Cousin Mo!

Our sweet 17 year old niece, Morgan, has been here with us for the past 3 weeks.  It has been so fun to have her here!  All 5 of us would agree…plus all the neighborhood kids and adults.  She has been busy having a Chinese language tutor 2 hours/day plus teaching swimming lessons while she is here.  Not to mention all the other things she’s been going…going skydiving in a wind tunnel; shopping; going to museums; studying; riding bikes, scooters, taxis,  and rickshaws all over town;  seeing movies;  babysitting;  taking her bike to get it fixed;  and pulling out Hailey’s first tooth.  She is quickly become my girl’s favorite cousin (other cousins, you better get over here fast!  Don’t let Morgan get the #1 position!)  We love you dear Mo!

Logged in!

We are completely blown away right now!  Our dossier (adoption paperwork) didn’t arrive in Beijing at the CCAA( (China Center of Adoption Affairs) until Friday, June 19th!  Usually dossiers sit on someone’s desk for at least a week or 10 days before someone logs them in.  Well, they logged ours in on Monday, June 21st….yes, the very next work day!  We are so glad that everything has arrived in it’s final destination.  This means that we are now eligible to be matched with our daughter.  Hopefully, we will know who she is soon!  We are praying for you, sweet girl! 

Our local butcher

As Sydney and I are on our morning stroll. We saw the butcher outside
our apartment complex.

Orphanage Visit

This week I had the wonderful opportunity to visit a local orphanage with some other moms from Madison’s school.  Of the 9 of us that went, one has 2 adopted daughters from China, and 4 of us are in the process of adopting from China and Ethiopia.  Even though we live here, it is usually fairly difficult to get to visit the orphanages.  Thankfully the school has had an ongoing relationship with this orphanage.  Several families at the school have actually fostered (and later adopted) children who weren’t thriving there.  It was a small orphanage and so we just went in and played/held the kids for an hour or so.  Most of the children there were over 3 and had a variety of special needs.  I really pray that they will be adopted into loving families.  

My friend Cary & I held these little boys the whole time we were there.  It was cool to sing “Jesus Loves Me” to these little ones and pray over them while we were holding them. 

It was a pretty emotional day to know the grief their biological parents must feel in having to bring them to the orphanage.  I’m sure each of them thought they couldn’t give their child the proper care they needed.  In China, it would have been much easier (and culturally acceptable) for them to have aborted them.  I’m very thankful that their biological parents chose life for these precious ones. 

The Urban Life

When you live in a huge city there are some things that you do in your house that you just wouldn’t do if you lived in the suburbs.  A few examples are that you pot plants in your house, you BBQ on your balcony (instead of your backyard), and your kids ride riding toys in your small apartment.

The newest addition to that list is that when you live in an urban area with no outside/backyard space, you can have a swing in your bedroom.  I think you also have to have a pretty cool dad who will, not only allow it, but will spend several hours getting it drilled into the concrete ceiling. 

Here are some picture of the girls swinging on their new swing. 

Hailey was especially excited about that swing, since she LOVES to swing and there are very few swings in our city.

Sydney getting in on the fun!

Only in a city of 10 million people will you see this

I was just walking out of my office and just saw this and thought it
was funny.

People live in the city but most are from the farming areas. So they
still keep roosters and chickens around that wake us up at 5am.

Neighbors

We have the cutest little couple who live in our complex.  They walk around every afternoon and have started looping down in our circle (to see the foreign kids, I think ).  I think they are so precious.  The man is 98 years old and his wife is 90!  I can’t imagine all the things they have seen in their life time.  I think they look great for their age, which is usually the opposite of what I think of the locals here.  Because of their hard pasts, usually I feel like people usually look much older than they are, but not this little couple.  I have a difficult time understanding them when they talk since they speak the local dialect and in very soft voices.  I hope to find out more of their story in the future, because I know they must have some amazing stories. 

Here Madison is with them.  Notice how little clothes Madison is wearing compared with their clothes.  Typically Chinese are “scared of the cold” where I think Americans are more afraid of the hot.

NOTE: To Be Used in Sydney’s rehearsal dinner powerpoint

My dear friend Ashlei is in town with her son Grady.  Last night we went on a stroll with her and the Sorrel’s.  Here are the younger kids riding in their strollers.  Grady (who will be 2 this summer), Sydney (who will be 3 on August 23), and Gunner (who will be 2 on August 23).  We love both of these families and I would be more than happy to be able to use this picture at Sydney’s rehearsal dinner one day.

Rollerblading Club

Madison is in the rollerblading club at her school. Every Friday the elementary school gets to participate in different clubs. They change the clubs every quarter and they have been the highlight of Madison's week. In the past she has done the Art Club, Technology Club, Traditional Dance Club, and some others that I can't recall. Well, this quarter she is in the Discovery Club and the Rollerblading Club. Last Friday I was helping with the Technology Club so as I was waiting for school to be over, I got to watch her and other 1st and 2nd graders roller blade. They were so cute.

Here she is acting silly.

Her and her friend Hannah blading around the cones.

And another shot of her in action.

We are so thankful for her school and that she loves it so much. She is learning a ton, but she also gets to do extracurricular activities that she enjoys too.

These sweet little sisters

Last weekend we were out exploring and thought we would go check out a new international hotel that just opened up recently in our block. Here are Madison, Hailey and Sydney acting silly in the hotel. It is so fun having 3 little girls who really love each other...yes, they fuss and fight, but I'm so thankful for the genuine love they have for each other. I love watching them with each other and can't wait to see them love on their little mei mei (mei mei means little sister in Chinese).