Washer and Dryer have seen Better Days!

I think the washer and dryer that came with the apartment have definately seen better days. I think they are at least 8 years old. Since they are so small, I am sure they have done many loads of laundry! Just today, the dryer was making a horrible noise that was worse than normal. So I called up the office and they had sent maintenance within the hour. Well when he arrived, it had stopped making that noise. Both Jin Di and I got the giggles because it never fails for something like that to happen. So the dryer tumbles on:) Now the washing machine gave me hope one day that maybe we could get new ones. This was the sight one morning. We thought it was funny that it went up the drain on the other sid of the wall:)

My wishes didn't come true. They are still going strong but LOUD! Oh well, they wash and dry. What more could I ask for?

Miscellaneous Pictures

I thought I would post some of these pictures that I took a while back!

Jason has a friend at work that has brought us quite a bit of items from her farm. We received some delicious vegetables, a leg of lamb and these beautiful eggs. The green ones are duck eggs. I have to say that I wasn't brave enough to keep those. Well, there were so many that I did have Jin Di take some home.

This trailer was parked about 3 blocks away from where we live. There was actually 2 others on the next block. They park them and take one or two chairs off and sit in them. They were there all weekend and I don't think many chairs were sold. For some odd reason, we have this fixation with McDonalds since we have moved here. I have no idea why - maybe because they deliver...... hot burgers and fries and the best tasting ice cream McFlurries (Oreo). I would say 5 burgers/nuggets, fries and McFlurries cost us about $25 which includes the $1 delivery charge:) Jason and I had taken a cultural training class down town. It was a great course and we really enjoyed it. One day Jason was able to capture some blue skies with his camera on his phone.

I have to say this area is really pretty at night. They have lots of bright color lights on the buildings and highways.

Stay tuned - I have a few more things to post:)

Birthday Time!

It's that time of year again when we start decorating chocolate cakes!

Katelyn had her friend Madison over to help celebrate her turning the big "10". I should mention that Kate also had her hair done that day. She loved it because they made it "straight".
We had also invited another family to join us. They work with Jason and are from the U.S.A. Even Maggie was in on the celebration.

She is looking so grown up for "10" and at times is acting much older:)

She wasn't too happy with her brother after this picture but overall she had a great weekend!

We're back! It's been busy!

Ok, I can't believe it's been over a month since I last posted. I have been receiving some "heat" so I thought I better try to get us caught up.

I have a good, valid excuse for not posting sooner. We have a baby in the house.

Shortly after we arrived in Shanghai, I was introduced to a woman that volunteered for a foundation that helps orphaned babies that have been born with neurological defects. I was really wanting to learn more about how I could volunteer. The Baobei Foundation really went straight to my heart. I knew instantly that I wanted to be a part of this foundation some way.

To be honest, I was thinking that I would volunteer a couple of times a month and go to the hospital to hold the babies or give the Ayi a break. Also, I heard about "healing homes" where you take a baby into your home after they have had surgery and you could provide a home for short or long term.

I went along with my friend to the hospital to see the children's hospital and maybe hold the 2 babies that had recently had surgery. It was a great experience. I think it helped that I was expecting much worse. It was very different. I felt like I really could go anywhere in that hospital and nobody would stop me. There is no privacy or monitoring of the floors. There were tons of people and tons of sick children! I am very thankful for our healthcare in the U.S.A.

After leaving the hospital, I think I talked nonstop to the family about one of the babies. I went to a coffee morning to learn more about Baobei and volunteering. I should mention that our sea shipment arrived the following week. They delivered on a Tuesday and everything was unpacked and put away by Sunday. I think most of the pictures were even hung:) In the meantime, we had decided to become a long term "Healing Home". We were ready! Well, it turned out that she had to stay in the hospital a bit longer to received some IV antibiotics for an infection. So I made quite a few trips to the other side of Shanghai to see her.

She was able to finally come home to our house on the 12th of March. She is such a good baby and very happy. We have been able to figure some type of schedule. It is working. It is amazing how much we forget. All of us have been enjoying her fun personality. So, we have been a busy household. I think I am able to finally get caught up on some pictures and blogging. So stay tuned. I am not able to post any pictures of the baby on the public internet per the rules of the foundation and orphanage. However, I ask that you visit the Baobei Foundation website

http://www.baobeifoundation.org/.