Another thing to love about China...

Matching Shirts.


Whenever we were out walking around in China, we would always see couples wearing matching shirts. I thought it was great. Eric didn't think so, probably because most often than not, the shirts weren't the most manly in color or design. (we didn't get any really good pictures of those ones) We laughed over these matching couples the whole time we were in China but it wasn't until our last week or so that we tried to get some pictures. We would alert each other whenever we saw a couple with matching shirts and then try to follow them and, as discreetly as possible, we would get our picture. Hence, the collection of the backs of matching couples.





I was finally able to convince Eric to match with me before we left China. We should have started earlier, maybe we would have blended in a little better.:)

And, now, in America, we are still matching!


Funny, though, no one else seems to do it...

I am married to a star!

Eric is famous! Well, he is in this Taiwanese news clip, at least. It is about a new commercial that uses Mormon missionaries and their refusal to drink tea or coffee (and eat french fries-- where they got that from, who knows) to advertise instant noodles. Somehow, they got video footage from when he was in a mission in Taiwain four years ago. He is in the first picture they show after talking about the commercial, on the right in the yellow helmet and then later on riding his bike in front of the mission home.

Check it out.

He is giving autographs for those interested.

Happy Father's Day

It has been great to be able to be with both of our fathers in just the last couple of weeks. We've got to have two of the most wonderful men as our fathers. I am so grateful for my own father and the example he is to me. I remember that when I was first starting to date Eric, part of the reason I was so attracted to him was that in so many ways he reminded me of my dad. And I knew that any man who was like my father was a keeper.

We spent today with Eric's father. All of Eric's siblings are in town right now and it has been fun seeing them all with their father and hearing both them and their parents telling stories of their father and of growing up in the Anderson home. Like when Gary, Eric's dad, fell through the kitchen ceiling and Neil, Eric's little brother, who was sitting at the kitchen table simply looked up and said, "Uh-oh!" Or how Gary missed both Eric and Brittany's births- one because of an earthquake and one because he was at church. Watching them all laugh and talk together, I could tell how much they love each other.

Getting to know both of Eric's parents better over the time that we have been here has been such a treat. They have welcomed me into their home and I feel like I have truly gained another set of parents.





We love both our dads so much! I hope they feel that love every day of the year.

Here is to two amazing dads!

Our final China travels: Hangzhou

Now that we have been back in America for over a week, its finally time to get some pictures up of some of our last China travels. We are missing China so much already and looking back over these pictures made us miss it even more!


We went to Hangzhou a couple weeks before leaving China. We had heard about how beautiful it is and people were not exaggerating! It was so pretty and such a nice break from the big city.

Hangzhou is most famous for its West Lake, which is a beautiful lake surrounded by trees, hills, mountains...


and of course, several awesome looking towers and pagodas.



I had done tons of research on the city before we went and so I thought I was super prepared. I had my lists of things we should see and places we should go. But no trip of ours would be complete without getting lost at least once. This was no exception. This time, my oh so carefully selected maps took us on a long detour hiking over a mountain. As the roads and paths slowly disappeared as well as all other people, I knew I had officially gotten us lost. As usual, I started having a breakdown, worried that we would never make it out. And, as usual, Eric stayed his calm, happy, optimistic self, and found us a cool cave to explore.

Eventually we came out on a road and found some people we could ask for directions. And, only a couple hours after starting, we finally made it! Destination? The Jade Emperor Hill. And it was beautiful.

Some more fun places we visited:


Longjing Tea Fields- apparently the best tasting in China. So they tell us...



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And, I had to throw this one in too. This little guy was outside of the restaurant we ate at for dinner. Isn't he adorable?

And on to Texas!

After spending a few days in California with my family we have continued on to Texas. Before leaving, we took a quick trip down to San Diego where we will be starting in the Fall. My goodness. It has been years since I have been there and I forgot how beautiful it is! We are both so excited to be living there.
Eric at his new school! We were able to meet with some people take a quick tour around the the IRPS (International Relations Pacific Studies) area of the campus which got Eric even more excited.

And what did we find just minutes from the campus? The beach!

But, before we can spend all the tons of spare time we will not have lying on the beach, we are spending a couple months in Texas. We will be spending the summer here in San Antonio with Eric's family. We have been here for a couple of days now and aside from the humidity (makes for bad hair days every day and the most not fun runs ever) we are loving it here. It is wonderful being here and spending time with Eric's family.

Had to throw this one in-- Eric and his first hot dog after coming home from China.
We had gone to downtown San Antonio for an internship interview for Eric (which went really well!) and we saw a hot dog stand. Of course we had to stop. And it was absolutely amazing.

We were also able to see our very good friends Heidi and Craig who are living in Houston right now. We got to meet their little boy Ethan, who is absolutely adorable!


We wish you guys were a little closer to us. Heidi, keep telling Craig you need to move to California!! :)

Hello Fontana!

Have jet lag? What better way to get over it than to run a half marathon? Well, that's at least what Kiersten did. I opted for the 5K. Yes, we are back in America and have been for three days now. Less than twenty-four hours after we arrived we ran in the Fontana Days Run (a local tradition in the Hinckley home), and Kiersten got her best half marathon time ever! 1 hour, 46 minutes! Quite impressive.

Other big news. Kiersten was accepted to the UC San Deigo Medical Center Dietetics Internship! Also an incredible feat, which we are overwhelmingly happy about. This will make it possible for her to receive her certification as a full-fledged dietitian.

On other things of note, cheese has never tasted better, tap water is amazing, we baked cookies in an OVEN our first night back, a 10 1/2 hour plane trip is heaven when taken two days after a 16-hour standing (and laying down on the hard floor), crowded, smelly train trip, cereal is great, women shoes can be found in Kiersten sizes, milk can be found in skim, and Skip-bo is not the only game that exists. (Oh, and we are typing this post without the use of a proxy server!!!)

Isn't life great?

Goodbye Shanghai

It never feels like the end until you're actually gone, but in ten minutes Kiersten and I will load our bags into a friend's van and head off to the airport. We have loved Shanghai so, so much, and we will miss it. We are certainly excited to be in America again, but a part of us will definitely miss the wonderful times we've had here in China. So, this is us saying goodbye to China. Goodbye Shanghai. You've been good to us.