Time to go home and get warm...

Wednesday Morning January 26th- time to begin our various journeys back to our units and the babies we love...goodbye cold, hello sweet snuggles!

More Ice, More Lights, and a little bit of Shopping...

We spent Tuesday the 25th shopping at the Russian markets along Central Avenue as we enjoyed the ice carvings. In the evening we walked to St. Sophia Church,




















Then on to another ice park for more Lights and Lanterns.

A City of Ice and Lights...

In amongst the freezing cold there were lots of little bright spots like the cute coffee igloos where you could warm up inside and out...













When the sun began to fade the night was lit up by a city made all of ice with lights running through them. The snow was falling lightly and sparkled like glitter as it fell past the lights. It was breathtaking- the beauty of it and the cold of it.

"Out of the north comes golden splendor;
Around God is awesome majesty...
Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,
Or have you seen the storehouses of the hail..." Job 37:22 & 38:22

Ice and Snow and Tigers. Oh My...

Monday found us at the Siberian Tiger park where we drove in caged vans into a park where the tigers roam about awaiting the next van which provides an up close and personal view of meal time by releasing various animals for feeding time- let's just say very National Geographic and the chickens didn't stand a chance.














After lunch we drove to Sun Island to the Snow Sculpture Park for an afternoon of bundles up fun. The average Temperature during our stay in Harbin was -20 to -32 C. Just a little nippy. This years theme for the competition was "Italy" and it just would not have been complete without a snow sculpture of "Mona Lisa"

Taking a little Trip to the Cold...

On the Night of January 21st- Caitlin (an intern at MBHOH) and I boarded a train for Beijing, arriving about 5:45am our first stop was Starbucks and some good coffee. We spent the day enjoying the western feel of the city and waiting for the rest of our group to join us. On Sunday afternoon the 23rd- Caitlin's 19th Birthday, 7 of us flew to Harbin. It is a city in the far north of China close to the Russian border where every year there is a massive "Snow and Ice Festival" Bundle up warm because here comes the COLD!!!!

Just Another Manic Monday...

There are those moments when you pause and think- wow, what a day, there are others like this Monday gave me where you pause and think wow, what a weekend! At the end of the day I glanced around my little nursery and was incredibly grateful for those years of ER nursing and the incredible training ground it provided for me- there were IV lines, O2 tanks, incubators, Monitors, foley caths, feeding tubes, and three fresh surgical babies that we did in our OR. and the list went on and on...all I could do was smile and think what a view, "just another manic Monday."

Brightening a Big House...

This morning the walls of my office here at Maria's Big House of Hope were just a little brighter than usual thanks to some very special art work given to me for my Birthday by some precious "Little Women" in my life!


"If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
- Joshua 24:14-16









Thank you Victoria, Madeline, Elizabeth, Jubilee, and Nora Jane- you each one hold such a special place in my heart and now each day as I see your work it reminds me to pray even harder for the young women you are becoming. I love you!



PS- Susan and Kerry, thank you- for raising these little women, I am so grateful for you in my life and the life of my family.