Puppet Theater

On Tuesday I took Kai Wei to see a puppet troupe from Taiwan perform with hand puppets. The show was really neat. They used traditional hand puppets for their first show, which was based on the traditional 15th century tales of the Monkey King. The second show they used puppets about twice as large as the traditional puppets and the story (which included a lot of Kung Fu and sword fighting) was a story they had written. Kai Wei really enjoyed himself. It took some coaxing to get him into the group photo with the master puppeteer at the end, but he finally went up and was happy to have his program autographed.



He bought a puppet for himself afterwards and he and Daniel had fun today and yesterday making puppet shows using his new puppet (Guang Gong- he's the one with the red face) and the 2 that I brought back from Taiwan last summer. Here are some snippets from their shows.

Just over a year ago

Take a look at the ticker at the top of the page. *sigh*

Just over a year ago today, I was sitting in an English class in the dining hall at Christian Mountain Children's home, sitting with the little guys and whispering the answers to Kenny and Fanny. We were practicing numbers and letters. Melody interrupted and told me I needed to go to the office, my Mom was trying to e-mail me.

At that moment I was filled with such anticipation. A mix of nervous dread and excitement. Because, really the only way for them to know that my Mom was trying to contact me was if she called. And, I had missed a call from home to the cell phone I was borrowing earlier that day. My parents already knew I was there safely. I had contacted them. So there were only 2 reasons they would call twice in one day: something terrible had happened at home or we had gotten our referral.

So, nervously, I walked over to the office, signed onto my e-mail, and opened it up to this.


The tears started streaming down my face. I was so happy and excited and in love with this little girl I had never met.

I wished so badly that I could print out the pictures of she and Kai Wei and show them to everyone, but I had to content myself with saving their picture as my computer desktop. (I didn't see a printer anywhere).

When we first got our referral, we hoped they would be home in 3-6 months. Maybe even in time for my parents anniversary in October. Then the orphanage told us 6-9 months was more likely, and we revised out hopes to Christmas. Christmas got closer and closer and there was still no movement with Ssu Ya's case. We started telling people "hopefully February or March". Kai Wei's final ruling was actually Dec. 10 and by the time the end of Jan. rolled around and Sarah Grace STILL hadn't had her hearing, we decided we needed to bring him home NOW. So, once he came home in February, we still optimistically told people we hoped she'd be home before the summer. I even bought her winter pajamas hoping she would be able to get some use out of them. Spring passed, summer came and I hoped she would be home by the one year since referral mark. Now it has passed and I just hope she comes home. No deadlines. No more expectations. I just don't want her bed to stay empty, her clothes unworn, the toys never played with. I want my little sister to come home.

Summer Haircuts!

The boys got their hair cut the other day. Now they're ready for summer.

Before:

After:

Aren't they handsome?

Jonathan is away at camp this week, but he recently got his hair cut too. Yet another handsome brother.


Still no news on Sarah Grace (though we did just get some update photos). Penny won't be back in Taiwan for another 4 days still.

Court Update

We heard yesterday that Ssu-Ya was very brave at her hearing. She spoke clearly and stated that she wanted to go to America and start living with her new family. The orphanage has asked us to give an updated "child care plan." A kind of picture of what her life with us will be like and what our family and community is like for the judge. I sent that off along with 24 pictures--emailed. It will be filed shortly with the court. Sarah Grace's representative from the orphanage leaves for a business trip June 17-23, so I doubt we will hear anything before that. Please pray for her too. She has a lot of time and energy invested in this and she has to translate my wordy documents! They have really been supportive of Ssu-Ya at the orphanage and realize how traumatic this has been for her. The judge asked the birth parents both to prove that they could provide for Ssu-Ya. He also wants proof that the man is actually her biological father. We were also told that the foster family appeared as witnesses, but I'm not sure if that worked for or against us.

Well, we'd appreciate your continued prayers and we'll keep you posted!

PLEASE PRAY for Sarah Grace Ssu-Ya

We were just notified by email that our little girl's court date is NOW!
(the email said "tomorrow, June 13" in Taiwan --which is any time tonight in the USA)

We would really appreciate your prayers at this critical time. Especially for Ssu Ya, as this will be so traumatic for her.

Thank you and God Bless, We'll let you know what happens.

Debbie and Dana and family

backpacking!

We just got back from a 2 night backpacking trip. Dad and Jonathan and Kai Wei went with Boy Scouts a few weeks back and Dad mentioned that if we went this weekend the mountain laurel would probably be blooming. So, on Sunday morning we headed out. Mid afternoon we stopped at a icy cold creek to play and cool down. We caught crayfish and even a frog!







Unfortunately, our campsite that evening was not nearly as nice. The bugs came out in swarms and I'm still not sure how we managed to fit 3 tents among the rhododendron. We stayed in our tents as much as possible that evening, and got an early start on Monday morning. We left the bugs behind and enjoyed the mountain laurel, which really was in full bloom. 2 lunches, a nap, several rest breaks, a very steep hill later, and a few miles later, we made it to a much better camp site. This one was along the stream, and after the heat and the hiking of the day, we were all ready to get in the water and splash around. So ready, in fact, that I didn't even get out my camera.






The boys enjoyed looking for crayfish and even talked my parents into letting them eat some. They were a real hit. Kai Wei ate his shell and all. Yummm, crunchy. Monday was also Jonathan's 13th birthday, so we celebrated with a sparkler in fig newtons. (cake's don't pack so well... don't worry he will have cake and (more) presents later. He got his backpack as an early birthday present and some candy and a water bottle on the trail Monday morning. Some of us procrastinators(that would be me) still need to shop for a present)






This morning we were up (sort of) with the sun. Rebecca and I were still wishing we were asleep when Kai Wei came over to look at the 2 "baby butterflies" (That's what he calls caterpillars- and what he thinks people look like in their sleeping bags.) Once Daniel came to join him, we really started to feel like we were exhibits in a zoo, so we decided it was time for the butterflies to emerge from their cocoons, though neither of us felt much like butterflies this morning.






We just had a short hike out to the road, and were back in time to stop for ice cream just before lunch. We all had fun, but with the temperature reaching 100 today, I think we're all glad to back in our own air-conditioned house, itching our mosquito bites instead of swatting at bugs.