Grocery Shopping In China

So when I go grocery shopping I either ride my motorcycle (electric motorcycle to everyone not named Matt Peterson) or I take the double stroller.This is the same stroller that made people probably think I was crazy. Anyways, after coming home the other week I thought it would be nice to show you a little taste of life in China.

More pictures of China are here.

much love,
the petersons

Little Fish Opens Its Office!

Hi everyone! How are you? I hope well.

The Little Fish office has been open now for a little bit and I wanted to share some photos with you. This is a project that is near to my heart and one that many of you contributed to earlier this year. Ethan (the leader of the Little Fish project) wanted to make sure and say thank you to all of you for your support. He also caught me up on their work. They had three orphans move in when the office first opened. Living on their own is a completely new situation for these orphans. Ethan has been teaching them how to take care of themselves, things like; cooking, cleaning, buying food, and how to work together as a team. They are also continuing their lessons in learning music and dance. 

Here are some photos of the three that moved in when the office was opened. I hope you enjoy!

Thanks again to all of you for supporting this work!

much love,

the petersons

Pictures From Our Time At Aquarium in Xian China

The other day our family went to the aquarium here in Xian, China. We left Ellie and Sammie with a babysitter so we could go, because there's no way we could have all gone (Also, we heard that there a lot of stairs and that strollers weren't very convenient.) I was surprised at how nice the aquarium was. If you live in Xian you should check it out. Enjoy!

"The morning before we left. I love Sammie's Spiderman pj's."

"Fake smile or real?"

"In my opinion this is one of the best pictures of Lily."

"Heather looking annoyed."

"The sisters also looking annoyed. We were in the hot sun waiting to get in... with a lot of people crowding around us."

"Sydney next to a fish tank."

"Creepy."

"The kids getting a closer look at a fish tank."

"Crocodiles."

"Ramp Please Speak. Of course."

"The tallest glass tank in China (A.K.A. the pride of Xian) Beijing eat your heart out."

"Between 3 to 4 hundred people took our kid's picture without asking us. It gets old. When this guy came up, I just walked up in his face and started taking his photo. I think he got the point I was trying to make."

"The seal show with a million Chinese people watching."

"And finally the dolphin show."

Which one was your favorite?

much love,

the petersons

Places To Eat In Xian China

When I was on that walk with Ellie and Sammie the other day. I also snapped a bunch of pictures of places to eat around Xian. So here's a bunch of western places to eat at. Enjoy!

"I doubt any of you have seen this coffee shop.  In English it's called Starbucks, I think."

"I have no idea how anyone affords the ice cream here, seriously."

"Someday, when I'm a better photographer, I will make sure that you can't see me in the reflection of a glass door."

"Walmart has honey on sale for only 42.9RMB!"

"Dunkin Donuts anyone?"

"I was kinda yelled at for taking this photo inside a Dairy Queen."

"I was also told inside here that I couldn't take photos.  Yikes."

"A favorite date spot, even on anniversaries."

"Not in the mood for Western food, well, how about "The famous snacks of China?!" 

Not pictured, Papa John's and Burger King.

That's some places you can eat at when you come visit us!  What's your favorite restaurant that you would  be missing here in China?

much love,

the petersons

Pictures From Our Walk Around Xian China

I posted pictures recently of some food I saw while on a walk with my boys.  Well a couple weeks ago I took Ellie and Sammie for a walk; here are some pictures of our time together.

"Here's a subway stop we walk past that is near our home."

"This is the all seeing eye searching for "one ring to rule them all"."

"This is a water fountain that we've made some fun memories at before."

"Did Colonel Sanders know his chicken would be world-famous?"

"Ellie looking happy as we eat chicken nuggets and fries."

"Sammie kept semi-yelling.  I kept telling him "be quite".

"It was while I was taking these photos that I had this realization sweep over me; I'm taking these photos for someone else, their forever family.  So I snapped on."

"It was while I was taking these photos that a kind KFC employee informed me that it was against rules (or policy) to take pictures in KFC."

"It was a mere few minutes later that I shifted the stroller next to me and took one more photo; this one of Ellie coming down the slide."

What's your favorite picture?

much love,

the petersons

Pictures Of Life In China

A couple weeks ago I went out with nothing but a camera and couple of kids.  I've since done this a couple more times.  I wanted to take some pictures that show a bit of culture, a bit of the area and gave a little glimpse into our lives here.  Here's what I ended up with.

"It's very common to see this kind of decorative statue around the city.  This one is in front of a pharmacy."

"Here's a good friend of mine Wang Xu, just kidding, it's just a creepy statue in front of a restaurant."

"Vegetables a HUGE part of the Chinese diet and culture.  Here are some that were for sale piled up on the back of a three wheeled bike."


"A stack of eggs.  Very important to the Chinese diet.  It weirded me out at first that they didn't refrigerate eggs.  Now it might weird me out to think of having to put these in the fridge.

"It's super common to find exercise equipment like this in apartment complexes and parks.  Exercise and health are very important to Chinese people."

"This is an ancient medieval torture device.  That or else it's used to make some sort of soup."

"I tried to capture the many neon signs that line most streets.  But it's hard to get that from this picture."

"When a business opens they line the entrance to their door with flowers like this and set off fireworks."

"Vegetables.  Before moving to China I would never have eaten any of these.  Now there are at least two of these that I would."

"Money.  Here's the largest Chinese dollar, 100 RMB the equivalent of $15 or so dollars.  This is becoming a larger part of the culture."

So those are my pictures.  Hope you enjoyed.  Any favorites?

much love,

the petersons