Defining Hope: December 20, 2012 -- Out on the town! Woot Woot!

Today is Thursday!! That means we get a day off (which technically is only about 7 hours, but still!) It was overcast today, but it didn't rain so we were happy about that because it always rains on our day off! Ted and Bev took us out for lunch at a Mexican restaurant. Yes, you read it - a Mexican place. One of the ladies that works here randomly passed it one day while driving through a neighboring city. So the girls wanted to go there. I do not really like Mexican but didn't want to ruin their hopes of having a "western meal". So I decided to be brave and try it? What has gotten in to me??? Now Matt would never believe I went there, let alone ordered a chicken burrito! So I took some pics (below) to prove to him that I actually did it! It wasn't too bad. I probably won't choose to eat Mexican again, but now I can say that I have ate it. The funniest part was they were playing "American music" - in a Mexican place - in Taiwan :) We all had a good laugh about that! They has Mexico flags hanging everywhere in the place and Bev thought it was dumb to have pics of and eagle eating a snake on all the walls........I was dying laughing inside when I realized she was serious, so we had to explain that it was the Mexico flag and not the same "picture" on the walls.....awkward.

Anyway, the kids here at the orphanage due a gift exchange here and are given money to go shopping on a certain day and purchase their gifts which will be given on Sunday because they are in school on actual Christmas. They do celebrate the holiday here, but it's not a huge deal. Chinese new year is a big deal though! So we spent the afternoon shopping for my person I have been given. It is a girl about 15 years old. It was really fun to shop for a girl!

After lunch we spent the rest of our time shopping back in our "city which is about 10-15 minutes from the home. I have a business card of THOGL so the girls wanted me to get us a cab and tell him where to take us. So I whipped out the business card and he spoke back to me in Chinese. I have no idea what he said, but we all got in anyway and he drove us back :) No worries dad, Misty and Kelsey know some Chinese so they would have stopped me if they needed to :)

When we arrived back at the orphanage there was a younger boy here that was feeding Grayson his supper. I busted out laughing when I walked in because Grayson was a mess! He had food all down his face, outfit, and his bib looked like a food fight broke out in the room! It was so funny until I had to clean him up.

Ted should be calling the judge tomorrow to find out if there is any new information on our case. Please lift up any prayers you could or if you think about us tomorrow :) Really needing to hear some good news or need to have a peace about the situation.

Love from Taiwan

~Lindsay & Grayson

Graysin & I

playing in the bumbo

Kelsey & I ready for the day

Ansley, me, and Misty

Nachos & cheese, and more.

My meal :)

Old lady pulling a cart and picking up trash along the roads to recycle it.......didn't even know these carts still exhisted? and she was walking in the middle of the road!!! scared me to death!

I just don't think this is the safest way to fix the stoplight? Hopefully people will see the 2 small cones at the bottom and not run into his ladder! 2nd in the world for the most wrecks and deaths! The stoplights here also have timers on them so you know when the lights will change.....pretty clever!