"It makes a difference to this one..."

 One of Mom's favorite moments while visiting Hope in Beijing was when she stood in front of the starfish wall and after once again reading the poem she has become so familiar with, she looked for and found what she refers to as "my girls"...
  The poem reads:
One day an old man was walking down the beach just before dawn.  In the distance he saw a young man picking up stranded starfish and throwing them back into the sea.  As the old man approached the young man, he asked, "Why do you spend so much energy doing what seems to be a waste of time?"  The young man explained that the stranded starfish would die if left in the morning sun.  The old man exclaimed, "But there must be thousands of starfish.  How can your efforts make any difference?"  

The young man looked down at the starfish in his hand and as he threw it to safety in the sea, he said," It makes a difference to this one!"

A Fast Train and A Fast Trip- To Xian

  November 26, 2011

    What a great time we all had seeing the Terra Cotta Warriors together and then of course the experience of riding on a bullet train was something else!

Warm Thanks

 As the weather begins to cool off I was very excited to receive a couple packages from special friends who sent warm home made goodies to me and my babies.  Thank you for your love that warms us!

Always Ready for Christmas

Decorating for Christmas, is something we all look forward to each year...it is a special opportunity for our family to once again work together to make something beautiful,

And have lots of fun doing it 

This year a Santa suit was discovered in the bottom of one of the boxes and somehow they actually squeezed Jacob into it and then "Santa" and his elves went room to room passing out goodies and singing carols- what a delightful time we all had.

SEEing the Big House

 Spending time with the little ones brought some of my family's favorite memories...

Janessa Returns...

What a joy it was to introduce Mom and Dad to the ayis who had cared for Janessa in her first few months and for them to have the opportunity to visit her room and the other children who were with her there during that time.  The ayis were delighted to not only see Janessa once again but also to meet my family.

Janessa Turns Three- November 25th, 2011

 Happy 3rd Birthday Janessa

So many Blessings to celebrate at Thanksgiving time and here was one more!

We all had a wonderful time in Rebecca's Preschool Class as we joined them for a Birthday party.  The Children decorated cupcakes with lots of help from all their friends and we all enjoyed the frosting and the fun!