Love Without Boundaries

Please, please read the following from my friend Retta's blog and let's get $35,000 into the hands of Love Without Boundaries, a fantastic organization that has done much to help those in most need! Check out their website as well to learn more about what they do here in China.


Ijust received this email and thought I would pass it along. It takes about 10 seconds to vote, so please pop over there and vote for LWB's. $35,000 would go a llllloooooonnnnnnggggg way in China and could help so many children.LWB has a chance to win $35,000 to help even more orphaned children in China, and we need your help! Casting your vote for LWB is an easy way to change the lives of children in need. Simply visit http://www.cookiemag.com/magazine/sweeps/smart_cookie_finalists09/entry/long/ Click on the circle next to the video about LWB. It is the first one, next to Amy Eldridge’s photo. Fill out the rest of the information needed and click submit. You do not need to fill out the “about you” section if you do not wish, and you can opt out of receiving any information in the future from Cookie Magazine by checking “no” on the boxes asking which information you desire. Each person over the age of 18 is allowed one vote. This contest is open to people in the US only, unfortunately. If you live in another country, you are not able to vote. Voting takes place from January 6th to February 10th. Please forward the contest information to all of your family and friends and other yahoogroups. Together, we can win the contest and change many more orphaned children’s lives.

Happy New Year

I thought this picture would be appropriate for marking the start of a new year. I especially like how Hong Kong Island is sandwiched between the rising sun and the highest building on the Island, the IFC building. When I stumble to the kitchen before 6 in the morning, oftentimes this is the scene that greets me. Then I have to wake up enough to grab my camera and head to the window in the living room where I can get a clearer picture, open it, feel the cool breeze, and half hang out the window to get off a few snaps!

It gives me hope as I begin my day and what runs through my mind is the verse "His mercies are new every morning." I am so very thankful for that, because I get a new start each day, and don't have to wait for a "new year." The reason why I am so thankful is because each day, to a greater or lesser degree, I am in desperate need of God's grace and mercy!!

At the beginning of the Christmas break, I thought two weeks were going to go slowly by - I couldn't have been more wrong. Here are a few pictures of how we spent our time. . .

Ellen proudly modeling the fruit of her labour.

Had to get this picture of the man helping people on and off the ferry the other day. Don't see many orange Michigan shirts in the States.

Hannah was kind enough not to spin the teacup for her motion-sick prone friend Zoe.

Ellen wanted to knit a hat, had never knitted a hat before, so she went on the internet where she saw a pattern, and wa-la, after a few hundred "clacks" of the knitting needles, she made a perfect knit hat! I think she even surprised herself. Zoe and I are now waiting for her to knit one for us :)

Ellen in her new Uggs!! She looks very chic in them when she rolls the tops down too. Ellen has always loved soft and silky things and she really likes the feel of her bare feet cozy and comfy inside these boots.

Brad and I have noticed a distinct change in our kids Christmas morning behavior as they get older. We actually had to go wake Ellen up, as it was already 8:30 and Zoe was tired of waiting to open presents. Then in between opening presents, I snapped this yawn!!

Ahhhh, the bag she's been wanting for awhile - of course, it's real, how could you even ask!! (or maybe mom made a trip north of the border?)

Ellen's hands working the dough for Christmas cookies.

We were able to treat some kids from a Hong Kong orphanage to a shopping trip to the mall, lunch at McDonald's, and Christmas lights downtown. Here a few of the girls took a break after buying some clothes. There were about 30 kids in all, 20 adults, and we had a very enjoyable, though tiring, day of activity. Although we couldn't communicate very well with them, because most of us did not speak Cantonese and their English was limited, the little girl I was paired up with facing me in this picture was able to speak an English word while we were sitting down in McDonald's eating lunch. She turned to me and said, "Happy." Somehow made all the effort very worthwhile!!

I'll be home for Christmas . . .

. . . if only in my dreams.

It's not easy to be so far from home during the holidays, knowing that your families are celebrating together. Having good friends definitely makes it easier and we will be keeping our Christmas Eve/Christmas Day tradition once again this year as we will be celebrating with our "Hong Kong families." Christmas Eve will find us at Nadine & Lorne's after a combined church service with our church and the Anglican church in town. Christmas day we will be at Martin and Sandy's for another memorable Christmas dinner. Need to make sure the "buffet pants" are ready for some action!

This past Saturday we spent a very fun day at Hong Kong Disney with the Christensen and Lew families. It was a beautiful day, perfect temperature and clear sunny skies. We had a yummy buffet lunch with the Characters at one of the hotels as well.

This is a scary scene - and one that could be a reality in a few short years!! Zoe was not happy about the fact that, despite being the same age as Hannah, did not make it up to the required height to be the driver :( Soon, Zoe, soon!!

Ellen and Zoe gasped when I asked them if this was Goofy. Evidently it's been too long since we lived in Orlando :( and knew the parks backwards and forwards as well as all the characters.

Awww, so cute!!

A Home of Hope

Ellen and I took a trip to Truelife Children's Home in Dongguan, Guangdong, a couple weeks ago with several students from her school. Dongguan is often referred to as the "world's factory," and it is here where so many from all over China come to work in factories of all kind.


We took a coach bus to Dongguan, about a two-hour ride from Ellen's school. When we arrived we went to a park to meet up with some of the children and their foster moms. There we celebrated the little girl's first birthday pictured above. We hope the next birthday she celebrates will find her surrounded by a loving and grateful forever family of her own!!


Truelife is privately run for the purpose of taking care of children with medical needs that orphanages around the area are not able to meet. The children are paper ready, which means their paperwork has been submitted to the adoption office in Beijing. So after they have had their surgeries, they will return to the orphanage, and hopefully united with a family soon thereafter.


This little angel is six months old and weighs just shy of seven pounds. She obviously has not been getting the nutrition she needed due to her cleft, but that has all changed now that she is in the loving and capable hands of those at Truelife. We call this little one the "West Island baby," because this is the baby Ellen's school is sponsoring every month until she is through with her surgeries and well on her way to good health.

Another angel is this lady, Jenny, pictured above holding the baby. Jenny and her husband came to live in Dongguan about six years ago because of her husband's job. She was asked to oversee the operation of Truelife a few years ago, and she has been the tangible love of Jesus to all who come her way. How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. . . I was especially touched as I watched how she so eagerly shared with the students about Truelife and the kids in their care. The students were equally touched and who knows what kind of change in their young life a visit like this can make.

Here is my beautiful Ellen Beibei, who is always in her element when surrounded by kids, but has an extra soft spot in her heart for those without a family yet - though the good news is this little girl will soon be united with her very own mamma and daddy next month and on her way to live in Huntsville, Alabama. That is a very long way from this carousel ride in Dongguan, China. . .

Without the help from a place like Truelife, this little one's future would be very bleak.

The birthday girl actually fell asleep on the carousel! It was too cute. Just put her right to sleep.

A golden birthday for Zoe

I know I'm so late in posting about Zoe's birthday. Maybe that's because, as I had a shock to now having a 13-year-old daughter, I now have a 10-year-old too! They are just growing up way too fast. Zoe celebrated her Golden Birthday with 12 of her friends. They started off by going swimming, then back to our place for pizza, Wii karaoke and watching Camp Rock. Then two of her friends spent the night. It must have been a good birthday because it took a couple of days for Zoe to recover!

We celebrated as a family on her birthday, October 2.

Zoe checking out one of her birthday presents, three canvases to create her masterpieces with!

We are so proud of you, Zoe. You are sweet, funny, sensitive, kind and very loving. And so many people are blessed because they have you in their life - your mom, dad and big sister tops among them! Lots of love to you, sweetie - OXOXOXOXOX

We have not forgotten

This past May we took our daughter, Zoe, back to the small town in Southern China where she was born and spent the first eight months of her life, probably spending a large majority of her time laying much like this little precious baby, waiting for us to come and make her our daughter. I wrote about our trip and posted pictures in at least two blog postings for May of this year.

It was a very emotional trip for all of us and when we left we so desperately wanted to do more for this orphanage. When there we asked the directors if they were wanting to raise money for some need and they said they would like to build a playground. We thought they could also use a well-functioning playroom, with color and toys and a padded floor for the babies and toddlers to use. Summer came, people in DB (including us) all went our separate ways for a couple of months and now that we are back into the swing of school and our daily life we keep thinking about the Huazhou orphanage and how best to help them.

Not only are we thinking about those in Huazhou, but we strongly believe the Lord has not forgotten them either. Just through sharing about our journey back to Huazhou (and Zoe was able to share her story to her class at school) we have three separate groups, two churches in the States, and Zoe's school, who are very eager to help provide in Huazhou. Can you believe that? Just as the porcelain basically dropped in our laps, so too it seems are those people who God is also pressing upon their hearts to help those so much less fortunate than themselves.

I'm not sure if another trip to Huazhou will be in our future. I most certainly would not rule it out.

Up, Up and Away

In spite my best efforts to keep it from happening, I am the official mother of a teenager. Ellen (very happily so) turned the big 1-3 on September 1. And, no, she did not receive a helicopter ride as a gift, but rather she received a helicopter ride as a prize for being part of a winning team in a scavenger hunt a few months ago here in Discovery Bay. The ride was scheduled before school ended this past June, but due to bad weather it was canceled, then everyone went their separate ways for the summer, and today was the day!


Ellen and her three friends, Alicia, Chloe and Olivia had an unforgettable ride over Hong Kong with the highlight of flying over their school, West Island.

The birthday girls. Ellen's birthday is September 1, while mine is September 4. Here we are at the Conrad in Hong Kong where I took Ellen and three friends for High Tea as part of her birthday gift.

Ellen's birthday crew in the backseat of the taxi: Yvonne, Kelcie and Kim
This is one of the reasons we chose this location for High Tea, a delicious buffet.
Although this is High "Tea," Ellen and her friends enjoyed a tall glass of iced cocoa - yummy!