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!

Nov. 11 Pictures

This is Savannah and Christopher. Christopher is a very precious little 6 year old boy who just had surgery on his club foot - he really is very precious - loves art, writing and is very smart!!! He is paperwork ready and has NOT been matched!!! If anyone is praying about adopting a 6 year old boy - He might be the one for you!!! We all have really enjoyed playing with him at the H.H. let me know if you want more info...

Savannah and Oliver (or William - I get them confused) running to see Phoebe - it is really wonderful to see how much the kids absolutely love each other and the nannies too~

A precious Harmony house girl - I can't remember her name (I think she has Cerebral palsy)

Kids outside playing with flowers

Savannah

Nov. 10 Pictures

Mr. Zhou family, John & Wayne

Savannah looking out the window

Savannah

Jessica

Nov. 10

It was great leisurely morning... many slept in which was much needed! There is another man staying here with us for the next few days - he is adopting a child that used to be here at PHF but was in a foster home. He is here by himself - his wife had to stay at home with their other children. I am so glad that we are here for him and were able to pray with him before he left - we got home late tonight so I am not sure how the union went...

John Bentley arrived around lunch time and we visited with him for a few hours before we went to Harmony House. He shared MANY things with us including his recent help with an orphanage in Inland China - he is "adopting" it to provide support for the orphanage which is ran by a man who has taken in 36 children - it has recently had a fire. His vision is to help it get back on its feet - and to get it functionable (cribs, and supplies) then to try to get sponsors for the children so it can has some sort of constant support. He also shared with us that they are moving the Harmony House into another location - the gov't is making him move:( So, our task here in the next few days is to clean up the new home and try to fix it up to get ready for the children. I am really excited about this but we are pr.ng about how we are going to provide the $ for this... with half of our team in Beijing, we are sure if they are in agreement - so please help us pr. to figure this out by the morning. After lunch, we visited the "new" location and the current location. I just LOVED seeing the children - they are soo sooo precious - i REALLY fell in love with them. Jessica was the first child i saw sitting in the high chair - (it was fun to be able to immediately recognize them by their picture) they are doing further testing but they are thinking that she may have leukemia - she is adorable!! The other little girl that i am really praying about is Savannah - she is almost 2 and has a repaired cleft lip - although it looks like she may still need some additional surgery - she is SOSO cute - i held her most of the time - she just tried to figure me out - she smelled soo good - like Johnson's baby shampoo - her cheeks were soo kissable and i did not want to put her down - I've asked Lily about her and she is telling me not to get my hopes up because she does not want what happend with Kay to happen with Savannah - but i will pray about it and if the L. closes doors then i will know:) Phoebe is also very precious! I could snatch her up in my suitase too - I played with her for awhile too:) We'll see where the L. leads us... We then went to Walmart and purchased some cleaning supplies for our job tomorrow. After that we went out to dinner with John, Wayne (a Board of Director who just recently moved out here), and the owner of the land where the new location of the Harmony House will be - we were building "Guanxi" (aka good relations) with them. We ate at a Szechuan-type restaurant and I think that I probably ate several foods that I have NO idea what they were! I think I ate chicken joints again - ugh:( I didn't know it until I took abite:( There was sooo much food and we had to be on our best behavior and have really good etiquette and "try" to use chopsticks (for some reason - this is extremely hard for me!!) The dinner seemed to go really well and I'm glad that we were able to help the Harmony House with this relationship building.

Tomorrow we have alot of work to do: some are staying at PHF to finish up some stuff here; some are going to clean Harmony house; and some may be going shopping to purchase some blinds, light fixtures, and bathroom fixtures...

Thanks for your P's!!!

Nov. 9

We had an amazing weekend - I already told you about Sat.... So, here goes Sun.:) We woke up at the crack of dawn to leave PHF by 6am! We drove several hrs. to the Great Wall at Mutiyanu (sp?) The sights were fun to see:) We actually saw a wedding processional - about 5 black cars with red flowers all over them (it must have been a good day to marry b/c we saw 3 different processionals). Judy expained to us that the groom and his family/wedding party drive to the bride's home to pick her up and take her to the ceremony - very fun to learn and see about this Chinese Wedding tradition. We finally made it to the Wall and took a ski lift to the top - very fun but not if you're afraid of heights - i tried not to think about it and look down:) We took some group pics and then went walking - it was the "greatest work out" ever! Holy cow!!! And such amazing sights!! We had a few girls also want to take their pics with us - kinda fun being "celebrities" LOL The best part was the "bob sled" type of ride down - we flew! it was great until we ran into a VERY slow old man:( oh well:)

Then we had a 3hr. drive to the "Dirt Market" - I hadn't been here before... it is kind of like and organized garage sale of Chinese stuff! I think we got some good deals on stuff and I am thinking that I am done shopping! We have mastered the bartering for the best price!! Thanks to Steve's advice we us the "F.E.L.T" method - F=flirt with the person - E=examine the item - L=low ball - T=take a walk. It works every time! It is especially fun when you take a walk and they keep following you and then give you the price you want:) Although, it's fun -it can be exhausting and I'm glad that I am done shopping! I did get some cute pics of some little boys in split pants - so precious:):)

After our experience at the Dirt Market - we rode the Subway to the Nite Market! It was quite the experience - i never thought that i would ride a subway all over Beijing!! We got the the Nite Market safely and the first thing that we did was eat at McDonalds - it was WONDERFUL! Just like at home:) Never thought that I'd be excited to eat there! But it did give us a little bit of home:) The area that we went to is the Wangfujing area - we actually stayed very close by there the last time we were in Beijing -but 3 yrs. ago we never ventured out - and i think i am glad - i would have been nervous with the boys... This area had some neat/nice stores and also the "fun" area - where they had scorpions and starfish on a stick - as well as other meat "item" on a stick... A few team members were adventurous (Damon & Whitney) and tried the scorpions!! NO THANKS! They said that it tasted like crunchy cajun spice... We spent a few hours in this area and topped off the evening with an ice cream cone from McD's! - wonderfully yummy!!

Then it was back on the subway to drop off 8 members of our team (Steve, Andrew, Jessica, Judy, Whitney, Jeff, Joel & Tamara) with Evzn and Christy - E. and C are "student's" here from Steve's Valley forth mem Ch. - so they are going to be doing some E. in the University district - On the subway earlier in the evening - we actually met about 3 people that was just coming home from thier Home ch. - so we gave them a "book" and took their # - I think the team is hoping to meet up with them!

Then it was a 1 1/2 hr. drive home - and wouldn't you know it the bus ran out of gas 1 mile from PHF and it was 11pm!! Luckily we were able to call for help and quickly make it home:)

We are meeting John from Harmony today - please P. that the L. uses us and that we have our eyes and hearts open to what we are supposed todo for him - we havent gotten clear direction on our purpose for this week:)

Love and hugs to all - maybe pics later!!

Nov. 8 Pictures

Lives scorpions on a stick!!! crazy!! their little tales were moving - it was crazy!

The dirt market in Beijing

The Great Wall bobsled ride down to the bottom of the hill

Shelby (PHF coordinator) and Dawn (Teacher at PHF) - very fun and great gals!!! It has been a pleasure getting to know them!

The Calvary Chapel team! It has been a BLAST getting to know each other so much better! We are going to miss each other when it comes time to go home. Luckily, most of us can see each other a couple times a week!

The Great Wall - The entire team from the Northwest.

A very flexible lady!!

Acrobat show - these girls rode unicylces and caught these bowls on their heads - There was several other types of acrobats too...

Man selling meat on a stick - including squid which several people ate - NOT ME!!!

I'm at the center of the Universe!!

Brooke and I at the Temple of Heaven

Ribbon dancing at the temple of Heaven.

We had a great time - i will post more about the experience later!!!

We are off to The great wall - Dirt Market - and TEa House show!!

Nov. 7 Pictures

the massage place

At the garden restaurant

The ladies at the workshop -you can see the banners...

Melanie and Bonnie painting the shed

Melanie and JEff (aka Big Panda - the kids named him that:)) in their painting attire

The girl's "messy" bunk room

Nov. 7 - continued...

Well, i didn't think that i'd get a chance to write today but since i've been up since 5:30 - i have some time! There are 7 girls in our bunk room and 1 is sick - please P. for her... She was up coughing and so i decided to get up and tell you about our experiences last night.

Let's see... i think i left off around lunch time before VBS - after lunch and VBS stuff was set up, i walked around the campus taking pics - i don't think i'll have time to send them today?? I also visited the workshop - i can't remember if i've already posted about this??? oh well. There is a workshop in one of the back buildings that about 4 ladies work in everyday making banners. PHF has to have this workshop in order to be licensed as a business in this area. When Tim purchased these 5 acres for 1 yuan from a business man 10 years ago, this was a requirement in order to settle here - to be registered as a business. Anyway, the ladies were so delightful - they loved looking at the pics of my family:) of course, who wouldn't - they are beautiful:):):) Well, i need to buy a banner but just not sure which one...

- I am so thankful that we used the curriculum that we did - it went much deeper than any past groups that have been here - i am hoping that it will truly make a difference in their (kids and nannies) lives. The message yesterday was to be "followers of C." Everyone did such an awesome job at their task during VBS and we all truly enjoyed the children. Just to see their faces light up, to see them sing the songs, to see them enjoy the crafts, sensory stuff, games and snacks, to see them P. and to for us to spread G. love on them was a priviledge! We are hoping that we will be able to play with them next week too while we are here.

After VBS about 5 of us cleaned that mess up and the others had to carry several loads up 3 flights of stairs to carry stuff back up into the attack - ugh.. i'm so glad that i had other priorities:):) Then, we loaded a bus to go to dinner at the "Garden Restaurant" - When you walk in there are pictures of about 50 different dishes that you can order (they also had live fish, shark etc.. in tanks that i'm sure they used for thier dishes) Then we sat down in a "booth" area that was designated by plants - there were plants EVERYWHERE!! it was quite beautiful! i have a few pics that i hope to send... Damon, Brooke, Tamara and I sat together - Damon ordered pig tails -which they brought out first - NO THANK YOU!! He ate it and others tried it :( We also had a scallop cake, mushroom soup, dumplings, a spicy chicken plate and of course rice! We ended up with 7 huge dishes for 184 yuan - not bad:)

Then we were off to the massage place - i'm thinking that it is one where we are all in a room together and they just rub our back really hard or something - OH NO!! it was quite an interesting experience!!! They shuffled us upstairs - and wanted 3 in each room - Brooke and i luckily snagged Melanie (who speaks chinese) They first had us soak our feet in EXTREMELY HOT medicine water and then they rubbed our feet - it felt like they were rubbing the skin off! They (we each had a lady massager) came back with boxer shorts that they wanted us to take our jeans off and put on. We all look at each other and start to wonder what we got our selves into! They came back and had us lay down on our backs onto this huge foam bed. And lets just say that they rubbed, poked, slapped, cracked EVERY part of my body! It was actually quite hilarious! I found out that i am very ticklish in my groan area - yea - i'm sure what you are imagining is what happened!! :):)LOLOLOL! Brooke and i had the giggles so bad that we were crying and i still laugh thinking about it! They also pulled limbs in directions i didn't know that they could go! And at one point they had us flying in the air - i can't explain it - i'll have to show you! It ended with an awesome neck and head massage - i think that i fell asleep! It cost about 130 yuan each (so divided that by about $6.50 and that is the american price!) And that was our night!! Quite the experience!!! NOt sure if i'll do it again but it was something that was fun to experience!!

We then came home and off to beddy bie! and here i am now:):)

Today we are off to Beijing in about 1 hr (7:30 am) and will be home late - not sure if and when i'll be able to post...

Love and hugs to all!
Thanks for your P's.!!!

Nov.6 Pictures

Dinner for the nannies

Shaving cream fun!

Precious little boy that needed to go potty and started to cry

Kids are coming

Kids are coming

Nov. 7

quick post... This morning I was so excited to talk and see my family on Skype - then I went to the first house to play with the kids-whenever I walk the boys tackle me. Soon I get to settle down and then I can play with the girls. They still need more time to warm up to me- hopefully next week! I was able to help the nannies feed them lunch and of course the girls didn't want anything to do with me:( We danced and I tried to talk with the nannies - LOL:) I was glad that I had my iPod Touch with to show pics of my family - they loved that! Then they whisked them off to bed!

Then I ventured to the workshop where 4 ladies were busy making banners - they are really beautiful - I am planning on getting one, but I'm not sure which one yet... I was able to share about my family there, too. They really seem to connect with me after they see Hayleigh.

Quick praise report! Thank you for your pr-yers. The gov't has shown favor on Phillip Hayden Foundation (or PHF - which is the facility we are at) and has extended their deadline for the money until March 15. Isn't that awesome!!!!!

This afternoon we are doing our last day of VBS and going out to dinner and to get massages! Sat and Sun we are seeing Beijing...

Gotta run. Love to you all!

Nov. 6

No luck sleeping in this morning! Darn it!! I woke up again at around 5am - i was able to shrink some pics to send but i have since found out that they might be too small for the blog - so sorry:( I wil try it again tonight.

Our morning gathering time was really good - they all are really good and seem to be just what we need to hear! Today we talked about being obedient and taking a step to do G. will (not what we think that we "should do" or what everyone else thinks that we should do but to listen closely and to do G. will - which was also the same message that i read in my own personal b---le reading time this morning) - And we talked about what will we do with this experience once we get back home...hmmmm....

For our morning "work" time, i helped with painting the bike shed (i will take pics of it tomorrow - it should be done by then!) We started to paint it on Mon. but after a days work we found out that we used the wrong color! So, we have been having to repaint it -oh well. It has been some great team bonding:) It was kinda cool because at about 11am here - i instantly thought about CalvaryCTC and then i figured out that it was actually inservice at that time. Lance later emailed me that they had talked about the group here at CCTC and talked to the BIG DADDY about it too - i am thinking that it was at about the same time - very cool:):)

After lunch, we quickly got ready for VBS stuff - we talked about how J. grew up and how G. made us and loves us -so we did lots of heart stuff. I have some pics that i will try to send of the kids walking towards the Inn for VBS - it is so awesome! They just love it and always have huge smiles on their faces! We usually cheer for them as they are walking in - and they just light up!! I wish that you all could experience it... maybe someday:) We gathered to sing - which they LOVE! There was one song that Andrew (song leader) accidentally did the wrong verse and the kids caught it - it was hilarious! We ALL laughed and had a great time continueing singing. At one point - i noticed this precious little boy - and i'm not kidding he is PRECIOUS - if Hayleigh didn't need a sister, i'd put him in my suitcase:):) He had tears in his eyes - so, i swooped him up and he instantly started to burst out crying - his nanny figured out that he needed to go potty (now - this little boy is MAYBE 1yr.old) Their potty training practices are kinda crazy here! So, his nanny took him potty -which then set off another child and then another child - it was quite the chain reaction!! They settled down quickly though once they returned... They were then off to their first centers - they have really gotten the hang of the routine and are doing very well. About half of them really like the sensory table - today we had shaving cream in it - the nannies kinda got a kick out of it but as soon as a child got some on their clothes they instantly cleaned it off:) it was awesome playing with the kids that liked it - one little boy learned some english today he repeated after me when i said "uh oh" -it was too cute!

As soon as VBS was over - we emptied out the Inn hallway and set up seating for about 150 people. We treated the nannies (and children) to dinner. We had dinner brought in - thank goodness we didn't have to cook! They loved it - i wished that i had my camera with me at the bldg. where they dished up their food - it was great to see them all gathered together (Steve thanked them for all that they do and told them that we think they are wonderful). We made ourselves available to help them dish up bowls of food for them and the kids and then we had them all gathered at the Inn to eat. While they were eating we gave them a small gift bag of lotion, hair clips, a chinese note and i'm not sure what else... I think they were quite surprised but we just wanted to tell them thank you for taking such good care of the children and it gave us an opportunity to share G. love on them.

It took us some time to clean up but what happened during that time was great. Wendy is a girl who is much older than the other children - maybe about 15yrs.??? and is in a wheelchair - she is beautiful but very shy. PHF is trying to train her with a skill - that is their desire for all of their children that may "age out" of the system here - to train them with a vocational skill to be able to do something - For Wendy - she has a desire toplay the piano. so, they are hoping that she will one day be able to teach pianno lessons. She came to the dinner and stayed a little while after during our clean up time. Steve was really trying to get her to play but she is super shy after ALOT of prodding she finally began to play and it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. it was really cool too because the team all knows her story and as soon as we heard the music we stopped what we were doing and just listened - she didn't know that we had stopped - she was so into her music:) Then she noticed a camera flash and quickly glanced around and stopped:( She was embarrassed but we showed her our appreciation of her music and wanted her to do more but didn't:( We are hoping that she comes out to dinner with us tomorrow - she is such a beautiful girl.

Our day's work was over by 6:30 - so about half of us are relaxing and will go to bed early (like me) and the others are off to the university area - they took a taxi - i hope they make it back okay:)

Tomorrow we are doing more work around here - i am planning on ditching the work and am going to go play with the kids instead:) then we have our last day of VBS - we are then going out to dinner and massages. i'm not sure when we'll get back and may not be able to post for a few days. Sat & Sun we will be going back and forth to Beijing and it looks like they might be early mornings and late nights... i will do my best to post though:)

PS. please p__y for G. provision here with the $ that PHF needs to raise - There was a few people here today that we are hoping will find it in their heart to help.

Thanks so much for your p___yers - love and hugs to all!

Even More Pictures

Judy telling the story

Carly - she is precious!!! If she wasnt already being adopted - i'd love to snatch her up and take her home! She is VERY attached to her nannies - it is precious:)

The children coming in to hear the story for VBS

Kids enjoying washing the babies in the water tub

The man at the fruit stand peeling the sugar cane that we bought -it was yummy!

The turtle at Walmart