Saturday, October 19, 2013

A Birthday Party for Paula

At the beginning of September, our youngest, Paula Jane, celebrated her fourth birthday in style! I thought I would share some of the photos of the event with you all! 
In true Bolivian style Tia Techy and Javier hired a clown for the event. (Bolivians love clowns for every occasion) Thankfully, he was quite tame and everyone had a great time with him there. It took a bit for Paula to warm up to him, but after just a little while she did!

The Clown in his Mickey Mouse outfit!

Strike a Pose, Paula and S.

Fun and Games

Ruth and B. having a great time!
Getting set up for the game!
The clown arranged a game where the children had to run around everyone and then crawl under their teammates legs to reach the prize in the middle. It was a very fun game!

Paula crawling through the leg tunnel!

Prize!

 Then it was time for cake. The clown had us pray for Paula, which I thought was very sweet and we took a group family photo...such as it is!

 It was a smashing success of a birthday party. The only problem is that the rest of the kids, except Emily, would like to have a clown at their birthday parties now!!!
Happy Birthday, Paula!! We love you!!

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Our First Year in Bolivia

Yesterday we celebrated our one year arrival in Cochabamba, Bolivia! We celebrated by taking a somewhat official family picture! I don't think it was the kids idea of a good time, but they were good sports about it!

The Rudi Boohers "2013"
It was fun to reminisce about all of the diapers we have changed and bottles we have made. We estimated the diaper count at 4,000 and the bottles at around the same amount! It is also amazing to reflect on how fast the year went for all of us and how the Lord has led us all the way and has had His hand on us every moment. We have been so blessed to be able to care for six children, so far, through Casa de Amor. Three have been adopted and we still have three with us!
The Twins, Katarin and Alison

Leo

Abby with Grampa
Paula and S.

Ruth with S.'s baby sister A.
Our original four "Casa Kids"

We have also bought mountains of veggies and fruits. This pile below cost about $14!
 We have been incredibly blessed to have had Tia Techy work with us this past year. She has become part of the family and we all don't know what we are going to do without her when we go home. Thank you to CDA for providing one of their best employees for us!
Tia with her side kicks Emily and Myles

Lydia from Colorado, Emily, and Lindsey from S. Carolina
 We have also gotten to know the volunteers who have come down to help at CDA. It has been great to be a home away from home for them. Our lives have been enriched by these hard working gals. Kaylee from California was one of the volunteers who came to pick us up at the airport and Camila from Denmark helped me with raising support for our "Diaper Drive"!
Carlee, Kaylee, Emily, Anna, Ruth(on lap), back of Paula, and Elena

Anna from S. California

Danyelle from Texas, Hannah from Louisiana, Carlee from Idaho

Victoria from Texas

We also have been blessed to get to know Jake and Jennifer better, as well as, Vico and Elena! We also have many new Bolivian friends!

All of our children have been thriving and growing up way to fast. They have grown into being a big help around the house with the kids, cooking, cleaning, and even changing diapers AND car tires! We are soooo blessed by our kids everyday! Bolivia has been good for them!
Chow time! Clara with her friend Gracie feeding the boys!

Clancy, Myles, and S. "Mis Guapos Chicos"

Ruth and Clara "Mis Guapas Chicas"

Emily "La Bonita"



Paula "Mi Chiquita Hijita"



I am sure that after I post this blog I will think of a lot of things I should have mentioned about the past year, but I am going to post this anyway and save it for another blog!

We look forward to the year ahead. We look forward to caring for more precious children through Casa de Amor, planting a garden at the boys house, learning lots more Spanish, growing in our relationships with those that God brings into our lives, and just generally enjoying being here in Bolivia!
It has been a good year. Thank you to Casa de Amor for this opportunity to serve and thank you for your prayers for us this past year. Keep it up!!!

Our theme verse this year is Isaiah 40:41 "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not faint.". May we serve this year waiting on the Lord to renew our strength!
The Rudi Booher Family "2012" (Yes, Rudi and I have lost weight...Hooray!) On our way to Bolivia!

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

A Fall and A Bite

The months of August and September brought us some medical adventures here in Bolivia. I can't say that I have enjoyed them very much! I know that Rudi and I are very thankful that our situations were not worse and that our boys are still here with us.
Our first event happened just a few days after Myles' birthday. Rudi with Myles, Emily, and a friend, Franco went out to a Christian campground, that some friends of ours administrate, to play music and share the gospel with a group from the youth orchestra. Myles was playing with a couple friends his age on a zipline that went over and across a valley. Rudi did not feel good about how they were using it without harnesses, but did not want to be a spoilsport and say something about it. We don't know exactly how it happened, but as Myles was letting himself down the rope, he fell from about nine to ten feet. We think he passed out either as he was falling or right before. Thankfully, his right foot took the brunt of the fall before he fell over onto his head. However, because he was passed out he did not break his fall in any way as he toppled onto his head. When Rudi picked him up he was having convulsions and not responding. The next thirty minutes were the scariest, as Myles went into shock and scared many that were attending him. Through it all his pupils looked good, but his lack of response was what was worrying everyone. Rudi called me and asked me to e-mail our family and friends and ask them to pray. They were two hours from the nearest hospital that could care for him and had to go up over a 14,000 ft pass to get there. At this point we also thought that his ankle was for sure broken from the pain that he was in. By the time I met them at the hospital Myles was responding well in both Spanish and English, but was in a lot of pain especially in his ankle. They did full body x-rays, as well as checked him for any signs of concussion. We all were shocked when his x-rays did not show ANY broken bones, not even a slight fracture in his ankle. He also did not show any signs of concussion either. May all the praise and glory go to our God who is a healer. We are so thankful for all the many people who prayed for Myles. I believe God did a work in his body as he was being driven to the hospital.  
Myles and his new black eye!
In the picture above that was as far as he could open his left eye for a couple of days! The doctor said that a cast would be the best for healing the major sprain that Myles had in his ankle. The cast helped keep the the leg still and kept him off it for the first week, before he got a walking cast. The first week Myles tired easily and kept to his bed a lot. Managing the wood crutches was difficult and uncomfortable at best.

The Rustic Crutches
One of the days after after his fall our power went out for the whole day. The kids had fun that night playing games by candlelight. I liked the color of Myles black eye in this picture! Almost Raccoon like, don't you think?
Chess by candlelight
After watching Myles run around with his walking cast on, I was glad that we had put it on him. He was glad when the thing started to fall off a week early! He ended up sawing it off himself. He took it easy the first few days and now is up to full speed again.
Myles running with his cast at Paula's birthday party!

"Look, Mom, no cast"
  Just a few weeks later Clancy got a dog bite on the road by our house. He and Emily were taking a house key down to Victoria and the oldest four House 2 boys. Clancy was looking at them in front of their house waiting, and did not pay attention to the three dogs that were running toward him. Clancy ran right between two of them that were in the middle of a friendly dog tussle and one of the dogs bit him right on the leg. Unfortunately, Clancy was wearing shorts. When Rudi told me that we were going to have to take Clancy to the doctor for stitches I have to say that I was pretty stressed out. Dog bites are nothing to mess with here in Bolivia, as rabies is alive and well.
We took Clancy to a local clinic. I really did not want them to put stitches in the wound, as I have heard that that seals the bacteria in. I tried to communicate this to the doctor, but he was concerned about how open the wound was. While Rudi and I were out looking for a public bathroom to use (the clinic had a bathroom, but it was locked:) he went ahead and stitched him up with four stitches.
The wound the night of the bite. He also had a deep puncture on the other side.
The next day we went to another hospital to get him started on the rabies shots. Thankfully, that doctor told us that we needed to locate the dogs and report them to the hospital closer to us for observation by them. The series of rabies shots here are one each day for a week and then three more at ten day intervals. While it would be worth it if the risk was there, it is not something that you would sign up for a the drop of a hat!
Emily and our friend, Gladys who lives on our street, spent an evening going from house to house searching for the dogs. They were able to find them about two blocks down our street and Victoria and Angel were able to identify the ones who were in the pack that were running past that evening. After much waiting I was able to contact the right person to come and observe the dogs for rabies. We got the call this week that all of the dogs are rabies free. Praise the Lord!
The Victim!
The first few days Clancy was in so much pain that he could not walk very well and he spent a lot of time relaxing in our armchair. The bite got a bit infected and I was truthfully worried sick about the whole thing. The Lord sent our dear friend Tia Carmen, who used to be a nurse, to come and take out his stitches and to apply some herb poultices on Clancy's leg to draw out the infection. It worked the best of anything. What a blessing. His wound is now almost healed five weeks later. It has taken a long time!
Tia Carmen applying an herb poultice!
Clancy is now back to his regular chore of changing one of the little boys when he gets up in the morning. We always get a kick out of how he insists on wearing these bright orange rubber gloves to do it!
We are so thankful to have both boys fully recovered and doing well! It has been a faith building experience for me. I have had to ponder where my trust is: in the doctors to make my children well or Jehova Rapha, God our healer. At home in the U.S. where the medical care is much more high tech and well done, it is easy to put our trust in the medical system and forget that it is God that heals us. I have had to place my children in God's hands and trust Him alone through these experiences. A stretching and growing experience for me as a mother.