California??? Yep.... totally unexpected. 5 years ago, we met a family who has since become some of our dearest friends. We spent 2 weeks in China, they came here for a week when we got home with Ri and then a week the next year and then this year.... Evan called me and shared with me that Christy was celebrating an important birthday. He had thought and thought of something special to get her but couldn't come up with just the right gift. Then he asked me if I would be willing to come out to California with Ri and Elizabeth. I was floored! To have a chance to visit the Masyrs was something i had not expected to be able to do for sometime. It isn't that I didn't want to go to California, I just knew that it would be a long time until we would be able to take a trip there. Once Evan found out my schedule, he booked flights for us to go. It was so much fun surprising Christy! The look on her face is something I will never forget. We didn't arrive until 11:30 California time. Her parents (who are incredible!) and Sam picked us up at the airport and drove us to their home. Christy had fallen asleep already. Evan had me knock on the door. He woke her up and told her she needed to answer the door; but she refused. She stood on the platform of their stairs and waited to find out who was knocking at her door at 11:30pm! Evan finally opened the door and I walked in. She was so surprised! After the initial shock wore off, we spent the next couple of hours visiting while the little ones played with Noah and Sam. It was incredible!! The next several days were filled with sight seeing and fellowshiping. How much fun we had! I miss them so much already.
Christy and Evan took us to Santa Barbara... in our home we know it as the home of the tv show, Psych. It is BEAUTIFUL!!! I could not get over the mountains on one side of me and a beautiful ocean on the other. The weather could not have been more perfect! We enjoyed every moment. The first 3 pictures are priceless to me. Faith and Elizabeth really got along well. It gives me chillds to think that they started life together. For 10 1/2 months, they were "sisters" in the orphanage. And now, thanks to the Masyrs, they have been able to see each other every year. It is a treasured gift.
True to Elizabeth's personality, she spent many moments shut down and not willing to take pictures or even respond. Don't get me wrong, she had many, many moments when she played hard with all of the kids; but when we were out and about, it was difficult to get her to respond. (notice her face in this one?)
It may have been that she was exhausted, or it may have simply been that she was with people she didn't know all that well.... or it may just be that she is plain rude. Whatever the reason, Evan, CHristy and Sam tried their best to get her to smile. In this picture, Evan had just announced that he was buying ice cream. He then preceded with a game to get her to smile.
One thing that really brought her out of her shell was playing in the water at the beach. She absolutely loved the waves hitting her. The giggles coming from the three younger ones were priceless. Sam and Noah were absolutely incredible with all of them. Both of my kids fell in love with them!
I have much more to post, but I am heading to bed. Emily just tried to download 700 pictures from Skyview. She was so excited to finally get them onto her computer. Somehow, in the download process, she lost 500 of them. She is devastated. And I am just as devastated! I am terrified that the card reader I gave her lost them. Those 500 pictures held some very, very precious pictures/memories for Em. She is handling it very well, but I can tell her spirit is broken. Please pray we find those pictures! I know it seems impossible, but I know that God can do anything. It may be very silly to others, but those pictures meant the world to Em. This past week was an emotional week for her, this weekend has been very hard because her dad and I said no to something that was very important to her, and now somehow those pictures are lost. I just want to cry.
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