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| Crazy drivers! |
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| You think he looks sick now; you should've seen him after the ride! |
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| Great day for ice cream. |
Monday, July 4, 2011
Land of the Free...
We made it home safe and sound! We left the Beijing hotel at 3:30 am, so as you can see from the photos of Courtney and Kendra sleeping at the airport, we were pretty exhausted, despite the much awaited Starbucks.
We landed in Seattle at 5:30 am, 2.5 hours before we left Beijing! After forcing myself to stay up all day, I crashed at 8:30 pm and enjoyed the most solid 12 hour sleep I think I've ever had. Today turned out to be an absolutely beautiful day here, and enjoyed celebrating the 4th of July with my family at the parade and carnival. For dinner we had red-white-and-blue pancakes, something I've been craving for a couple weeks now. Hopefully I can stay awake a couple more hours to enjoy the fireworks tonight (not like I haven't been hearing them every day in China, but they are nothing like the beautiful night sky here).
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Morning star in Beijing
Made it to Beijing safely. Four of us were met by Lynsay and went to Morning Star Foster home to play with babies while the rest of the team shopped til they dropped.
We leave at 3:30 am!
Yep, it's going to be a long, long day. Starbuck's, please save me!
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| Britta working with Corrie, Bill and Lynsay's first baby |
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| This not so little guy is adorable and didn't let two casts slow him down |
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| love the cheeks |
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| more cuteness |
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| Daniel checking out Emily |
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| worked hard to see his adorable dimple |
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| Luke just "hanging around." Last year at this time he had just returned from surgery in Israel |
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| Hope always had such a serious look on her face |
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| Joy, the girl we help sponsor, after her nap |
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| Joy, her nanny, and I. This is the closest she would let me get to her! |
We leave at 3:30 am!
Yep, it's going to be a long, long day. Starbuck's, please save me!
Friday, July 1, 2011
Friday already???
Wow, it's hard to believe this was our seventh and final day at the orphanage. Today the kids and the team all seemed a bit tired, but not too tired to party! The morning began with getting all the kids into new clothing and shoes, which is no easy task, but they all looked great, and everyone had something that fit:)
After our typical walks and playing in the morning, we made dumplings alongside the nannies and some children to help prepare our lunch. It was a lot of fun, and tasted wonderfully too.
Following lunch the school kids came by for the party. They have all grown so much, but definitely remembered us this time. We did a few crafts and played around before the party began. Chen Yer decorated a visor with stickers and some Chinese writing, then sweetly brought it over for me to wear. Our guide Steve told me it meant "happy" or "peaceful life." There were three beautiful cakes for the party, as well as mangoes, bananas, and apples. You wouldn't believe how much the kids can put down! The director had one girl recite a poem, another sang a song, and three nannies danced for us.
Then came the difficult time of saying goodbye, which is always so tough to do. A couple of the older children understand what is going on, which is rough. But leaving them with memories and hope is a wonderful gift for us both. There are some wonderful things planned for when we are gone, and I hope to be able to post updates on those things at a later date.
Tomorrow we fly back to Beijing, but leave Angela here. She and Sa return to the orphanage in the morning to begin training the nursing students, so there is no rest for them! Speaking of rest, my eyes are slamming shut as I am typing this, and I have a flight to catch in the morning, so I am signing off. Hopefully you can see photos soon.
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| Wu Jia Wei being tutored by Juan |
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| They giggled when I handed them photos of us from last year. Now I will have to take this one for next trip:) |
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| "sweet" Jing modeling some new clothing |
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| Jared and I had a fun conversation with Feng Hua. She was laughing and correcting him at his attempts to speak Chinese.Her memory for spelling english is awesome. We taught her the meaning of "awesome" and she could spell it hours later. |
After our typical walks and playing in the morning, we made dumplings alongside the nannies and some children to help prepare our lunch. It was a lot of fun, and tasted wonderfully too.
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| dumpling "rookies" |
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| Jared was so proud of his dumpling baby |
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| Some of the kids helping |
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| The nannies were impressed by Anna's skills |
Following lunch the school kids came by for the party. They have all grown so much, but definitely remembered us this time. We did a few crafts and played around before the party began. Chen Yer decorated a visor with stickers and some Chinese writing, then sweetly brought it over for me to wear. Our guide Steve told me it meant "happy" or "peaceful life." There were three beautiful cakes for the party, as well as mangoes, bananas, and apples. You wouldn't believe how much the kids can put down! The director had one girl recite a poem, another sang a song, and three nannies danced for us.
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| Chen Yer made this visor for me |
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| So much fun to share! |
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| "Happy Birthday sweet children..." |
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| Me and my lunch buddy. The food was awesome! |
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| I have always loved this precious boy. Always so serious but gentle and concerned for the little ones |
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| I can't remember this girls name, but she made a visor for Pam |
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| Some of the sweet older boys decorating their visors |
Then came the difficult time of saying goodbye, which is always so tough to do. A couple of the older children understand what is going on, which is rough. But leaving them with memories and hope is a wonderful gift for us both. There are some wonderful things planned for when we are gone, and I hope to be able to post updates on those things at a later date.
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| Hoping he has a family by this time next year |
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| Saying goodbye never is easy |
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| Until next year... |
Tomorrow we fly back to Beijing, but leave Angela here. She and Sa return to the orphanage in the morning to begin training the nursing students, so there is no rest for them! Speaking of rest, my eyes are slamming shut as I am typing this, and I have a flight to catch in the morning, so I am signing off. Hopefully you can see photos soon.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
It's Official!
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| Mark talking before the local gov't representatives and TV cameras, with Sa translating |
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| Sa telling Mark which dotted line to sign on |
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| Britta working her magic |
The afternoon crowd was sparse, as some went shopping for supplies and other necessary stops. The butterfly wings and accessories I bought for 10 yuan (about $1.50) were a big hit with the kids. Fortunately they only caused one major tantrum! The nannies served us watermelon again, which I thought they would never do again after yesterday's huge mess, but I guess that may be commonplace for them.
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| Best 10 yuan I've ever spent! |
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| This costume crossed age groups and genders! |
I gave the head nanny the quilts that the ladies from the Methodist Church in Coupeville made for the children.
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| MeiMei smiling on the new quilt the Methodist church ladies made for him |
Tonight we prepared all of the nanny gift bags that we will bring for our last day tomorrow. I am looking forward to the school children coming to visit, as well as preparing the dumplings with the nannies. It will be a packed full emotional day, so please remember us as you go about your day.
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| Skin to skin time with "The Thinker," who really prefers her crib to being out, but she handled it gracefully |
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Incredible Day....
Each day's experiences seem to be outdoing the previous days experience. I need to come up with more and more adjectives to describe each day!
This morning we took the children to the "park." Mind you, this is an amusement park we have been to before, and not one a person easily forgets. The rides are completely outdated, in fact, probably not even legal in the states. Regardless, the children have a blast (well, except those who don't enjoy spinning), and we feel like the Pied Piper with the crowd that follows us around. The media joined us today also, so I'm guessing we should be in a newspaper soon.
We followed up our adventure with a trip to KFC, something I don't even normally do in the states, but if it makes the kids happy, then I'll even eat there!
A few members of the team spent the morning at the orphanage working with the physical therapy equipment and preparing to train the nannies. Following lunch, we joined them and spent the afternoon checking in on the kids who were unable to go with us in the morning and enjoying more play time. In the afternoon, Mark and a couple others had a meeting with some local government officials, trying to get the go ahead on organizing local volunteers for the orphanage. So far they seem receptive to the concept, and tomorrow the plan is to have some local nursing students come to get some training in working with the kids. This is a long-term plan that could have major impact, so be remembering us as you go about your day.
This evening we returned to church for what we thought would be an evening Bible study, but this was not so. We were greeted by the pastor and a few other members with some snacks and drinks, but then we were quickly whisked away to what they told us was to meet some elderly people. I assumed they meant an older Bible study downstairs, but they took us outside, around the back, and up a flight of stairs to what was a live-in nursing home. Their church cares for 56 elderly people on mostly a volunteer basis and donations. Incredible for such a poor community! The best part is that they brought many of the residents into a tiny room to meet us. They were so thrilled to meet us and wanting to be in photos with us. I think we were probably the first western foreigners that most of them had seen. Unfortunately most of us had left our cameras in the original room we began in, because we had no idea we were going to be meeting these people. This one lady sat by me for a long time just holding my hand and grinning ear to ear. I had an english speaker near by tell her that she reminded me of the love of my grandma! It really was a heart warming experience. Hopefully I can get photos later from a couple of the team members who had their iPhones on them.
On our way back to the front of the building we stopped and danced with some of the older church members who were doing some type of choreographed dances. When the group reassembled in the original room, Mark told the director of our desire to involve more of the church with the orphans, and after the interpreter finished speaking the pastor responded with "Okay, yea." to which we all laughed and clapped. We spent another half hour speaking with others in the room. I conversed with Mary, a gal who runs an english school. Among many topics we spoke on, she was shocked by my response that "No, you don't have to be a Christian to be President of the United States."
Well once again I am exhausted. If there are no photos yet, check back later when Mike has an opportunity to post them. Thanks for thinking about us....two more days with the kids!
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| Group photo at the entrance of Choayang Park |
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| Several of the kids were wearing Easter bonnet type hats to protect them from the sun, no matter the sex. DengDeng didn't seem to mind! |
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| I banged my knee trying to squeeze into this ride! |
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| Sa is wonderful with the kids. This little guy held on to that potato chip for at least 1/2 an hour. |
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| Tracie, Wu Jei Wei and Jing shooting targets as they gently moved around the targets. |
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| more water play |
We followed up our adventure with a trip to KFC, something I don't even normally do in the states, but if it makes the kids happy, then I'll even eat there!
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| next stop, KFC |
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| Lovin' those fries! |
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| She wasn't so crazy about the spicy chicken nuggets |
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| first one asleep on the bus ride back |
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| Then another... |
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| Then another... |
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| and yet another |
A few members of the team spent the morning at the orphanage working with the physical therapy equipment and preparing to train the nannies. Following lunch, we joined them and spent the afternoon checking in on the kids who were unable to go with us in the morning and enjoying more play time. In the afternoon, Mark and a couple others had a meeting with some local government officials, trying to get the go ahead on organizing local volunteers for the orphanage. So far they seem receptive to the concept, and tomorrow the plan is to have some local nursing students come to get some training in working with the kids. This is a long-term plan that could have major impact, so be remembering us as you go about your day.
This evening we returned to church for what we thought would be an evening Bible study, but this was not so. We were greeted by the pastor and a few other members with some snacks and drinks, but then we were quickly whisked away to what they told us was to meet some elderly people. I assumed they meant an older Bible study downstairs, but they took us outside, around the back, and up a flight of stairs to what was a live-in nursing home. Their church cares for 56 elderly people on mostly a volunteer basis and donations. Incredible for such a poor community! The best part is that they brought many of the residents into a tiny room to meet us. They were so thrilled to meet us and wanting to be in photos with us. I think we were probably the first western foreigners that most of them had seen. Unfortunately most of us had left our cameras in the original room we began in, because we had no idea we were going to be meeting these people. This one lady sat by me for a long time just holding my hand and grinning ear to ear. I had an english speaker near by tell her that she reminded me of the love of my grandma! It really was a heart warming experience. Hopefully I can get photos later from a couple of the team members who had their iPhones on them.
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| Friends forever! |
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| We've been buddies since 2007, but never has she been this snuggly to me |
On our way back to the front of the building we stopped and danced with some of the older church members who were doing some type of choreographed dances. When the group reassembled in the original room, Mark told the director of our desire to involve more of the church with the orphans, and after the interpreter finished speaking the pastor responded with "Okay, yea." to which we all laughed and clapped. We spent another half hour speaking with others in the room. I conversed with Mary, a gal who runs an english school. Among many topics we spoke on, she was shocked by my response that "No, you don't have to be a Christian to be President of the United States."
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| You should've seen the floor after all the kids and us enjoyed the watermelon! |
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| She squealed with delight when I placed these on her. I'm going to try and buy her some of her own later today. |
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| My new friend Mary. She asked some deep questions that were difficult to answer without a translator. |
Well once again I am exhausted. If there are no photos yet, check back later when Mike has an opportunity to post them. Thanks for thinking about us....two more days with the kids!
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