2012 re-cap

2012 saw a lot of dramatic change for the family:

James flew to DC and passed the Oral Assessment for the State Department in January--not a dental exam, but a rigorous battery of tests to see if he has nerves of steel, Jedi mind  control, and laser vision.  (He does.)  He signed a "worldwide availability" form 11 different times promising that we'll go wherever the US government sends us, no matter how it smells there.

We got medical tests, shots, and otherwise thoroughly examined for service throughout the spring.

At the end of June, we left our lovely home in Provo, and began driving across the US.  We spent time with family in Colorado, made our way down to Oklahoma, visited Graceland in Tennessee, spent some time on the beach with family in South Carolina, and finally unpacked our suitcases in Falls Church, Virginia, just in time for James to start his job in the middle of July.

At the end of "A-100" (James' orientation to the foreign service), we attended his "flag day" (we use quotations a lot in the Foreign Service).  We waited breathlessly as assignments were read off ranging from Abu Dhabi to Vientiane, were disappointed when Rome went to someone else, and then were thrilled when James was handed a Chinese flag for our first assignment to Shanghai.

With the assignment now firmly in our back pocket, we spent a few months in additional training, then finally flew to Shanghai in November.  A 14 hour flight with 3 kids and the resulting jet-lag notwithstanding, we all survived, and are loving our life here in China.