What Day Is It???

YaYa is amazing, and we are told he is being made adoption ready!

Each day is beginning to blur into another, but it was another successful busy day. Typically we go to the orphanage in the morning, leave for a couple of hours at lunchtime so the children can eat and rest, then we go back to the orphanage for a few more hours. This is followed by a quick cleanup before dinner, then off to church, shopping, or hanging out in the square until time to go to bed and start over again. Overall exhausting, but so totally rewarding.

Courtney and Jing aka Diva

Today was such schedule, and we got right to work as we got there. Bubble blowing was the first thing on today's agenda, which is always a hit. The kids love it, as well as the adults, and it makes for some great photos. The only challenge was the breeze that was going on, so you had to choose your bubble blowing position carefully:)

Always the Happy child, but this time an extremely proud one!

While this group was outdoors, Britta and the others that have been helping her prepare the physical therapy equipment were busy demonstrating some of the lifts, etc., for the nannies. That is the main goal, that these things continue when we are gone. They are also making simple posters using photos to help them remember. For the most part I have not been working with this group, but swing by frequently to check on their progress. Having seen these kids from the beginning in 2007 to now, you cannot fathom the joy it brings me to see these children out of their cribs. These are kids that have basically been written off in the past, but yet would light up in the room when I would come in and sing to them (no, not because of my angelic voice, but because someone was showing them love and attention!). As I stand back and watch different team members work with them, it literally brings tears to my eyes.

Keeping Grace warm, inside and out

More smiles

This girl barely responded when we first met her in 2007. Now she
is up walking with a walker and laughing hysterically when Courtney
tosses her in the ball pit

I've been giving this little guy a lot of arm time. He can't even
hold his head up, but you should see him smile and coo when we have
him up and out of the crib.

We ended the morning with some good old fashioned face painting. At first a couple of the kids were frightened, but once they got the hang of it, they kept pointing to new places on their face to get painted (kind of like being addicted to tatoos!). Even the toddlers and some of the kids who are typically unable to sit still joined in.

He wasn't so sure to begin with, but once I showed him his
picture he embraced his lionhood

The calmest she was all day!

Was barely a blank space left on his face when Rebecca was finished

After lunch we did some shopping for the kiddos. I found some wonderful butterfly wings (making me miss my own girls) that I am going to take this morning. Creative play is always lacking here. Sa, the gal we met at the airport, has been working with us every day and is an amazing contact. Her mom is a doctor and she has connections at a local university. She is trying to establish a way to get volunteers from the college working year round in the orphanage. A lofty goal, but a worthy one, so please be remembering this.

Courtney and Angela dancing with the locals

After more playtime in the afternoon and a delicious dinner, we headed back to the public square this evening. We joined in by playing a form of hackey sack (only more like a badminton) with some locals. Courtney and Angela did some swing dancing. A local man must have liked Angela's skills, because he then asked her to dance. He was incredibly good, and she was a quick learner. The song seemed to go on forever, as a crowd of 100 or so gathered around. I think Angela's been watching Dancing with the Stars!

This morning we are heading to a park with some of the children. Should be fun!

Sorry so late....

Sorry it took so long to hear from us, but we have been unable to connect to the internet. Yesterday morning we changed back to the original hotel we were supposed to be in, and when we had extended time to be able to get on the computer, I could not get things to work until getting a hotel employee into my room to figure things out. So I will try and catch everyone up on yesterday's happenings before I post about today. I'm not sure yet as to whether or not I can post photos from here, so if there are not any while you are reading this, check back in a couple hours when Mike can post them for me from the states.

Waiting at the windows (those are the cribs we bought them a few years ago)

my long time buddy Min Yer

In the morning we were greeted by the smiling faces of the toddlers who await us in their cribs, cheering through the window that faces the area our bus pulls into. It warms the heart to see them so excited about our arrival. The day was spent playing with the kids again, as well as more physical therapy work. It was amazing to see children who rarely get out of their crib be able to stretch their legs and walk! So brave and trustworthy they were to work with people they hardly knew, especially for  one of them who is blind. "Peanut," or Grace as we have now named her, is showing some slight improvement.  A wonderful day overall.

Mark helping the happiest boy in the world to use a walker

Pam giving more snuggle time to Peanut

"Precious Heart," who is blind, using the walker

Tracie and her girl

 We wrapped up the evening with a HotPot experience, something well known in this region. Was yet another delicious dinner. On the way back to the hotel we met up we the man we had met on the street who had found Bao, as we had some photos of her to give him. He had a huge grin on his face when Mark showed him the photo album of her. After that we came back to the hotel.I think my eyes slammed shut as soon as I hit the oh-so-hard Chinese bed (good for the back, you know).

Rebecca is a professional now

Jared putting who knows what in the HotPot

Forward Motion...

Angela and Sa

So much happened today that I want to share. It was an exciting time at the orphanage, and I can only hope that everyone reading this can share my enthusiasm through my words and photos (although in reading back on my earlier post, I see lots of errors due to my lack of sleep!).

As we loaded the bus for the orphanage, we were greeted by Sa, a local girl we had met at the airport the day before. When we told her what we were there for, she told us she would like to join us, to which we eagerly encouraged her to do.  We love to involve the locals, and have had some join us every trip. Her english was great, and it was nice to see her join right in, interacting with the kids.

giving Min Yer a manicure/pedicure. Her favorite color is
purple, like mine!

Yung Yung playing with Lambchop (most of the kids were scared of it!)

Britta setting up the adaptive work center

The children were anxiously awaiting our arrival. After receiving the go ahead by the nannies, Britta, our physical therapist, got busy inventorying the physical therapy supplies that the orphanage already had but had no idea how to use. Some team members cleaned the dusty items and/or pieced some together, while Britta measured and assessed children for various pieces of equipment. By the end of the day she had a child in a wheelchair we had never seen out of bed before, a blind, crib-bound girl up and using a walker, and an adult sized girl standing, coloring while velcro straps held her upright at a work center. Needless to say, this was extremely exciting for us all to see, and we are only on day two!

As I was hanging out on the second floor right before lunch, I saw what I thought to be a familiar face walk by me. I couldn't pull up a name, as it was from a few years back, so I asked her what her name was. She replied with Feng Hua. I probably frightened the poor girl when I excitedly responded with "I know you, Flower!" Feng Hua was one of the older children we worked with at the orphanage the first two years we were here. When we inquired about her last year they told us she was attending a school for blind children. Since she graduated, she is back for the summer, and will be attending massage school in another province in the fall.  She said she remembered us from before. It is so rewarding to see her doing well.

Feng Hua "Flower"

Who knew Wu Jia Wei played the piano

The afternoon consisted of lots of playtime, including walks in the drizzle, and some positive responses from a couple children who usually don't show much emotion.  It's amazing what a little love can do to make an orphan, or anyone else for that matter, feel better.

John and Cha Cha taking a walk

Putting smiles on both our faces!

Both smiled like this all afternoon!

Love this photo of Courtney and the blind girl. She was
caressing Courtney so sweetly.

YES!

Oak Harbor gals

I am so excited to be able to blog this morning! It is now Sunday in China; we arrived early on Friday morning due to lots of stormy weather, but this is the first time I have been able to get connected. In Beijing things were blocked, and up here everything was in a foreign language (no, not even mandarin), so I was unable to peruse my way around the page. So the "YES!" title is a quote from me when everything worked this morning.

After visiting the wall and toboganing down in Beijing, and meeting up with Bill and Lynsay from Morning Star foster home, we are happy to be in Chaoyang.

Dinner with Lynsay

Great Wall

As usual, the best laid plans always change while here, and that was evident from the get go. Seems we were "bumped" from our usual foreign-friendly hotel, due to a Comm. Party convention, so we are down the street a ways in a different hotel. That has been some of the difficulty connecting to the Internet too, but hey, a new adventure is always good.

After checking in and grabbing a quick lunch, we headed off for the orphanage. We were greeted by many familiar faces that were delighted to see us (and vice versa).  It was wonderful to see many walls brightly painted and a brand new play area that the was bought for them by the government. We were saddened to learn that one little one from last year that we nicknamed Mighty Mouse passed away about three months ago. Last year there were two limb difference kiddos that stole my heart, and when I inquired about the one that is not here this year, I learned he is in foster care somewhere, so that was exciting news. There is a three day old baby that is the tiniest little peanut. He is not doing so well, but we are able to pick him up and show him plenty of love. We are currently thinking of a good name for him, as he does not yet have one.   Yung Yung seems to be adjusting to live in the orphanage, and we are told that he will begin school in September. We have a physical therapist with us this year, so she was able to go around and assess a lot of needs yesterday. Today we are hoping for receptive ears as we she tries to implement some new ideas.

Anna reunited with Jian

John

"Wei" that's how Chinese answer the phone

Traci and "Peanut"

Kendra shows off her iphone

Traci and Wu Jia Wei

Min Yer (red) remembered us

A journalist that was wrote about us last year was with us all day. We also met the tutor that we hired to teach one of the girls. One of our team members is going to room with her for the next four months as she continues to work here for some college credit. It's a very exciting opportunity.

Coutney and friend

We closed last night with an adventure to the city square and mingled with the locals. We attracted crowds as we handed out glow sticks and bracelets to the kids we came across. Some of the group "swing danced" with the group of dancers, while a couple girls jumped over a light up toy that twirled around their ankle (I know there's a name for the toy, but my brain won't come up with it).

















On our way back we to the hotel we stopped to speak with a gentleman who was playing a authentic chinese instrument. When he asked our guide about us, he informed us that a few years ago he found an abandoned child and took her to local authorities. Amazingly he had found Chao Bao, whom was at the orphanage the first year we were here, and she is now in the states! We got to share information with him, and I thanked him for saving a child's life! He had such a proud look on his face.

Chao Bao's rescuer

*Well I just tried to upload photos, but no such luck. I will email some to Mike and hopefully he can post them.  I welcome any comments you want to leave, or can pass on messages to team members if you want. We are getting ready to head out to the orphanage again this morning.

The End (at least for this post)

Dad's Day...

Check out Mike and the kids around the new BBQ Mike got for Father's Day. It was taken during the small sliver of the day when it was not raining! I don't think it even hit 60 today....brrr! Going to be a shock when I'm in 90+ weather in Beijing, later this week. 

The grill was broken in by BBQing some delicious salmon cooked on a cedar plank!  One of those gifts that everyone gains from:) 

The girls made some gifts at school that they also gave to daddy. Jaelyn made a ceramic dinosaur with an adorable pop-up card. Kaia drew this remarkable likeness picture of her dad as a gift. Fortunately she laughed with us all when he made the face, because it really did look like him then!

Our Family is Growing.....

FYI...I originally wrote this blog clear back in January, but I didn't know whether or not I had permission to post photos of Joy.  Then I forgot about the original post and only remembered it as I am preparing to return to China. Bill of Morning Star gave me the go ahead on posting photos, so I decided to publish the post, with a forward written to set the stage.  This Wednesday the Chaoyang Team is returning to China, and I am hoping to be able to meet Joy face-to-face when we are in Beijing!  Please be praying for Morning Star. They have recently taken in some very sick kids, one who passed away, and another currently in the hospital. In China hospital costs are paid up front, so if God puts them on your heart, please consider giving.  Read below to learn more, and be sure to scroll to the bottom to see a recent photo of Joy....

Now that I have your attention I need to tell you that, no, we're not adopting again, but we have taken this sweet little thing into our hearts!

We refinanced our home the end of December, and since that freed up some monthly money, what better thing to put our money towards than to help support changing the life of a child forever! We could buy our families more unneeded toys, but in the end, what does that really matter?

Let me tell you more about where Joy comes from, and perhaps you may feel moved to help a child there too:)  Joy resides at Morning Star Foundation in Beijing, China, where Bill and Lynsay Lewis run their foster home.  All the children in their home have severe medical needs, and come from orphanages that can not meet these needs. That's where Bill and Lynsay step in! They nurture the children, advocate for the best health care they can get, and pray for each one of these children. They employ local nannies and understand the culture. Monthly expenses for each child is approximately $450, and children can be sponsored at any amount. Whether it's $10 a month or the entire $450, you can help to make a difference.  Just go to their babies page, select a child, and you can set up automatic payments through paypal. They will also send updates and prayer requests on your child, so you can be involved in their life.

For years we have sponsored Lizeth through Compassion International. We chose her back in the early 2000's, while attending a Creation Festival where they were promoting sponsorship. We chose Lizeth because she was born the exact day and year that Joshua was.  Before we chose which child to sponsor at Morning Star, I prayed that one of the children would stand out to me. As soon as I opened the page of the children there, I knew that child was to be Joy. The first thing my eyes took me to was her birthday, January 1, the same as our sweet Jaelyn!

Girls got spunk!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recent photo that was sent with our updated letter on Joy

P.R.I.D.E....

Last week Jaelyn was one of eight first graders to receive an award in front of the school. Unfortunately being it was my award assembly at school, I could not attend, but thankfully, big brother Kellen was to the rescue, and proudly represented our family! At their school they focus on Preparation, Respect, Integrity, Determination, and Effort all year long. Jaelyn's award was specifically for Determination, and I couldn't agree more!

Kellen even videotaped it for us, but unfortunately it's 10 minutes long, so I don't think I'll bore you! But here she is after the proud moment...