SLEEP

I am feeling glad that at least some of our kids are sleeping around here. No one is on the same time zone but at least there is some snoozing happening here. Yesterday our pre-teen slept until 11:15am. The boys went to bed last night at 8:30pm and they are still sleeping at 10:15am this morning. Since I went to bed after 2am with Peter and woke up after 4am, I confess that I am feeling a bit jealous.

I don't have to use veiled terms any longer. Please pray for the jetlag thing over here. The sleeping situation is kinda wacky. Drugs haven't helped. Or keeping them up. So now I am seeking reinforcements: prayer warriors unite! Please pray that the Fitzpatrick Family get on some sort of USA schedule all together. Sleeping in our own beds--to add that!

Any pointers out there from our world traveling friends? We are open to suggestions!

The Bolts and others have told us it takes 3 days so I don't want to appear impatient. But really. With kids on totally different sleep schedules, Bob and I are not sleeping enough. Comment with ideas...

post script: aidan slept in until 1pm. Samuel until 1130am. Peter never slept! URGH!!!!!!

Backtracking

Here are some photos from the last days of week two that I was not able to post. But I did blog about some of these moments.

One of my favorite camp moments. Aidan and Stewart joined hands and hearts during our second week in Nanshan. So beautiful. You cannot adopt children after 14yo in China. Heartbreaking since Stewart was 16 and there is room in my heart and home for this precious son.

Sunny, Kristen, Patty, Anna, Bethany and Shiloh

On the eve of Anna's Homecoming to the Family of God

So lovely! A moment we will treasure! 

No coincidence that Anna has her BMH "Shout for Joy" shirt on.
That is exactly what the angels and we were doing in that moment.

Kristen's girls. Kate was one of them! She adores Kristen as much as all her buddies.

My translator Nikki, Kate and Kristen.

Reading her letter from Kristen and looking at their family photo.

Saying good-bye is never easy.

Bookend beauties. Kristen, Sunny and Bethany

The boys were trying to keep it light.

Harvy, Bob, Bob, Robert, and Tyler hamming it up before a tearful goodbye.

Tony, BMH staff member and believer, was a favorite of the Fitz fam. Here with  Jimmy, our teen. He wrote the most endearing letter to Bob. His best line was, "Do not cry for what was lost but rejoice in what happened.". So profound.

Nikki said I was a like a mother to her. A high compliment and I am actually old enough to have been.

There were some sobering moments too.

More goofy boys working hard at making the hard day lighter.

Oh boy do I have stories about that beard on David Bolt's face!

Prayerfully not "good-bye", but "see you later".

So I finally read the Team China blog!

Sheesh! I apologize for the formatting and misspellings and incoherent offerings. Cut-off posts. Out of order posts (the Nanshan post was delivered while we were in Xi'an!). The duplicate posts. A virtual hodge-podge.

Oh boy! The editress in me was pretty appalled.

But as Bob and I sat here last night (was it last night?) and read our words, we were both so glad to have some of our memories recorded here. Not all of them. Some are too raw to share. Some too embarrassing. Some couldn't be shared within the NO CHRISTIAN words format allowed. Some need to be "unpacked" and processed before they are shared. Some need never be shared because they are secrets between us and our Father.

I am so glad to have shared here. Not just with you all. That was awesome. Although at first we did not know anyone was even reading the blog, it was an easy way to keep in contact since we had no access to a phone or skype. And a blog is a cheater's way to journal. And photo scrapbook (Although I confess it is nice to load more than one photo at a time. And preview my posts after spell-checking :).

Mostly, I am glad that we took the time to put it down--since the time sped past and three weeks ago in Nanshan seem like a lifetime ago. I am grateful that we captured some of that "feeling" while we were experiencing it. And I am glad you came along with us on this journey. Thank you so much for reading here and praying for Team China and offering your encouragement to us in the comments. I can never tell you how much they mean/meant to us. To me. Thanks!

Okay, since I can't share with you in "real" time about our third week of camp in Xi'an, I will start by offering some great pictures. Here goes...

Yay! I think this may be the ONLY Team China photo of us all together!

Team China in the Terra Cotta Museum gift shop with Yvonne our translator.

It was soooo crowded but I forgot to take a picture of the sticky mass of humanity!

The warriors were spectacular in Pit 3.

We were allowed such close proximity.

All but two members of Team China. Mom and I aren't in many photos.

Our beautiful girls after they bargained in the market for Chinese handpainted fans.

Our warriors with their bamboo sabers.

For this history-loving momma, a visit to China's ancient treasures in their ancient capital city on the ancient silk road was a treat! I am glad it was our first real sight-seeing expedition.

Good Morning! Good Night? Good Grief!

My internal clock is so messed up. I truly don't even know what day it is. I gave up trying to sleep so here I am!

Peter was having a bubble bath and singing at 1am this morning. The Benedryl finally hit him a few hours later while he was jumping on the bed singing, "I love to sing it in Chinese, Wo-Ai-Ne!" Cute at any other time of the day! But at least he wasn't having a meltdown like last night (?) when he cried from 4am to 5am.

Spiderman fell asleep between daddy's legs, at last!

So we are settling in.

Reilly is in our bed, Peter just woke up and Kate is sitting here journaling. All before the sunrises here in Temecula, CA, in the US of A!!

We returned Saturday night. Or Sunday morning? To our beautiful little home.

The first thing Bob noticed was the lawn (and it was dark at 930pm!). Aidan noticed that someone had weed-whacked under the trampoline (a virtual jungle before this week!). Samuel notice all  the fruit on the table (helped him break his hunger strike! he lost 5 lbs in China! his shorts were falling off in the airport since we had no belts!). Kate noticed the pretty flowers placed inside and out to brighten our home. Reilly noticed the made-with love welcome home signs. I noticed that someone had CLEANED our refrigerator before stocking it up! Peter noticed the caterpillars--and they helped nip his fit of hysteria in the bud. Thanks Santo boys for that added touch! Even our car was cleaned--thanks Hubbs boys!

The happy sign that greeted us in our living room.

Oh the joys of being loved well!

I have no idea which lovely friends shopped and cleaned and gardened our home to make it so welcoming and inviting. But thanks a million. It was such a tremendous blessing to us to not have to think about ONE SINGLE thing but resting yesterday.

Aidan's first comments after cataloging all the food and the clean house: "We should leave more often. Where to next?"

Bob's first words: "Kelly, you have some truly amazing and wonderful friends."

I agree.

Thank you so much for serving us as we were serving Him. You were serving Him as you were serving us. What a beautiful cyclical thing to behold when the Body carries one another! I love you all.

We are Home!

God bless America. Land that I love!

The rush of patriotism was unexpected. But it was good to land in LAX and all its familiarity.

Dad brought Busy Bee and Dave brought Quiznos--all traumatized tummies were appeased. PARTY!

We are all home...safe and sound.

More to follow after we rest and begin to "unpack" this summer!

Thanks for sharing in this incredible journey with us. Photos and insight coming! We still have so much to share. STAY TUNED...

we have completed our mission!

the kids are gone back to their orphanages, our job is done. it was a sweet week. neat relationships were formed. reilly had the opportunity to share the Truth with bethany's translator. this week was completely different than our last two. we will wait until home to tell you all the neat experiences, and not so neat ones :) but our internet connection is always sketchy. 

we leave tomorrow at noon for the long flight to beijing and then on to LAX. we are all glad to be coming home. it was an amazing summer but we are exhausted. not weary of doing good--just done with our work here for now. thanks for partnering with us.

kristen is well now (i sent an email on wed letting you all know but it cut it off!) and bethany stayed up the entire time. such troopers. now focus your talking on kate as she has the stomach flu--and vomited 20 times like night. so sad. little sweet pea. thanks for asking for His mercies. travelling with the tummy troubles is unmentionable. and ask that the rest of the team stays well for the more than 20 hours of flight (barring delays like last week!). so we really would like a smooth trip home with no complications. thanks for asking with us. if not, then endurance and patience within this tired crowd. 

and feel bad for our seat mates--we haven';t had clean laundry for a week and we are all wearing the least dirty things home :) i won;t tell you about the showering situation but lets just say that i have a hard time getting my boys to shower and brush teeth in usa--it is impossible here since the well water smells like the eggs we eat every morning for breakfast. only worse. :)

okay, no more nasty details. there are much more wonderful details to dwell on. lovely, noble, praisweworthy things. can't wait to share it with you all. stay tuned for a good update when we arrive home safely. we are changed. for the good. 

love and smiles, team china

nanshan

okay. i have a few extra moments as samuel is ill :( and i am in our room with him while he rests. he has a fever and is not eating. please talk to the father about health for the team. 

the team is meeting for our first orientation as i type! so exciting. there are five extra volunteers in addition to our ten! one of the guys who arrived from california this morning turns out to be a family friend's son--tyler curtis. He is knitting this team together. we have 24 young kids coming. swimming is the first thing on the schedule--which is thrilling to my kids because the pool is so magnificent. photo will come soon.peter LOVES the bathing caps and even wore his at the beach where they are not required.

 i think we are beginning to figure stuff out. our room was just installed with wifi! now to set up skype and photo downloads. i know we will not have much time for these things since we have a busy schedule (kristen will be teaching a piano class, reilly ballet, and kickboxing for me--no laughing!). we have no laundry access so that is the only "roughing it" so far. 

we are not in yantai. the name of the province is nanshan at a nanshan wellness recreation center. sorta like lawerence welk resort villas. they hope to build up a vacation spot where follks come here for their vacations but live elsewhere. so we are not suffering! our team hospitality staff took us to the beach yesterday complete with hot dogs and oreos! we even had fireworks but every member of team china was too pooped to watch. jet lag is finally settling down but it was just an ordinary late night. our sweet teens are early to bed girls and of course our children are as well. so the 11pm  fireworks were heard but not observed. oh well.

it is absolutely beautiful here. lush and green and clean. the humidity and heat are the only drawbacks. and the pollution. there is a mine near us that keeps the sky from being blue. and the only place for a/c is in our rooms. but we weren't even expecting air conditioning so we have all been feeling spoiled. david from BMH said they have NEVER had accommodations like this year. 

we took our first trip into the tiny town nearby using a shuttle. we draw quite the crowds. all these blond girls with french braids. that seems to be a part of the four girls uniform--braids! go kristen go! wish is could share with you the video they made in their free time yesterday. glad to have it as blackmail for any story telling they may be inclined  to enjoy when we return! 

peter is a favorite. and he is being a trooper. in usa he would NEVER let anyone treat him like a baby. but he is soaking it all up.i can not tell you how often a sweet chinese lady picks him up, kisses him. giggles when he says hello in chinese and then asks to take his picture. it is fun. i am proud of him. and all the kids. bethany has the dubious award of being the only person on team china to try EVERY single thing at every single meal! so brave! we are served between 8-10 courses a meal so you can understand what an accomplishment this is. the teens are making me so proud. last night kristen had an entire beach watching her bump the volley ball. and their pick-up soccer game was well recorded by bethany's paparazzi! i won;t tell you about their audience at the pool. in chinese culture, it is acceptable to stare. and they sure do. esp at our lovely twins. 

okay--that is enough for now. i will let you know about the buddies and translators we are assigned to today. so you can begin to talk to our father about each one by name. thanks for being interested and partnering with us in this. kelly fo rteam china 

Goodbye

Most goodbyes are hard, but China goodbyes are especially hard. Today's goodbyes were harder than last week. Apple woke up every morning and asked, "Is today the day I have to leave?" Mei Li was did not want to leave either but I did not really understand how much she wanted to stay until I saw the tears streaming down her face. When my translator Sunny said, "Mei Li I will miss you," Mei Li said, "You don't have to miss me. I'll find a way to come back next year."

we are alive!

so sorry that is has been so long since we have updated. the internet is sketchy here and only works in 5min increments. let me give you the quickest news:

kristen is out of bed and has rejoined the living. yeah! she is feeling better but not healed. 

bethany chose to STAY UP even though she is feeling ill. she decided that if she stopped, she wouldn;t be able to go again.

the rest of us are well enough to be enjoying all the activites;

here are the names of the team members:

our translator is corben and our two boys are both 13yo-paul and timothy. so sweet and smiling. timothy is very persistent and has learned basketball, and fountain escaping, along with pottery so far. he just keeps on.

kristen has lily as trans and kayla (17yo) as orphan

bethany has phoebee as trans and two boys who are in the process of being adopted by their volunteer family fromBMH last summer! YIPEE! their names are joseph and richard. 

mom has phaylee as trans and two boys, albert and, oh dear, i forgot the other boys name!

we just returned from pottery and playing in the fountains at the Big Goose Pagoda in the square. it was amazing!

peter is doing much better. since there are so many families here, they 

From Reilly (again)

Hello from Xian! We have arrived safely at a NEW CAMP! Yay! I am looking forward to all the kids arriving TOMORROW! I can't believe we are on our last week in China! Tonight for dinner we are going to dinner at a restaurant to meet our translators. Today we went to the TERRA COTTA WARRIORS! Which was wonderful and then we went to SUBWAY!  which was almost as wonderful (or more!) The Vidlers are really nice and so are the rest of the staff but I can't remember all their names. we have met Rose from the BMH movie and we think we are going to have Hannah come tomorrow! Cool! Looking forward to seeing everyone!

                                                                      -Reilly

sunday in the country with 1.6 billion people

and i feel pretty sure a good portion of them were at the terra cotta warrior museum today! the masses of humans!!!

it was pretty magnificent. america is such a baby country compared to the long and storied history of china. we all enjoyed our sight seeing today. even if we were all a bit tired still. we had fellowship this morning with a bunch of Family Members and sang songs to our Dad. it was really sweet. there are three other complete families here with their young children not including ours, so we are so excited to meet others daring to take on this kind of adventure. now that we are back to "work" we are looking of forward to meeting them all. i already forgot their names (remember, we met them early this morning after little sleep and no breakfast). i will introduce them all later. 

did i mention that we have officially run out of all our american food? there was mourning. but we have our first xi'an meal in an hour so we will keep you posted on that experience--dumplings at a restaurant where we will meet all our translators.

after our tour of the terra cotta warriors--we ate at subway (cheering! kristen said it was JUST what she was craving. we are all tired of kfc!) and our translator ivonne (she loves twilight and harry potter and tried to interrogate the girls but they were clueless!) haggled for us as we did our first souvenir shopping. fun day.

still talk to our Father about peter. his behavior is very mercurial. he is so very overtired and over stimulated and under-routine--sweet boy. none of us recognize him at times.

i have to tell you how many times our four blond-haired blue-eyed girls were photographed today. when we first arrived two weeks ago, we all found it awkward and intrusive that the chinese are so bold to just grab us and ask to be photographed but now our "starlets" just smile and wave like they are used to it. funny!

when we are not serving, we all admitted that we feel a bit lonesome for home. but every time the kids show up we are renewed and excited. expectant of their arrival tomorrow morning! thanks for joining us in asking, seeking,  knocking!

gotta run. hope all is well with our loved ones. we miss you. 

ps  expect no photos. the internet is slow and temperamental here. so sorry. i promise to post them all when we return :) we got some great photos. so did quite a few chinese people of hubbs girls :)

ps continued requests for health for reilly, kate and me. deep cough that interrupts sleep would be great if it went bye-bye. and kristen sounds congested as if she is headed towards this nasty bug. 

ps and of course for good connections with our new "families" :)

we arrived safely in xi'an!

with a two hour delay on the tarmac we are finally in our hotel. its 1am and we have no access to international phones. mer, please call my dad and let him know my mom is fine. we are all exhausted but excited about the change of a new camp in a new place with a new staff. 

ps how many people do you think could fit into a van (the size of yours mer's)? with luggage? guess? oh boy!

happy REbirthday

bethany is quiet. i have known her for years. she is a good listener. like her momma. 

this girl has blossomed before all our eyes this week. she has hugged and held and prayed and played. she shines radiantly as her Daddy's girl. i cannot tell you the transformation that has occured in BOTH these teenage girls. they are the life of the party. EVERY chinese person wants to have their picture taken with them. every volunteer (especially patty!) wants to be near their smiles and fun. the staff rolled when they shared "blond" jokes on our bus ride home from yantai. they sparkle. and i am so proud of them.

kate said yesterday, "kristen, i have never heard you talk as much as this summer!"

bethany shared about the meaning of her life, her Purpose with her translator this week. she said she couldn't believe how much Truth she had hidden in her heart. these Words just spilled out of her as she shared the Good News with her translators. she wasn't sure they "heard" but she was bold. she was awed as she told us how unbelievable it was that He would use her. 

and His Word never comes back void. 

i am proud to announce the REbirth of Ann!

bethany's translator is a new baby girl in the family. 

last night, a sweet little girl posse came to our door at 11pm to share the exciting celebration with bob and i. 

ann was glowing.

so was bethany. 

bethany, kristen, kate and reilly were in their room talking to Dad about ann at just that moment that she was ushered into this new Life. i cannot tell you how all this has impacted my pre-teen girls. hanging out with bethany and kristen (and other terrific young people) has been so fantastic. that is a lame word. but i can't think of a better one.

i watched each of my baby's being born. and each time was exhilarating, joy-filled, monumental, indescribeable. BIRTHdays are splendid days.

i feel the same way about REbirthdays!

ann is fresh and new and clean. 

He found what was lost, He righted what was wrong. He fixed what was broken. He healed what was diseased. He brought His little girl Home. 

we are all thrilled. thanks for celebrating with us. 

i have a wonderful picture from the party last night but i am unable to post it now.

talk about an emotional day! :)

xi'an

after taking our translators out for dinner tonight, we are all madly packing. team china leaves for xi'an in the morning. we are flying domestically and only allowed one piece of 44 lb luggage each. which is kinda tricky since we each brought 2 50lbs pieces with us. so start talking! :0 we have laundry facilities and won't need our sheets and towels and most of our food is gone along with lots of our gifts for orphans. so we are hoping to leave some stuff with the bolts for them to travel home for us. should be interesting.

and we have learned that the internet access in xi'an is difficult. so this may be our last real correspondence before we arrive home saturday night. hubbs and dad, i promise we will find some way to notify you tomorrow night when we arrive safely. 

blessedly, we arranged with the vidlers to tour the terra cotta warriors and museum on sunday (we are all ancient china history fans and xi'an is the ancient capital city of china!). so sunday should be busy with our first "sight seeing" in china. we are all excited. and then we are back to work again on sunday night when translators arrive and kids are matched the next morning. we will have ten new kids to fall in love with and five new translators to build friendships with. thanks for talking to the Father for us regarding all these specifics.

our boys are especially in need of TLC from Daddy. and kate's health. thanks. those teen twins are rocking and my mom is a pillar. but these four could use some intercession. 

okay, i am off. we have had a long and very emotional day. rest will be sweet. thank you again for letting me share with you all. 

ps if you check our bring me hope's website you can see tons of photos from week one and two. the slide show from today, set to Newsboys "Something Beautiful" was so touching. the site is www.bringmehope.org( i think!) i cannot access it here. look at yantai camps. there were lots of photos from others of team china. and the music is wonderful. i know bring me hope is on facebook as well and has the updates and flickr photos there too.

girls night out (in)

goodbyes again

i am not sure how many more fridays i can take. boy, they are brutal. today was especially hard on the boys in this family.all four of them. we are wrecked. ruined. broken-hearted. before we left america, we asked over and over again for G to break our hearts with the things that break His heart. we are sure and certain that orphans are very close to His heart. and now, more than ever before, they are very close to ours. 

jimmy and stewart were so tender and open in our last day as a family. one of my highlights was looking over and seeing aidan and stew with their hands intertwined, stroking each other. it was one of the most precious moments of my life. really. i feel so grateful that we have the opportunity to share this amazing and mind-bending, life-changing and heart stretching experience with our children. i can never express here (esp without using certain words!) what He has shown us--so much that matters to Him. even though i have mixed feeling that my children have had to experience so much sadness, i am so glad that it is because they have known such love and joy this week. 

as we were holding each other and comforting one another by talking to our Father together, it occurred to me with sudden sorrow that no one was consoling those precious boys as the bus drove away. stewart shared that is was the happiest time of his life. he said he was so proud to be a part of our big family. we told him that we would always keep him close in our hearts and we would consider him a son to us. he is welcome in our home, our hearts, our lives. we shared the same with jimmy but he was not as outwardly receptive. but he too was soaking it all in. his tears as he drove away told us more than his words had. 

we can do nothing to fix this situation. nothing. all the money in the world can't help these boys. their loss is great. their lives are narrow. i am helpless to DO anything to fix it all. 

but really, we can do  everything that really matters--we can talk to the Father of the fatherless. He loves stewart and jimmy even more than we can possibly imagine. and we can entrust them to His care. He CAN fix anything. there is nothing too difficult for Him. not even these boy's sorrow-filled stories. i am not going to say that loving these kids is easy--it IS absolutely easy to fall in love with their affectionate souls, their big grins, their charming ways--but it is not simple to let yourself surrender to love that is dangerous. poured out. stretched to its farthest limits. reminds me of those nail-scarred Hands. 

we are wrecked. ruined. aidan was beside himself with grief over not being able to bring stewart home with us. when we left we told them Wo Hi Ne. which means " i love you". we had spent the week showing it. we will spend the rest of our days asking the Father to prove it to them and bring them into our forever family. maybe not on earth.

BMH offers many opps for debriefing and processing the "what next?", "what do i DO with all this?" with questions and sharing times. it makes the whole week very emotional. and meaningful. but again, i can't pretend to tell you really what is going on over here in china. i don't think i ever can. we have gotten more than we have given. and i will never be the same.

Goodbye

Most goodbyes are hard, but China goodbyes are especially hard. Today's goodbyes were harder than last week. Apple woke up every morning and asked, "Is today the day I have to leave?" Mei Li did not want to leave either but I did not really understand how much she wanted to stay until I saw the tears streaming down her face when the busses arrived. When my translator Sunny said, "Mei Li I will miss you," Mei Li said, "You don't have to miss me. I'll find a way to come back next year." 

~Kristen

From the desk of Reilly

Hello, friends and family!   

End of week TWO!!!!  I can't believe we are 2/3 of the way thru! This week was so great! I made a relationship with two of Bethany's girls Donna, 16, and Grace,14. I have been hanging out a lot with Donna especially, and when were walking out the door from craft time she told me "You are my best friend!" When she left today, she was crying, and I came SO close! I am looking forward to the new experience at Xian, but there is not much Internet access there.....bummer. 8 days 'til I'm sleeping on an American BED!!!!! And eating USA food and seeing USA people, and.......etc.

                                             -Reilly 

our last day with the kids

this week has been much less physically taxing but so much more emotionally exhausting. because they are older, our children can share more of their stories and they actually enjoy talking and hanging out (teens are the same world over :) 

yesterday the team went to a new beach and the kids had boat rides. my kids went on jetskis and did a little shopping in the street markets. ice cream was involved--again. unfortunately, kate and i stayed back in the dorms as she is ill. sweet girl. she has been such a trooper. working hard, not complaining and pressing in with new friendships. and she is kristen's right hand girl. so i was sad she caught the bug that i have been battling. it is nasty. please ask for healing for her. quickly as we fly on saturday and this flu has tons of congestion and earache involved and i dislike thinking our her flying with it.

no pictures from thursday. i know, such a disappointment! and we would have captured some great ones. after dinner, david asked us to ask the kid 3 questions:

1. what does it mean to become a man?
   
2. what is the purpose of your life?
   
3. and what do you want to be when you grow up?
   

it was very challenging and thoughtful time. stewart is very engaged and attentive. he is so gentle and sincere. i wish i could make all his dreams come true. leaving that to the Father. stew shared that to be a man, one had to take responsibility and do his best. and be a good one. he said the purpose of his life was to be a successful man. he wants to be the governor of an orphanage and elder-folk home when he grows up. he giggled when he added that he would like to earn some money too.

jimmy is less enthralled with hanging out with us. he usually copies stew's answers and falls asleep. but i think he hears bits and pieces. it was funny to see tiny nikki tell him to not disrespect his elders (that's us!) by falling asleep or texting. he snapped right up! 

we had sleep overs too. the boys wrestled and played. the girls ate popcorn and painted nails. shiloh (the one who always asked pointed questions) grilled the girls on dating. you should have seen them blush! i shared a tiny bit about meeting bob and it made kate blush.

bob has been sharing boldly with harvey. i have had a few opportunities to ask some questions of him since he is so insightful and curious. we have shared with each other much about our respective cultures. and reasons for being here this week! keep talking to Dad about enlarging His family.

i don't want to steal anyone's thunder but B & K shared clearly the Truth with their translators during family time and the young women were less than receptive. i talked to the Father on their behalf intently as they were sad for sunny and anna who have both had really hard lives even though they are translators. well, b & k were not deterred and were able to have a really deep and meaningful talk with shiloh after sleepover fun that may bring fruit. please ask the Comforter and Counselor to work on her heart. we have had so much more time this week to invest in really good and intentional talks. Win and Woo Daddy!

today is goodbyes and parties for kids and translators. we leave for xi'an tomorrow morning. i will post again when possible.

my slippery boys