The plight of the orphans

As some of you might know, I nanny for a very special little girl who has down syndrome. Aubrey has opened my eyes to how amazing, incredible, loving and so special children with special needs are. Caring for her and interacting with her has helped me to open my eyes to those around me who were born with special needs, but weren't as fortunate as Aubrey to be born into loving families like hers.

I follow several blogs of families who have children born into their families with special needs, or who have adopted children with special needs from other countries, mainly Eastern Europe. I've also become familiar with the website, Reece's Rainbow, an adoption website that advocates for these special needs children in EE who so desperately need families.

One of the blogs I read, No Greater Joy Mom, has adopted four special needs daughters, two from China and two (with down syndrome) from Eastern Europe. When Adeye brought home Hailee and Harper, they were 5 and 2 respectively, and dear Hailee weight only 15 pounds. Yes, 15 pounds at 5 years old. She grew up living in they "laying room" which essentially meant she spent her entire life, the whole 5 years up till that point, just laying in a crib. All because she had down syndrome. If you looked at the pictures of this poor little girl, your heart would break! Absolutely break! She was as thin as could be, couldn't really sit unassisted, definitely couldn't crawl or walk. But, she was adopted out and has been home a year how, and its amazing what the power of love and nourishment can do for a child! She is walking, talking, has gained weight, and though she is still small for a 6 year old, she is loved and she is saved! It is amazing!

Anyway, Adeye made a commitment to advocate for the 5 children who were in the laying room with Hailee and she made the commitment that, through her blog, she was going to rescue those children! And guess what! She has raised the money through her readers and found families for 3 of those 5 children! They all got the chance to escape, and through the amazing readers of Adeye's blog, the money was raised for the ransom for these children. It is not cheap to adopt from EE, and a grant of $20,000 is considered to be enough to pay for the whole (or almost all) of the adoption. That much money was raised for EACH of those three children! But they aren't the only orphans Adeye has advocated for and raised money for. There are at least 3 or 4 others whom she has advocated for, and through the power of the internet, has raised $20,000 for each child, so that money is not an issue for their families, so that these families who so desperately want to rescue one of these beautiful children doesn't have to say, We can't afford an adoption. All these families need is faith.

And now, Adeye has done it again.

This is sweet Teri Lynn.

She is 5 years old, and has down syndrome. She has been living in a baby house, and has been taken care of quite well.

Four weeks ago, she was transferred to a mental institution because she is 5 years old.

This is what Teri Lynn looks like after 3 short weeks in the institution.

Three weeks! Three weeks in a mental institution did this to a beautiful little girl! That, my friends, is how horrible these mental institutions are. 95% of the children transferred to the institutions will not survive, and most of them don't survive past a year! How can you not want to do something!

And that is where Adeye has come in. Over the past 5 days, Adeye's readers have bonded together and raised over $21,000, plus two people have agreed to match up to $2,500 if that much was raised in a day, which it was. So beautiful Teri Lynn's waiting family has over $26,000 in her grant to be used for her adoption! This is more than enough to pay the ransom for this little girl.

The only problem? She hasn't found her family yet. And without a family, all the money in the world can't save this little girl.

So, could you be Teri Lynn's family? Do you know someone who could be Teri Lynn's family?

Just take a look at this sweet girl. She doesn't deserve to live in an institution, and neither does any other child.


To learn more about how you can help Teri Lynn or to inquire about her, click here.

EM:HE Pt 4 - The Reveal!

This was by far my favorite day! As the morning started, I didn't know if I would be able to go to the revel, as I had to work that morning, but I was able to go! They were supposed to reveal the house at 2 PM, but after having been onsite as much as I had, I knew it would be later. I was there by 2 PM and there were so many people there, probably more than 1500! But because there were so many people, I wasn't able to get up front =[ But I was close enough to get video of the reveal! The area right behind where they were going to be standing was packed with people, but that was ok, because I wanted to be where I could see their faces. I really didn't care all that much about being on TV. I wanted to be there to see them, and see how thrilled they were to be getting their new house. That is why I was there.

I have to say: there were several mothers there who I was very unhappy with. Many of them were there with their young children, who were exhausted, dehydrated and wanted to go home. But these mothers wanted to stay, and so they just let their children cry and be hot and unhappy. It was close to 100 that day, and there was no shade, and those poor children were just so hot! There were several times I wanted to tell the mothers to leave and take their poor children home. I also wasn't happy that strollers and wagons were allowed in the crowed, because it just too up space that other people could have been standing in.

Anyways.

Before the family came, they did the taping of us saying the three magic words: Move That Bus! That was so neat to be a part of! Then the family came in the limo, a few times, while they did some taping of it, and then finally, the family got out of the limo! They did the customary thank you's and such, and then it was the big moment! Ty finally said, MOVE THAT BUS! And off it went! It was such a neat experience to witness first hand the reaction of the family. I was very glad to know that they only move the bus once, and so the reaction you see on the faces of the family are genuine and true. And I'm so glad that I have video of it (crappy, yet still wonderful) and to know that I was a part of their dream coming true, there is nothing to describe that feeling! It is something I will remember for the rest of my life.

As soon as the family went inside, 3/4 of the people left. I knew that the family was going to have to come out of the house (either via front door or laundry door) to go see the guest house, so I positioned myself to be there when they did. And before long, out they came! I got some great shots of Ty and the family and again, being able to see their genuine, true reactions was priceless.

So, while I never officially got to meet any of the designers, no matter how much I really wanted, my week with EM:HE was fulfilled because I got to do the most important thing; build a house for the Gomez family!

EM:HE Pt 3

So my last shift day was Tuesday, June 28. My sister and I were signed up for the 8 AM to 2 PM shift. It was definitely a different environment being there during the day verses during the night, mainly in that there was actually the film crew there! That is always exciting =] The designers for this house were Michael Malony, Paige Hemmis and Xzibit. I am an absolute fan of Michael and so I really wanted to see him. So my sister and I got there (and our friend Drew came too, with the hopes that he could get in as a walk on) and we sit around for the first 2 hours. Finally this painter guy comes up to me and my sister and says, do you want to do something, and I'm like, yes please! So he takes us to the house, gives us some putty and 8 doors and says, putty the holes in the moulding that are around the door and in the door jams. Yes sir! I was so excited to be doing actual construction work! So we do the front door, 4 doors that lead to a small court yard, door out the master bath , laundry room door and the door to the guest house. While we were over at the guest house, I hear "What is the ETA on Xzibit" and I'm like, he is coming over here?! So Noelle and I keep working on the door, and all of a sudden the whole film crew is right there and they are at the door to the guest house, discussing what is going to happen (I won't reveal it, so that I don't spoil anything). The guy asks if the three guys who are standing by Noelle and I if they are volunteers, they say yes, and needless to say, they get in the shot, but Noelle and I don't because we finished working on what we were working on before they actually shot it =[ We were so close!!! But we did get to see Xzibit up close.

After we finished with the putty, we found our painter guy, Jerry, and ask him if he has anything else we can do. He asks if we've ever caulked before and I said no, but I can learn. He says, ok, lets see how you do. So he shows me how to do it, and gives Noelle sandpaper to sand down the doors. I start caulking and realize I'm doing a horrible job! But I soon enough get the hang of it. I'm so excited to be able to say, I caulked those doors, when they show them on TV!!! Who else can say that?! So we caulked all the doors we had just puttied (except the front door, that one was already done) and while we are caulking the guest house, I see a little girl running towards the tent that the stars generally are at (she was in the spectator area). I recognized her and saw the rest of her family =] It was the family I had met on Sunday! So Noelle and I finished up, and then went over to the family to say hi. I introduced my sister to them, and she struck up a conversation with their oldest daughter. Six-year-old Lexi (who is blind and was adopted from China 6 months ago) comes up to me and grabs my hands. I get down on her level, and she asks who I am. I tell her, and before I know it, she is asking me to hold her. I wasn't going to deny her that! So I pick her up and we became best buds right then and there. She is such a sweetheart and I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to meet this extraordinary family and their amazing kids! That was just as much of a highlight for me as was being able to build a house for such a deserving family!

Holmes Homes, the contractor for the project, had a photographer walking around, taking pictures, and then they put those pictures up on facebook, and they have one of Noelle and I!

Noelle, sanding or puttying

Me, caulking one of the doors to the patio

I have more pictures from the whole even that I will post later =]

EM:HE Pt 2

So Sunday night, June 26, I decided I wanted to go again and try to get in as a walk-on volunteer. So my friend Drew and I headed up there, but they didn't need us right away, so we hung out in the spectator area for a while, just watching construction, and then about 9:30 PM (we had gone around 8) we went back and they said if we wanted to do landscape and clean up we could go in! So we said sure, anything to get us in. So that night we helped moving sand for pavers, moving the pavers themselves (twice, because the first time, the plywood that they were on was hanging over the edge of the concrete into the driveway, and so they needed it to be moved), and moving gravel to a window well (we left before that project was done, and boy was it going to be a huge project!). So not quite as exciting as the first night, but definitely still great!

A fun experience that I had while we were waiting in the spectator area: As Drew and I were walking to the spectator area, I walked past a little girl and did a double take because I knew who she was! I looked at the other kids in the family and realized I knew exactly who they were! I read their blog!!! They are an LDS family who have adopted 5 special needs kids from China (in addition to their 3 biological children). So of course I had to stop and say hi and introduce myself! I was beyond myself that I got to meet them, as I very much love reading their blog and love that they have adopted from China. You too can follow them at: kidjunkies.blogspot.com I absolutely loved meeting Jeremy and Christi and all their kids!! Thanks guys for letting me meet your beautiful and wonderful kids!

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition pt 1

Many of you probably know the ABC TV show, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. My family and I dutifully watched it every Sunday since it began, up until we moved to China. Since being back, I haven't been able to watch as many episodes, but that doesn't mean I don't still love the show! Ever since I began watching it, I have always wanted to volunteer with EMHE (and own a coveted blue shirt!), but up until recently, the opportunity had never presented itself.

On Tuesday of last week, I was driving home (in my new-to-me car!) and heard on the radio that EMHE was coming to Utah, THIS WEEK! I knew immediately that as long as it was within reasonable driving distance, I would be there! And they were! The house they were going to be building was in South Jordan, not far from me at all! I got home and immediately signed up to volunteer for the following Tuesday (June 28) from 8 AM to 2 PM. But then, when my roommates got home I thought, why didn't I think to ask them if they wanted to do it with me. I talked to them, and they said they did, but couldn't do it at the time I had already signed up for, so we looked at all the options and decided we would do that Friday, June 24, from 8 PM to 2 AM. We were all so excited!

So Friday came and Chelsey, Marianne and I drove up to South Jordan, received our blue shirts and hard hats, and were taken on-site! At this point, construction had been going on for about 26 or so hours, and they had the guest house and garage built, and the foundation was being finished in the basement/for the rest of the house. We were taken to the volunteer tent and basically told to sit around and wait, and that we would be on call to help with food. Kind of a bummer, since we wanted to work on the house. But, we figured, at least we are here, helping with what they needed. So we picked up trash, emptied trash bins and just hung out. After about 1 1/2 hours, they finally said they needed our help! Yay! We were so excited to go out and be at the construction site! Our first task was to move 2x4's from one area to the next. So the 20 or so of us made a line and we passed the wood down the line to where it needed to go. Unfortunately, we didn't have gloves on, so we all got a few splinters; ouch! After we completed that job, we sat and waited for something else to do. After a while, there was another wood pile that needed to be moved, so once again, we formed a line and moved the wood pile.

Finally after about 3 hours of being there (our shift was 6 hours long) we finally got word that they needed everyone to help with taking the forms off the basement walls! For anyone who has never done construction or been at a construction site, when you are doing a basement, they put up these huge forms, and and then fill the middle with the concrete, let it dry, and then take them off. There were about 60 or so volunteers and just as many, if not more, volunteer construction workers. So the construction workers would take the forms off the concrete, pass them to the men, and then the men would pass them off to us women and we'd take them to the truck. Now, there were mainly two types of forms: 4 ft-50lbs forms and 8 ft-100 lbs forms. So these aren't lightweight things! They had wanted us to form a line all the way to the trucks, but there were too many things and they weren't all going to the same trucks, and it really was just easier to have the guys doing a line to pass them to us, and the we would carry them where they needed to go. And that is how it went for 3 hours. We took all the forms off the house in 3 hours! We were told this would take a normal sized crew 5-7 DAYS! Yes! That is the power of volunteers =]

So that was absolutely incredible to do! I so much enjoyed my first day there (and it was so nice to be there at night!) that I couldn't wait for the next time I was going to come!