One last post about China. I want to make a list (a very random list) of things I do not want to forget about our time in China.
1) The numerous times we had belly laughs when reading the way things get lost in translation…
2) Mastering the squatty potty. Yes.I.did. 
3) The food! I was afraid that I only loved the American version of Chinese food…but, NOPE…I think I was born to eat Chinese food. Complete yumminess. 
I also love the price of Chinese food…if I remember correctly, the squid fried rice pictured above was a whooping $4! And that was a semi-fancy restaurant in a really nice mall.
4) The beauty of China. Once out of the smogginess of the big cities, the outdoors is so beautiful.
5) The coolness of foreigners. You get tons of stares in China. While checking out the Forbidden City and Tian Anmen square, we even had a group of ladies come up and talk to us. When they found out we were Americans, they invited us to have coffee with them. It’s kind of cool to feel really cool.
6) The way it felt to see this face for the first time. The nervousness I felt leading up to that moment.
7) The building excitement as we pulled up and saw this…
8) The smile on this little girls face every time you touched her – there is nothing else like it.
9) The way the ayis (nannies) look at these little ones. There is such an enormous amount of love in their eyes. When we were in the adoption process, I spent so many countless hours wondering if my son(s) were being loved. Parents who have kids at Maria’s do not have to worry about this. The love is so thick.
10) Same is true for the nurses and teacher – they absolutely adore these kids. A few of us women had such an amazing share/prayer time and I was overwhelmed by their hearts. So many tears were shed for these sweet babies. 
11) Sweet Cindi.
12) This prison – and a story Rebecca told me about this place.
13) This super cool kid and his siblings. We all went to get pizza one night and he and I played pictionary on some napkins. I guess the servers thought the napkins were super cool because they kept them! Again, I never feel really cool…but my level of coolness must have raised a few degrees in China.
14) The story behind this unfinished building.
15) The joy I felt after snapping this picture.
16) This ultra cool dude. Love him.
And he was really, really smitten over my camera. Here are a few shots of his…
17) A memory I will cherish forever is watching a video this guys family had made him. When his family found out we were coming to China, they quickly made a video and sent it over with Laura. I watched as this little guy sat on his nurses lap, smiling and laughing as he watched this precious video. There was such excitement and almost an anticipation in his eyes. I loved it. I love adoption.
18) We searched and searched for a sleeper to fit this little guy. When we were unsuccessful, his ayis dressed him in this sleeper and then had a grand time giggling. Rebecca and I giggled along side them :) 
19) We visited Big Oak Ranch four years ago this spring. I can remember what it felt like. We were unsure of why we were visiting, but once here, it started to become clear. Big Oak felt like home to me. There was a comfort here – a feeling like I belonged here. I still feel that way and I pray that we do for a long time. It caught me off gaurd to feel that way in China. I loved it. I was comfortable. I honestly feel like we will live there one day. Don’t worry mom…not any day soon. One day. Maybe we will “retire” there :)
20) One last story/emotion. When I flew out of Luoyang and back to Beijing, I had a 5 hour lay over. One of Rebecca’s sweet friends, Chelsea, came and picked me up at the airport and took me back to the foster home where she teaches. I unfortunately had a full memory card, so I have zero pictures from there.
There were 3 big rooms at New Hope. We spent a little time in each room. I was hanging out in the last room holding a little baby when Chelsea left to do a tour for a guy who had stopped by the Foster Home. The nanny took the baby I was holding to give him a breathing treatment. There was a sweet little guy asleep on a mat on the other side of the room. He woke up just as the nanny took my baby and he sat up and looked at me. He then pointed to me and patted the ground next to him. It was adorable. I went over and sat by him and he started talking to me in Chinese. I said, “I have no clue what you are saying,” and he said, “I have no clue what you are saying.” We kept on talking and laughing. We sang songs and he told me all the colors and shapes he had been learning in class. He then put his hands on his hips and got his nanny’s attention, then pointed at me and said, “ma.” She shook her head no – but he did it again 2 more times. When Chelsea came to get me, he did not want us to leave.
We went to her apartment and came back down a few minutes later. Chelsea and our driver went upstairs to find someone to help with translation and I went back to look through the window of this little guy’s room. He saw me and tried to wave me in with both hands. I shook my head no and made a sad face. He made a sad face and came and put his hands on the door window. I put my hand on his and he smiled. He then started reaching through the slates on the bottom of the door to hold my hand. He was so incredibly precious!!!
This little guy’s name is Jay. Jay stole a piece of my heart.
I have thought so much of Jay and what he said to me. Especially saying “ma.” I automatically assumed he was saying mama in Mandarin, but the funny thing is, I recently looked up what it meant and this is what I found…
Each of the characters below have the sound ‘ma’ and each one would take one of four tones.
吗 – question marker
妈 – mother
马 – horse
玛 – agate
麻 – hemp
骂 – curse
码 – numeral
So, he was either saying mother or curse. :) With Jay being basically the same age as Khai, I understand how smart a 3.5 year old can be and I know he must already feel the void of not having a family. Please pray the Lord will place him with a family very soon.
As you can see from the last several posts, China was amazing. I am so thankful for our time there and for Rebecca. Please keep Rebecca and all these sweet babies in your prayers.
