zai jian, y'all!

you better believe i thoroughly documented our last day in country. it was like any ordinary day, but it wasn't because it was the last one. you know?! the last time owen would come downstairs to eat breakfast. the last time i would be eating lunch with nolan commenting how good the food was. the last time the girls would climb into a three-wheeler together. so, i was armed with my camera all day, and not ashamed in the least bit.

here's the play-by-play.

breakfast: the last (and real) retirement breakfast!

lunch: yellow roof.

saying goodbyes around town.

last three-wheeler ride.

dinner: favorite.

usual after-dinner ice cream run.

so until next year...zai jian, y'all!

reminisce.

it is a tradition around here that at the end of every school year, we wrap up the year with a night of toasts, story-telling, good food, awards, and slideshows. we spent hours sitting around laughing and reminiscing over all the fun we have had over the last ten months. which i love, though you know there is a tinge of sadness in the air signaling "the end." but as dr. seuss says (and my cousin's graduation announcement stated), "don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." so we did just that. ;)

xiao liu made us 16 dishes! yum!

the girls.

my crew.

anna, me, and jeff.

some of the girls cleaning/hanging out in the kitchen.

hoohiwahiwa! celebrate!

as i have mentioned, we love to throw a party. so naturally, we invited our besties from across the city and held a little luau for one last hoorah! it was fun, fun, fun!

we surprised lauren with a little birthday celebration! (her birthday is july 16th and we just had to find a way to celebrate with her while we were all together.)

we tried several times to get a group picture, and we failed miserably.

this is the best one i had. haha.

and then the neighborhood kids attacked...

my favorite little one!

daliwood.

to wrap up the year and prepare for our transition back to the states, all our friends met in a beautiful city surrounded by a huge lake and mountains! we had great weather and enjoyed exploring a new place. the weekend was much too short, but here are a few highlights!

shopping in the ancient town - not your typical shopping mall scenery.

hiking with the boys! we even rode a gondola up to the top!

hanging out with the girls at a pizza place owned by some aussies in town!

shengri kuaile, laoshi + er tong jie kuaile!

we took it upon ourselves to plan a little outing for our teacher's birthday! so instead of class, we hit the city and visited the three gorges museum. it was interesting to go there and learn about all the places we stopped at on our dam cruise back in october. after the museum, we treated our laoshi to lunch at a japanese restaurant. she loved it!

our class with laoshi sweet!

anna, sweet, and miller -- best friends. ;)

not only was it our teacher's birthday, but it was also CHILDREN'S DAY! yes, it's really a holiday. the children are out of school for the day and run amuck! it is hilarious. we had fun wishing all the children a happy children's day. er tong jie kuaile!

a place that took our breath away.

literally and figuratively! we had the humbling opportunity to travel to a city atop the most elevated region in the world. we were out of breath walking up any amount of stairs! but it was BEAUTIFUL and breath-taking, to say the very least. here are a few snapshots of our weekend!

prayer flag adorn the city walls, roof tops and pillars.

men and women, young and old, continuously spin prayer wheels and

rub prayer beads to earn merit.

the girls at one of the summer palaces.

yak momos, curry, and fried rice -- our fare for the weekend.

one of the most famous palaces - it has over 1,000 rooms!

miller, anna, april, and me after climbing the mountain!

cinco de mayo

who says you can't celebrate cinco de mayo all the way over in asia?! we are always up for any reason to celebrate!

happy "wu yue wu hao," y'all!