Guangdong Reunion

Lilliana Rollings and Lily Alexander in July 2007

Lilliana Rollings and Lily Alexander on November 1, 2004

Cribmates in China....Lily Alexander, Hannah Horne and Chloe Lenhart. This was taken in November of 2004 on the famous red couch of the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou, China.

The same cribmates(out of order) in July of 2007. Chloe Lenhart is on the left, Hannah Horne in the middle and Lily Alexander on the right.

Eight of the Guangdong 12 at our Reunion in Owensboro, Kentucky in July of 2007. (left to right) Lily Alexander, Ashley Gebhardt, Jasmine Hodapp, Chloe Lenhart, Lilliana Rollings, Riley Williams, Hannah Horne and Kendall Warren. Missing from the photo this year was Chloe Cowan (I know I didn't spell that right), Ruthie Meyer, Joy Sourwine and Mandy Cook.

Picture Two of the same crew.

The Guangdong 12 on the red couch in November of 2007. Sitting on the couch left to right: Ashley Gebhardt, Lily Alexander, Jasmine Hodapp, Chloe Cowan, Kendall Warren, Lilliana Rollings, Ruthie Meyer. Standing in front, Mandy Cook. Sitting on the back of the couch left to right: Chloe Lenhart, Joy Sourwine, Riley Williams, Hannah Horne.

Well, we took a road trip last week to Owensboro, Kentucky. We stopped in Southern Indiana to visit some old friends that attended church with us while we lived in that area. We spent the night with the Byers'.....Steve, Julie and Philip. It was so much fun to see TJ there with them. They were one of our favorite sitters for TJ. Phillip was good to TJ when TJ was smaller than he....and he was good to TJ this evening as TJ was slightly bigger than him! We also enjoyed allowing them to meet our little girls for the first time. The next morning we had breakfast with some other friends from our old church....the Meaders, Sellars and Kennedy's. It was so much fun to be with them! It was so comfortable that it was hard to believe it had been several years since we last got together. I had always enjoyed spending time with Connie, Cindy and Janet.

(I didn't take any pictures of this time....what was I thinking?)

After breakfast we made the final two hour drive to Owensboro. This was the city TJ was born in so it was good to think back to those early days as first time parents making that drive from Louisville to Owensboro to hold our 6 pound 2 ounce boy for the first time. This day we allowed him (at nearly 6 feet 2 inches) to drive a bit along the way. We met our travel group at the Owensboro Christian Church for the day. It is always good to spend time with these families. They will always hold a special place in our hearts. Nine of the girls were from the same orphanage as Lily and the other three were from a nearby orphanage. We spend two weeks together in China sharing in a moment that changed our lives forever! Forever we will be connected to them!

Other things to note: We are getting ready to start school. TJ will start the tenth grade and is busy with football right now. Ty will be in the ninth grade and is ready to take off with the golf team. Dane will start sixth grade and is going to try football this year. Lily and Sarah will start in the 3 year old preschool program two days each week. Me? I've agreed to teach PE two days each week at the Christian school that the lower four attend. Tom isn't starting back at school although he often talks about the possibility of a Ph.D.