What a Summer!

I can't believe the summer is almost over already! Its been crazy and lots of fun. I haven't had any time to blog though! I start school next week already which is kind of sad...haha. Here is a small overview of some of what we've been up to this summer... June:

I visited with precious orphans in China...

July:

While they baked in North Carolina...

I baked in China on the most amazing trip of my life...haha...swimming through the thick, thick air with Aimee on the hottest, most humid day of my life... (outside of Agape House)

5th Gotcha Day for James and Jeremiah!

August: I flew to Tennessee for the "Show Hope Reunion" with half of the girls that I went to China with... We drove to Ashville, NC from Nashville, TN for an SCC concert at the Biltmore which my mom and sister drove up for. We had a lot of fun...

Also, my cousin came to visit for a week from California and we went to the beach with her this past weekend. The littles had a blast in the ocean! We are getting back into the swing of 'normal' life now though and I will try to be better at keeping this blog updated!

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China Pictures!

Some of our Show Hope group at the Summer Palace in Beijing...... The Great Wall... Driving in China....much more organized than in Ethiopia but still a little hectic...:) The Forbidden City Touring was fun, but it wasn't half as fun as spending time with these amazing kids... Justin, a precious hidden treasure of God... Some of the children from Bethel, a home for blind orphans, who were singing for us. Rebekah was playing the guitar!! Some of these kids play the piano and the guitar and they do so many things that would be challenging to people who can see! They are amazing kids and even though they can't physically see I think they see things better than many of us do.

Children at an orphanage in Luoyang who have Cerebral Palsy. .precious, precious kids...

We celebrated Christmas in July with the older kids in Luoyang... We got to take about 40 of them to KFC for lunch and we got to take them to the park. It was a blast and we really got to know the kids better. It was probably one of my favorite things we did the whole time in China. We had three Christmas tress and made ornaments to decorate them with... This is Michael. God used this little boy to speak to my heart probably more so than any other child I met on the trip. My heart broke for this little boy and I will forever remember him and love him. Home sweet home...we stayed in a village about an hour outside of Beijing in "Yurts" or Mongolian style huts. They were outside of Hope Healing Home which was our 'base' of sorts while in China......

A sweet little boy with Cerebral Palsy....I loved him. Precious little ones showing us their artwork.

Me and Henry, one of my favorite little boys in the whole wide world. He is hilarious. These kids were singing Jesus Loves Me in Mandarin, they live at Agape House and they have brittle bones disease. They are so amazing...

Back from China!

Hey everyone! I got in at about 1:00am monday morning so I'm still kind of on China time. It was the most amazing experience ever and I saw God in so many ways!! I feel so honored to have been able to go care for his precious hidden treasures. I learned so much. We spent the majority of our time with orphans with special needs, it was such an awesome experience. I will be posting pictures on here soon! Click Here to read a little about the trip...

I am in CHINA!!

I am in China and we are doing awesome. We went to the great wall today which was a beastly/painful climb but it was sooooo worth it once you get to the top. We actually 'tobogganed' down from the great wall. It was like this little car/sled thing that you sit on on a slide that goes alllllll the way down the mountains and like over a bridge...it was kind of freaky but it was sooooooooo much fun. I can't wait to show you guys pictures but i have no way to get them on the computer!!

We went to an orphanage for blind children yesterday and had a huge water fight and we are going back tomorrow. I cant wait! :-) We are having a blast and everyone is getting along soo well. Half of us went on a bike ride through the village today and it was gorgeous and we had a blast. The weather was beautiful today. The workers here are so nice too. i love it here and i am so thankful that God has allowed me to come here. We are staying in these huts that have bugs in them but its ok...:-) The huts are right outside the foster home so we are with all these cute little kids in the mornings and then we usually go somewhere in the afternoon. We are actually in a very rural area. we are about an hour away from the city area but we are kind of in but somewhat outside this really cute little village. Mosquitos are bad but we are great! I love you guys!!! I will try and email again soon.

Heading to China!!

I can't believe just how fast the trip came up!! I leave in three days already!

I am soooooooooooo........ excited but I am going to miss being away from my family too. Especially being away from the littles. You miss so much even when you leave for just a little while. I mean within the past two weeks, Jeremiah lost his first tooth and started writing his WHOLE name by himself. :) I'm sure it will go by sooo.. fast though! Before I know it I will be home from the trip..which is kind of sad to think about. :) The boys actually have this funny phrase now that they use like this.." Jer, why are you still talking about that? That was like 4 yesterdays ago." haha...they make us laugh.

I am leaving for Chicago Saturday, (will meet up with our Show Hope team there) leave for China Sunday and arrive in Beijing on Monday. The flight to China will actually be shorter than the flight to Ethiopia which was kind of a pleasant surprise. :) I get back July 6th so I will be gone for a while! I am sooo...excited!!

We will be caring for Orphans in several different orphanages as well as touring Beijing. One thing that we are going to be doing that I am really excited about is a Christmas in July celebration with the kids at a special needs orphanage which sounds soooo cool.

I am going to try to send a few email updates while I am gone to this blog. We'll see if it works. :) Please keep the trip in your prayers. I will be posting lots of pictures when I get home!

La Familia

Here is a picture of the whole family at my brother's highschool graduation. Almost everyone was looking!! :-) Check out my sister's photo blog here. She = awesome.

Pictures!!

I feel so bad I have been such a horrible blogger lately! I still haven't even finished posting about Ethiopia and that was over 6 months ago! (which is so hard to believe!!) I leave for China two weeks from today too! I am sooooo... excited. I think most of you have probably read this on my parents blog by now but just incase you hadn't I will post it here as well. It has been decided that we are not going to go through with the adoption of 'M'. You can read more here. Here are some recent pictures of the littles though! They are getting so big so fast!

"This isn't exactly comfy...." "Why is everyone in my crib?"

Kerennie being cute as always.... some super cute boys!! Chillin at the mall. Playing with the neighbors. Me and crazy. :)

MERON IS SAFE!!

We just got home and received a voice mail message and an email message from our case worker that Meron was found today and she is safe! She is back at the orphanage but we don't know much else. Our case worker also had limited information but promised to have more information for us by Monday. We are thrilled that she was found and we just wanted to thank you all for your prayers. The thought of Meron wandering around in Addis Ababa, a city of stark poverty and 3.6 million people is simply overwhelming to me. That she was found safe is nothing short of a miracle! Thank you Lord! Please continue to pray that God will give us the wisdom we need in the weeks and months ahead. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28