Back from China!!

We are home, and I think we are pretty much recovered. Jonathan went back to school today, although her wasn't real happy about that ;-)

Let me start off by saying how happy we are to be back together as a whole family again. The kids at home had a bit of a rough time with me being gone, and I am so happy to be back with them again. The next time we go to China, it will be all of us :-)

I've been trying to figure out how to post about our trip, without it ending up being a book. We didn't have internet in our room, so I have a week's worth of things to write about! So much happened, we had so many different experiences, and I want to put it all in writing.  I've decided to pick just random memories that we have, and post about them over the next couple of weeks.

I've decided to make my first post about the most touching part of our trip. The kids that we met there!! Shepherd's Field has a little under 100 kids, and I think by the end of our week we visited with them all. Jonathan and I had our favorites of course ;-) We would visit the kids, hold them, play with them, love them. We enjoyed every minute of it! We have to remember though, these are orphans... they don't have parents! The nannies and the staff at Shepherd's Field are the only constant in their lives. The nannies work in shifts, and although they take care of their physical needs, they don't give them the love that parents would give them. Don't get me wrong, there has to be some attachment there. The nannies work with the kids day in and day out, so I'm sure they care about them. But at the end of their work day, the nannies go home to their families. These children are craving love and acceptance. It was obvious from the moment we walked into the homes. Never having met Jonathan and I before, they would come running to be held and played with. We loved every minute of it of course, but how sad, you know? They want the love of anyone who will give it to them!

The "staff" (talking of those other than the nannies) at Shepherd's Field are very caring people. When they go into the houses, the love they have for the kids is obvious! There are a lot of kids though, and the staff is very busy with other things, so the majority of the attention the kids receive are from the nannies and visitors.

I want to talk about a few of the kids there that really touched us... I'd love to list them all but I don't know how much this post will hold! ;-)

AMITY... She is a 7 month old little girl that had emergency heart surgery a month or so ago. She is so tiny and so sweet! Definitely one of Jonathan's favorites :) The surgery saved her life, but Shepherd's Field has to pay off her medical bill in order to be able to get surgery for other kids that need it. They still owe about $5000 towards her surgery. If you are interested in donating, let me know!

Or Donate Here: http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.causes.com%2Fcauses%2F84078-shepherd-s-field-children-s-village%2Factions%2F1533147&h=uAQHvglAFAQGrGnjx1VOhrul2P5sYdf_7lykZlGgqHfm58Q

LIAM... He is about 11 months old, but is the size of a newborn. He was the first child I held when we got there, and I am in love ;-) He also has a heart condition, as well as a hernia, and will need surgery soon. He is so fragile, but loves to be held!






VIVIENNE.... She is 7 months old and had bowel surgery that was successful. She has crossed-eyes and always had a scowl on her face that makes her so cute :)









NATALIE BRYNE... She is 11 months old, has a heart condition, and sounded so sick! I really worried about her, but was told that they hope to get her in for heart surgery soon!













KENNEDY... This little 5 year old boy is amazing! (And he's silly!)

Kennedy has hydrocephalus, but now has a shunt placed and is doing really well. His head is large because of the hydrocephalus, so learning to hold his head up has been one of his biggest challenges! He receives therapy, and can now crawl and take himself to the bathroom. He is starting to work on pulling himself up to stand too.

Kennedy is so smart. He has learned English just because of the frequent visits from Americans, and it is easy to hold a conversation with him. He also would translate a little bit for us! Kennedy loved playing with Jonathan, but it was also obvious that he was craving a mother's love too. He would play with Jonnie, but would make his way over to me for some hugs and kisses pretty often too. I absolutely love him!!

See a video I took of him here: http://youtu.be/jENkwRomiJs

MIA... I wanted to throw her in here too, because she was Jonathan's absolute favorite! She is being adopted!! Her parents are from Stow, Ohio and they left this morning to go get her to bring her home!! Praise GOD!! :) Follow their journey at www.fiveofmyown.blogspot.com

ETHAN... born with facial and left ear deformity. Such a sweet baby!

MELANIE... born with only partial arms and legs. She was amazing!! She would crawl around so fast, and was very independent!! She also has an adoptive family that will hopefully be bringing her home soon.













CJ... Has an unrepaired cleft palate. Such a cutie!!












NOEL and CHARISSA... Both with Cerebral Palsy. Such happy girls :)

DIANNE... This little one craved attention so badly. She was one of the little ones that just grabbed on to me as soon as I walked in the door, and cried when we left. Heartbreaking!






That is just a few. Like I said, I could go on and on!!

Click here for a video about Shepherd's Field
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FIsAD5ztQ&h=zAQHKw30kAQHWOwYF-3i3zJKSkGOlxls72u287LIbxvfDrA