China Pictures

After about 8 hours of downloading pictures (no joke!), i finally have some pictures from my trip to China that i can share with everyone! There are 3 different albums: Around China, Philip Hayden Foundation and Harmony Outreach. You can click on my picture website on the right side of my blog (click on the pic of Scorpions on a stick and it will take you there) or you can follow this link: http://kirstenspics1.shutterfly.com/



I hope you enjoy them!!

Just for fun... TOP 10 REASONS WHY IT'S GOOD TO BE HOME!

1. I missed my family!!!!!
2. I can drink and brush my teeth with water from the Tap!
3. I won't be woken up at 5am from fireworks that are supposed to scare off evil spirits!
4. I can flush my TP!
5. No more black boogers!
6. I don't have to worry about using the "squatty potty"
7. I don't have to share the bathroom with 6 other women
8. I don't have to wear multiple layers (including my winter jacket) around the house to stay warm
9. I can go shopping with out people shouting at me "Hey Lady" and pushing me to buy thing that i don't want
10. When shopping, i don't have to figure out how much an item is worth in dollars!

Just thought that i'd share some fun things... Don't get me wrong here - I LOVED the trip and I LOVE China... I can't wait to go back:):)

Nov. 14

We had an interesting day today - it didn't turn out exactly how i thought it would have...

We had a great time of wor..p, devotion and reflection - i hope to finish my reflection of the last 2 weeks on the plane tomorrow and i will post that later...

John from H.O. came around 10:30 and visited with the rest of the team and had lunch with us - it was really great for him to be able to share with everyone about his ministry - he doesn't only have Harmony House but he also works witht he Kaifang Deaf School, and several other inland projects - including a new one which will help an orphanage inland China to help them get back on their feet after a recent fire and to help them raise some steady monthly income by sponsoring thier children. So, please check back on their website soon for details on how you can help - He also showed us some precious "minority" dolls that will be given to anyone who sponsors a child around Christmas time - they are sososo cute! I really want one!!

After our visit - we went to the old Harmony House to find out that Lily had just recieved a call from the development land owner and he wasn't going to let H.H. relocate - we were very dissappointed - we had really hoped to be able to help them move and get set up. We said tons of P------s and were left with not much to do:( We went to the new location and finished cleaning it up - mopping etc... We also ventured to the location where the little girl "Faith" lives - she has bones of glass - we took her to McDonalds and she was thrilled to get a Happy Meal and ice cream! When we took her back we gave her a bag of suckers to hand out to the other kiddos. She lives in the same area/development as the new location of Harmony House called "The agape ??? house" (i forgot the name:() We also bought some delicious bread from the "Bread of Life" store with makes bread to support the Agape house -it was delicious!!!

We then went back to the old house to pick up Judy who had been ministering to the nannies all afternoon and to say good bye to the kids:( they were thrilled to have the suckers that i brought - it was amazing to watch Adam eat his sucker with his feet - he is amazing! I was so sad saying goodbye - those kids are so darn precious!! They are like 1 big happy family:) It was so sweet to see how much those nannies truly love those kids...

We headed back to PHF and visited with John a bit more until Mr. Zhou was available to meet - While the team went to dinner, Bonnie, Jeff, Judy and John went to meet Mr. Zhou - i just got a report that He gave his okay for Harmony House to move tomorrow - Praise the L. He is so faithful!! Then Mrs. Zhou opened her B. book and they started talking about hte word. What an amazing thing to happen - Mr. Zhou has had a reputation of not being too open and accommodating and kind of a harsh man so to hear how things went tonight it was so extremely awesome!!

We are leaving PHF around 12 tomorrow - our flight leaves here Sat. at 4pm and we get to Seattle around 11:30 am on Sat - very cool!! We gain a day!! We are supposed to arrive in Pasco around 7:25 but we are hoping to get on an earlier flight!!

Thanks again to everyone for thier Love and Prys...

Bless you All!

Christopher - a precious 4 yr old that is ready and waiting to be adopted!! If you are at all thinking about adopting a 4yr old boy - he is the one for you!

Harmony House kids...

Faith" - Girl with Bones of Glass...

New Harmony House locations

Bonnie with a mask on to tackle some mold:(

Damon and Whitney raking...

mopping...

Nov. 14

We had an interesting day today - it didn't turn out exactly how i thought it would have...

We had a great time of wor..p, devotion and reflection - i hope to finish my reflection of the last 2 weeks on the plane tomorrow and i will post that later...

John from H.O. came around 10:30 and visited with the rest of the team and had lunch with us - it was really great for him to be able to share with everyone about his ministry - he doesn't only have Harmony House but he also works witht he Kaifang Deaf School, and several other inland projects - including a new one which will help an orphanage inland China to help them get back on their feet after a recent fire and to help them raise some steady monthly income by sponsoring thier children. So, please check back on their website soon for details on how you can help - He also showed us some precious "minority" dolls that will be given to anyone who sponsors a child around Christmas time - they are sososo cute! I really want one!!

After our visit - we went to the old Harmony House to find out that Lily had just recieved a call from the development land owner and he wasn't going to let H.H. relocate - we were very dissappointed - we had really hoped to be able to help them move and get set up. We said tons of P------s and were left with not much to do:( We went to the new location and finished cleaning it up - mopping etc... We also ventured to the location where the little girl "Faith" lives - she has bones of glass - we took her to McDonalds and she was thrilled to get a Happy Meal and ice cream! When we took her back we gave her a bag of suckers to hand out to the other kiddos. She lives in the same area/development as the new location of Harmony House called "The agape ??? house" (i forgot the name:() We also bought some delicious bread from the "Bread of Life" store with makes bread to support the Agape house -it was delicious!!!

We then went back to the old house to pick up Judy who had been ministering to the nannies all afternoon and to say good bye to the kids:( they were thrilled to have the suckers that i brought - it was amazing to watch Adam eat his sucker with his feet - he is amazing! I was so sad saying goodbye - those kids are so darn precious!! They are like 1 big happy family:) It was so sweet to see how much those nannies truly love those kids...

We headed back to PHF and visited with John a bit more until Mr. Zhou was available to meet - While the team went to dinner, Bonnie, Jeff, Judy and John went to meet Mr. Zhou - i just got a report that He gave his okay for Harmony House to move tomorrow - Praise the L. He is so faithful!! Then Mrs. Zhou opened her B. book and they started talking about hte word. What an amazing thing to happen - Mr. Zhou has had a reputation of not being too open and accommodating and kind of a harsh man so to hear how things went tonight it was so extremely awesome!!

We are leaving PHF around 12 tomorrow - our flight leaves here Sat. at 4pm and we get to Seattle around 11:30 am on Sat - very cool!! We gain a day!! We are supposed to arrive in Pasco around 7:25 but we are hoping to get on an earlier flight!!

Thanks again to everyone for thier Love and Prys...

Bless you All!

ps - Pics might be coming soon:)

Nov. 13

Today was a very looooonnnng day! We left PHF at 7:30 am to pick up the rest of the team in Beijing - it was fantastic seeing the rest of our team... we missed each other:) We met at Starbucks - yummy! Our day was full of sightseeing: Hutong Tour (rickshaw rides around the Hutong area); Drum Tower (we happened to be at the top when it was time to beat the drums - very cool!); Forbidden City and Tianenmen Square (i still don't know how to spell it -LOL) The funnest part was sitting for an hour waiting for the team to get through the Forbidden City (those of us that had been there before cruised through it pretty quick) i guess we were quite the attraction - many people stopped to have thier pics taken with us :) LOL After dinner, we went to the Lau She Tea House - it was a good show - there was some face changing opera and kung fu demo... While we were there Lily from Harmony OUtreach called to make sure that we could help tomorrow - they apparently finished hanging the window treatments that we were attempting to install and cleaned it all out - so, they are ready to move the babies over tomorrow - We are so excited and praise the L. that we are here to help them - this week has been so cool to see how it was perfect for us to be here for them!!!

We are all ready to come home and are all looking forward to seeing our families - thanks to everyone who has P'd. for us and has helped out our family members back home - you have no idea what a blessing you are to us!!

Me and Brooke getting ready for our awesome Hutong Tour

Drum Tower

Tea House at the Forbidden City - they gave a great demonstration on tea and the types - very cool!

Us girls hanging out front of the Forbidden City and Tianenmen Square waiting for the team - this is what many of our "fans' took pics of us - it was quite funny!

The Lau She Tea House

Nov. 12

We began our day with the addition of 2 team members -Judy and Tamara came back to PhF because they missed the kids. But after today we know that the L. had some special plans for them!

We were picked up by Lily at 9am and dropped off Tamara and Judy with some toys that i bought at IKEA yesterday at Harmony House to play and be "santa"... The others (including me) went to the new location to clean and attempt to hang some blinds and curtains and Damon and TAmara had to run to some stores to get a few things in order to install some fixtures etc... We all met back up for lunch at Harmony House - as soon as i walked in the door - Judy and tamara shared that they were just floored about how loving the nannies are and the children are jsut awesome kids!! And that the H.S is definately there! Judy even began to cry at how much she was moved there! WOW!!! We all sat down for a wonderful lunch the nannies had prepared and we insisted that they join us - they did. We P. for them and Judy continued to talk with them - well, about 15 minutes later 4 nannies decided to ask JC in thier heart! We all said the p. together with them - i got it on video:) - and yes - you can p. with your eyes open!!! it was a beautiful sight and we were all in tears!!! including the nannies! Soon after that we all needed to get back to work! So, the team MADE me stay at H.H. to play and help the nannies - darnit!! ::)LOL I had a fabulous time - i just LOVE all those kids so much - they all have such kind hearts and it truly feels like a family there. Half of the team went to finish clean and the others went to Walmart to buy some supplies for H.H. - it was so amazing watching them carry huge arm loads of diapers, formula, wipes, bibs and a few free keyboards - very cool - the even cooler thing is this: Before Steve left for Beijing, he gave Damon the $$ for Wini to go and buy a sewing machine for Pam Baker to bless her - which was a wonderful gift - Wini only used a small portion of it - soooo... we had in our head to spend about 3000 yuan at walmart for the supplies and that is exactly what the supplies equaled - isn't that amazing - it was definately G. plan for us to use the extra to bless H.H.! With the other half of the team gone - we werent' sure if it would be okay to dip into our "reserves" but we didn't have to!!!! so aweesome!!! The nannies were so extremely happy! Thank you G.

OUr evening ended with going to McD's (yeah!!) at the university district and now we are off to bed to get up for our day in Beijing tomorrw! We have a busy day planned - 7:30 am to see Tiannenmen square, Forbidden city, hutong tour and a show - we aren't supposed to get home until 11pm!! so you won't hear from me for awhile!

Thanks for your love and P's!!

Nov. 11

We had a great day! Melanie stayed here at PHF to help Dr. Moody with a few things and helped Leah with taking some pics. Melanie (Bonnie's daughter) is a great photographer... Wini (from Spokane) went shopping with Pam Baker to bless her with a new sewing machine... The rest of us went to Harmony House. I was expecting to help clean the new location but Lily pulled up to the old location and asked who wanted to stay and help the nannies - everyone nominated me!! I was thrilled!!! I felt kinda guilty having so much fun and know the others were slaving away! So, when I arrived at the Harmony House a few kids were kind of standoffish but they quickly warmed up - and the nannieswere soooo sooo welcoming and were eager for me to help - I loved it! We played in the family room for awhile and Savannah kept her eye on me but kind of kept some distance. We went outside for a little while - I took tons of pics and some video. I'm not sure when I can post them - maybe later... Savannah really opened up to me while we were outside - it was precious. She had her hood on and it kept falling off so i would keep putting it back on her - I noticed that she was purposely taking it off and then coming to me to have me put it back on - it was fun - on the way back into the house Savannah took my hand - just precious!! Then I got to help the nannies feed the kiddos - Savannah could feed herself but she wanted me to feed her - too cute!!! I was then able to help the nannies change diapers and put the kids to bed - the little sleeping bags were very cool but too hard to try to explain... We had a delicious lunch and then Lily took Brooke and I to IKEA in Beijing to get some blinds and some light fixtures for the new location. We came back to meet the others - they had been cleaning the new location and it is looking great! H.H. is hoping to move in after the government turns on the heat on Nov. 15 - right now it is very cold!! We picked up our team and then met the Baker's for dinner - it was great fun~!! The Baker's are really great people! Tim is leaving in the morning to go to CA to speak at a church... So, that's our day.... we just found out that 3 people are returning to PHF tomorrow beause they miss the kids - not surprised... they are precious!! I definitely am falling in love with Savannah, but I am pretty sure that she is already matched - I am asking for prayers for her file to be found and for us to lock it in... or for G. direction on where our daughter is... It's kinda crazy though - there are sooo many more kids here at PHF but none of them has caught my heart... not sure why... Well, I am off to bed soon and will try to send some pics - tomorrow we are planning on finishing up at the H.H.

Love and hugs to all!