Four wonderful years togethers!

Wednesday the 11th will be our fourth anniversary! We are enjoying each other more now than ever before.

Being extra busy on that day, we decided to celebrate on Monday and Tuesday. So on Monday morning while Becky was at college taking a test (She did very well!), I took our two little ones to the Laterza's home. Pastor and Mrs. Laterza graciously watched our children overnight.

After saying goodbyes to Josiah and Amelia, I made a quick stop at the store for cashews and candy bars before heading to my rendezvous with my Beloved. Becky had taken a fast bus to Beijing after finishing her classes, so she beat me there. As I walked out of the subway exit, a gorgeous young woman called out my name. That meeting began our romantic twenty-four hours together.

I had gone a week earlier and planned out an itinerary to keep us busy. From the subway stop, it was a quick walk to our hotel, which was situated on a little lake tucked inside the middle of Beijing. This lake connects to two other small lakes, and these make a very refreshing place to stroll and explore. Many fashionable and popular restaurants are situated along much of the tree-lined shore. The lakes are still surrounded by many neighborhoods of the fast disappearing but ever interesting hutongs, the ancient style Beijing residences.

During my pre-date explorations, I had discovered and reserved a room in a little backpacker type hotel. It was simple, clean, cheap, and secluded. The first thing Becky and I did was to walk about ten minutes to the hotel and check in.

We rented two bikes from the hotel and rode around a beautiful lake in search of a place to eat lunch.

We found a little cafe advertising sandwiches, so we decided this might make a great lunch. Sitting outside and talking to my lovely wife without the normal distractions of two young children made up for all that those sandwiches turned out not to be. At least we now had the energy to continue our exploration.

We rode our bikes around a lake and then through an exciting, narrow shopping street filled with the typical amazingly talented craftsmen that seem so common in China. These men can take common things from bamboo, to playdough, to sugar and create extraordinary little works of art.

Unfortunately, my bike peddle began to malfunction. And after a late night of pre-test study, Becky was a little worn-out too. So we made our way back to the hotel for a mid afternoon nap. Very refreshing!

When we emerged, we set off to track down the best place to have dinner. We rode our bikes around the lakes taking in the last few rays of sunlight.

We scoured the lakefront streets of Hou Hai and Lotus Lane looking for a restaurant with that right feel to make our evening sublime. It was fun ranking the different restaurants, categorizing the ones we liked best.

Our ultimate choice was...Buffalo Club. We don't know why they chose that name, but the Chinese version must sound romantic to a Chinese person. The restaurant was beautifully decorated and ambience was very nice. Becky even like the ladies' restroom. =)

We sat inside the restaurant right on the edge of the sidewalk where we could watch as people strolled by. The evening was lovely and so was the view of the lake from our table.

As we enjoyed a delicious Italian dinner, a violinist and pianist gave us live classical music. Surrounded by candles, serenaded by the music, looking into Becky's eyes, what an evening!

After dinner we enjoyed a walk along the shore hand-in-hand. Getting a little chilly, we moseyed into a Starbucks for our second time in China (we went all out!). Becky ordered a small steamed-milk while I got a grande hot chocolate with raspberry. Then we strolled along feeling very blessed to have the means for such luxury.

We rode our bikes through dark hutong alleyways back to our hotel. Once we were ready for bed we had a good talk and prayed together. Becky read a portion of a book to me. Then we enjoyed nine hours of much needed sleep.

Tuesday morning brought a beautiful day to Beijing. We leisurely got ready and were out the door by 8:30. After a quick bite of breakfast, we settled down in a park to read our Bibles amongst birds singing and China's elderly doing Tai Qi exercises.

After devotions, we explored around the old hutong neighborhoods. It was interesting to see how little has changed in those narrow streets while the rest of Beijing has modernized so much. We had planned to eat lunch at the Hutong Pizza Company, but along with most other restaurants they still hadn't opened. So we were once again forced to go to my wife's favorite establishment, McDonalds. The food and the company were both good, but the company was better.

It was a wonderful anniversary. We had had so much fun together. We normally try not to eat so much Western food, but anniversaries are different. We splurged a little, but the whole thing, including a pair of shoes for Becky, cost less than $85US. Of course, Becky deserves so much more.

Finally, we set off to reclaim our much-missed offspring. Being alone with Becky for twenty-four hours was certainly a marvelous treat, but squeezing our two little ones in our arms made celebrating our first four years together seem complete.