more fun, a sad goodbye, and a wonderful reunion

i love this pic b/c this little boy, Tony, had lost his voice earlier in the week (i think from drinking too much chlorinated water at the pool), but here he is all the same, "screaming" his heart out during one of our games. =)

this is B's acting debut...he was a crazy old man. i think the wig is a good look for him...

these were B's boys... Michael in the middle and Andy on the right adopted me as their big sis. Michael LOVES being the center of attention and as B says, he'll have his own tv show one day. And Andy is determined to be president of China one day. he promises to be nice to Americans when he's in charge. =)
(total side note, but one time Michael was sitting in my lap and was sort of rubbing my leg. i think the hairlessness surprised him but even more fascinating to him was the pink grapefruit smell ((i was wearing lotion)). the rest of the evening, he kept coming up to me, rubbing my legs, and smelling his hands...haha)

at the end of every camp, we have a Zai Jian (farewell) Ceremony. our translators read letters to us from the kids in English and read our letters to the kids in Chinese. it is very special to be a part of this and it can get a bit tearful.

later that night, we gave the girls our presents. here they are representing LA! way to go, B, for finding these shirts for a deal on Hollywood Blvd.

and at 4:30am local time Friday, we loaded the kids onto the bus and said goodbye. it's amazing that even this, my 3rd year, it's still painful to say goodbye. the kids get tearful, but at least this time, i know that they're going back to an orphanage that really does care for them. it's hard to get to know them and love them so much that you start having hopes and dreams for them and then have them leave. but we just have to trust that our father will look out for them!

this beautiful lady became a Sister last summer while working at camp. it's been a tough year for her, but she's lit up again at camp this year... i think she really enjoys serving the kids & getting to chat w/ us. it's SO neat to spend time with her, answering her questions, and just loving her as a Sister.