It Snowed

On Christmas Day, On Christmas Day!

Thanks for all your thoughts! This Christmas we felt especially joyful, thankful and content!

Christmas Eve Day Drew and I had an extra special treat...we saw our new baby! At about 12 weeks, this was my first time in to the doctor, and our first ultrasound. That night we had a special dinner with our team and Foreign Affairs Officer, who is our Chinese boss at this university. If you are a salmon lover, like me, you must try this recipe which we ate that night.

Christmas Day --- We felt privileged that while the rest of the university was in class as usual, we foreign teachers got the day off! (It's in our contract.) We had a fun team brunch and then opened presents! Our family went to play outside in the warm afternoon sunshine. Our team played card games and did a little caroling for the neighbor.

Of course we got to skype with our families back in Minnesota. Oh! And a special treat...I skyped with my dear friend Amber who is living in France.


Happy New Year!

Love,

Drew, Rachel & Titus

Holiday Teaser

Darling Chirstmas pictures to come -- check back soon.

By the way, we had a wonderful Christmas! So joyful, thankful and content!

Visit from A New Pal

Titus has a new pal, LL., who came to visit for a few days. LL is 3 months older than Titus. He lives in the northern part of our province with his Grandma, while his mom works at the family-run bread shop near our house. LL's mom, a friend of mine, has been seeing her son every few months.

This living situation is not uncommon across China. Parents look for work to support the family, and the retired Grandparents care for the children. Sometimes these families are living together or close by; in other cases they are separated by many miles.


LL to Titus: "Dude, why does your family hang all the toys on this weird tree?"
Titus to LL: "Beats me dude! Let me show you how to pull this tree over!"

[Thankfully the tree has only been toppled once.]

Fabric Market

Thanks to Kanwei, our pictures are back on the blog!

Christmas in Changsha

I thought you might like to know how we've been preparing to celebrate Christmas here, where it is not a holiday, save the paper Santa head that has been hanging in this one restaurant all year long.

A couple weeks ago we had been feeling depressed, missing all the traditions of Christmas. Then, encouragement came when we got some of your Christmas cards and packages (thank you!) and a box of discarded decorations. We even have a small Christmas tree! We had stockings made at the local fabric market.

The fabric market is a group of over 100 hole-in-the-wall shops with more selection than JoAnn. We three went together to pick out our fabrics, then Drew and Titus played with a new little friend while I explained to the seamstress what a Christmas stocking is supposed to look like. Though she thought the stockings were bizarre, she did a good job. I sewed some buttons and ribbon on later, and I'm still stumped about how I could put names on the top. Any ideas? (I don't have fabric paint and I definitely won't learn embroidery.)

We have lots of parties coming up for students and colleagues -- looking forward to decorating cookies and singing carols. There's a special dinner planned for Christmas Eve (I'm making salmon) and team brunch on Christmas Day!

I have great pictures you share with you, but our new vpn is now allowing me to post them right now. (This site is blocked in China and we use something called a vpn to defy the block.)


Merry Christmas to you and yours!


with love,

the a's

Eye Color

I am still holding out hope for a brown-eyed baby Titus.

Orphans

It seemed like every time I passed a beggar on the street, especially the kids, the Father was pressing me to do something, and He wouldn't let up. I asked you to be thinking of me as I explored some effective, sustainable ways of helping our fellow man in this demographic.

Titus and I have begun working with orphans in Changsha. There's another expat org here that has receiving a bunch of kids to young adults, coming out of the gov'ts orphanage, for whom they have exclusive care. All of the kids are disabled. They've been abandoned by their families. This org is graciously allowing me to participate in a couple of their projects, a couple times per week.

One of the projects is a bright, colorful, and clean facility for higher-functioning individuals. Teens and young adults learn a trade, like jewelry-making, embroidery, or card-making. Their work is then sold. They are able to live semi-independently. I hear that the government is shocked and impressed to observe that these individuals are able to contribute to society. Under the government's system, they would be considered invalids. This facility also has housing for younger kids, many who are blind, and brilliant therapy rooms. You would be impressed at the quality of care and therapy! You would love the residents, too -- warm and friendly.

Second project is basically an orphanage for lower-functioning youngsters. Most of these are confined to bed or a seat. They also have great facilities and special therapy. My role here is to exposed these kids to different sensory experiences, get to know them, make them feel loved. The boys and girls really enjoy our singing and guitar music, or watching baby Titus run around. Would you believe that this place is located two bus stops (5 minutes) from our campus gate? Of all the places in Changsha...it's unbelievably close.

Third project, briefly, is a center that aims to prevent abandonment by supporting families with disabled children. They provide training, support and classes for kids/parents who are at risk for abandonment. They asked me to paint a mural on the wall. I'm doing kites.



Thanks again for uplifting me. I feel that our asking has been answered!

Rachel

Addendum to Thanksgiving

You remember I said that we led the kids' music on T-day -- I had to share these pics with you, I think they're great.