Where to catch us...

First of all, apologies for any of you who have kept up with this blog...
This was supposed to be a twice-a-month update on our family with pictures, etc.

Apparantly, trying to keep up with that in the midst of moving from place to place over the summer was more than we wanted to keep up with.

We've been visiting family all summer, spending the majority of the time with Jay's parents in Mountain Grove, MO. We also spent time with Jay's sister and brother, Nana, Grandmother, and are currently in Aurora, CO with Vikki's older sister.

As for an update on our plans to go to China...we were (surpisingly for us) almost not able to make it this year. We had initially signed contracts with Changzhou Institute of Technology, only to have the school cancel our contract when we informed them that we are expecting another child in January. (More on that later) I didn't realize how different the job search would be now that we're a family and not just two employable bodies...it does make sense that a university would prefer two teachers in one apartment over one with extra responsibility, but I still expected to find a job rather easily. With the search for another job relegated to a matter of months, that probably contributed to the difficulty we encountered. We were, in the end, able to land a position with a school in Hangzhou, very near to the first school. The school is a private university, Zhejiang University City College. We were very excited to get a position in Hangzhou as there are some other friends we know of who will be moving to the city at the same time that we do. We leave on the 18th of this month (in five days!).

We'd love to keep any of you posted on what we're up to, but we don't think we'll have access to this blog in China. Please see the post above for our e-mail. If you're not already on our e-mail update list and would like to be, simply write us an e-mail and we'll make sure you start receiving our update!

Please do keep us in your prayers. Even though we will have friends in Hangzhou, staying strong will be a challenge and we cherish your support!

We are expecting another child in January and plan to deliver in China. We still don't know the gender of the baby, though Vikki has started to feel the movements.

- Jay and Victoria Beamon