My Parents Visit Bolivia-2015-Week 2

We started off week two of my parents visit with a bang! Tuesday was a busy one. Mother helped the kids with some school: grammar/English with Emily and math with Clancy. Clara at some point brought Clancy's bird in and put it on his head! I hope that helped him think twice as hard. However, you do hear things about "bird brains" that make you wonder if maybe they wouldn't help you think!

Grams and Clancy studying 

When we were at Mario and Helen's house for lunch Monday afternoon, Helen asked if my mother could share at the ladies' meeting that our church has each Tuesday afternoon. My mother, of course, said yes! Emily translated for her, and they both were a big blessing to the ladies there. The theme of her talk was about knowing God and trusting in Him. At the end, Emily and I sang, in Spanish, "Tis so Sweet to Trust in Jesus."

Mother sharing at the Ladies' Meeting!

Daddy and our boys kept busy that afternoon also. They went over to House 2 and helped Tio David put together some "roperos" for the boys clothes. They formed two teams to build them: Clancy, Tio David, and E. were one team, and Daddy and Myles were the other team. They knocked out 7 roperos in about three hours! Tio David was super happy, because it had taken him about three hours to do one by himself the night before! Now all the boys at House 2 have their own spot for their clothes, shoes, etc. Our menfolk were tired and hungry when we picked them up, but very accomplished!

L to R: E. Tio David, Daddy, Clancy, and Myles

Our next stop that Tuesday evening, (I told you it was a busy day!) was our Horita Feliz in Chulla, at Tia Techy's house. We had a good turn out of children from the neighborhood! Mama and Daddy enjoyed the time in Chulla.

Singing at Horita Feliz Chulla!

Mama and Daddy taking it all in...

Rudi with his volunteer reader for the evening!

Wednesday, Mama and I got to go out in the afternoon to do some touristy shopping and then we went out for tea! I took her to Lutetia, my favorite place in the city for tea. It is owned by a French man and the tea, food, and desserts are absolutely fabulous! It was a fun, relaxing time.

Tea for Two in the Garden!

I loved this picture of Mother "smelling" my tea! Isn't my mother beautiful?! I think she looks like a model in this picture below.

My Super Model Mother!

While we were having tea we felt something kinda like an explosion from far away and then the ground moved slightly. I mentioned to Mother that it felt like a small earthquake, but we both decided it was too small. On our way home a friend called me and asked me if I had felt the earthquake. There had been an earthquake! When we were walking home on a small side street we saw about six dogs ahead of us in the street. Mother commented on how cute the small black one was. As we walked past the dog she had complemented it gave a short growl and then bit my mother's leg... Mother just kept walking as if nothing had happened. After a few steps, I asked her, "did that dog bite you?", to which she just replied, "yes, and it stings". Thankfully, her capris were long enough that he got her on the capris and not her bare skin. Other than being slightly bruised she was just fine. I think that will be the last time she complements a Bolivian dog!! It was quite the adventurous afternoon, complete with earthquake and dog bite! Only in Bolivia!

The first two Wednesdays during my parents' stay, Emily was asked to babysit the cutest little girl! This little girl was adopted from Casa de Amor almost two years ago now. She has blossomed into a delightfully cute little girl! It was a privilege to have her in our home for the morning. She and Paula had a grand time together!

Gabriela and Paulita! 

Wednesday night is our volunteer night. This particular evening we were saying farewell to two great volunteers, Hillary and Shana. I already did a blog about them, and if I were really cool and techy, I would have a link to the blog right here. Since I am not either of those things, you can figure out how to read about them in the blog before this one!

Volunteer night. 

   I wouldn't want to leave out Thursday the 23rd, because that day was the 49th wedding anniversary of my parents. Unfortunately, Daddy wasn't feeling too well, so it ended up being an easy going day. In the afternoon after running some errands, my mother, Emily and I went to my favorite hair salon. While, Emily and I got haircuts, Mother got a pedicure. The lady did a great job and Mother loved it! After all, you can't get a good pedicure for $4 in the U.S. anymore! Not even at a beauty college!! I think Mother took some pictures of the event on her phone. I will upload one later if I find a good one!

   As I was going through photos to upload to the blog, I realized that many (too many) are taken at our dining room table...sorry for the un-originality! However, our jumbo sized wipey board behind changes its message. See if you can read the messages! Also, the people at the table change....usually!

   Friday night we were super privileged to have Jennifer's parents over. They were down for a week visiting their new grand baby, Lydia Ruth that was born April 16! They came for dinner, along with Jake and Jennifer and family. This was the first outing for Jennifer with her new baby! The only bad thing was that the evening went by too fast. I was happy that my parents could meet Carl and Glenda. They are true "kindred spirits"!
 

Dinner with the Boohers, Johnson, Beatys, and the Thompsons

And the kids eating outside...

Another shot with different kids looking this time!

L to R: Jake holding Lydia, Jennifer, Glenda holding Sophia, Carl,
Mama, and Daddy!

Saturday, Gladys asked if Mother could share with the ladies at the Horita Feliz what she had shared the previous Tuesday at the ladies' meeting. Mother, of course, said that she would. Since, Emily also teaches a class on Saturdays, she couldn't translate this time. That left me to translate...eeeks. Talk about a Spanish test for me! Thankfully, the Lord gave me grace, and I think the ladies got the jist of the message! I can easily translate from Spanish to English, which I have been doing a lot of with Mama and Daddy here, but English to Spanish es una otra cosa totalmente! Emily joined me at the end, so that we could sing the song, "'Tis so Sweet to Trust in Jesus" again for this group of ladies.

Mother and I sharing at Horita Feliz.

Singing, "Tis so Sweet to Trust in Jesus"

Our Saturday Horita Feliz Ladies Group... 

After Horita Feliz, everyone lines us for a snack before they leave, Franco let the boys from the baby house take a turn playing his guitar. I thought the picture below was super sweet!

Franco with S. and S.!!

Every week the volunteers bring several children from Casa Uno. It is such a blessing for the babies to be able to get out and about!

Volunteers  Shana, Hannah, Danyelle, and Emily with some of the
"Casa Kids".

Sunday we went to Km. 0 again. We stopped and picked up S. and A. at the baby house to come with us!

A picture in our "Sunday Best" clothes!

My parents enjoyed their Sundays at Km. 0. Rudi translated for Daddy and I translated for Mama, so they got something out of it! The people were very welcoming and kind to my parents. It has been great introducing them to our many friends here in Bolivia. 

Both "Paula's" with Paulita's Best Friend, Jeaneth!

After church we drove around looking for a place to eat. Each place we went was crammed with people that had the same idea we had, Sunday Lunch! Daddy and Mama had a reservation to spend the night at a lovely hotel called Hotel Aranjuez, in honor of their 49th anniversary. We ended up taking so long looking for a place to eat that we decided to drop off their bags and check them into the hotel. Come to find out, this hotel served lunch and it was not busy at all. In fact, Daddy called it Cochabamba's best kept secret, because it serves delicious food and is seemingly never busy. We had an amazing lunch on the patio with a beautiful garden and fountain to the side... and we had the whole place to ourselves!

Lunch at Hotel Aranjuez 

My handsome parents, Burnell and Paula
"49" years of wedded bliss!! Congratulations!

This concludes the second week of my parents' visit...stay tuned for the third and a half!