Madeline's New Year party

This year I helped organize the Chinese New Year party for Madeline's orphanage. A young woman, Jiaoli, who used to live there, returned to Jingmen City to celebrate the New Year with her family. She visited the orphanage and arranged to have the children visit a local park and have lunch at a restaurant. The park had a bounce house area and bumper cars. The children had so much fun. Then they all enjoyed a delicious lunch. She also went shopping to buy the children new shoes and clothes.

She has shared with me photos of the celebration. And I have to say, that it just warms my heart to no end to see the children having so much fun. To protect the privacy of the children still living in the orphanage, I cannot post their pictures here. However, I am sharing the photos of Madeline, as well as another little girl, Iris, who is also being adopted by an American family.

The timing of these photos is just perfect. I have been in a funk for the last few weeks, as we have made NO progress with our paperwork. However, the Lord knew what I needed and exactly when I needed it. These photos are priceless. And while I want to hop on a plane tomorrow to bring my girl home, I am happy to see her doing so well. I know she is being taken good care of while we wait to bring her home. I hope you enjoy the photos as much as we have.

***side note*** In a lot of the photos, I counted 5 layers of clothing on Madeline! Wowie!

Madeline playing in the bounce house







On the merry go-round and lovin' it!



Getting ready for lunch & a phone call

Jiaoli holding Madeline

Iris "teasing" Madeline, no really it looks like she's sharing...too sweet