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| Hard at work! |
Saturday evening we went over to Jake and Jennifer's apartment for my parents to meet Jake, put together the quarterly newsletter for Casa de Amor, and have dinner! Daddy and Mama were able to take the newsletter back with them to be mailed in the U.S.
For dinner Rudi bought Chinese Food take out and it was fabulously delicious. I should have taken a picture of it! It was a nice break from cooking for me!
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| Mama, Jen, and Leo |
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| Myles, Grampa, Emily, and Jake |
It was good to be able to spend some time with Jake and Jen. Jennifer is starting to get a "baby pooch" and looks beautiful, as you can see! They have some sonogram pictures of the baby on their fridge and he/she looks beautiful too!
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| Jake, Jennifer &?, with Mama, and Daddy |
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| Happy Birthday, Abby! |
Because the day that my parents were leaving was Abby's first birthday, we decided to go ahead and celebrate her birthday a few days early. The children were inspired by a cake they saw in a cookbook at Jennifer's house and tried to recreate it for Abby.... Hmm, I think they need a bit more practice!!!
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| The Inspirational Cake |
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| Clancy and Clara with the result of the inspiration! |
Abby didn't seem to mind that her cake wasn't fancy. She must not have a sweet tooth though, because she didn't want to eat any of it!
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| Abby "1" year old |
The day before Daddy and Mama left for home, we took a picnic lunch and spent the day at Pairumani Park. It was a beautiful day for a picnic and hike.
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| Paula, Carla, Mama, and Daddy |
We took our time hiking to the picnic spot. You can really feel the high elevation when hiking.
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| What a handsome pair! |
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| At the Picnic Grounds! |
Rudi and Emily had packed us a lunch of chicken sandwiches, watermelon, cucumbers, and potato chips. It was delicious!
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| Paula and Paulita |
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| Grampa and the Boys! |
After we had lunch we headed on further to go to the waterfall. The trail to get there is VERY narrow with a drop off of about 300ft. We had a bit of a scare when my father started to get dizzy from the high elevation and worry for our children on the narrow bit of land. It was not the place to get dizzy for sure. Thankfully, nothing happened and we all made it to the waterfall and back safely.
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| Clara on "The Narrow Trail" |
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| Grampa resting up with Myles |
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| Enjoying the river above the waterfall. |
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| The Trail from far away. |
The hole in the side of the mountain is where we walked to get to the Cascada. It has a tunnel to get to the other side.
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| At the Tunnel |
Back down at the park the children had a great time playing on the toys.
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| Mother with her camara! |
A very common sight was to see Mother taking pictures with her Smart Phone. It caused me much anxiety seeing her flash it around in town. She did get smart (pun intended!) about carrying under her clothes and holding onto it with two hands. I must say that it is one thing that I am glad is back in the U.S. safe and sound!
As Daddy was driving out of the park some women leading bulls came walking up the street. We were able to snap a few pictures. We all got a kick out of watching them.
Right outside the park was a tienda where we all shared some Coca-Cola in glass bottles! A perfect finish to a great day!
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| The Pause that Refreshes! |
Here is a very funny picture of Mother, supposedly enjoying a Coca-Cola. She is really just showing off because she can't stand the stuff!!!
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| With all of the family at Pairumani Park |
At last the sad day was here when we had to say goodbye and see my parents leave for the good ole' U.S.A.
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| At the Airport Saying Goodbye |
My parents left on their "47th" wedding anniversary. We felt honored that they would spend it with us.
It had been the best of times. We are forever thankful that Mama and Daddy took the time to spend with us in Bolivia. Thank you, Grampa and Grams for all of the memories! We love you and miss you very much!
seeing the airport gives me the travel bug!
ReplyDeleteSo sweet. I am glad they got to visit you all....That was a funny pic of Paula, I was a little surprise when you said you ALL shared a coke! :) Looks like you guys are doing awesome! Love, Cammie
ReplyDeleteHow fun! What a blessing they were able to come visit. I am sure you all had a great time spending time together as a family and your date night. We miss you and pray for you all so much. I love all the pictures, keep em coming!!!
ReplyDeleteThat is so neat that your parents/grandparents were able to go down there and spend that time with you.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you all had a wonderful time! I'm sure you guys have some wonderful memories from their time there.
Looking forward to seeing you soon!
Lauren
Wow! That trail looks even scarier from a distance!
ReplyDeleteAll of these photos bring back such loving memories--and there were so many more!
If any of you want to visit Rudi and Carla and the family, you will be treated like royalty! It is a blessing to see how lovingly they serve and to see how they embrace the people they meet--and fit in with the culture.
Also, it was a blessing to see the children's homes. We only visited the boys' house and the baby house, but both were so orderly. I was impressed with how the boys had their beds all made and their toys straight. When we arrived, they were working on organizing their play room. The babies have such a nice place to live. While we were there, they were outside for a snack--delicious watermelon, which volunteer Anna was feeding them. They each patiently waited their turn for a bite and stayed very tidy even though eating such a juicy snack!
It was a delight to meet three volunteers from the States: Kaylee, Carlee, and Anna. What a blessing these young women are to the orphanage. They are flexible and definitely have servants hearts! It was fun to "run into" Anna about Cochabamba one day; first, at one point she loaded onto the same trufi we were on--on her way to pick up J, a young blind girl of the Casa, at school. Secondly, we saw her near the correro (post office) downtown. :) We were able to be with Carlee at least twice before she contracted chicken pox! I was impressed with how quickly she recovered, though to her it might not have seemed quickly!
Much love to you all,
Mama/Daddy