Memories

It was Friday, the last day we would go to Minte's orphanage in Ethiopia. We had spent a couple of full days playing with the kids, and I cannot even begin to tell you how incredibly precious they were. I wish I could post pictures or tell you their names, but for safety reasons I can't on the internet- but I can in person, if you're interested. Minte's baby home was a new, growing orphanage, and there were only about 12 kids (mostly babies) living there when we came to get him. Minte's best friend and his best friend's little sister had been referred to a family, but there were (and still are) 3 older boys waiting. "Y", age 6, and "C" and "A", age 7 going on 8. These children are precious beyond words, and at this very *moment* they are sitting in an Ethiopian Orphanage waiting-- waiting for a family, spending Christmas by themselves. I cannot describe how much I fell in love with them, and how much I do still love them. I wish everyone could spend time with them and witness their sweet spirits.

But back on subject- it was our last day to spend at the baby home, and I was already a partial mess. We were throwing the kids a goodbye party, complete with a puppet show, silly string, and pizza. They were thrilled, and loved every minute of it. Before my family had left for ET we had purchased an inexpensive portable iPod dock to play puppet and party music on, and after the show was over I switched it to the Steven Curtis Chapman playlist while we were eating pizza.

I knew I would cry that day, telling the children goodbye. I had already cried a couple of times, then pretended to mess with something in my camera bag behind the puppet stage. I had recovered though, and thought I'd be ok the rest of the time.

Welllllllllll.... my iPod gets to the end of the playlist, and I had forgotten which song was last. Now keep in mind, I'm sitting here staring at these three older boys who have yet to be referred, or even had families inquire about them, and I was thinking how they were just going to be sitting there after we left, spending Christmas by themselves, and how truly orphaned and in need of a family they were. THIS song turns on:

All I Really Want for Christmas: By Steven Curtis Chapman

THAT was just about enough to have me in a melted mess of tears on the floor! I'm sitting here with these precious, amazing children who will not have a home for Christmas and that song comes on! Seriously?! I quickly changed the song, taking a deep breath.

"Ok Bethany.. C'mon.. If you spend the rest of the party crying you're going to miss time with the kids.. Get a grip."

My self counseling didn't last long. I got up from my chair making my way to the nearest bathroom. I had no choice but to let my tears flow-- and that they did. I tried what I could to stifle them, but not much worked. These kids needed homes! So many people are nervous to adopt older children, especially older boys- if only they knew. I wished that everyone could see these kids. If people could just spend an ounce of time with these 3 boys I was sure that any nervousness or fears would melt away and that they'd be ready to snatch them up and bring them home. I know I was.

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We talked to Minte's former care giver, Tigist, over the phone a couple of days ago. She runs the orphanage where he lived, and is the sweetest woman imaginable. I love her. We call her every now and then so that Minte can talk with her in his native language and we can check up on her. Mom was chatting with her, and Tigist started talking about the older boys. She told mom that they're really sad right now.. They're seeing babies come and go, wondering why they themselves are not being adopted. They've watched two of their friends be referred, and one of them (Minte) already go to the States. They're asking when they will get a family, when they will go to America, and when they will be loved. They're hurting orphans, in need of loving families. Will you pray for them with me?

Why is it...

.....that I don't write on my blog for 3 months and then the day of a final I have the sudden urge to re-do the whole thing?? Hmmm. Beats me. But-- even though I have the feeling that nobody is reading this right now, I want to get it started back up and start writing on it again.

A new brother... and a new destination!

Well, I think all of you who are reading this know, but we passed our adoption court date, and our little boy (well, he's 9) in Ethiopia is ours now!! We are so incredibly happy, and cannot wait to go get him. We are not sure when we can go to get him, but we may find out this coming week! But as for now, here is a picture of my precious new brother..

A few pics

In Hong Kong!! Our plane to my city.

After 3 plane rides totaling 20 hours, we finally made it!

This was the night after we got there. I prayed with the guy in gray, left of me. He is a new brother!

Me in front of my amazing city, filled with so many amazing people.


Friends on the beach.

China Part I - Han

Hello blog!

Well, I have not posted on here in a while--a long while. I have had intentions to though!! I have gotten complaints from people because I say "I'll post again soon" and don't.. So, sorry about that! But for now I want to share a story from my trip.
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Now first off, from the moment I step in the airport, I think about my mission to wherever my destination may be. I pray about the people I will minister there, for God to prepare their hearts and minds to our message. I know that we are supposed to be on mission all the time, and I am a strong believer in that, but for some reason when I'm on a mission trip I think and pray about the ministering I will be doing at my destination -the plane ride is just a means to get me there, and It never occurred to me to pray for who God would have me minister to on the plane, or on the way to my destination. But from now on I will be, thanks to an encounter with a 19 year old Chinese exchange student named Han.

As I walked down the isle to my plane seat on the first flight, I came to my row. I saw that I would be seated in the middle, between a woman at the window and a young Chinese guy on the isle. I did the usual, shoving my backpack into the tiny space they give you under the seat in front of you and wondering why I packed so dang much in my carry on. As the plane got into the air, the guy to my right, Han, started a conversation. I was glad, and we started to talk. I found out that he attends an American university in the north, but that he is from China and was returning to his family's city very close to the city I was going to. We talked for a while, then there was a little bit of silence. Then I had that feeling-that feeling that you know God is going to ask you to do something, and that you will feel extremely guilty by not following through. God was asking me to evangelize to Han-- to figure out his "status" on what he believed. I knew I had to. I knew if I didn't at least figure out if he was a Christian or not I would feel like crud later, so, I took a deep breath (wondering what I was getting into) and opened up the door..

"Soooo... do you go to a Church near your school?"

"Oh-ah, no, I don't do Church." He said, being caught a little off gaurd.

"OK. Well, what do you believe about God?"

He went on to tell me that in his mind there is no God, and that he believes strongly in evolution; he is a science major, so he basically believes everything he learns about evolution from his textbooks at his secular school. I told him I was a Christian.

Me: "Hmmm, ok. I tell you what, how about you tell me your beliefs and then I get to tell you my Christian beliefs?"

He said ok, and told me his beliefs. From the Big Bang, to us coming from monkeys, to there being no God, he believes it all, along with some weird mystical beliefs his Grandmother taught him. Well, that set it off for me. I literally dropped an Evange-Bomb right on his brain. (You can always carry those bombs on the plane, right? :P) Poor guy. He had no idea what kind of Creationist-God loving-always-open-to-sharing-my-faith- (especially with Chinese students!) kind of chick he was sitting next to. I took him %100 through creation to salvation. It was incredible, and as I talked with him I found myself getting more and more energized and into it with every word I was saying. I loved every minute of it. It started to be more of a God ad creation vs. evolution discussion/debate and I made big points on how,

"You're a smart guy, Han. I mean, you're a science major, you know about all of the intricate tiny cells in our body, and how detailed science is. These kind of things can't come from some random chance of chemicals blowing up out of no where- there had to be, and there is an Intelligent Designer behind all of this. And He loves you, and He sent his Son to die for you, and..............."

And on I went. He would try and tell me how evolution just had to be the way, but I was the only one with proof that creation was the way. His main issue was faith in the unseen, but I told him how evolution is totally faith in unseen things, and that it is just a theory with barely any true evidence. It was amazing, and I really encouraged him to find and get a Bible and start reading through the gospels. I would have loved to have had a Bible to give him. He said he would try to get one, and that he was interested in what I was saying. I gave him a salvation bracelet a team member sitting on the row behind me had, and he loved it. I got his e-mail address, and I am going to e-mail him soon. I would love to get his address in America and send him a copy of the movie "Expelled," ( I haven't seen it, but heard it is awesome and amazing how the evolution theory is busted and creation points to God.) or maybe some of the books or DVDs called "Incredible Creatures That Defy Evolution". I told him about those resources and he was interested. He also told me, though, that "I don't think I could really be a Christian since there aren't very many at my university." I told him that I'm sure that there is a church near his university and Christian groups within his school. Another funny thing he said was "Yeah, my friend has a Bible in Chinese, and I was reading it one time, but I think I want to get an English Bible because the Chinese one was boring." LOL. Hmmm. Well.. OK then! Good luck to ya! Ha, I can just imagine the poor guy starting and reading through Leviticus or Numbers imagining how on earth Christians read that. I told him that the Gospels were a great place to start. =)

Another cool thing was that we were on the same following flight from LA to Hong Kong as well. We were not near each other, but since he was by himself, he came along with the college team and I. It was so neat because he knew that we were all Christians and from the same church, and when I introduced him to our team they were so inclusive and awesome to him, so I think that really gave him a great impression of what being a Christian is about. One guy on our team who brought his guitar got it out while we were waiting at the airport and played a few things, then he even let Han do some stuff on it since Han played guitar too! I think he really liked the team.

Please pray for Han. Please pray that God would be tugging at his heart from the words he heard on that plane ride, and that I would be able to reach out to him more via e-mail.

Well, it you've stuck with my long post 'till now I commend you. =) I learned that even an hour into a mission trip God will be moving in big ways, and that we are on mission to everyone we meet not only at our destination, but to the people sitting next to us on the plane, to the airport workers and the flight attendants. Even if it is a simple smile and thank you, and something to make them wonder what is different about you, we are on mission. We are on mission no matter where we go.

Back in Mei Guo

Hey there!

Well, I am back in Mei Guo, the land of the blonds and the home of my family. ( My real home is in China. =) Ha!)

The trip was amazing. That is the word I keep using, and it describes it very well. It was sad to have to leave. It was hard - hard saying goodbye to new friendships, hard leaving that hurting and lost country that is in such thirst for truth right now. The people there are so so sweet. That is part of the reason it is so difficult to say goodbye to new friends, even though I know we will still keep in touch and see each other more. One of the hardest parts was when a couple of friends the team had made were at the hotel when we left. They were crying as we hugged and as they were waving to us as the bus pulled out. I won't lie, I cried too! Many of us were. (At least most of the girls. =) ) I could have cried a lot more, but I made myself stop. It is just so easy to share and be friends with people in China. They have such a sweet, simple, caring nature. I wish people in America could be more like the Chinese. Life would be much simpler, and it would be so much easier to love and reach people. It was also a great time to be in China. With the huge earthquake, after shocks still going on while we were there, and the death toll creeping over 88,000, I was able to have some great conversations with people about faith, and the urgency to need a Savior. More stories to come about all of that.

I love the song "God of This City", by Cris Tomlin. It was on the Passion CD this year, and it says



You're the God of this city, You're the King of these people
You're the Lord of this nation, You are
You're the Light in this darkness, You're the Hope to the hopeless
You're the Peace to the restless, You are

There is no one like our God, there is no one like our God

For greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in
this city
Greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in this city

Greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done here



That is so true about City X, and for me it was one of the songs that I thought of as a "Song of my trip". (That is not the city's real name, btw.) I really felt like there was unfinished business when we left. Obviously there always will be more and more work to be done, no matter where we go on this globe..

I will post more about the events of the trip through out this next week. Thanks for checking up on me, and for your comments and words of encouragement!

Coming Home

Ni hao!

Well, it is late-late here, and our trip has gone by extremely fast. It has been a wonderful trip and I have been making some great relationships. It was really hard to say goodbye to friends today. Very tough. I'm excited about seeing all of you guys, but am very sad to leave. Our bus leaves the hotel at 10 am tomorrow morning. (9 PM Thursday at home.)

Well, see you guys on your side of the globe pretty soon! Thanks for your awesome support on this trip-I know our whole team could feel it. Love ya!

2nd Tuesday Update

Our trip is going great still! I have been able to make some great relationships and witness some great, interesting, and crazy things. I cannot wait to post more about each day when I come back!! It's hard to believe that it is Tuesday morning here and we leave on Friday morning. This trip has gone by way too fast!!

I think I left off on Saturday on my last post. Saturday we went to an English corner/church in the morning. That went pretty well, though the conversations in my group weren't totally as focused on what I hoped. That afternoon was the beach party for all of our Chinese friends we had made throughout the week. We had Chinese barbeque, volleyball, soccer, frisbee, and tons of fun things to do. At the end of the night a man who helped host the party set up a huge screen with a projector and we watched "Bee Movie" in Chinese. =P The people loved it! They chose that movie because it is for all age levels, funny and easy to understand. At the end of the night we had a bonfire down closer to the water, but that didn't turn out quite how we planned. It is a long story that I will have to write more about later, but we had a few "tree huggers" and "save the earth people," which turned into 3 mad men with gasoline and fire! But nothing bad happened, just a semi fight. The wood was too wet to light, so that was about the end of the party and most people left. That night a couple of team members and I were had a great conversation with a student who seemed to be in her twenties. She is the most searching person I have ever seen-she knows she needs God, but has so many questions about faith, and she is really frustrated.

Sunday morning we went to the International Christian Fellowship, and then I went to an English corner in the afternoon. I have been able to have some really great converstions with people at these corners. On Tuesday night I spoke with a new believer, but recently I've either been talking to people who are not Christians, but have very limited English, or with people who are Christians and have some really tough theological questions. But overall I think we are having a great turn out!

Monday we went to a tourist island and then Stephen and Brett, a couple of my friends who are staying here for two months, arrived and we made some plans for a puppet show that we are doing tonight. Tonight (Tuesday) is the show for 2,000 people. WOW. We have a couple of songs and a skit that we are performing, then a really good musician on our team is playing and singing.

Please pray for my team. Almost all of us have felt gross at some point this weekend, and one guy is pretty sick right now. Thanks!

Sorry for not being able to post pictures.. I want to, but haven't been able to find the time to upload them.

Hope that you are all doing great!

Thursday Update

Hey Everyone!!

So far so good on our trip! Sorry for not being able to post more. We have been super busy!

We landed on Monday, and spent the last half of the day having an orientation and getting settled in.

On Tuesday we woke up early and prayer walked a local fish market, which is like a whole different world. They literally sell things that you could never imagine there. As we walked, I noticed the emptiness in the workers eyes. This is life for them - every single day. Some arrive as early as 5 am.

On Wednesday we prayer walked a local huge Bhuddist temple and climbed the mountain it is located on. Being in the temple is always oppressing... between the smell of incense, the chants and huge idols, it is crazy. It is so so sad watching these people worship and work so hard for these ugly, scary, deformed chunks of rock. The people are so poor, yet still bring offerings of bags of fruit and other things to give to Buddha. It is crazy.

Later that day we girls on the team went to a fabric and silk market, where we picked out silk and are having custom traditional dresses made. (Mine is actually a shirt.) It is amazing because the total cost of my shirt: silk+labor of the tailor, is only going to cost around $13 American dollars!! They have amazing prices here. After the market I met up with a Chinese friend from last year, who is a Christ follower. She is so so sweet, and we had a great time. That night we went to an English corner at the University, where I talked to one particular man, Jason, for a long time. Long story short, (due to time,) when we started talking he was lost. He is now found, the old is gone and the new has come into his life!! Praise Father!!!!

I will write more about this in the states. At the English corner a wonderful musician on our trip brought his guitar and was playing praise music. It was awesome, and the people loved it. However, one young lady politely came up to a girl on our team and explained that because there were 3 days of mourning for the earthquake victims, that we are not supposed to be singing and doing music in a public place like that. She was very sweet, and suggested that we sing one song and pray for the victims. That was especially neat coming from her, because she is not even a C.

Today we took a bus and traveled 3 hours to tour a place I will post more about when I get home... Just for safety, you never know in China how they can get hints at my location.

Tomorrow we will be chillin' and making more friendships and ministering to people. I might possibly have a modeling job in the afternoon, like I had in 2006. They crave American models. It may just be my friend doing it though, but Mrs. F said to come along and they will probably have me do it too.

I will try to post some pictures tomorrow, but I need to go to bed now! It is late at night here, early in Mei Guo. (America)

Thanks for the love, support and prayers!!!

Made it to City X

Guest Blogger: Mom

Thank you so much for stopping by to check on Bethany!

Yes, she gave dear old mom access to her blog to post for her. She will not be pulling up her blog over there, as she/we would rather it not come across the server there. I will be posting what she emails me, sometimes adding (explanations in parentheses) where necessary. She called yesterday from Hong Kong, and this morning we received an email that she was in her city. She is 13 hours ahead of us, so her posts/email will reflect a time and day that are a day ahead of us. I know she would love your comments here if you have or create a google account. If you don't have one, you can email me a comment and I'll post it.

This is an excerpt from an email we received this morning about their arrival to their city. She is referring to the period of national mourning in China that began at 2:28 PM Monday and will last three days, honoring the lives of those killed in the earthquake last Monday at 2:28 PM when the earthquake struck .

Thank you SO much for your prayers for her and for their awesome team! The team is there during a critical time... a time of hurting, mourning, and searching. I know they will plant many seeds this week.

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"We made it to city X. We have been here for a few hours. We had half of orientation, then went downstairs to eat chow fan (fried rice). YUM!! There is a new place now.

At 2:28pm everywhere in China sirens went off and shops closed for a few minutes, cars slowed and honked, and people payed respect to the earthquake victims. It was really cool to be here for that. We were eating at the time, and when the sirens blared, there was also a live tv broadcast of the sirens, and soldiers saluting in Tienanmen Square, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and all over. It was really cool, but it was also really weird and eerie. Those are the same sirens used for air raids, and it was kind of freaky to hear them going off in a country like this, and it was also a sad time....

Wo ai ni!!!!! (I love you!!)"

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**Edited to add these videos. The top one is probably what she saw on the TV broadcast she mentioned. The bottom one is likely what it was like in her city during the observance.

Today's the day!!

Hi everyone! Well, today is the day I leave! I'm so excited. It's a weird feeling that you get before you leave for a trip like this. I'm really excited, and partially nervous. Not a bad nervous though. I'm anticipating my stay, but at the same time it is always sad to tell your family goodbye at the airport. (Don't tell anyone, but I think it is harder for them than it is for me. =) )

Today I have been doing some last minute packing, and we are going to take some pictures to send with our dossier to Africa. Today is also my brother's 12th birthday!!!!!! So....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KYLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We will open presents and have cake later before I leave. We meet at the airport at 3:45pm, and my flight is at 6:50pm. From then on, I usually have no idea what time or day it is until I get to China. Crossing the international date line and having different time changes always confuses me. All I know is that it is a 15 hour flight across the ocean, no matter what day or time it is. =P

Well, I need to finish packing a few things and getting things together. Thank you so much to each of you, for your support and prayer. I will be updating on here during my trip, so hopefully I can do that every other day or so.

Love you guys!!!

Prayer Request

Hey guys! I just wanted to ask that you would please say a prayer for my sweet newest cousin, Baby Maylee, born Wednesday. She is in the NICU and will probably have to stay there for a week, and worst case 2 weeks. She is a healthy weight, and a beautiful, amazing, little baby girl, but her lungs are not fully developed yet. Please also pray for my Aunt and Uncle, who will have to check out of the hospital on Sunday. This is their first child!

Thanks!!

Just another post...

Hello All!! Thank you so much to each of your kind words in response to the e-mail I sent out to many of you. They are all so encouraging, and I definitely appreciate your prayers!

My trip is nearing sooner.. It is hard to believe that I leave on Saturday. To me, I feel like I really don't have the rest of the week to pack and get ready because I will be gone the entire last half of the day tomorrow, and almost all day on Friday. That leaves Thursday and Saturday (the day I leave) to pack. So hopefully tomorrow I will wash the clothes I'm taking and perhaps buy some of the last minute things I need. Tomorrow around noon my new cousin will be born, baby Maylee! I am so excited and can't wait. Part of the reason I am so happy about this is because I am not only really close to my Aunt who will be her mom, but her original due date was on the 27th, while I would be gone. So, thank you Maylee, for growing fast! =)

Yesterday and today we were staying in our state capital, doing some things that needed to be done for our adoption. It was a fun time to just hang out, listen to my iPod and be with my family. We got home this afternoon and then I went to gymnastics. The past few weeks I would have been having two phones glued to my ears voting for Jason on American I*dol all night, but now it is back to normal Tuesday nights for me. I didn't watch the show tonight, because I really don't care about the outcome now. But we recorded it, so I will probably watch the performances throughout the weak, or maybe while I pack some tomorrow! (No, I have not even started packing yet!)

Have a great day. =)

Earthquake in China

Many of you have probably already heard about the huge earthquake in central China on Monday. First, I will let you know that it was not near where I am going. But, you could feel shocks all across China, and even in Taiwan, Burma, Thailand and Pakistan. I am sure that you could feel them in my city. This earthquake has killed an estimate of over 8,000 people, and buried around 900 students under their school. It is a tragedy, by far. I think that God is really doing something in Asia right now, and that this is going to be a very interesting summer for China, especially with the Olympics. There are some weird things going on in that country right now, and that makes me want to go all the more.

Speaking of the Olympics, at the same time the earth quake hit, the Olympic torch was passing right by where I have stayed!! It was literally being run down the same street I have caught taxis on and walked many many times. How awesome is that??

Please be in prayer for all of the people affected by the quake, and for the work lying ahead of our team. Some things to pray for this week leading up to our departure would be:

-For the health of our team as we prepare to leave, travel and are there
-For us to have wisdom
-That God would be working in the minds of the people we are to talk to
-That our flights would connect smoothly, and that there would be no problems as we travel
-For our safety

Thank you so much. Your prayers really do mean everything, and they truly have an impact on our trip!!

Also, I wanted to post this video. My Mom found this, and it is a very eye-opening video to how big the number 143 million really is in term to orphans.

Happy Mothers Day!

***Happy Mothers Day to all of you Moms, and especially to my Mom. You guys are amazing and do so much for us!! Thank you Mom, for all that you do for me, even when sometimes it's not easy. Thank you to my Gram, Grandma, and Great-Grandmother for being such great examples and for being the amazing mothers you were and are to both of my parents, and to my Aunts for being such great Moms to my cousins and awesome Aunts to me. I love you guys!!***


Today we went to an African church that is a partner to our church. It is always fun to see our friends there and take a little step into Africa, but only minutes from our house.

I officially leave for China in less then a week!! WOW. throughout today, and last night I've been thinking, "OK, a week from now I'll be on this flight... **a few hours later** and still on this flight...**a few more hours later** and yet again still on this flight!!" But, it is not about how we are getting there, no matter how crazy long the flight over the Pacific may be. It is about the work there, and getting back into the work left off from my last trip. I still have to get packed this week, and It is looking like this week may be a little bit busy. We may be taking a day trip for some of our adoption paper work, Wednesday baby Maylee Reese, a new cousin will be born, and Friday we will be out and about doing things for my brothers 12th birthday, which is on Saturday, the day that I leave!! Tomorrow I'll lay out my suitcase and begin fitting everything in where it can.

Beautiful Feet

Romans 10:15 says, "And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.'"

So... my Mom and I choose to take that verse into its full context when preparing for a mission trip. (She is not going with me on this trip to China though.) It makes perfectly good sense to go and have your toes done before you leave to "bring good news", right? And so, you can clearly see the reason for the cute polish I had done today. =D

On another note, I am still getting ready for my trip, leaving a week from Saturday. I'm so excited to be returning, and continuing some of the relationships I have made on previous trips. I have kept in contact all year with one girl in her twenties, and we are planning to meet up sometime during my stay. She is so sweet! She says that everyday she counts down until the day I arrive. Isn't that precious? I will start packing pretty soon. I pretty much have everything that I need, and we are getting my luggage down tonight.

Today we received an important document from the government, which we needed in order to send our paperwork over to Africa for our adoption. YAY! We have a few more things to do before our family can actually send it over, but we are so happy. Praise God!!!!

Tomorrow we are going to a home school book fair, which has tons and tons of home school curriculum to look over and buy. We will probably get my math tomorrow, but since I am taking several classes next year we don't have much else that we need to get tomorrow that we can't find at a cheaper price somewhere else. I have gymnastics later that night.

Then there is the weekend. I have a Saturday morning workout for gymnastics, and then church later that night. Mothers Day is Sunday, so we do not have any plans yet. =)

Well, I hope that all of you have a fantastic weekend and a great Mothers Day. Love ya!

Awana Awards

OK, so why is it that I always get in the mood to write on here when I should be doing math? Hmm. Well, I have been having a pretty good week. The Awana year ended this week, so I'll be sad not to see my friends on Sunday nights, but it was a pretty good year! I probably won't have too much time to miss it though, because I leave for China on THE SEVENTEENTH!!! This date is coming up so much sooner than I felt like it was going to. I mean, two weeks from Saturday? WOW!! I'm so excited though. I guess I will finish up my shopping by next week and then begin packing. I have already made an oath to myself that I will not over pack on this trip. I tend to do that quite often, packing all of my "just in case" clothes, and my "what ifs," but I really can't do that on this trip, and don't want to suffer the consequences.

Here is a picture of my Dad and I after Sunday night's Awana award ceremony.

Hope that you have a great day!

You can't really read the words, but I got the Meritorious Award. It's at least a few thousand dollars of a scholarship (to several different Christian schools) in and of itself!

Family pictures

Here are the pictures I have promised! Hope you enjoy them and have a wonderful week! =)

Trappers 10th Birthday! Left to Right, top to bottom: Kyle (brother), Trapper (cousin), Me, Maggie (Cousin) , Audrey (Cousin), and Gracie (Cousin)

Gracie being silly!

Audrey and I

Aunt Amy and I at her baby shower! It's a girl!

The diaper cake centerpiece. Cute!

Kyle and I taking pictures of each other just for fun...

Happy Saturday

Well, today is a pretty busy day.. So why am I posting? I'm not sure. We are actually having a garage sale right now, but I am waiting for my Grandma to come pick me up to go to a baby shower for my aunt. I am taking my camera, so hopefully I can put some pictures from that up soon! I want to start posting pictures more, but I'm pretty bad at getting around to uploading them on my computer. Oh, and don't ever ask me for prints because I never have those. I get in trouble from my Gram about that. =) Well, I hope that everyone has a wonderful Saturday! Maybe later this evening I will post pictures from the shower.

PB Teen

Ok, so I got a Potery Barn Teen magazine in the mail yesterday and oh my goodness! They have the cutest things in that magazine that completely put me in my element... :-P

My Dad builds loft beds, and as I was flipping through the PB Teen magazine and found this bed, and I love it!! He is going to try to make it as closely to the picture as possible. This thing is going to be so useful. In the magazine they had it with bedding and really cute accesories, but the only picture I could find online doesn't have much.. it is really awesome though.

My week

Hola! Well, this week has been fairly busy.. On Monday we celebrated my cousin's and uncle's birthday. Tuesday and Wednesday was just school, but on Thursday we woke early in the morning and traveled to a university where a friend is attending to see her senior recital, a requirement as a vocal performance major. While at the university we took a campus tour, which much to our surprise was actually an official scheduled out day for me, including a meeting to discuss my future with the Admissions Director... pretty crazy because it's weird to think that college is just around the corner. It was nice though, and it is a great university.

Today we signed up for several classes at a local home school co-op... I'll be taking biology, writing, world history and literature, a separate math course, (I will do geometry, Chinese and Latin at home) and a study skills/SAT reading and prep class. I'm excited! On top of having a new sibling, I'll be pretty busy with school, but that's how 10th grade is supposed to be, right?



So, that was my week.. Hope that you had a great one!

Idol Gives Back

Ok, don't miss it! Tonight is Idol Gives Back on American Idol, and I can't wait... It looks like it is going to be amazing. Here is a link to the preview video... Oh my goodness... SO cool.

http://www.americanidol.com/idolgivesback/

Also, didn't Jason do great last night? I was so happy the judges liked his performance. That was a brave song choice, but he mastered it! I'm so happy for him.

Second Languages

I absolutely admire people who can speak a second language. To me, that would be such an amazing gift to have! I would love to be able to do that. I am working on my Chinese right now, and have been for over a year now, but it is an interesting language that takes a lot of time to learn. On my second trip to China, I stayed with some friends of ours for six weeks. While there, it was so much easier to pick up on the language because I was emersed for so long. But back in America, it is definitely harder. Hopefully I will be able to further my language skills even more when I travel back next month. I am SO excited to be returning soon! It especially amazes me when there are people who speak multiple languages. Barely anybody in America can do that! It is such an American thing to be fluent in one language and kind of know another one. In other countries such a large amount of people are fluent in different languages. That is so cool! I really want to be able to do that someday, and how I would love to be able to think in different languages. That would be amazing to me! Anyway... that's what I think. How about you?

My first post....

Hello all! Well, here ya go, my first post. I'm not really sure what all I am going to write, but I got this blog so that I might write about my upcoming trips and things going on in my life. Hope that you find some of it interesting!! =)