Monday, June 30, 2014

K1

Harrison started K1 on June 12th at Gachibowli Globe Toters. This year he will be riding the bus home (giving mommy 30 extra minutes a day!) Daddy (well technically Faiyaz) drops him off at 9am before Bill heads to work.



I love his uniform!

Our first homework assignment on June 27th- welcome to the world of schooling Harrison

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

What an experience

Today I had my first experience with an orphanage. It was incredible...the smiles from the babies and toddlers were heartwarming. I spent an hour playing, singing, and cuddling some amazing God given children. I will be volunteering every Wednesday morning from 10-11:30am at Sarah's Covenant Homes, (http://schindia.com)

Before moving to India one of my goals while living in Hyderabad was to become a volunteer where I could help children and/or families in need. On July 17th we will be celebrating our 1 year mark for living in India. 

I began helping others by attending many ABC fundraisers (https://www.facebook.com/ABCinhyderabad). I told myself may times that I could give monetary donations but just did not feel as though I was strong enough to go volunteer at an orphanage. Many training sessions passed over the past 11 months and after praying and reflecting on where I wanted to volunteer, my heart kept reaching toward the ABC (Advocates for Babies in Crisis) organization. 

I finally attended the training session last Friday 20 June 2014 and as soon as the training started I knew this was the right organization for me. ABC helps to support the government ran orphanage along with Sarah's Covenant Homes which focuses on children with disabilities. ABC volunteers go to SCH on Wednesday mornings from 10-11:30am (PERFECT time for while Harrison is at school!) 

My highlights- 

-Smiles from babies and toddlers as soon as I walked into the play room 
-Humming and rocking two toddlers to sleep, the sweet heavy eyes and adorable soft snoring 
-Reading, playing, and singing with smiley, loving toddlers 
-Before I left one little girl wrapped her arms around my neck to give me a huge hug

This was a priceless experience. God is so GREAT! 




Friday, June 13, 2014

Sydney, Australia part 2

Australian Museum

Tyrannosaurs on special exhibit and where we spent most of our time.



Hard rain on our ferry ride to the Taronga Zoo

The rain was so hard it was a MUST for Bill and I buy ponchos!!!!

View of the city from the Zoo 


We did see a lot more animals but I think we were too cold and wet to take a ton of pictures. 



Scenic World in Blue Mountains...Here were are riding the scenic railway (52 degree incline, steepest passenger train in the world).


Breathtaking views and if you look closer you can see the mountains have a blue tent.




Scenic Skyway- glass floor as we glided between cliff tops
Scenic Cableway- (Australia's biggest cable car. Descends 545 meters). The view from the cableway was so beautiful.
 


I love our little family....

Daddy and Harrison took the trail to the waterfall- one of Harrison's favorite parts of the day.


Ferry ride views as we ride to Manly Island for the Manly Sea Life Sanctuary 





Sweet little penguins! 




We also saw lots of sharks but they were too fast to capture a picture





Sydney, Australia part 1


Everyday started with a cup (or 2) of cappuccinos! 
Harrison and I went downtown on the wharf to explore while Daddy attended his Rotary International Convention 
A great clean space to run around and a huge branch that Harrison wanted to take for his collection...







Waiting for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra Concert 

Absolutely beautiful music 
Breathtaking Sydney Opera House 

Harrison's highlight of the night was finding a leaf almost as big as his face 
We were in Sydney during their annual vivid lights show where downtown buildings were lit with beautiful lights. 






"Look Momma a castle clock!" 
Sydney Tower Eye
Sydney Opera House 







Harrison's favorite thing to do...riding the trains 












Such a beautiful city, I was in Heaven 























Harrison was so excited to go explore the Australian National Maritime Museum 



Harrison thought the submarine was really awesome, but too scary to go inside 



Before living the museum a boy must buy a Hook and sword at the gift shop! 
Our next stop was the Wild Life Sydney Zoo
Sleepy Koala's 

Koala's = so adorable!
As well as the Kangaroo's
Its was a very rainy day and the animals were quite tired. However we did get to see one Kangaroo hoping around.