Beijing, China

Our last few days in China were spent debriefing and doing a little touring in Beijing. It was an odd time, as we were ready to be home and see our families, but we were also really missing our babies in Heng Feng..... Julie and I in Tianamen Square Brooke, Becki, Amy and Julie in the Forbidden City The Imperial Gardens behind the Forbidden City

The Chinese Acrobat Show The Great Wall!! Brooke at the very top! The little tiny buildings you see below are where we started our climb!

We are the group that climbed to the TOP!! These are two of the buildings for the Olympics that will be in August. The swimming arena and the "Birds Nest" behind it. Last night hanging out together..... Before we headed to the airport we stopped at a Tea House....

then had our last meal at the Hard Rock Cafe in Beijing! It was a great way to end our trip. Becki and Brooke (she made me pose like this!) Flying home..... Home sweet home......first stop - Pizza!! So now I'm wondering........how much longer until I can plan my next trip to China?! I'll keep you posted!

Here are more pictures from the streets in HengFeng.... This picture is a little blurry, but it's a dentist office, right out in the open, with a patient sitting in the chair, getting his teeth worked on! This little girl stole my heart, too! Every day I would walk into her room, and her nanny would hand her to me! We called her LaLa, her Chinese name was JiaLa (or something like that!)This is a nanny couple with "my" little guy!

On the last day, we presented the nannies with gifts we had brought. They were so excited, it felt like Christmas morning! And the best part of our trip.....sharing God's love in words, songs, prayers and cuddles......

Our last night in Heng Feng....notice the waitresses, wanting to be close to Brooke!

China...

I have no idea where to start with posting about China, so I"m just going to post some of favorite pictures......I think they are pretty self-explanatory. My heart is in China. I can't explain it, but China felt like "home" to me when I got there, and now I am missing it, and the people there. I can't wait to go back.... It was amazing to see the beauty in the simple as we we took a 4 hour bus ride from the airport to Heng Feng. The people there have so little, yet we were so blessed by their kindness and gratitude. I loved that I actually got to see real life in China this trip. On our adoption trip, we spent most of our time in hotels and at tourist spots. This trip I really felt like I got a taste of "real China". I just want to go back and see more and more of China, and share my heart with the people in China. It was definitely a trip I will never forget, and it definitely won't be my last trip there, either!

Here are a few pictures from our drive to Heng Feng....

This is the view from our hotel room window in Heng Feng....

A few more pictures of everyday life in and around Heng Feng...We seemed to create a huge crowd everywhere we went.....I don't think the people in Heng Feng are used to seeing Americans!

Headed to the orphanage......(Charlene and Julie, this "back of the bus" shot is just for you! ha) Babies!!! This is one of two little boys in the orphanage that we worked in. He stole my heart! More pictures coming soon.....

Home from China

I'm home from China, and trying to get my body clock set back to the right time zone. It seems a little harder this time around, not sure why.

I had such an incredible trip to China, I don't even know if I can describe it all. I have so many pictures, too many to put in one post. I'll try to write a few posts over the next few days and post more pictures. But first I have a question......several people have told me they tried to link my blog on theirs and couldn't. Is there a setting or something that I need to change, so that people can easily link my blog? Thanks for any help!

These pictures were taken the day we left for Beijing. This is my niece Brooke, who is 13, and came with me to China. We had such a good time together. I'm not sure if she is more like my daughter, or my sister. We had a little ritual of jumping on every bed at every hotel we stayed at. Does that give you an idea of the fun we had together?!