Wrapping up

Our date for returning to the US has been set for July 23rd.  Cynthia and the two younger boys are back in the US now.  Mason and I are still in Shanghai.  Mason finished up his finals at Fudan this week and got mostly A's and some of the highest scores in his class.  He and I have been spending time together going out to dinner each night and just hanging out.  It has been a great bonding time as he decides his next step.  He did not get accepted into Northwestern's transfer program and was quite bummed but he's gotten over that and is looking forward to getting back to the states and pursuing opportunities at Columbia College or DePaul.  He flies back to Minnesota on the 11th and has to attend orientations at each college and get his final transcripts from Fudan submitted to complete his applications.  Currently he has a return flight to Shanghai on the 27th of August and has to decide before then whether he wants to attend Fudan for another year on his own in Shanghai or start college in the US (pending his successful application process)  Another scenario would be to get accepted at a US school and defer his enrollment for a year and attend school in China.  A big decision pending - we will keep you posted. 
Cynthia returns to Shanghai on the 13th of July to help with the move and do some last minute networking, shopping and saying goodbyes.  The movers come on the 19th to pack up the house and we will move into a hotel for the remaining days.  My sister will be coming up from Florida on the 19th to watch Regan and Landon and a combination of my parents and friends will watch them  from the 13th to the 19th.  Mason will most likely be in Chicago during this time.  Once all the dust settles we should all be reunited as a family the week of the 25th -  at which time we will probably take a quick vacation - maybe a camping trip.  That is about all for now. Take care and see you all soon.