One year ago this week we left for China to bring Gemma Rose home to her family .
She has come so far in one year . Her personality has blossomed and she has discovered a favorite pastime ... eating!. This girl LOVES to eat . We call her our little Buddha Belly .
Last year before we left for China , the girls wanted to do something to bring a little bit of happiness to the orphans in China. In the past we have delivered clothing, supplies and medical equipment , but this time the girls wanted to focus on specifically the children . So they came up with the idea of filling backpacks and Christmas stockings with toys, tooth brushes , toothpaste and candy . They called their mission " Bags of Love" . With the help of their school and our wonderful community , they were able to fill over 150 backpacks and Christmas stockings for the children . While at one orphanage we found a little boy in the corner of the room all bundled up in his crib . Our first impression of him was very sad . He looked so sick and frail, but after getting closer I could see his eyes were full of life. He was too weak to do anything but lift up one arm to be held . When I held his hand he began to smile. His skin was gray and his hand was ice cold but he was so happy to just be touched . His diagnosis was an inability to keep any formula down , he was slowly starving to death .
After leaving this orphanage we met Bill and Lynsay at The Morning Star Foster Home ( These are 2 incredible people who have given up a comfortable life in the U. S. to help the most needy orphans in China . They are the founders of The Morning Star Home . If you are looking for an organization to help , take a look at their site)
Lynsay immediately made some phone calls and had " Josiah " moved to their Foster Home. With the change of his formula and medical care and lots of LOVE , Josiah is now flourishing! He has gained so much weight and is a happy little toddler. ( Go to their site to see updated photos).
The last orphanage we visited was actually on Thanksgiving Day . To me there was no better way to spend Thanksgiving than by helping the less fortunate. It was very sad that we were not together as a family with all of our children but the happiness we experienced with the children that do not have families to share Thanksgiving with was priceless. After leaving the orphanage we spent a very THANKFUL dinner at a local MacDonald's. When we returned to our hotel we were able to watch The Macy's Parade on our computer with the help of the slingbox ( this is a device you connect to your cable box at home and link to your computer and you are able to watch T.V . from anywhere in the world.) China is 12 hours ahead , so it was Thanksgiving morning in the States and the parade was just starting as we were heading to bed .
The difference a year makes. I am so grateful to spend Thanksgiving with all of our children this year but I can't seem to forget the faces that were left behind.
If anyone would like information on any of the children in the orphan photos, please email me and I will send you their information .
mykidsmom1986@yahoo.com
4 comments:
Great post Ann - we have tons to be thankful for! Three years ago today we were in Beijing doing much the same thing on the way to our second adoption....yeah....tons to be thankful for!
hugs around - aus and co.
Thank you for sharing again-it brought me to tears looking again at those photos of Josiah and reading the story. I think we began sponsoring him just after he came to Lynsays, and then I was able to send up formula from HK in Dec for him via friends. And even better had the privilege of meeting him and having lots of cuddles in April! how i wish the rules were different for Australians adopting from China-it is just about impossible:-(
That little one in the second and third from the bottom photos is too precious!
Hello, My name is tanya. We adopted CaiPing from LiuFengs Foster home in Beijing, so we met LiuFeng in the Spring and we just loved her. My father came with me to pick up Ping, and he asks about LiuFeng constantly.
Our daughter, Ping, also talks about her friend "Feng-Feng" We have some pics of them doing each others hair.Ping underwent 17 hours of open heart surgery in September, received a pacemaker, and is doing pretty well.
We'd love to exchange information and pics and keep in touch if you would like to. We pray for LiuFeng daily.
my email is tealeaves92@gmail.com.
our website is web.me.com/curioduo
Hope to hear from you soon,
-tanya lee-
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