Back Home at Shepherd's Field

Hi there...It has been a crazy couple of days.  We arrived at Shepherd's Field on Saturday night just in time for a western dinner of cheeseburgers/chicken sandwiches and fries...then drove hours through BeiJing traffic to the village where we happily said goodnight and found our perfectly perfect room with two comfy beds.  We woke up to beautiful weather and coffee thanks to Starbucks via and Charles took Henry downstairs to check out the breakfast room, but from my window I could hear as Henry saw his friend Bai Bai (Elizabeth), they screamed and hugged and chatted up a storm and then his other friend Joseph came out too.  What sweet kids...we gave Joseph the gifts we brought from his family and although he loved the clothes he kept having me read the card that came with it that said he was loved and that he should keep up hope.  I told him his family loved him very much and would be there soon and he tucked the card safely inside the sweatshirt and smiled.

Sunday was a day of adjustment for Henry.  He didn't have the authority of the ayis so he had a lot of freedom but without us knowing the language he definitely had the advantage.  He had a hard time figuring out the boundaries and because they had been so small and clearcut in the hotel in Zheng Zhou, by the end of day we were all spent.  After he fell into bed Charles and I regrouped and came up with a new strategy for today, Monday.  Today was much better, he is still confused some of the time but is learning who has the authority and he hates for Charles to be upset with him.  Bonding with me is still the challenge but I am patient and today we found a copy of a children's Bible so tonight at bed time I got to read him a story...He loves the story of Jonah and the whale.
Its so sweet, they only two things he keeps saying that he wants are a watch and a bible.  We finally got him an Angry Birds watch today for $2, but you can't buy Bibles in China so we are so blessed to have found one here this morning.

Anyway, we are doing well.  I'm starting to ache for home and for church but am happy to be here...the playground is such a blessing and I'm thrilled to be spending time with Jamie and Sarah.