Politically Well-Informed

On the way to the flower market for a recent preschool field trip, we passed by the US Embassy in Beijing. In preparation for President Obama's visit to China, they had hung very large pictures of him and other officials in front of the building. There were also pictures of the Statue of Liberty and other familiar American landmarks.

As we drove past the building, the pictures caught Julia's attention. She pointed out the window and loudly shouted, "OBAMA!"

We have no idea how she recognized him... How many American 5-year-olds do you know who recognize their president? Now, how many Chinese 5-year-olds do you think recognize the American president?

We're pretty sure it might just be Julia.

It's official... She's brilliant.

And politically well-informed.

Wordless Wednesday: Underneath the Layers

The answer to yesterday's question.

Guess Who?

No one is going to rob a bank... the "disguise" is just what happens when winter arrives with all of its gusty force. Kids are bundled up from head to toe, and though everyone stays quite warm, it turns into quite the guessing game. Who is under all those layers?

So now it is your turn.

Who do you think this is?

Bilingual Gal

Even though winter has arrived, Elizabeth continues to bloom and blossom.

She's learning to read with her foster mom's help, and we're constantly amazed to hear her sounding out long words! For her, learning to read English is probably more difficult than it might be for most kids learning to read in their native language, since when she sees a picture and a word, she has to learn both the way the word sounds and the sounds the letters make.

She's learning word meanings and how to read at the same time! Which she makes look shockingly easy, since she is such a smart cookie.

But one of the cuter side-effects of her becoming bilingual is the way that she blends the languages sometimes.

In Chinese, the days of the week go something like this:

Xing Qi Yi

Xing Qi Er

Xing Qi San

Xing Qi Si

Xing Qi Wu

Essentially, this means "Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, etc."

The other day, she told one of our staff members that she was going to do something special on "Xing Qi Four." That's literally what she said - an adorable mix of Chinese and English, from an adorable little girl.

Wordless Wednesday: Eliana

Orphan Sunday

In churches across America, Sunday, November 8 was Orphan Sunday. We're so thankful that more and more people are realizing that caring for the worlds' estimated 140 million orphans is our responsibility, and we see the difference that your love makes in the lives of the children in our care.

Did your church have any special events or speakers to acknowledge the plight of orphans this Sunday? We'd love to hear about the ways that your community is responding to this need. And if there are ways we can come alongside you and support you in your efforst, we'd love to be involved!

As you know, Nathan joined his adoptive family late last week. They are bloggers, so for those of you who don't already follow their blog, you can join them on their journey.

Beginning and End

Today was a bit unusual. Such important events don't often fall on the same day...

It was both the start of something new...

The arrival of these three sweet babies from a new partner orphanage... all urgently needing heart surgery. At first, we didn't think we had room for all of them, but how could we choose? But because something else happened today, bed space opened up, so all three little ones could come.

And that "something else" was another beginning that happened today... an end for us, but definitely a most beautiful beginning.

Nathan joined his adoptive family. Mom, Dad, and big sister all came to pick him up. He gave his new parents the biggest hugs when they first arrived, and he quickly decided that Daddy's arms were the place to be. When it came time to leave, he simply waved goodbye to all of us and blew us kisses, clearly at peace with the fact that with these new people was where he belonged.

So it was the end of our time with Nathan and the beginning of our time with these three sweethearts. Sometime down the road, we'll be saying goodbye to them and opening our arms to new little ones.

It's the cycle of our work -- bittersweet at times, but beautiful always.