and then drove in a nice,large loop around a beautiful mountain range in Sichuan. This post will be a two-fer as it will include photos from the beginning of the new school year AND that amazing tour. We discovered that at about 4,200 meters, Hosanna and I lost it. She just cried and felt miserable; I couldn’t breath (think elephants sitting on your chest and a lion chasing you) and felt generally nauseas. Every time we were getting to a pass, I tracked the elevation gain with fear and trembling. Good to know.
Seeing as it has been a year since our last post 😬 I thought to just start where we left of last year! We’ve finished the climbing wall, hosted a crazy big BBQ that included local businesses, have had loads of guest come and use it, and our family has gotten great at climbing! AND NO ONE HAS GOTTEN HURT (well, minus us old folks over here who WERE just sore and inflexible and weak 💪🏽. Below are pictures from the wall taken in the last year. We’ve since added more holds and some more counter tops and an official check-in desk but these will give you a great idea of what we’ve been doing! Enjoy!
Just before Christmas, we decided to add a climbing wall to our front yard. WHY??? Well, there were lots of reasons. We wanted to first move our water tanks out of our attic so that we could expand our guesthouse bedrooms by adding two rooms up there. Over the last few years, the number of student groups we get to host has expanded so, the need was getting pretty real. When we thought about moving the tanks, and how high they would need to be to feed our solar panels, the idea of wrapping them in a climbing wall was quick to come. Expanding this area of our business will allow us to hire more people AND focus on local/domestic clients. So far, there aren’t any climbing places here so we are looking to be the first. Upon entering this world of climbing here in China, we found that there are people who climb and places to climb all the way from the capitol city in this prefecture to the next nearest town (3 hours drive). Why wouldn’t people come up here as well?? The local students and professionals here get bored on the weekends. Why wouldn’t they want to learn to climb and be outside and enjoy this place they live? After all, this city IS named after a paradise. Plus, we are super into this so, we get to benefit like crazy! Climbing every day for everyone! So, let the building commence! It has been a long process and we are NOT finished but here is a photo journal of what it has been so far. We just moved the tanks last weekend (April 28th; from the time of writing). Wow. Tough. Difficult. Dangerous. Excited for this next chapter.
When we found out that the road were open again, we got out of here like some sort of caged, wild animal! We went climbing in a town 3 hours away. It was such a beautiful day! We got to some new crags! We got a dirt cheap, please-stay-here, room at a guesthouse. It was win-win-WIN.
The old town here was EMPTY! It felt like exactly how it should feel! We could walk around and not be pointed at or stopped. No one wanted to take pictures of us or touch our hair. There were no crowds and everything was just peaceful and beautiful.
We even went to a wax museum, which we would NEVER do because it is normally a pricey thing to do. The ticket prices were 80% off. It was super fun and we were so glad to have left the village and gotten out!
