free day

Matthew- you can barely see it, but Ben is holding the flat matthew in the face spot here. They have World Cup stuff all over the shopping areas, you would love it. Even a giant big screen outside on the side of the building for people in the center to stop and watch!

Today our schedule had a built in free day. Mostly to recover from travel probably, which we are still working on! Last night we stayed up as late as we could and crashed about 6:30 p.m. Sad right? Well then we woke up about every 2 hours. Stayed up for one and a half nearmidnight and then slept again til almost 5. Not too bad.

Today we were dragging and needed a nap after lunch. I was determined to get up after an hour, but didn't even wake until after 2 hours had passed. I hope we can sleep tonight! We are doing pretty good and its already past 6:00 p.m.!

We had a driver today who we asked to take us out to New Day Foster Home. I was pretty excited about going. It was neat to see first hand what I've been following online for the last couple years. Emotional too, knowing the stories of the kids, and about the work that this place is doing. Good day for going too, as it was thunderstorming. It is very far removed from the city, think suburban. But the further out we drove, the landscape changed so so much. There are a lot of abandoned buildings; some of them now just rubble, lots of small storefronts; trash everywhere.

We had a tour of the whole facility and then spent some time talking with Rita and playing with the kids a little. Preschool was in session so just the younger ones were in the playroom. When I sat down, I was swarmed. Sweet and sad. Annie latched onto me and wouldn't let me put her down for the duration. Ben had a little guy cling to him aswell; they played catch and Ben helped him up and down the slide, as his leg was casted, and the other soft casted. I think Ben really enjoyed going there. I know I did.

After our lunch and nap we walked around our hotel area. Apparently our hotel is in a very nice shopping district. Although, it's fancy shopping; like Coach, Burberry, Gucci, etc. Interestingly, behind the high rise buildings, you can see houses; shacks really, with all the roofs touching one another. Odd to see two ends of the spectrum right next to each other.

We were able to walk about 3 blocks and find a shopping mall that had Nike Beijing, and a bunch of other stores. We looked in a couple, but mostly we went there to pick up Pizza Hut to go. We've had a nice quiet afternoon and have been chillin' in the room all evening. We're still plenty tired!

Tomorrow is a big day with the Great Wall; please pray we have nice weather for it. We got absolutely drenched today in the rain and Ben's tennis shoes still haven't dried out!

Here's a couple pictures of us at New Day, and then the shopping area we walked to.

(Laura, I just had to take one of LensCrafters China for you!)

sleep please!

Well, we're here in Beijing.

We are exhausted. We are trying to stay up a little longer and then hoping to sleep 12 hours. The flight went well. It was very very long, but good otherwise. Ben was able to sleep a little. The last 40 minutes we ran into a thunderstorm that brought the worst turbulence I've ever felt. Luckily, Ben slept through the whole thing, but it left me feeling very nauseous and yucky. Then I was worried after we got off, because I was still feeling pretty green, that I was going to start vomiting and then get held in quaratine as we went through customs. We walked through the giant scanner that took our temps on the way through, no problem and shortly after I started feeling a little more grounded.

We found our driver no problem, he's also our guide for our time in Beijing; he's very nice. I have to listen closely to understand his english, but he's very nice.

We got to the hotel; dropped off, and then had issues because my credit card wouldn't work. I was on the verge of tears, so upset because I did talk with the bank last week and thought I had taken care of it, so felt helpless. Luckily, they let me pay cash for tonight, but I can't keep doing that because I'll run out. Hopefully Jason can get it sorted out on that end by tomorrow for me.

Anyways, by the time we got upstairs, we were both in tears. Ben said 'i just wanna go home.' He's so tired. So am I. He was a trooper today.

Anyways, I really am exhausted, so that's all I've got for now.

em's 2nd birthday celebration

Emily's 2nd birthday falls while I'll be in China, so we decided to celebrate a little early.

She was very excited about having a 'dora cake,' and I was very excited to get out and take some "emily's 2 year old pictures".

At 2 years old, Emily:

• is the busiest one of our bunch. always going- climbing, running, laughing, disobeying :)

• is very stubborn. shocking, right?

• is saying many words, phrases and repeating everything. some favorites of mine are: "abby right NOW," the way she says "masshew," "mamas truck, daddys truck," and "luz you more mama (for i love you more mama).

• is occasionally interested in the big girl potty

• loves her mama and may have a hard time sharing her with Jenna

• has her siblings all wrapped around her finger

• has very curly hair, which we love and are afraid to ever cut

• is pretty outgoing and very funny

Here are a few photos of her day:

Sunday snapshot: anticipation

Well, the anticipation will surely be a couple notches higher this time next week, as I'll be meeting my daughter face-to-face for the first time. But for now, the anticipation is that I'm leaving for China the day after next! Nothing else to say! Bags are packed (mostly) and I am ready as I'll ever be. Just get me to my girl!

great cause

So, most of you know the place in my heart for New Day Foster Home and the work they do. A newer offshoot of New Day is a project called Forever Home where a family, the Rippees live, house, and care for older girls who are orphaned, showing them the love and way of family life. Its really terrific. Anyways, its a volunteer position and they are funded by raising support. They have 4 kids already; 2 grown biological children and 2 adopted daughters from China. They feel called to adopt again and this fundraiser is to benefit their adoption. (and there are a ton of great prizes!)

I've said before and firmly believe that when people seek to care for the orphans of the world in the name of Christ, He shows up in a big way.

Click the button below to go to the fundraising site to check it out and support them in this cause.