Jumping the Wall

After three long months of being stuck behind the Great Firewall, we have successfully jumped over it! A friend came to visit and helped us get set up with a VPN, so we are now able to check Facebook, connect to Hulu, and update the family blog! Second only to the bathtub, this may be the best Christmas gift of 2012! There is just so much to share that I don't know where to begin. The best place to start would be to give glory to God who has sustained and kept us in His grip through this huge transition. There are still many hurdles to jump before we are fully settled in, but we are beginning to feel more at home in this new land. The biggest challenge is that everything is so very different and requires adjustments to be made both physically and emotionally. So small things can add up to feel loomingly large. But, the good thing is that small good things seem much larger, too! Chocolate tastes like chocolate and fresh-baked bread from the bakery tastes like something from home as well. Just about everything else is different, so finally having access to Facebook and many sites that are blocked seems like an unbelievable blessing! I will update the blog more regularly now that we have access. We are all well...Jason has lost some weight. (I have too, though not as much as he has!) Violet lost her first two teeth, and Justus lost all his potty-training skills. So, we have some things to work on! Love to all of you.