Rejoice!!

We have the joy, joy, joy over here in Shenzhen and are gearing up to celebrate with those like minded around the world tomorrow. So happy that we had the opportunity to share the true story of Easter with the children and parents here, most of whom have never heard it. I just read it again myself as Abbey is taking her nap and am so moved to the depths by all that He has done for us. Amazing love!
We crossed another invisible barrier today and managed to take the bus and metro to find plastic eggs of all things! I heard from a friend that they were in a store across town and so we made the journey this morning. I have relied a lot on taxi's and rides from friends since we've been here . I've had no problem using the MTR but I thought the buses would be hard for us. After my friend Christy came to visit she explained things to me and it was so easy I can't believe we didn't try this from the beginning. Hooray for an easy way to get to where we want to go. Anyway, we ventured to a mall we've never been to before called Coco Park and found the Jusco store with the plastic eggs. I was hoping for a big Easter table display, but what we found was just a small shelf with a few bags of eggs, but we were thrilled to get them. Abbey also managed to find a bridal headband/veil that she loved. We stuffed alot of eggs and vinegar into my backpack as well. We stopped for some noodles and were able to "share the important message" with an older man who was eating next to us. I had to draw pictures and use hand motions but I think he got it and was happy.
We've had a busy week, in a very good way. One highlight was a special care package that came from one of our blog friends. She sent lots of wonderful princess things that I am saving for Abbey's birthday, coloring books (which we can't find here), and lots of Easter candy and goodies that I can give to Abbey tomorrow. I had once again been feeling a little sad that I couldn't do the fun holiday things we would do in the US when this gift arrived. My heart just soared knowing that He is so good to bless us in this way. When someone does something for your child it just means the world to you, more than anything anyone could do for me personally. And the holidays are a time when you can really feel how far away from home you are. So a big cyber hug to Super Mommy and all of you that have done such kind things for us.

We had a high tea birthday party for our dear Heidi in my friend's rooftop garden.
Hostess and guest of honor.

The view. I don't think I've mentioned the Eiffel Tower behind our apartments. Don't ask why, it's China. (same reason I don't ask why there was a naked man that came out and blocked our car on the freeway in the pouring rain last week)

The gifts, which were all great!


Incredible chocolate chunk scones. This is quite a feat to pull off here - trying to find the ingredients, using a toaster oven, etc., but Heidi managed to do it so I may try too. They were awesome!
Heidi's grandma's picture with her tea cup collection. She went to heaven in December but she was with us in spirit. There was also a great group of women that came, I just didn't get pictures of them.
The birthday girl. What an incredible gift she is to all of us who know her, especially the very fortunate children at Bao An orphanage!

Abbey also got to go to a pary for her friend Yaya. Birthday parties are rare here so this was a big deal. It was at Fundoland which was jam packed on a Saturday. The kids had so much fun eating New York Pizza.

Our school celebrates all the birthdays for that month on the first Thursday so Abbey got to have a little pre-celebration for her birthday which is coming up on April 20. Olivia brought her a princess back pack and she got to wear her princess dress (aka nightgown) to school. She asked for a special dispensation to wear the "make-up" that our friend Kelly sent to her, and I granted it. This involved sparkle lip gloss and glitter gel on her eyelids.
On our way to get the cake we took a peek at Windows of the World, where we will be having a field trip this month.
We went to a special bakery to get a Hello Kitty cake we had seen months before. We didn't want the typical fruit topped cake with cherry tomatos. Abbey has picked up the line, "I will NEVER, EVER eat a tomato!" from her beloved Charlie and Lola dvd's.


She was thrilled to have everyone sing Happy Birthday and blow out the candles. That evening she kept telling me, "Mom, I was not shy!"
Here with adorable Allie and sweet Mabel, her classmates.


On Saturday we went to Starbucks and filled out invitations to Abbey's little princess party which will be coming up soon. We managed to bring a few items like this back from the US when we were home for Chinese New Year. It's very hard to find birthday party things here.
She is talking about her party every day and saying she cannot wait until it's her birthday. So much fun. Later that day she filled all the goodie bags to hand out to her friends and just loved getting everything ready.

Blessings to all of our friends on this very special weekend!