Voting Day

All ready to go!! (Sorry about the washed out look)

Here in Bolivia, yet another strange custom is "voting days". Voting Days are always on Sundays and it is like a Pedestrian Day, in that driving is only allowed with a permit. In addition to the no driving rule, there is also the rule that you cannot have meetings larger than two people... We break that rule every time!! In other words no church services are held those days either. Last Sunday was a voting day. This time we took advantage of the day by walking about two and a half kilometers down to visit our friends the Clarks, who live on the Carachipampa School campus.

Out for a stroll!

The Clarks had come over for dinner the night before and left us their stroller to use for the walk! That was a huge blessing and pushing the stroller was "the thing" to do!!

Clancy taking a turn with David on his back.

Another stroller combo!

At the school with the Clarks the kids had a great time on the playground!

Glacier kept all four going high.

Fun!

Two little monkeys, Canyon and Paula!

Before it was time to walk back we got together for a group picture. It was quite hot when we set out of the return trip, so we were super happy to see Tio David and Tia Rosa coming down the road in the orphanage's red truffi. They had gotten a permit for the day, so they could check on the homes. They gave us a lift to our street and we didn't even have to walk more than half a kilometer... I call that good timing!

Group picture without Peter and me...

Group picture with Peter and me...

Introducing...

Introducing...

David Michael

His name means "Beloved" and "Gift from God". Our little David is named after his Uncle David, my older brother, his father and favorite person, Rudi Michael, and his Grandpa B., Michael Booher! David was born in February of 2012. His original name was Samuel (pronounced- Sam Well). We have two nephews with this name and thought a third in the family might be a bit redundant! We also wanted to give him a "fresh start" with a new name, as he begins a new life in our family. We tried out different names with him, since he is old enough to have an opinion about it; David is the name he like the best! In a sense he picked his first name!! Super smart and full of life this guy keeps us on his toes. He is a great addition to our family!

Adriana Dolores 

Her name means "Noble Strength" and "Compassionate". We decided to keep her first name Adriana (pronounced Audrey-Ah-Nuh), because it just fits her! We find ourselves calling her Audrey as a nickname, but when we tried to change it officially to Audrey, it just didn't fit! Hopefully, the pronunciation won't get slaughtered her whole life, but hey, it will be something she can explain to people! She is also named after her Grandma B., Dolores Booher! Adriana was born in March of 2013. Our little bubbly gal has stolen our hearts. We are so blessed that God has made her part of our family.

Peter Anthony  

Our "bonus" baby! His name means "Rock" and "God adds or Priceless". Peter is the name that we would have given Ruth or Paula had they been boys. One of Rudi's best friends is Peter Warren, whom he is being named after. I liked the name and meaning of Anthony and if I were the only one choosing, this would be his first name!! We did not know about Peter when we decided to return to Bolivia to adopt David and Adriana, but I had told Rudi in August that I really wanted to "add on" a third baby and I wanted it to be a baby boy. Well God had already filled the "order" and when we found out about Peter we instantly said, "Yes." God "added" him to our family!!! Peter was born April of 2014.

If you notice the sequence of years, yes, the thought has crossed my mind many times to wonder if there might be a "2015" baby... and the answer is, yes, I would adopt it in a heartbeat. Not sure that Rudi feels the same way!! So far, we do not know of any more "bonus" babies. I pray that their birth-mother will stop having babies, because I know we can't keep adopting forever, but it would be hard to leave a sibling behind. For right now we are enjoying our three new blessings and are so thankful for them!

It so happens that in the beginning of the year 2012, when we were researching coming down to Bolivia, the first blog I read on the "Homes of Love" blog was about our little David being brought home from the hospital. You can read that first blog here! I remember thinking that he was such a cute little baby, but never dreamed that one day he would be my third son and seventh child... Pretty heady stuff!!

                                           Our adoption was official the 31st of August!
                 
                         Psalm 118:23 "This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes."

The Rudi Booher Family, September 2015
Photo courtesy of Kirsten Bedell 

A Blog de Peter

"Toilet paper, Anyone??"

Hi, my name is Peter! I am the littlest Booher, for now, and I am loving it! If I am left to myself, I crawl to the nearest bathroom with an open door and dive in for some fun... It drives my Mama crazy, but she knows how little boys are. I will say that I am finding less and less bathroom doors open these days!! Hmm, they must be on to my tricks!

"Train Time"

I also love playing with my brothers and sisters. You see I lived in a different orphanage than theirs, so I didn't even know that I had a brother and sister waiting for me! We get along so well together...

Playtime!

Ready, Set, Go

 I also love to take baths. Splash, splash, life is good! I usually cry when they take me out of the bath. It is just so hard to leave such a fun spot!

Bath time is fun time!! 

 I also am learning lots of things each day. For example, I learned to never put my hand in the fan when it is on... Thankfully, I only cut my two middle fingers and lost the nail on one. It really scared my Daddy and Mama though. Oh, and another cool thing about that, is that a "real" doctor bandaged me up with the help of my big sister, Emily!

My Doctor, Gina... Thanks!!!

I will tell you right now, I love stairs! Where I lived before they didn't have any, so I get up and down the stairs as much as possible!!!

Ah, those fun stairs again!!

 I hear that I am a lot of work to keep up with, but I didn't really believe it until I saw this picture of myself napping with Daddy. I guess I just wore him out!

Napping with Daddy!!

I am loving living with my family and being King of the House! Everyday is an adventure full of fun. I am thankful to have a family now. It is great!!

Big sister Clara and Peter!

Life is So Good!!!