Wrapping It Up....

I have been home now for four days, so ready to wrap my head around the trip and finish the blog posts.  This was the first time I have not been able to access my email from my laptop (click here to learn why I learned why I could only use my gmail ap from the Ipad), so was unable to download my photos to send to Mike. Any posted were sent from a team mates Iphone. Journaling was cut short, because I was doing so on my ipad, which makes it a bit more challenging especially when exhausted.

I'm going to try and fill in the parts of the story that were left off or not in detail.  I will try to to not ramble too much and let the photos speak for themselves...

Since we had an early morning flight, it allowed us to spend an afternoon with the kids that wasn't on the agenda. I was warmly greeted by Min Yer, once again. She is such a girlie-girl. She loves to have her nails painted, carries around a purple wash cloth, and loves to be photographed in front of the flowers. I won't tell you how many flower pics I have of her!

Stephen, ChenChen, Robin and DengDeng out for a walk, something they always ask to do.

Sweet Oliver recently had his bilateral cleft lip repaired, but not yet his palate.

Ed and DengDeng share a talent for art. Here DengDeng was coloring in Ed's dragon.

Getting precious Lily out of her crib.

ChenChen always looking for a ride!

First craft; tissue flowers and butterflies to brighten the place up. Even the nannies participate.

On the square next to our hotel. Our team's redhead was the most popular for photos. We told her she should charge and use it as a fundraiser for next year's trip!

Day Two started off at the fossil park, which was posted about already. When we returned to our hotel, we crashed a beautiful wedding party! Turns out they typically have two parties; one with the bride's family, where she wears the white dress, and one with the groom's family, where she wears red.

The bride's other dress on display.

We wanted photos of the couple, but they insisted we get in the picture!

Ed's buddy, whom we saw on our walks every day. He loved it when we stopped to greet him. He was especially happy later in the week when we left him with a Polaroid photo.

A rare smile from Sarah. She even sang quietly to herself this visit, something I have never heard her do in my years since meeting her in 2008.

Sing spends most of his time jumping on the trampoline or playing in the ball pit.

I love this shot of ChenChen, as he is always staring intently into anything with a reflection, such as eye glasses or a camera lens.

Jian is such a risk taker. He loved it when Raya would scoot him around, the faster, the better!

Feeding time from some of my favorite nannies! Lunch this day was dumplings and congee.

Ying and I picked out some umbrella strollers for the orphanage this afternoon. We hope they continue to be used when we're gone. We used them at the park and for walks on the grounds of the orphanage.

Group photo at the park on Day three, which I already posted about while in China.

Following the morning at the park and being followed by paparazzi (this time official), we did some bubbles and more crafts with the kids.

I also presented the director some blankets Erica's mom made, along with some pillow case dresses students at my school made for MLK Day of Service. I can't wait to show my students these beautiful models....

After our morning trip to the Buddhist museum, we made tutus, which is always a hit with kids and adults alike.

Lunch with Sally, our new Chinese friend with the Canadian accent, in the striped dress.

Since the sidewalks were washed clean by the rain, we redecorated with some sidewalk tattoos. Well, at least three grown men did!

Claire, one of four new children at the orphanage since last year. She has a severe skin disorder that has her skin all flaky. She also has difficulty focusing her eyes. They insisted on us not holding her the first couple of days, as she was covered in cream, but I think they got tired of us asking;)

David, a new young man with cerebral palsy.

PARTY TIME!!!  We celebrated with the upstairs kids by giving them Pop Rocks. Always a fun reaction when they realize what's going on...

Getting lunch ready...

And face painting....

Finally, birthday cake, and watermelon, and lychee nut, and banana, etc...

And our least favorite, saying goodbye...

A rare, priceless smile from Michael. Best shot of the entire trip for me!

Another new boy, Nick, sharing a moment with Lauren

I gained a new respect and bond with Liu this trip.

The new director lights up whenever she sees Wu Ping.

Two sets of beautiful eyes!

Hugh and I kicking it back in the ball pit and taking selfies.

Min Yer's other best friend, Ying.

Love this photo of many of the nannies in their Go.Be.Love shirts that many people in the states generously sponsored.

The team, right before we left.

Group shot

Always tough to say goodbye. The next morning we headed back to Beijing to meet up and swap experiences with the Fushun team. We checked into our hotel and walked and shopped around the Tiananmen Square area.  Saturday we headed to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. The area has really grown since I first went there several years ago.  There is now a new base area with shuttles to what was once the parking lot. This was a great improvement, as there was very little parking. However, on the downside, the local farmer's shops are being removed. Our guide told us that some of them wore shirts stating "Give us back our land." Sadly, I don't think they will be there next year...

The tram I rode up in posted its' claim to fame; Bill Clinton once rode in it.

The entire two groups. You are supposed to see part of The Great Wall behind us, as we are on top of it, but as you can see, it was a bit smoggy that day!

Me thinks they were a bit tired afterwards!

Shopping and an acrobat show both came later. Neither disappointed!  Sunday we left without a hitch, but us Seattle group had a 28+ hour trip on our hands! Once again I am happy to be home with my family, sleeping in my own bed even though sleep is totally messed up these days. As always, I have brought back a little more of China in my heart...

Chao Yang Post #2

Tuesday morning we picked up kids from the orphanage and took them on the bus to take them to the park. The enthusiasm just to board the bus is contagious! And it was nice to put to use the strollers that we had just purchased the day before, in bringing some of the babies. Usually the nannies bring the children on a bus, rather than us picking them up, so this allowed us to bring kids they don't typically allow us to bring. We brought three crib bound kids who thoroughly seemed to enjoy themselves at the park. The bumper cars were a new ride we hadn't done with the kids on precious trips, and the kids that rode them were cracking up.  We topped off the experience with lunch at KFC.  The whole morning felt like living in a fish bowl. Just not sure who gets stared at more here; special needs kids, or foreigners?

The afternoon was spent doing what you ask? Why yes, playing some more with the kids, going on walks and doing some more crafts!  Can't think of anything else we would rather be doing. We blew bubbles and took photo shoots of some children in the pillow case dresses some students at my school made the for them.

Wednesday morning the rain came pouring down just as we headed out the door to tour the local Buddhist history museum.  In all my trips here, I never even knew it existed, and have walked by it multiple times on our walks in the park with a large pagoda (which I found out today is the oldest standing in china). The museum was very fascinating. The director recommended we go, so we appreciated that. We went in the early morning so we still had plenty of time with the kids.

When we walked into the orphanage we were pleasantly surprised to be greeted by a woman we met at the store yesterday when she offered to help us. She spoke English very well in our conversation, and we casually invited her to come. It took her two hours to get there by bus! She did great with the kids, and after spending lunch with us too, agreed to spread the word about the needs of the kids and return for visits.  She made a tutu during craft time which she was taking home for her son. In the afternoon we decorated more walls with artwork. This time it was card stock frames with photos of the children,  which read "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made," and decorated with their thumb prints. The rain cleared off and we were also able to take children outside.

Other than learning that team USA lost today, it was a wonderful day spent with the kids. We even got to hold one of the new babies, Claire, that they had not allowed us to hold yet. She has some type of skin issue that causes most of her skin to be scaly, and has difficulty focusing her eyes. But she is wonderfully made in our eyes!

I am sure I am forgetting some things, but too tired to remember. It is hard to believe that tomorrow will already be time for us to say our goodbyes. I need a good nights rest to gear up for this emotional part of the trip.

Oliver & Company (Wu Ping)

This is Oliver who just learned to crawl today. He is a sweet boy, probably around 8 or 9 months old now. The other boy is Wu Ping, who was just brand new here last summer. He may have Down Syndrome, but he is smart as a whip.  He has the most hilarious crawling style, and loves to be in the lime light.

Choayang Post #1

For the first time we did some of our "official" touring in Chaoyang instead of in Beijing. Yesterday morning we toured the fossil park, which was actually quite impressive. Chaoyang claims to have had the first bird and the first flower, so we are now referring to it as the Garden of Eden!  Actually the fossils and petrified wood were very interesting and the museum was very well done. It was a little toasty when we walked around the outside displays though.  Angela, if you are reading this, we randomly met Patrick, who says he was a good friend of yours here in Chaoyang! It truly is a small world. Before we headed to the orphanage, we crashed a beautiful wedding in our hotel! They were so sweet to us and insisted we get in on some photos with them.

We spent the afternoon with the kids again.  Ed was mobbed by his boys as we walked through the door. I painted Min Yer's nails for the fourth time, and some of he girls painted toenails for some of the crib bound kids.  We have been taking those kids out of the cribs as much as possible. It breaks my heart when they do not want out.

Last night we attended the local church. I feel guilty admitting I struggled to stay awake since I did not understand what was being said, plus it was hot and humid inside. The message was from Ephesians on unity, which is always good for a team to hear. We did enjoy the music and taking communion. Juan, a tutor we hired in the past to work with an orphan, was there, so was good to see her.

We will be heading back to the orphanage in just a bit. We are making tissue paper kites this morning and hanging them around to brighten the place up.  I have been unable to post photos or even download them to my computer, so hopefully I can get some through someone's iPhone today for mike to post.