From Cynthia

Hi Everyone!
We are all doing well. Landon has a Christmas concert tonight and Regan's was earlier this week.  Scott was able to attend Regan's concert but will unfortunately miss Landon's as he is away in Japan.  Last night Mason and I hid in the hallway as Landon practiced "Away in a Manger". Wow! Can he hit the high notes! It's so sweet to hear a little boy sing in his room.

Regan is spending a lot of time doing homework, which really impedes on his social time! He is going to his first dance Friday night and he is on the decorating team. That ought to be interesting!

Mason is making friends. His classmates are from all over the globe. He seems to have settled in with three that all speak French. He spends a lot of time playing the keyboard that we brought from home. He and his friends have been going to a studio and renting instruments to play and record.  For a very affordable price, they rented a piano, upright bass, Chinese harp and a guitar. He also wants to take piano lessons, which I think would be great. We are getting ready for our first guest, Aliza, Mason's girlfriend. She arrives Dec. 11th - the 23rd and we are scrambling to get the apartment painted and accommodations ready.  We are planning some fun site seeing around Shanghai and to a city called Hangzhou.  Should be a great time!

Football Finale

This past weekend was the final game of Landon's football season.  Landon is on the Green Dragons and going into the day they were 4-1 against the Red Dragons.  The game went back and forth until finally the Green Dragons scored towards the end of the first half.  After the break, while the older boys played their first half, the Dragons went at it again and the Red Dragons tied up the game with a march down the field and an easy score against the tired looking Green Dragon defense. The second half saw each team score one more time and so the game went into overtime.  Each team had the chance to score from the twenty yard line.  Both defensive units held their ground and the game ended in a tie.  So for the season the Green Dragons had a successful record of 4-1-1.  After the game we all headed to The Big Bamboo which is one of the team sponsoring restaurants in Jinqiao and enjoyed a feast of burgers, wings and fries.  The coaches have organized one post season game with a local Chinese team for next Saturday.  Landon will be playing full back on offense and guard on defense.  The boys are all excited about this international game and we are all looking forward to it as well.  The big football banquet will be held on Saturday night to celebrate the successful third season of the Shanghai American Football Club.  Should be a great weekend.

I travelled to Qingdao on Sunday night and returned to Shanghai Tuesday evening where our driver rushed me to Regan's Christmas Choir Concert.  It was held in the school's theatre and included groups from 3rd grade to 8th grade singing songs of the season.  It was very impressive and Regan did a nice job singing as a bass.  Mason has been spending more time at school socializing and seems to be enjoying his new friends.  Yesterday he was asked to fill in as a singer in the Fudan American Idol contest being held.  Apparently someone in a group that was to perform couldn't make it and Mason got the call.  Not sure how it went but he said "It was interesting"  I will let you interpret that.  He also had a bit of excitement on the subway the other day where he assisted in apprehending and detaining a guy who was chasing a young girl.  The police were not far behind and took the culprit away in handcuffs.  It was quite an exciting story - one you will have to ask Mason about.

I leave for Japan today until Friday night and then off to India towards the end of next week and then to Taiwan the following week which should be my last trip for the year.  Take care and check out the new photos of Landon's football game.