SATURSDAY JULY 8

At the breakfast table inside I put the little guy in a high chair on my left so Serena could help me. We are trying to feed him baby food. I had Hunter on my left and Scott was helping me with her. Mom said, she can’t wait until Matthew gets back because she misses him. We all do and Serena misses Jean. Matthew promised Serena he would bring him back safe and sound so she tries not to worry. The day was very quite. The kids were sleeping a lot. I watched a lot of tv in the family room and played with the kids when they were up. The baby was up more than Hunter because he is always hungry. He’s a growing boy and needs lots to eat. Serena said she hadn’t been feeling well lately. I told her I hoped she hadn’t caught Hunter’s cold. She said, she thought it was nerves. We went to the gym and it was great. After sitting all morning I felt Like I needed exercise. At night when I went to bed I felt pretty good.

Matthew and Jean got to the Temple late Wednesday. It was a beautiful place. Matthew said to Jean, I understand there are three temples. The one we saw a the bottom of the hill. Which looked like a tourist attraction. This one up the hill which seems to be a training center for beginners. And one at the top of the hill in the clouds that some said is a myth. They were given a room, one set of robes and shoes. On Thursday they were told to get up at 5am. Shown the room where they would be eating. After breakfast there were 20 people. Everyone was a man except one woman that looked to be 20. The Head Master divided everyone into groups of 4. Each group was given a Monk as a trainer. The groups were led into a room where all the men had their heads shaven. The woman was told to wait in another room. After everyone was done the groups were taken to another large room full of goats. The groups were shown how to clean the cages. After that was done the group leaders showed the 20 people how to milk the goats. Jean was having trouble getting any milk out of their goat. Matthew moved next to him and said, move. I can’t believe a grown ass man can’t handle a little titty. Matthew had a friend who had cows and Matthew had milked a lot of cows. Matthew thought its the same thing just smaller. After the goats were milked the groups took the milk to the kitchen. Everyone was given Milk bread to eat. Bread made out of goats milk. Then the groups were taken to another room and was shown how the goats milk was used to make a salve. After they were all given a small container of goat salve. The woman in the group was very interest in exactly what went into the salve and every detail of making it. It was explained it was used for cuts, burns, bruises, blood circulation, protect the body from the cold and many other uses. After that everyone went to lunch. The Head Master told us we would be training from 6am in the morning to 8pm at night. If anyone was having a problem and wanted to leave to talk to a monk he pointed at. He said, some people make it through the program and a lot don’t so don’t feel bad if you need to leave. They spread us out and gave us sticks called The Shaolin staff. With all of us in a long line they started showing us moves with the sticks. Jean was good with the stick but went through the motions of the instructions. After a couple of hours they broke us into two’s. Matthew was against Jean. Matthew said to Jean to be gentle with him. Jean said, I will try not to hurt you old man. Matthew wanted to laugh but just smirked at him. Jean was well trained but Matthew was fast. Jean soon learned he had good moves but Matthew was very quick at blocking. When they went back to their room that night they were very happy. They had a couple of bruises but had a good time.