Halfway point....

It is so much fun to be able to be a big kid for 6-7 hours each day! Today it was cool enough to take the kids outside to play. We played with the parachute, took walks in the garden, played on the playground, made crafts, and played a little volleyball with one of the nannies (who was one of the orphans last year, but is now employed here). Needless to say, I got my exercise today (as did the kids...see tired boy below), topped off by another evening of walking around the city. We went back to the pagoda, which is teaming with action. While there we observed chinese writing on the sidewalk with a big broom, buddhists chanting, ballroom dancing, a form of hacky-sacking, and several forms of kung fu. And all of this for free! Better than any show we could've paid for.

Please pray the cribs to make it to Chaoyang before we leave Friday. Our guide offered the driver a big tip if he can get them here, and we really want to see them and help put them together. The mattresses are here already, and we have 20 handmade quilts ready to tuck the kids in. Although, in this heat, I don't think they will want to use them right now!

Day Two....

Another fun filled day at the orphanage. We spent the morning just playing with the kids, and also had an opportunity to give Chen-Chen a bath. He was the little boy from last year that loves to snuggle, and still does. However, he did not like a bath! He's pictured here with Mike after his bath. Mike got pretty sweaty this morning with all the rough housing he did with the boys. I'm not sure who enjoyed it more.



We let the kids get some rest and went out for a Manchurian style lunch. The workers wore traditional dress, and everything they brought out was presented beautifully. The food was good too, especially the tofu soup.


Beading and the macarena were the hits in the afternoon! The kids rush out of the building to greet us everytime they see us now, which really warms the heart. It's also what makes it harder to leave, but we won't talk about that now. Just enjoy today's pictures, from China, with love.

Full day....

Between the orphanage and walking around the city tonight, we've had a full day. We're happy to say the children remembered us and it didn't take long for them to warm up again. Three of the children have been adopted, but there were several new faces too. There were three babies less than a few months old, with one being only 5 days old! He just came out of surgery so they wouldn't let us hold him, but I sure wanted to (Lisa C., his sn is like your kids). The little girl with the cleft reminds us so much of Kaia when she was little. This girls sucks on four fingers at a time!

The afternoon was spent tie-dying, which they loved, and blowing bubbles. This evening we danced the folk dance with the locals, then walked around parts of the city we haven't seen. We will be exploring some parts in the daylight tomorrow. Tomorrow is also going to be parachutes and beading with the kids.

Still haven't worked out the email bug, so if you want to email us, send it to mcrebbin@gmail.com

Sleepless in Chaoyang...

It's 4:30 am here, and I'm wide awake, so I decided I would post a funny experience from yesterday. The drive from Shenyang to Chaoyang is primarily an agricultural drive amongst corn and rice fields. Last year we stopped at a "truck stop" about halfway through the drive, to use the restroom. It was most of the team's first experience with a squatty, and we all had quite a good laugh. Well this year we actually laughed harder! We stopped to use the same restrooms, only to be told the restrooms were under renovation, so we had to use the temporary ones out back. We had to wade through huge puddles to get to them, and boy, were we in shock when we got there. The picture below tells a thousand words, but hey, when you got to go, you got to go!


We're having a little trouble getting our email right now, so if you have sent us an email, we didn't receive it yet. For now you may just want to post comments. We will let you know when we have the glitch worked out:)

Well the city is starting to come alive. I'm going to watch the locals dance and exercise from my window this morning, as so far it's not raining.
Love, from China!

We made it!

We made it safely to Beijing yesterday, but were too exhausted to post (see Mike's crashed picture). We had a 7:30 am flight this morning to Shenyang, which didn't go as smoothly as yesterday's travels. One person did not have a seat, so he had to wait for the next flight. Fortunately it was one of our Chinese team members, so he was okay traveling alone. We also lost a bag along the way, but it has since been recovered.

We spent the afternoon shopping in Shenyang before our 4+ hour bus ride to Chaoyang. We shopped for the orphanage at the Walmart Super Center, which is always an interesting experience. As you can see from the photos, we also shopped at a couple stores that we were pleasantly surprised to find.

Once again we are exhausted, so we need to get some sleep. Tomorrow is our first day at the orphanage, and tie-dye is on the agenda. That is, if the rain stops long enough....

Underweight....

That's right, we're all packed and actually underweight! Of course, I had to buy a bigger suitcase today to get the large play tunnel packed, but it was worth it. My parents have arrived and we head to Seattle at 4:30 tomorrow morning. Our friend Tracie will be with us, and we meet up with the rest of the team in Vancouver, BC. We arrive in Beijing on the 4th of July, but for some reason I don't think the Chinese celebrate Independence Day:) We will try and post to this blog daily, and you can also view the "official" Visiting Orphans Chaoyang team blog. We should be able to read our email, or you can post comments here.

Please keep us in your prayers, and a safe trip home for Kellen on Saturday too.

Off to Mexico....

Kellen took off at 3:00 am this morning for a 7:00am flight to Morelia, Mexico. There are 18 kids from his youth group going, and they will be staying in the dorms of a Bible school while there. The first two days there they will be working at an orphanage, followed by two days building walls for a church that currently meets in a tent, then two days of street ministry. Lastly, they will spend a day touring the city. Please pray for good health, safety, team unity, and boldness.

Kellen did call this morning to say they landed at LAX safely, and were ready to board for the next leg of their trip. Here is a picture of his sisters saying goodbye to him last night. This was shot after repeated attempts and being licked. Kaia did not want him to go on a plane, stating "He can't go, I love him." So sweet.

On another note, the play tunnels we purchased for the Choayang Orphanage arrived yesterday, so we had to test out their durability on our kids! I'm pleased to say they passed the test with flying colors, but now I am even more worried about staying under our luggage weight limit...