Internet is up!

I am going to have one heck of a cell phone bill, but Carl walked me through fixing my connection!!!! It JUST came up and I have to be out of here in an hour... Timing has been like this the entire trip, but we are loving it!!!

I didnt realize how big this was to CCAA. There was quite a reception! Dr Lu (CCAA Director) and MANY other officials there, including civil affairs... These people are all incredible!!!

No time for an update, but here are some pictures. THis is one of the most incredible experiences of our lives....

Also, there are 3 VERY special older girls here. THey are perfectly healthy, BEAUTIFUL, and talented. (They dance and do gymnastics!) Also, Miranda on the list is so special..... She takes care of all the little ones and signs to them. She wants to be a sign language teacher when she grows up. The all greatly desire to have a family and will age out soon. They are not part of the 39 Ox children, but have participated in all our activities. They personally went up to Dr. Lu yesterday and asked if MAA could try to find families for them. CCAA then came to us. I am absolutely in love with these girls adn MAA is committed to find them homes. PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT THESE 12-13 YO HEALTHY GIRLS.... I have tons of photos and videos of them, and every other child.

They are the first three pictures. (Ali and I are the clowns!)

Many blessings,
Diana

Camp Ox Day 1

This is Diana's husband Carl and I am posting for her because she's having problems connecting to the internet from Tianjin. She called in this post to me via cell phone. She told me to tell you that the day was incredible, the kids are incredible and she can't wait to share their information with all of you. She is sorry to disappoint those of you who are closely following, but is currently unable to upload any pictures or video. They are returning to Beijing tomorrow night and will have some pictures uploaded by then if they can work out the technical difficulties.

Thanks for following and thanks for the prayers!

OMG- one actually uploaded!!!

We are in Tianjin!!!

This has to be a short post as we are SO TIRED and have a big day tomorrow- actually it starts in less than 6 hours, but.... We made it!!! We met with the orphanage director, had dinner with some orphanage staff and CCAA, and got a bit of a chance to peek at the kids.

We were bracing Ali before we got there that there are always 1 or 2 that get in your heart and always 1 or 2 that pick you. The first child I saw was Shayne. He is just incredible... He saw me in the hall and stopped and waved.... I went down the hall a bit to see if he peeked again, and a nanny comes walking with a beautiful down syndrome girl. I went up to her to say hi. By that time, Ali was following behind me. As I walked toward "Lulu", she walked toward me, put her arms out, and went right past me into the arms of Ali!!!! Lulu hugged her, wrapped her legs around her, kissed her and stroked her hair. All of us just went hysterical, especially Ali. It was a moment we will never forget and unbelieveably, one we caught on video. (Too big to upload but I will try to cut all my videos down)

These kids are amazing!!!!!!!!!!! I met a few today. Dusty can talk! (the info we got said deaf and mute), Cole is just adorable, Derrick is so sweet and shy, I can't tell if a little guy I saw was Lucas.... Also Shayne... Another DOLL!! We will meet them all tomorrow, but just got a bit of a bonus today.

We also spent a lot of time with Martina, Amy, Zack, Blake and Lorie, the children from Shenzhou. Those kids are so full of life and energy!!!! They took turns one after the other dancing and singing for us in the hotel room. Martina and Lorie were a bit shy at first, but Amy is a TOTAL HAM!!!! THey all gave us hugs, kisses, and talked to us in ENGLISH!!!! THey are learning it and are very impressive!!!
Please take a look at them on the yahoo group. You will not believe how cute they are!!!!

Ive been on this blog for over an hour trying to upload video, but sorry to say that they are not working. I think they are too big. I will try tomorrow with photos too!

This is honestly one of the most incredible experiences in my life. I cant wait to share more with you all....

We will be at the camp all day tomorrow until very late, but I promise pictures then!!!

Thanks for reading!

Love,
Diana

Diana's recap of Tuesday

Hi all-

As Ali said, I just crashed last night. The trip has been incredible but grueling.... Never before have I been so exhausted, and so excited at the same time. You would think I could sleep through the next week, but am unable too manage more than I few hours at a time. This last stretch got me to 4 am China time! (Whoopee, right???!!!)

As Ali said, we met with all CCAA officials yesterday. We are thrilled to tell you that many of them, Director Lu included, will actually be attending the camp!!! (NO PRESSURE, RIGHT?) We are thrilled for their confidence in us and have worked very hard to not only give the children the best time possible, but seize the opportunity to learn as much as possible about each and every child in an effort to place them.

We are currently unsure how much info we will be able to post on each of the 39 children. However, please email Sara if you are interested in a particular child and we will do our best to get everything to you asap. I was initially told that I would be carrying back their referral info to the US, and it is true that they are giving me information, but their traditional Chinese referral that those of you familiar with Chinese adoption are used to seeing, will be sent to our agency through the online system. (Does not mean though that you have to have a LID)

There is also a possibility that MAA may be able to establish an ongoing connection with the children from this orphanage (I'm told there are about 700 children!!!), so additional, younger children may also be available. Again, I probably sound like a broken record but I am strongly advising families interested in a waiting child through MAA to submit their dossier asap. We will have ongoing access to the shared list, our individual list, and possibly Tianjin. They have already asked us (I KID YOU NOT!) to do another camp in Guangdong this year. I don't think 2009 will be an option due to finances unless we find a benefactor or Corporate sponsor (hint hint) =), but based on how this program goes, we are considering fundraising for a camp this time next year. (If you would like to make a donation to the Tianjin children, please do so by sending checks to our agency, by our website, or by the icon on the bottom of this blog.) Our In-country China coordinator has already been to one particular orphanage we are looking to sponsor in Guangdong and has a TON of children of various ages- many VERY YOUNG! (Including a set of twin girls!!!) We are hopeful this will work out, but again, ask you to help make this possible. We are considering a "Sponsor a child" program, much like you see with other non-profits... I am anxious to hear any feedback on this from families. Is sponsoring a particular child, possibly with the opportunity to adopt, something families would be interested in? Let me know..

I am getting WAY ahead of myself right now, but the day could not have been more exciting for us. We are so blessed that we can do such fulfilling work and that we have the faith of those we work with. We have the opportunity not only find families for these children, but also make an impact we can have on those children that will never be adopted... We are realistic as we know many of these children will be VERY HARD if not impossible to place, but we justice are we doing the children if we do not try???

In terms of photos, I don't have pics from today posted (SORRY!) because Ali was the photographer today and does not have her USB cable to import the pics. (SORRY Al, threw you under the bus! lol) However, we will share all of them with you on our website when we get home. Also, I promise will be snapping pics like crazy with my camera the rest of the time.

Two more things- I just want to send thanks to Ali whose presence on this trip with us is such a gift. She is a breath of fresh air and shares the same wide eyes and enthusiasm as I did on my first trip. And to Sara at home- the only thing that is not perfect about this trip is that you are not here to share it with us. As many of you know, Sara is back in the DE office holding down the fort for us and already working with families, getting them prepared so that these children may come home sooner. Sara, we love you and miss you and thank you so much for all you do for us and the children. "Above and beyond" is the understatement of the year!

OK, now that I have counted just a few of my blessings, it is time to try to go back to sleep.... Another big day coming up.

Love,
Diana

Day 3 with CCAA....

Hi Everyone!

It's Ali, filling in for Diana tonight. :)

As most of you know, this is my first time in China! I am soo excited and having a great time!

Today, we met with the CCAA all day. Our first stop was to meet with the women from the Raising Children Department. Aleda and I spent some time here showing the videos Diana and MAA families prepared for Camp Ox. The women loved them and were very impressed with MAA's organization! (Sara, your name tags were a hit!)

While Aleda and I were here, Diana was two floors up, learning how to use the Online shared list for special needs. She says there are 344 SN children on this list waiting for families!

After lunch, we met with Mr. Lu, the head of the CCAA and two other VIP Directors. They were all very interested and impressed to see what MAA has planned for the camp, especially since MAA is the first agency to have a camp like this.

Next, we met with Bridge of Love to discuss Heritage tours. They showed us a beautiful video they had made which highlighted the first ever Reunion Heritage tour. It was held this past November and from the footage looked like a huge hit! Diana will be posting more info about what these Heritage Tours entail later on.

Our day ended with a traditional Chinese neck, back and foot massage! It was AMAZING! According to Diana it was "Heaven"; definitely a great way to end the day!

As you can see, today was another very long, but very successful and exciting day! Aleda and Diana have left me and gone to bed. We have another long day tomorrow since we will be doing some sight seeing in the morning, then heading to the Tianjin Orphanage around 12pm.

Talk to you all soon!

Ali

Fun day of touring, and Holiday dinner

Hi All-

Today was so much fun. Ali and I braved the Great Wall, and I think we got our exercise for the next week. It was just incredible. Aleda did her favorite thing in the world while we climbed... SHOPPED! (Just wait til the Tianjin kids see how much she enjoys it!!!)

It is the last night of the Chinese New Year today so the streets are covered in red lanterns and there are fireworks wherever we turn. We had an incredible traditional Chinese dinner and I have fireworks going off outside our window as I type. We really picked a great time to come.

The Chinese are as polite and welcoming as ever. We had about 3 people grab Ali and I to take our pictures. We decided that they must think we are Allison Hanigan (How I met your mother & American Pie- Band Camp girl) and a chubby Natalie Portman. Well, this is what the Americans tell us anyway....

We truly had so much fun fooling around in stores, just being goofballs. I am posting some pics and am thanking God it is not video as you would all think we had lost our minds. You will probably think that anyway, but who cares? Life is short, laugh hard!!!!

Tomorrow we meet with the CCAA all day and have dinner with the directors. It is a big day for us so please pray hard for us.

That's it for tonight.

Good night, God bless...

Diana, Aleda and Ali