SURPRISE!

Here are just some random pictures from the week to enjoy! Oh and also about the big surprise! :) So i was planning on having my dad come to visit me for about a week. So when Thursday came around, I hopped into the van with the driver and waited for him at the gate. Little did I know that walking out of the gate would be my MOM and DAD! haha I was completely shocked. I literally had my mouth wide open and gave her a hug. I mean, who would have thought both of my parents would be here in China! Who knew??? :):) But needless to say, my parents are amazing. They have been here now for a day and a half and they are doing great! They are helping me in classes, talking with people, and playing with the kids.I mean here is my dad being all play rough with the kids while my mom has Blossom resting on her lap. So adorable! My favorite part though is that the kids are calling them "Melissa Mama" and "Melissa BaBa." Love it love it love it! :) To be honest, i really thought they would just sit in the back the whole class time. Um, nope!! I was totally wrong. They were talking to each of my students, laughing with them, and helping! They were amazing! I mean they are so supportive of me being here which is just so great. As I look into the future, I know I will be needing them to help me along the way. And supporters too, oh and of course J*sus!!!!!!...haha Everything has been going swell here! I have been kept very busy so I haven't had time to blog that much. Thank you for being so patient and I promise you a blog very soon! :)

Meet the new girl at SFCV :)

I am please to introduce you all to Blossom. She just came to SFCV yesterday and is making friends as I am writing this to you! It was such a miracle that she was finally able to come join us. The orphanage staff was hesitant on letting us help her though. After much debate, they came with her to see what her life would be like here and decided to let her stay.It was amazing to see her play in the playground yesterday! She had so much fun and you could tell how happy she was to be here. Now here is the tricky part, Blossom is 13 years old right now. In China, the cut off age for a orphan to be adopted is 14 years old which means, SFCV has only a year to find a family for her before it is too late. So please, please pr0y for this beautiful girl to be adopted soon! She needs a family so much but most importantly, she needs Him! :) Photo credit goes to Sara! :)

PiCtUrE tImE

Hello all! Here are some pictures from various activities over the course of the week. So I thought you all might enjoy looking at them!!!! Picture 1: Asa and I swinging along. I would hold his hand and he would actually move his stroller by moving his hand with mine. I could tell he liked it by how he smiled when we were doing it. :) 2: Melissa squared! I love this girl so much! She is so cute and she totally knows she is. :) 3: Playing with Cody and Will. Wild boys. :) 4. The crazy interns (Annie, me, Tess, and Hannah) When it rains in China, it POURS! So when it was raining, we were running around the campus and splashing each other. We even went right by some of the kids houses and made funny faces at them. It was such a blast!!!! 5. Beth is in my arms, Will is under me, and Robert wants me to carry him. Sometimes I wish G gave me more hands. :) 6. Lexi and I playing in a water fight! 7. About a week ago, the interns, Stacey, Philip, and Wendy had hot pot for dinner. This is a picture of Philip and I. Boy, can he sure eat a lot! :) 8. The interns and I at the Olympic Park! Hope all of you are doing well! Thank you so much for your pr*yers and support!! G is doing some incredible things over here!

Grayson the monkey

Grayson...oh Grayson...lol Grayson is about I believe 2 and is such an adorable little boy. He has a constricted esophagus but seriously, you can't tell what is wrong with him. (only that his laugh is adorable from it) One day while I was in House of Peace. Grayson thought of me as, well, a trampoline. He would stand up on my legs and then with all his might, jump on my legs. He kept doing this on and on and on and on. But after he would fall in my lap, he would always make such an adorable laugh that i would want him to keep going! What can I say, I'm a sucker for adorable boys! :) He is sooooo cute and I pr*y his forever family finds him soon! :) Pr*yer request!!!!! I am now teaching the primary class and kindergarten class. Both great classes and I'm really enjoying teaching them both. Sadly, since I am a loud person, I talk loudly in these classes because it helps them be excited about English! Please pr*y my voice does not give out and that I can still be that loud silly teacher! :)

Belissa and Jackson

Annie, Sara and I had an amazing opportunity to go to the Beijing Zoo. We were so excited about this event that we talked about it for days before it came.  A team from California wanted to take the kids to the zoo. SFCV has a policy that when there is a field trip, each child has to be paired up with one adult. Sooooo they picked us because the kids knew us. Boo yah! :) Finally the day came and I was paired up with Jackson. The funny thing about July 18th, the day we went, was that it was the same day as his birthday. What kid from SFCV can say they went to the zoo on their birthday? Anyways, he is 4 years old but looks like he turned 6-7. He has been diagnosed with a giant syndrome so he is very big for his age...very! :) I had to carry him too (but I wanted too)!!!!!! Anyways, it was such a blast and I was so glad to be able to go. Thank you Rolling Hills Team for letting me go! Picture Descriptions: 1. Jackson, Joy, and Grayson coming out of their houses at 7am!! Yes, we left at 7am..too early! 2. Rolling Hills Team, interns, Aiyis, teachers, and kids! :) 3. Jackson held my hand the whole time. (Because he had to) :) 4. He made a good armrest. :) 5. Tickle tickle tickle 6. I wuv his dimples! 7. Looking at the bears. We were so close to them!!! 8. It was a long tiring day so I carried Jackson towards the end. I was very sore the next day. 9. Watching Jackson eat his McDonalds. He ate chicken nuggets, fries, one burger, and still wanted more. 10. Jackson and I being goofy during the bus ride there. 11. Jackson wearing my sunglasses. He was awake the whole ride back home when I wanted him to sleep so I could sleep!!

Overlooking Beth

In every house, you have many kids running up to you, jumping up and down, and wanting you to give them your absolute attention. But for me, there is one house which the kids don't come running up to me as much. That house is the House of Blessing. When I first arrived at SFCV, I would go over there with Annie because she is completely in love with a little boy there named Zechariah. All the kids would want her to hold them but when she would point at me to hold them, they would start crying. Anyways, slowly but surely as I have been here for a month, they have started to open up to me. Yesterday, Annie and I went into House of Blessing during our break. I was ready to make funny faces at the babies and have a couple of them maybe become attached to me.Haley and Preston (a couple of the babies) warmed up to me when I was there, wanting me to hold them. I don't know why though but instead of being with the babies, I started tickling Beth. Beth is 3 years old and is mentally delayed. She doesn't talk and has these arm bands on her to prevent her biting herself. She bites a lot, on toys etc. I then decided to pick her up. Usually people don't pick Beth up; she keeps to herself and really doesn't get that much attention. She loved to be held. I was bouncing her up and down, throwing her up in the air, and holding her. She would laugh when I did something silly and even put her head on my shoulder. It was interesting too because when I set her down, she would start crying. So then I would immediately pick her back up and she would be all happy! :) This was an amazing experience for me. It made me realize to not overlook kids if you know what I mean. I seriously have just looked at Beth and been like: "She just wants to be alone and doesn't want me." or "Oh she just bites all the time so I don't want to play with her." I feel so ashamed for having those thoughts.G would never do that to her, He loves everyone just the same. Beth is just the same sweet little girl as anyone else. She just wants someone to love her.

I love the ABCs!

haha you might think the title of this blog post is well...interesting. I think I have been around too many little kids.But anyways.... I wanna make this blog post about the things I love here using the ABCs. (Annie and I have been teaching our preschool classes the ABCs so that's why I have them stuck in my head) I have been here for over a month and I think it is time for me to look back at all my favorite memories from this month. These are only some as I have had lots of memories. :) A is for Adrian. He is a little boy in my preschool classes who actually sings the songs in class. Whenever I ask the kids what songs we should sing, he is the one who yells out a song! :) B is for Baby Melissa! She is so cute! Today, she came up to me and wanted me to hold her! I love how we share the same name. I hope when she gets adopted, they will keep her name Melissa. :) C is for Charissa. She remembers my name now! :) D is for Dianne. Sweet Dianne who doesn't wanna play with kids but just wants to be in your arms. E is for Elephant. Seeing my preschoolers act like elephants is quite adorable! F is for Frances! Another little boy in my preschool class who is so sweet. He can sometimes be overlooked cause the loud ones get in the way. I try to give him some love when the other kids are not in the way. :) He is the one in the picture up above. I love that picture so much. It is on my desktop, facebook profile, and now in this blog! :) G is for...well ya know...haha Without Him, I would not be here. Thanks G! :) H is for Hayden who always colors during my class. I still love her though. :) I is for ice cream! Eating magnum bars and yummy Chinese ice cream bars are quite delicious!! Rachel, I found our ice cream bar!! hehe J is for Jackson! He is such a big 3 year old. He is in my preschool class and whenever he wants my attention, he says: "Hey." haha love that kid. He thinks my name is Belissa. K is for Kyle. I have been listening to his music so much on this trip! I even sang one of his songs to Dianne. Thanks Kyle. L is for Lunch! Chao Bain!!!! I probably totally spell that wrong but that is my favorite lunch dish here. It's sooooo good! M is for mattress. I am thankful that this time I have a mattress when I sleep and AC right by me. :) N is for nicknames. I call Sara, Grandma because she forgets things. She calls me it too. Then recently i have been calling Stacey and Wendy Jie jie (older sister) and they call me mei mei. I love these girls so much!! O is for the face I make at the kids. I love making silly faces at the kids. This is probably why I'm called the silly teacher. P is for Philip. Philip is the boy I tutor in the mornings. We have had some interesting times together. It was awesome seeing him yesterday read the book outloud (he likes to read it to himself) and having his dad tell me he loves math now. THANK YOU G! Q is for Queen. Princess Sierra is actually a queen now....lol R is for roomies! I love my roomies so much! We have had so much fun watching movies, jumping on the trampoline (sorry Tim), and laughing so hard our abs hurt! :) S is for Seth. Whenever he sees me, he yells really loud: "Melissa." Same with Shelby. :) T is for Trampoline! One of my favorite afternoons was jumping on the trampoline with Annie and all these kids. Annie and I kept switching who would jump the kids. It was a blast and I was covered in sweat which then Sara and i had a water fight after! Also, watching the stars with the roomies on the trampoline was quite lovely. Wish we could go on it now! U is for Umbrella! I will never forget running in the rain, getting super wet,having the kids watch their crazy teachers through the windows, and trying to use my umbrella to rescue my shoes. Super fun! V is for Vans! I have been teaching my primary kids transportation. We play this game called Teacher vs. Students. This game helps them review the material and spell out the words. They always win though. W is for Teacher Wang. She is my primary class Chinese Teacher. She is super nice. She is great with the kids and helps me out with translation. She even told me today that the kids missed me. (They have been having VBS and english camp these couple weeks so I don't teach them.) It was funn X is for X-ray...yeah I have no memory for that! Y  is for Year! Every school day, I ask my primary kids what today is. They remember the day of the week, month, day but can never remember the year. 2011 is a big word for them! haha Z is for the ZOO. I can't wait to go to the zoo with the kids, Annie, and Sara on Monday!!!

Noel and Charissa

Noel and Charissa, two peas in a pod. Both of them have CP but that doesn't stop them from having a good time. :) Noel is about 8 and I believe Charissa is about 6. You never see the one without the other and if you do, you are weirded out that they are not together. I have totally fallen in love with these girls. (enough said right? :) Noel was the first one I fell in love with. One day as I was playing with Elizabeth, she was right by us, laughing at our faces and when I tickled. She has the biggest smile ever!!! (yes, someone has a bigger smile than me) She is in my preschool class and I love helping her color. One time while I was reading a touch and feel book to the class, she wanted to touch too so she crawled up to touch! I was so happy how interested she was about the book! She is so cute that I love coming to see her because she has such a huge smile and comes right up when she sees me! ( it's probably cause she knows i'll tickle her. :) Charissa was next. She is another one in my preschool class. She was always so quite in class that I couldn't tell if she like me. It wasn't until one day that I came into her house did I see the true Charissa. We were making funny faces at each other and laughing out loud. It wasn't until yesterday that I absolutely fell in love with her. (I still loved her before then :) I kept asking her in chinese what my name was and in an adorable voice she said: "Melissa!" Awwwww it was just so special because it made me realize how much of an impact I have in her life and many others here. Correction, how much G's love is being shown. These kids are so blessed here and I'm thankful for the staff who are here and G's provision for them. Anyways, these are more of my adorable girls. I love them to death and I pr0y one day they will find forever families.

Lunchtime!!! :)

So Annie and I decided it would be fun to do something with the kids outside of SFCV. We then thought of taking them across the street for lunch. On Thursday we took Annie's kindergarten class and then on Friday we took my primary class. It was such a blast and I'm so glad we did it. I'll try to give little descriptions of each picture but I want you all to enjoy the pictures. Just pretend you were there with me because all of you were through your pr0yers and support. Enjoy! :) Picture 1: Eric, JJ, and I eating. They are in the Kindergarten class. 3. Seth, me Shelby, Hannah, and Grady. These are some of the kids in my primary class except Hannah. She is an intern here. 4. Seth and Philip 5. I'm making goofy faces at Elizabeth and Shelby is staring at Hannah's lovely face. 6. Sipping some juice with my bro Joseph. 7. Annie and Jerak 8. Hannah, Grady, and Elizabeth 9. Everyone in the room was laughing at us during this picture. This is why I'm called the silly teacher. 10. So happy Philip was able to join us. :) 11. After lunch, I had enough money to buy the kids Popsicles. And no, I am not trying to bribe them to like me better...haha

Ummmmmm just a fun relaxing Saturday

Sooo here was my schedule today on July 9, 2011. :) 10:19am- Finally able to sleep until then!!! hehehehe Which is the same time my roomie Sara sleeps in! Shower, get ready, and head down for lunch. 11:00am-LUNCH! Mamma Jewel was telling me that Shelby was calling out for me this morning.( hehe) Joseph came up to me and was like " You are late!" Oops!!! haha 12pm-Skyped with my father and said hello to my mom when she called my dad. hehe I am so thankful for my parents. They are so supportive of their crazy daughter and this crazy dream. 1:00pm-Watch a movie with the roommates. 2:30pm-Kids are done with their naps!!!!!!! Which means us, visitors/interns,we get to raid the houses and play with the kids. So let's see here: I went to House of Peace just after they got up from their nap, said hello to House of Blessing, recorded JJ and Brent singing, held Kennedy, went into House of Love, held Dianne, made Lexie laugh, talked with Henry, wrestled with Joseph, and then ended the day at House of Love (this house is probably one of my favorites but then again, I love the kids here) 5:20pm-BARBECUE TIME! :) hehe This place is one of my favorites now. Since I have been here, I have started to like spicy foods. Not as much as other people do but I really like it. This place we went to had amazing barbecue and I was so full after. When we were down with it, we went to DQ where I had a Green Tea blizzard. (I can't get enough of green tea here) Yeah those were the exciting parts, we came and have just been hanging out ever since. It's always so nice when G gives you a relaxing day. Thank you G! :) Hope all of your Saturdays are as fun and relaxing as mine! :)