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Monday, January 19, 2015

Just Dance!

Hello!!!! 
It's My turn to share some thoughts on this trip! get ready for a wild ride cuz I'll be all over the place!
So to start my story off, when Novahu and his family came to America one of the things we did with them was played the Wii game "Just Dance", and they thought that was "the coolest thing". Novahu was very impressed with my dancing skills:p he said he'd tell everyone back home about my good dancing (yeah right!!!) Well what do ya know we get to India and the first thing all the kids are asking me is to "Dance Loobie Akka! Dance! how can you say no to those cute little faces!!! 
One of the songs we danced to was Happy by Pharrell Williams 
Lucky enough we got it on video! 



it was SO much fun! they all got into it and wanted to continue dancing so we tried to think of a song that had dance moves to it and one of the only songs that we could think of was unfortunately Gangnam Style... 
We hoped that the lyrics would just go over their heads (didn't want to kids running around and singing about a sexy lady). 
So we turned on the music and we couldn't hear over all the screams of excitement! They all immediately started to dance the Gangnam Style Moves.
We danced to this song twice (after the first time we did it again so we could get it on video!)


All of the Orphans wanted me to teach them a song so we could preform at the Talent Show... I along with the Help of Emma taught them a personal favorite, I smile every time I think of those kids, dancing with them to crazy songs! it makes me happy at how happy they all got when we were there.


One last practice before the show!!!

So you are all probably wondering what song it is that we danced at the talent show, well you'll just have to watch!


It was to loud on that night so we got pictures of it instead!



Swing your partner!!!!

I love them all so much! and every time i listen to those songs now it reminds me so much of them!!!

Here are some of my favorite pictures of this trip! 

Along this wonderful journey I connected with Ramesh (he is one of the orphans) 
he always wanted to hold my hand and sit next to me we talked about his sponsors and that he wants to come to America someday, a lot of the kids say they want to come to america...

This little boy i'm walking with his name is Asheesh 
Every time i saw him, he'd want to carry my water bottle or bag and when i'd let him carry it he'd run away saying it was his...


I also learned how to be annoying on a violin!!!!! 


Here is a before and after picture of the older boys from this years trip to India and the last trip to India!


2015

2013

They have all grown so much in the past two years!!!



This picture was taken on top of our hotel, we were told it had a beautiful view of Kakinada 





whoa how did that get there?



One of my FAVORITE pictures! 
sneaky sneaky Tabitha! 
She kept saying "hold me Akka, i'm so tired!"



 She's SO cute!!!!

I feel so grateful to have been able to return to India again this year, 
it's like another dream come true.
I am grateful to my travel companions, who also happen to be my family, 
it was another amazing adventure with them!!!!
I'm am grateful for all those who support this ministry that we came here on behalf of,you're changing the world for the better!
I am also grateful to everyone who thought of us while we were so far away,
it's nice to be loved and missed.
To be grateful is something you have to really think about, 
it's a feeling of deep appreciation of what your given. 
I can truly say that I am grateful for all these things, 
and I hope someday I can help make all those kids dreams come true too.


Thank you for reading my post!

Love, 
Olivia Landowski


P.S. sorry for the shaky videos, it's kind of hard to videotape when you feel like dancing!








Sunday, January 11, 2015

There's no place like home...

Everybody knows, there's no place like home anywhere!!
 
 
It's been over 60 hours since we left our hotel in Kakinada India
and we are now finally home!!!!
 
We were greeted into temperatures of 15 degrees
but it didn't matter because our chauffer Bob had
heated seats in his vehicle... :)
 
On our way home we made a side stop at the Tybrings
where we were greeted by friends and food;
ya' know it's so important to ease yourself back into things!!
What a great first opportunity to share our stories!
 
And finally when we arrived at home we found a
delicious chocolaty treat waiting on our table for us, YUM YUM!!
Thank you Komros!
 
Gee, but it's great to be back home!!
 
As I reflect on what it means for my family to be "home"
and what "home" meant to all those whose houses we
visited in India, there is definitely one come denominator...
home is where the heart is.
The dictionary says home is
a place where you live, a building to live in;
but I think it's so much more...
recalling how happy people were to welcome us into there home,
it had little to do with the size, or what possessions were inside
and everything to do with the feelings that were ever present there.
Sadly to say, some were not a "happy home", but most were.
Again, it had nothing to do with size or possessions.
For today my hope for you is that you may view your home
not by the size or what you all have in it;
but rather the feeling you and others get when you are there.
If your home does not make your heart feel good,
you don't need to tear down any walls,
simply create the environment that brings your soul peace and joy;
and that is where your heart will want to be.
 
May your house keep you safe and warm,
may your home be like a hand knit quilt wrapped around your heart!
 
Namaste'
~Jenny
 
p.s. keep an eye out for thoughts from the rest of my family as
they reflect on our India experience.