Sunday, April 21, 2013
The Shanxi Province, Beautiful Xi'an...
I have been blessed to travel to China four times in my life. The first three journey's were to bring my chosen daughters home to their forever's with our family. This time, God has called me back to love on what some may consider, "The Least of These.." It's hard to imagine anyone could ever think that about a precious orphan. But the sad and heatbreaking reality is it is true.. Many of you know our story of how Pearl River became not just a non-profit organization, but a part of our family. For that I am grateful.... At the time I didn't know the plans set before me... I didn't know I would become a part of the PRO team in such a rewarding way! I didn't know my daughter Sienna would be a Bamboo Baby. I didn't know I would ask my amazing friend Jennifer to help me in a volunteer way, and that ask would lead to her daughter, and to a long distance friendship that blesses me every day. I didn't know that one day another adoption Mom friend, sweet Paige, would call me and ask me to sponsor a precious little girl named Lili... That one call set in motion the adoption of a precious little girl that God placed on her heart long before Paige even knew it. And, I certainly never expected God would orchestrate a trip for all three of us to travel to China with our U.S. based PRO team. But, God knew... We are two days into our trip and it's been special, hilarious, memorable, and very entertaining! We have traveled together on buses, vans, trams, and even bicycles. We have clocked endless hours talking already.. So much the flight attendent yesterday smuggled us wine from first class so we could really enjoy our girl time! The entire time we have been pinching ourselves that we are here together for such an awesome reason. To love on "the least of these..."
Jennifer and Paige
We have had some blog worthy hilarious moments on this trip already.. At the top of my list should really be titled, "Blondes Really Do Have More Fun in China!." You see my friend Jen, has this new sassy doo... Her super model look stirred quite the paparazzi of commotion today. One thing the Chinese love to do is stare at you if you are a foreigner. Especially when you are a blonde. I felt like a rock-star in 2007 when Ruby and I were in Wal*Mart. We were surrounded by people taking our picture on their cell phones.. Ainsley and Jeff have had their share of photo shoots here too. At home we would think this is strange. At here it's just good material! I knew today when we set out on our adventure that Jennifer would be sought after.. You don't see tall beautiful blondes here often! Well, it started at the Tercotta Warrior Museum.. After the first few pictures of Jennifer, I started counting.. By the end of the day we were up to 10 red carpet requests. The most hilarious was the random man that blantantly got her on video on the City Wall.. It became funnier each time. Especially when the peace sign was involved!!
Jennifer and Paige
We have had some blog worthy hilarious moments on this trip already.. At the top of my list should really be titled, "Blondes Really Do Have More Fun in China!." You see my friend Jen, has this new sassy doo... Her super model look stirred quite the paparazzi of commotion today. One thing the Chinese love to do is stare at you if you are a foreigner. Especially when you are a blonde. I felt like a rock-star in 2007 when Ruby and I were in Wal*Mart. We were surrounded by people taking our picture on their cell phones.. Ainsley and Jeff have had their share of photo shoots here too. At home we would think this is strange. At here it's just good material! I knew today when we set out on our adventure that Jennifer would be sought after.. You don't see tall beautiful blondes here often! Well, it started at the Tercotta Warrior Museum.. After the first few pictures of Jennifer, I started counting.. By the end of the day we were up to 10 red carpet requests. The most hilarious was the random man that blantantly got her on video on the City Wall.. It became funnier each time. Especially when the peace sign was involved!!
My beautiful pal... (On the inside and out!)
This is one of my favorite photos from the day... The reason... It's the first real sign of Spring I have seen.. I left 12" of snow on Thursday morning....
We all appreciated our itinerary today.. Our amazing Guide, and Pearl River liasion, Julie planned a very special day. She kept us so busy we forgot how tired our jet lagged bodies were! Our first stop was the Teracotta Warrior Museum in Xi'an. I am not quite sure how to describe how amazing this site is. Can you imagine being an emporer and spending your entire life planning your after life? For those of us who believe in God, it's almost impossible. But, today we witnessed his vision, and it was incredible. We even met the farmer who discovered the underground city! Over 6000 warriors were found. Many have been restored, while some are still buried and waiting to be excavated. The attention to detail is beyond impressive!
We all appreciated our itinerary today.. Our amazing Guide, and Pearl River liasion, Julie planned a very special day. She kept us so busy we forgot how tired our jet lagged bodies were! Our first stop was the Teracotta Warrior Museum in Xi'an. I am not quite sure how to describe how amazing this site is. Can you imagine being an emporer and spending your entire life planning your after life? For those of us who believe in God, it's almost impossible. But, today we witnessed his vision, and it was incredible. We even met the farmer who discovered the underground city! Over 6000 warriors were found. Many have been restored, while some are still buried and waiting to be excavated. The attention to detail is beyond impressive!
Probably my favorite pictures to take in China are of life here... Every corner is a story... On our way to our van, I saw this man taking a break... I pointed to my camera and he quietly nodded his head in approval... I love his smile.. He looks like he does not have a care in the world!
I couldn't resist capturing this picture of this Grandma and her baby.
This woman was just enjoying her break.. She too was happy to allow me to photograph her.
Julie made sure we had foods today that Xi'an is famous for.. We had our first "Chinese Hamburgers." I was not too sure about this menu choice, but I did enjoy it.. However, our dinner was award winning.. Xi'an is known for their dumplings.. Here dumplings are an art... They are decorative and so delicious... I don't know how many they brought out, but they were all photo worthy, and excellent!
The highlight of our day was our bike tour on the city wall.. Brick by brick this 7 miles of wall was built by hand. The uneven bricks, and the sites of the city below were amazing.. This was my first time site seeing on a bike in China. It was such a fun afternoon!
We ended our day in the city square by the Bell Tower.. As you can see it is gorgeous at night!
Tomorrow we leave for Changsha, and we really begin the journey God has placed us on.. I can't wait to see the faces of the sweet one's that we are here to love on... The ones some call the "least of these" The ones that because of Pearl River Outreach do have the gift of hope and a future! It's a privilege to be part of this.
More soon from Hunan!
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10 comments:
Your photo's Di are amazing!!! Thank you for sharing. Hannah loves seeing pictures from her birth country.
Blessings to the three of you for a safe journey.
Love, Caroline, John and Hannah Grace
cracking up at super model jen! that's an awesome story...i can just imagine. i know you three girls and i know y'all are having a blast. living vicarious for the moment. amazing pictures di...keep them coming. love how you are capturing the faces of china. xoxo
Diana, I am enjoying following your trip!
So beautiful! So happy for all of you! GO love on those babies!
Diana, I'm so excited for your trip! I got the celebrity treatment at Purple Mountain in Nanjing. I love seeing these pics of Xi'an. We were there in 2006 to adopt our oldest. I hope to go back someday to show him his home city. Excited to read more about your trip!
Looking forward to your views of Changsha. It's been almost 8 years since we were there for our Hannah. I'm sure it's changed a lot in that time with all the building they were doing when we were there. Praying for a safe and successful journey! God bless.
Love. Love. Love.
Makes me want to go back, and I realized I was doing "the puppy lip" while viewing the pix.
Prayers for you all each day. :)
Jane K
Enjoying the pics, the stories and LOVING Jennifer's NEW-DO!!
So excited to read your post. Wish I were the fourth blonde in the group. Love all of your gorgeous photos! I can't wait to read more and see all of those oh so sweet faces that you have been waiting to love.
xoxo
B
Diana, after plowing through a rough 5 years, our family is finally in the season where we can sponsor a child. We brought our Lilly home from Hunan in December of 2002 at the age of 6 months. Lilly struggles in understanding the China part of her history. It is my hope that by choosing and sponsoring a baby that she will begin to put the pieces together.
I believe Lilly would choose a girl, and we're looking for some sort of "red thread". Lilly's Chinese name is Tao Jia (beautiful peach) and her full name is Lillian Hope TaoJia). If you come across a sweet babe, please let me know. We haven't sat her down to look at pictures yet...do you anticipate more kiddos being added as a result of your trip?
Have a blessed and safe trip!
trace @ zbzoom . net