Ayi Cassi is here!

The term ayi actually has 2 meanings: domestic help and aunt. Sydney's ayi Cassi arrived this evening for a short visit. I am SOOO glad to see her, and not just because she brought us things from the US. Although, I thoroughly enjoyed flipping through InStyle magazine. I can buy it here but it is about US$11 - 15 here. And I'm too cheap to pay for it.

As expected, Sydney didn't recognize Cassi at first. It made me a bit sad because Cassi has been an amazing aunt to Sydney. But since we left Dallas when Sydney was only 1 year old, I wasn't surprised that she didn't take to Cassi right of the bat. She was shy and very quiet with Cassi when she first arrived. She wouldn't even let Cassi hold her. But it only took about an hour of bonding before Sydney and Cassi were giggling and laughing just like old times. While I made dinner for Sydney, she was on the couch having Cassi read to her and bombarding Cassi with non-stop chatter. It was really sweet seeing them together again. Christmas is going to be awesome with my entire family here!

The weather here has been perfect all week --- sunny and cool. But, of course, it rained on and off all day today. We will be going to Beijing and Xi'an this weekend. Keep your fingers crossed for us that we will be blessed with good weather.