Anna Update

Thank you for all of your prayers. Anna is doing a little better. She ate today which is a good sign. We had a different dr who spoke better English so I had a little better understanding of what she was saying. The stool test came back negative meaning that Anna does not have an intestinal infection. The urine test came back better so the antibiotic shots that she received yesterday are helping a little bit. She still has a high fever though so she was given 2 more shots and we have to go back again tomorrow. If she still has a fever tomorrow, they are going to give her an ultrasound to see if it is a kidney infection (which is what I have thought it was this whole time) the dr yesterday did not understand my questions about it being a kidney infection-- the dr today said that would be her next test if things are not better tomorrow. Again, it was a rough day but Anna was very brave and is really being a trooper. Please continue to pray for her body to heal and for wisdom for the drs. Thank you!!!
Love, Aimee

Pray for Anna

Anna is still fighting something. She had diarrhea for 7 days, and I thought we were over this nasty bug but then yesterday Anna started complaining about her tummy really hurting. Today at lunch, she had a fever, and then said that it hurt when she went to the bathroom. One of the trouble areas in China is the medical field. I called the Dr's office that I brought Rachel to this week for her well baby check up, and a pediatrician wasn't going to be in until Sat. So we went to a clinic that was an hour away. After blood work and 2 urine tests, they diagnosed Anna with a bladder infection that is so bad, they gave her injections so that the antibiotic would start working sooner. She has some other infection going on in her body (shown by the blood work) but the Dr didn't know what it was so she sent us home to get a stool sample and another urine sample in the morning and then back to the clinic to run some tests on those and possibly more blood work. If the urine counts are still too high, she will need more shots, if they have lowered, we will get an oral antibiotic to give her for the bladder infection and who knows for the other. It was a rough afternoon to say the least. The worst part was Anna's fear and pain but then added to that was the frustration of my not understanding the Dr's and they not understanding me. Please pray for her counts to go down, for wisdom for the Drs to know what is going on, and for Anna tomorrow as she is going to have more tests done.

On a good medical note, Rachel's apt went really well. The Dr that we saw there was a really nice American so we were totally able to understand each other. Yeah! Rachel is growing and healthy. The Dr was able to give her some med for reflux so now she is sleeping better during the day. Even that is more complicated than in the US-- they don't have the meds they would give babies in the US so I have a pill that I have to crush up, dissolve in 5 ml of water, then give her 2 ml. I am thankful that it is helping though.

Elijah is healthy as well. He had a fever for a couple of days, but is seeming his normal self again. That's it for now. I will write an update soon. Thank you all!

Love, Aimee

18 more meters, come on!

There is a skyscraper under construction in downtown Shanghai. The World Financial Center will be completed in 2008 at 101 stories and 492 meters. Even as it stands unfinished, under construction, it dwarfs the Pearl tower and surrounding skyscrapers.

The stinky part is that it will be 2nd in size to the Taipei 101 Tower in Taiwan which weighs in at 509 meters. Here's the world ranking list including buildings in proposal stages as well.

Here are pictures I took last weekend.

What's with the pinata obsession?

Thanks to Phil for this beauty. Mom nicknamed the pinata Buford and Dad took exception to the way Buford was looking at him.



And thanks to Ted for the playlist tip.

Suckin' Snail Shells

Yep,

Our dear little Anna has finally found a Chinese food she enjoys other than white rice. After basketball on Friday, the guys took me to a "Hot Pot" Chinese restaurant. It's a very popular cooking style in China. Here are the steps:

1. Sit down at a table with a big hole carved out of the middle of it. There's a heating element in the bottom of the hole.
2. Waitress bring a gigantic steel bowl split into 2 sides.
3. Waitress fills both sides with water and chucks a bunch of red chili peppers into one side and celery, other seasoning into the other side. Now, there's a spicy and non-spicy side.
4. Order up the raw ingredients: lamb, beef, chicken, chihuahua, leafy vegetables, quail eggs, dumplings, bean sprouts, bamboo, beans, and lots of un-named others.
5. Waitress brings the stuff out sequentially, sometimes presenting a couple of things at the same time.
6. Deposit items in the boiling water, choosing whether you want it spicy or not.
7. Cook
8. Remove with ladle (if it sunk) or chopsticks (if it's floating)
9. Eat

Aimee and I had tried this in Sanya on vacation. This experience was similar but these guys were professionals and all I had to do was eat. I brought A&E with me too which made things a little more interesting.

I picked up orange juices and a large Pepsi at the neighboring KFC (yes, as in fried chicken) first so we'd have some cold refreshment. The restaurant was hot and humid, plus steamy.

About the shells..... One of the several appetizers was a plate full of snail shells in a hot sauce. Much to my surprise, Anna tried one and proceeded to spoon out about 15 of the things before the night was through. She didn't mess with the "meat" on the inside but just enjoyed the hot sauce. The plateful of carnage is below.

Some details:

Pics 1 and 2: There were 8 adults and 3 kids. Most of the guys are new to our company so it was a good opportunity for some team-building.
Pic 3: The hole and that's not coffee but some room temp juice that the kids loved. Not sure what kind it was. Does that make me a bad dad. The guys assured me there was no alchohol in it.
Pic 4: Engineering manager, Charlie, and his daughter who is 3 and ate KFC.
5: Anna and one of the casualties.
6: When I was in the USA, Kohl's was running a special on patriotic shirts. We got one for everyone in our engineering group. I liked this one best.
7: Sucked shells.
8. Elijah's "Dad, it's 9:30pm" face.




Over and out.

Has anyone seen the Bowman's?

We are alive and doing pretty well. Work has been a little crazy lately. Also, everyone has been or is currently sick.

The good news today is that I figured out how to beat the government at their blog blocking game. We have not been able to access any blogs since we returned. Today, from friend, I got a blog site that serves simply to work around the blog police in China, Pakistan, and Iran. If interested, you can find it here. So, I've enjoyed "catching up" with many of you tonight.

The kids had a good time with "Ayi" or chinese household help last week. Here are some pictures. More to come later. We have a busy weekend planned with chinese-style basketball, dinner with new friends from church, a bike riding group of guys on Sunday morning to an "off the beaten path" location, and children's ministry planning. I hope to post some pics from the interesting stuff.

Also, our family is invited to 2 chinese weddings in the next 3 weeks. They are 2 guys that I work with. And, Zhao Jianqing and his wife, have asked Anna to be the "flower girl" only she wears angel wings and delivers the rings. Anna is thrilled. Should be interesting since it's an authentic Chinese wedding. There ain't gonna be no english speakin' there.

Anyway, the pictures are at the top instead of the bottom. I hooked on some kid pics in there too for those of you like to see our chillins.

Dedicated to Lance and Katie

Congratulations are in order to Aimee's youngest sister, Katie, and her new fiancee, Lance. Here is their engagement photo.

The Bowman's are looking forward to the Big Day! Here are a few more photos....

What was going on at your place last evening at 3am?

Here's our story. Aimee and Rachel were up too but preferred not to be photographed.

The preface to all this nocturnal activity was this scene Aimee found last evening. We literally were reading a book when Aimee left us to put Rachel to bed. When she returned, the proverbial "lights" were out.

This pic brought back some "fond" memories of the kids' first experience with jetlag. Some of you longtime Bowman Blog readers will remember this beauty.

The eagles have landed on the sun.

We made it safely back to Shang-HOT at about 10:30pm China time this evening. It's steaming here with humidity so high that condensation formed on our van window in route to home.

It's now midnight and all are awake, partially from the adrenaline and the rest because our schedules are thoroughly mixed after 21 hours of circling the globe.

Anna and Elijah are rapidly catching up with old toys. Anna has already been into at least 2 different "dress up" outfits including her wedding dress. Oh, BTW, she married Elijah about 20 minutes ago despite a resistant groom. Her floor is littered with pink and purple dolls and other girly paraphernalia. Elijah is playing with his battery powered car track that got left behind this summer.

And Aimee is in the kitchen admiring her cupboard full of spices.

The kids did well on the trip. They would have scored a perfect 100/100 had it not been for the meltdowns after touchdown in Tokyo. So, they will settle for 90/100 and a strong A-. Aimee and I are very proud of the way they traveled. They slept the entire 3 hours from Tokyo to Shanghai. Sleep was sporadic, at best, on the last 25% of the Detroit to Tokyo leg. We confirmed the age old theory that kids freaking out and/or melting down is directly correlated to sleep or lack thereof.

Gotta run and feed the kids "lunch" and then ship off to a nap that hopefully will last until at least 5am.

This pic is our makeshift movie theater at the Tokyo airport at 3:30am, Michigan time.

Look for more blog updates in the next few days.

Here we go again!

Our family of 5 departs tomorrow for Shanghai. Here is our itinerary.

Depart GR for Detroit: Friday, Noon, NW 1516

Depart Detroit for Tokyo: Friday, 2:30pm, NW 25

Depart Tokyo for Shanghai: Saturday 6:4opm, NW 25 (Tokyo time)

What a blessing it was to "catch up" with most of you during this trip home. See you this winter!

Ryan

Holland has a lot to offer

Chen Wei headed back to Shanghai today. 4 weeks was barely enough time to see all the sites in the metropolis known to many as Tulip City, USA. Here are 3 highlights:

1. Lake Michigan at Holland State Park with 5-6 foot swells and a great sunset.

2. Offroad racing at the Ottawa county fair.

3. Tommy Turtle Sundae.....oh yeah. Elijah demonstrated how to actually wear your ice cream. See out of order pic at the top.