A Good Morning Picture

Paula and A.

I come out of my room to this picture a lot of mornings. Baby A. has slept right outside our door for the past few weeks. She has been sleeping better and so have we! Paula loves to "get her up" in the mornings!

The Practical Mobile

So when we bought our other car I titled the blog post "The Happy Mobile". The "Jeep" was a fun car but hardly practical for our large family and even larger circle of friends, who we like to take with us. The Lord super blessed us by allowing us to sell our Jeep and providing for us to purchase a "Truffi". This truffi has been owned by a private Christian school its whole life. While our Jeep was a model from 1976 our Truffi is from 1988. We are moving up in world for sure. One of the boys from house two when he saw our new car declared that it looked a codfish! I don't really care what it looks like. It drives like a dream, you don't soar to the ceiling with every bump, of which there are plenty here, and it fits a bazillion people with ease! What more could you ask for! We are planning on souping it up with a paint job and tinted windows, as well as reupholstering the seats. By the time we are done with it people will be knocking down our door to buy it!! Not that we are ever going to sell it! 

Our Maiden Voyage in The Codfish!

To break in the car and see how it did at climbing the hills full of passengers, we invited the Tia's and boys of CDA 2, as well as Tia Techy and Javier to join us for a "safari" to Pairumani Park. (I told you it can a bazillion people.) I think there were only 24 people and most of them were small, but we still had room to spare, according to Bolivian standards of cramming!

The Proud New Owners!

Some of the Gang!

 We dropped off Victoria (Volunteer from Texas) and the four oldest CDA boys at soccer practice and then continued on up to Paurimani. The car handled it with ease!

We made it to the top!

We had a great time hiking around a bit and enjoying the fresh air. The playground was a hit for everyone!

Tia Techy and Leo

 The subebajas (teeter totters) were kept busy by young and old alike!

"Don't worry Dad!", says Emily

S. on the run!

Paula and B. having a grand time!

All too soon it was time to head home! We look forward to many more adventures in our amazing new car! This past Sunday there were 18 of us going to Church together in it. On the way home we noticed Tia Lucy from Casa 1 standing by the side of the road with one of the toddlers in her arms. We pulled over and she hopped in making it 20 people! It is awesome to always have the space for more! Also the luxury of going grocery shopping and not having to lug your groceries home on some type of public transportation is beyond amazing! Yes, we are thanking the Lord for our gift of the "Practical Mobile"!!

Happy Birthday, Leo & Myles

 The month of August brought us two birthdays, Leo turned 1 year old and Myles turned 13! Two very important ages!

Happy Leo with his stack of gifts!

Trying to unwrap them!

 The big kids were waiting to lend a hand with the unwrapping, so he had plenty of help! Earlier in the day Rudi fed him his cake "Bolivian Style", as in face first, but I didn't have a camera ready! I just wanted you all to know that he got the "full" birthday treatment!

Getting some help from the big kids!

A typical Leo look!

 Leo has been with us since November of last year. When he came he weighed about 8 lbs now he weighs over 20! He is a easy going happy boy. We pray that this year he will be able to be adopted by his forever family, although it will be hard to see him go for sure! Happy Birthday, Leo!

Just two days later we celebrated Myles 13th birthday! Hard to believe how time flies.
We started out with our traditional birthday breakfast and gifts.

Bolivian Bubble Gum! Yumm!

 In the evening we had Tia and Javier, as well as the boys from Casa 2, Vico and Elena, Jen and Jake, and Danyelle (who was on her way to the airport to fly home) over for dessert! I had made a Mud Pie ice cream cake that is a family favorite. It also happens to be very easy to make!! I was pretty happy with how his name came out!

Thirteen Candles on the Cake!

 Because the frozen cake was not a good cake for the traditional Bolivian bite, our friend Cristian brought over a cake his wife had made for Myles the next evening for him to take the plunge into. And plunge he did!

What a face!

Myles modeling his Wilstermann shirt!~

Congratulations, Myles on turning the big one three! We are proud of the godly young man you are becoming. You bless us everyday just by being you, responsible, helpful, and steady! We love you lots!
Happy Birthday!

Somewhere

Hello everyone!
I recently finished this song, and I thought you all would enjoy it.
I actually did this twice because the first version did not fit my standards. Even now you can hear my squeeky office chair that just had to squeek as I was playing my ukulele, and some babies crying in the background! What can you do! But all this to say, I am very proud of it and I wanted to show it to the rest of the world! I hope you enjoy my version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow"!

Here I am recording the uke tracks! If you are wondering about the bandana, it's for my favorite soccer team......Go Wilstermann!

Farewell to Carlee & Danyelle

 The only bad thing about having volunteers come down and help is that eventually you have to say goodbye.
This August we said to goodbye to two of our favorites...(they are all our favorites really!)

Tia Carlee with "her boy" C. 

Carlee, from Idaho, came down at the end of January and stayed clear through August. When she got here she was super intimidated by the public transportation which I could relate to completely! She also spoke a bit of Spanish, but not much. By the time she left she was speaking great Spanish and bopping about the town with ease on the public transport. She lived at the boys home (Casa 2), but was always helping out at the other houses too. Carlee and Emily became fast friends and loved to bake cookies and brownies together. They also took many a shopping trip to La Concha that always included going out for coffee before or after! Carlee found the love of her life here in Bolivia... unfortunately he is only two years old!!! Hurry back Carlee, we miss you lots!

Tia Danyelle & Friends

Danyelle, from Texas, came in May for a three month stay. She lived at the girls house, but also helped out at the other homes as well! She had come last summer for a months stay, so she was an old pro at getting around town and such. She joined Emily and Carlee for most, if not all, of the coffee and shopping dates they went on! Danyelle had the special privilege of driving the Hogar's truffi. She made an excellent chauffeur! (By the way they fixed the steering, Danyelle. Not nearly as fun to drive now, but safer:) Both Danyelle and Carlee made our Bolivian church their "church home" while they were here. We miss our Gringitas faces shining out of the crowd on Sundays. Thank you Danyelle for coming down and serving here in Bolivia. We miss you!

Marshmellow Flowers

We hosted a going away luncheon for Danyelle and Carlee. I made Lasagna, French Bread, and Caesar Salad. A former volunteer, Savannah, who is here visiting for a few weeks made this amazing cake. She cut marshmellows to make these incredible flowers. Yes, the marshmellows are not just white here. They are all different colors.

Cake a la Savannah

   After lunch we had a sharing time for Carlee and Danyelle. Different kids and some of the adults shared their thanks and appreciation for the departing volunteers. It was a special time.  In the picture below Tia Anita and the girls from house three shared a special song for Danyelle. The little girl in the white shirt is blind, but when they started singing she wanted in on the action. She loves to sing and dance!
   We are so appreciative to both Carlee and Danyelle for all that they poured into Casa de Amor. Your work was noticed and appreciated. You left some very big shoes to fill! Que Dios les bendiga!

Tia Anita and the House 3 girls 

Happy Daze

Leo on the rabbit hunt!

 It has been WAY to long since I have gotten around to blogging! I decided to just upload a bunch of pictures and make some comments! Enjoy!

Myles practicing his violin...

Emily backing him up with the Ukelele....

The three girls with Helen learning Spanish! Fun!

Hammock Fun! Ruth, Clara, and Paula

More Hammock Fun w/ S. and Leo!

Working on Spanish with Tia Carmen!

Clancy with his dreaded Math! 

Paula and A. 

Clara and Leo... Leo is wearing my FIRST knitting project! Pretty cute if I say so myself!

It's cold here in the mornings! Emily the bundled!

Breakfast time... Rudi's famous hotcakes... Delicious!!

Tio Rudi serving up the good stuff!

Happy S. ready to eat!

                                           That's all for now folks!!!

In Which We Bring Home Two New Babies~

Going home with TWO more babies!

 With the departure of Abby, Katerine, and Alison our house has been WAY too quiet, so with the permission of Jennifer, we picked up two more children from Casa One! Almost exactly a week ago, S. and A. his baby sister, came to live with us. They had been selected because it seemed that S. especially needed some extra attention, but A. also has some health needs that a family can help to correct quickly. 
  They both have already stolen our hearts and have once again filled our house with noise and life! Samuel loves to be outside puttering around. He likes to watch our pet bunny and try to catch it. He also gets along really well with Leo, who he shares a room with.
(S. in the above picture is how he looked most of the first day. Check out the pictures below to see the change in his disposition!)

Leo checking out the newcomer!

 A. is too sweet for words and has been like a real live doll for the little girls to play with!

Clara with her new live "baby doll"

 Our boys have enjoyed having another "man" in the house. S. seems to really enjoy his new big brothers on loan.

Clancy, S., and Myles

  By far Samuel's favorite person is Tio Rudi. From day one no one could get as many smiles and laughs as Tio could. I think he has missed out on a father figure in his life and now he is soaking it up! Look at his grin in the next picture... too cute!

Time with Tio Rudi 

Hanging out with Emily and Paula

 Baby A. has settled into our family nicely as well. She wakes once or twice each night to eat and we are working on fattening her up like Leo...hmm...don't know if we will be able to do that! When she is awake she is bright eyed and alert. She loves to coo and give us smiles. It does seem that she is behind on nutrition, so we are looking into ways to bump up her weight and her fragile system! If love is what she needs, she is getting plenty of that!:)

~Precious Baby A.~

Psalm 68:5-6a "A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation. God setteth the solitary in families:" What a blessing that God has put these children in our care. It is awesome to have our house full to the brim again. We are privileged to be here serving together as a family.

Buddies!

Another Buddy!