21 Years Together

It is my favorite time of year again, Rudi and my wedding anniversary! This year we went up to Santa Cruz to celebrate. As always spending time just the two of us was lots of fun and refreshing! We enjoyed eating out and exploring the city of Santa Cruz. We got pretty good at riding the micros and figuring out where we were. We also did lots of walking, so much so that the day I wore my new flip flops I got a blister on top of each foot...

Breakfast at Alexander's our favorite breakfast spot in all
of  Bolivia!

The "Love Birds"
riding on a micro (public transportation)

Each afternoon or evening we had the tradition of eating at our favorite ice cream place. They give you samples and it is a hard decision deciding which one to get! It is all so yummy! My favorite is their, Tiramisu!

Eating ice cream in the plaza next to where we were staying!

Good to the last drop!! Mint Chocolate Chip!!

After the weekend we had more of "working trip." We had to move our adoption follow-ups from Cochabamba to Santa Cruz. This involved many trips to the Palacio de Justicia (judicial building) and the 11th floor of the building, no less. The two elevators that service this 20 some floor building had an hour and a half line to ride them. We decided to take the stairs two days in a row... I would love to say that my legs handled it, but I could barely walk the following days!! Our time was successful and we got everything situated and dates for our second adoption follow-up. We had to stay an extra day in Santa Cruz to make it all happen, but we felt accomplished when we headed home.

View of Santa Cruz from the 11 floor of the Judicial Building

Love seeing that sign appear "11th Floor"

We were also super pleased to see that Starbucks has arrived in Bolivia AND it is right down the street from where we stayed. If you wonder why I don't gush and show pictures of where we stayed, it is because we went the budget route and stayed in the familiar, but comfortable New Tribes Guest House. We didn't want to spend a lot of money and then be disappointed with where we were staying.  Reading reviews on Trip Advisor for Santa Cruz makes you want to just stay home!!! But because our lodgings were cheap, that meant that we had extra to splurge on eating out!!

"A taste of home" STARBUCKS!

Rudi fixing up the perfect Americano!

A coffee for two!

We did get tired of eating out and that is why we love the Guest House, because we can walk to the supermarket and get our ingredients for a scrumptious dinner.

Rudi getting ready to start on our dinner!

The end result... Taco Salad with two
salsas. The red one on the left is a spicy
Llaqua. The green is a Ranch style dressing.

Every year gets better being married to my best friend, Rudi. We have weathered many a storm, truimph, and trial together. I am so thankful for my husband and our relationship!

Bunk Bed by Myles

Last year after we adopted the kids, I asked Myles if he would weld me a small custom sized bunk bed for David and Adriana. At that point they were sharing a room and Peter was still in a crib. The home we were renting in Cochabamba came with a small welder. Myles was wanting to get better at welding, so I thought a small bunk bed would be just the thing! It was almost completely done when we left for the States in January. Since we have gotten back Myles has been able to finish it. It is now being used by David and Peter, as Peter is a big boy now and needs a big boy bed, and Adriana is in with the girls. I think you will agree that it turned out fantastic~! The full story is as follows: 

Clancy helping to cut the bars to size in our backyard in Cochabamba.
October 2015

Getting the bed frame welded. (Back porch Cochabamba, October 2015)

Myles had real trouble joining the round tubes together. As he talked with other welders he found out that he had picked something quite difficult for his first welding project! He overcame and got it done, but he was ready to quit at times!

Clara lending a hand...

When we arrived in Camiri, all the bed lacked was to be painted and put together and a ladder to be welded. Thankfully, Mark Mattix had a welder Myles could borrow, as well as misc. tools! In the picture below on the right hand side you can see the bunk bed parts before being sanded and then put together. Myles spent hours with a wire brush on a drill thingy "sanding" the rust off of the bars, getting it ready to paint.

Our back porch in Camiri... Bunk bed parts pictured on right hand side!

Myles with his almost finished project. 

I thought that I had taken a picture of Myles and then Clancy painting the bunk bed, but I haven't been able to find it. They chose red for the bed and blue for the guard rail and ladder.

Rudi getting in on the action screwing on the guard rail and ladder. It was a
noisy project. Notice David plugging his ears.

Since the size was irregular I had an upholstery shop make me custom sized bed pads, covered with fake leather for easy cleaning. However, there was a miscommunication on the size and they ended up being a bit short. Eventually, I will use these pads for exercise mats and get some the proper size. David and Peter LOVE their new bed and look so cute using it. It is the perfect size for them! Thank you, Myles for all your hard work!

Thank you, Myles. We love our new bed!!!:)

Settling Into Camiri

We are really enjoying living in Camiri. It is a small town in comparison to Cochabamba, but we like that a lot! The people are more laid back and friendly, the drivers are less rude, but still Bolivian!, and the overall pace of life is just slower. The only thing I miss about Coch is our friends, of course, and the ease of shopping. Rudi and I are getting the hang of shopping here, but all of the markets are "open air" and much more "native" style! We are making a list of things to stock up on when we go to the big city of Santa Cruz... 

This blog is a peek into a typical day for us here! 

Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, if he doesn't forget, we get fresh cows milk delivered to our front door. We hear the loud "moo" that Domingo, our milk man's horn puts out, long before he gets to our door! The kids all run out to meet him and let him know how much milk we would like for that day. He also sells yogurt that his wife makes. It is really tasty, our favorite flavor is peach. By special order his wife will make it plain, which is my personal favorite. All of the yogurt here is very runny and is meant to be drunk more than eaten. 

Rudi with David and Peter getting milk from
our milk man, Domingo.

 You can see in the picture below that Domingo has two tanks of milk on either side of his motorcycle. In the middle in a box on the back he has his yogurts for sale and sometimes an extra milk jug. We usually order four liters at a time. He gives us two from one side and two from the other so his load doesn't get off balance!!!

Emily carrying in our 4 liters of milk!

And just to let you guys know that the orange gloved diaper bandit is still up to his diaper changing tricks, I took the picture below!

Clancy doing the dirty deed!!

Most afternoons, when we are not too busy,  Emily teaches a P.E. class and then a music class for our kids. I love watching them from the kitchen window. If you are wondering about the little house behind, that is also on our property. One of the rooms is Emily's and one is extra storage for us. The third on the right is storage for our landlord. To the far right is a covered area with a barbecue and outside sink area. The boys are using it as a workshop and the younger children use it as a shady place to play. It is also nice when it rains, because they can still be outside and work.

P.E. Time

Pushups Anyone?

And now for the music lesson!

Peter playing happily all by himself!

Clara and Adriana playing a game together

Paula and David making cookies!

Everyone playing with play dough that Clara made!

Clara with her play dough snail!

 We are thriving here in Camiri. Our children are so creative here and are loving the fresh air and sunshine. They are also loving having a big yard and a dog to play with. We are so blessed to be living in a new spot in Bolivia. It just feels right to be here and we are thankful!

Playing "Bus" with the wagon!

"Boys at Work"

It's A... Dog!!

   We promised our kids a dog when we returned to Bolivia this time. Although, our children have always wanted one we have never gotten one, because our time spent in Bolivia has always been "temporary"! Well, our time in Bolivia keeps extending, so we decided to seize the day and get the kids a dog to love and play with. We are so glad we did! 

 Our family has only ever owned Golden Retrievers in the past. I voted for a German Shepherd this time to have a guard dog, but was outvoted by the majority, so we bought "Cherry" our new Golden Retriever puppy in Santa Cruz about four weeks ago. She is now four months old and has been so much fun. She keeps our shoes going in for repairs and has uprooted my newly planted plants, but other than that she has been a great addition to the family. All of the children are enjoying having this lovable dog around!! 

David and Adriana with their new love, Cherry!

Introducing "Cherry" our beautiful Golden Retriever.

Celebrating Paula's Birthday

 We are always happy to celebrate Paula's birthday in September, this year was no exception! All of the pictures were taken in our new house in Camiri. Since I haven't given you a tour of the house yet, I will include a few comments about our house, as well as a commentary about Paula's birthday!

Ruth and Paula on Paula's "7th"
birthday!
You can see our school/game table behind the girls. It is piled with laundry and it also
looks like it has a "house" built off the side of it!

 Paula opened her gifts after breakfast in the living room. We have gone up to Santa Cruz twice (4 hours one way) to get furniture for our new house. Little by little we have been able to get almost everything we need. We still lack curtains in the living room and some other furniture, but at least we aren't sitting on the floor like we were the first week or two!

Everyone ready for Paula to open gifts.
This picture was taken of the living room w/ our spiffy new living room furniture!

100 b.s from Ruth!

The big gift this year was Clara giving Paula her American Girl, Samantha doll. Paula was so happy to have her own American Doll!

Paula with her new American Doll!

Taking her for a walk in her new stroller. Peter wishes the stroller was his!
You can just barely see our music area and the main bathroom behind Paula in this picture, taken from
the living room. 

Playmobil brought from home as a surprise!

During the day on Paula's birthday, Emily painted this phrase on the wall in our music room. It was her first time doing something like this and it turned out great!

Emily starting to paint her first "wall phrase".

And the finished product!
"Make a joyful noise..." or a literal translation. "Sing cheerfully to God"

For dinner we had some friends over to help celebrate. We also found out that Paula shares a birthday with Mark Mattix. He and Carol were some of the friends that came for dinner, along with Efrain and Jeaneth with their daughters, Misiel and Abbi.

Decorations courtesy of Clara and Ruth and hung by toilet paper!!

This is a (dark) picture of our dining room with our guests at the table. Rudi found this table on his way moving down
from Cochabamba. It is made of jungle hard wood and it is HEAVY; I will show you what it looks like in another blog.
It is really cool!!

Clara made a special Candyland Cake for Paula's birthday. It turned out really cute.
You can also see our kitchen in the picture below.

Getting ready to sing "Happy Birthday" to Paula!

Special sign made by Clara. Clothesline outside the window!!

The birthday boy, Mark, with his sidekick Peter!

A couple of our adorable birthday party guests!
Adriana and David 

Paula with her Candyland Cake and Seven Candles!
Happy Birthday. We love you, Paula!

Saying Goodbye and Bolivia Bound

It is hard to believe how fast the time went by while we were in the States. We were there about six and a half months and it felt really short! Our time was full of highs and lows, just like life anywhere on the planet. It was really good to go home and spend time with family and friends. It was also really good to spend time getting our coffee shop maintained and some new employees hired and trained. While we were home we moved twice and travelled A LOT. It feels really good to be getting settled in Bolivia again, but that is yet another blog! 

Needless to say it was a busy last three days getting our house packed for storage and 22 suitcases packed for Bolivia. My parents surprised us and came over for one full day and super blessed us by helping us pack, clean, and organize. It was bittersweet to say goodbye at the end of that long, tiring day, not knowing when we would see each other again. We are so thankful to them for making the long drive over to help us (almost 4 hours one way) and for all of their love and support! Daddy and Mama, you guys are the BEST! When can we expect to see you in Bolivia again?

Grandpa and Grams with some of the kids about to leave for
home, after working hard all day!

We decided that moving out of our house and driving up to Portland would be too much for one day, so we moved out Wednesday and Uncle Tim and Aunt Diane graciously allowed us to stay at their house for the night. That same day our friends, Greg and Elaine Dealy, had driven down to pick up our younger children to take them to their house to babysit them, so we could finish things up without kiddos underfoot. We swung by their house on the way to U. Tim and A. Diane's, to pick up the children and say goodbye to them also. They super blessed us with so many meals and free babysitting at the drop of a hat! I must say that Elaine's song that she made up in my honor, at least I think it was my life that inspired her, "I Am A Rubber Band For Jesus," still makes me chuckle to think of it! I will have to post the lyrics sometime! 

Enjoying an amazing breakfast at U.Tim and A. Diane's House


Our adopted kiddos love to visit Uncle Tim and Aunt Diane, as much as we all do. Aunt Diane always treats them like they are the most special things in the world. They love to eat at the table just their size!

Peter and Adriana loving it at Aunt Diane's

 Rudi's parents came up and joined us at U. Tim and A. Diane's for breakfast. It was sweet to be able to say goodbye to them as well! I must say I am not overly fond of goodbyes. It seems like we have had way to many in the past few years. We are so thankful to have such lovely people to say goodbye to though! Thank you so much, Uncle Tim and Aunt Diane for your amazing hospitality. We love you.

Three generations of Booher men
L. to R. Dad, Myles, Rudi, and Clancy

Grandma B. brought her amazing apple pie, as a belated
dessert for Myles' birthday. Not sure if Peter likes it or not!!

Thursday we headed North for Portland making many shopping stops along the way. Our last stop for the night was the Mike and Bonnie Mauck's house in Portland.

Sisters enjoying Paula's new umbrella!

Let me tell you, Mike and Bonnie's house is more than kid friendly, it is a kid's paradise. From the giant swings in the backyard, to the huge collection of dress-up clothes, and super fun toys, our children were so sad to have to go to bed at 11 and Ruth and Paula were up at 6, just so they could play some more... All who know the Maucks know how hospitable they are, but for those of you who do not know them, if you were to imagine the most hospitable place you ever stayed and then doubled or tripled it, that would be about right. We all had a bed to sleep in, a delicious dinner, an amazing breakfast, and a huge sack lunch for us to take with us to the airport. They also drove us in our van and dropped us off at the airport. Thank you so much, Mike and Bonnie. You have the gift of hospitality and you are using the gifts God has given you!

Paula in some of the dress up
clothes at the Mauck's house!
Gotta love that wig and the glasses!

Our first flight had us heading to Dallas, Texas where we were to get a connecting flight on to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. From Ft. Lauderdale we had a shuttle lined up to take us to Miami. Well, because of the horrible weather over Dallas, we were diverted to land in Austin, Texas along with 13 other flights! Emily did a super great blog about this, so pop over to her blog and read about it by clicking here! It will tell you that what awaited us in Austin was a family reunion for the night with Chris and Lisa and their family that only God could have orchestrated! We are still shaking our heads in amazement over what he did for us! What an amazing God we serve!! In the only group picture that we took some of us stood on biting red ants, hence the funny picture below.~

Short, but sweet visit with Chris and Lisa and Family and
short, but funny photo on the red ant hill!!!

A day later, and a pocketbook lighter:), but hearts fuller! than planned, we finally made it to Miami for the "international" portion of our flights! We took our folding wagon with us to have between flights. It was super nice to have for our "littles" and carry-ons!

Miami Airport early Sunday a.m.

My beautiful family traveling back to Bolivia
Miami Airport

Nap time in the Panama Airport

The folding wagon came in handy as a crib as well!

We arrived Sunday night in Santa Cruz and all 22 "bags" (We actually had two coolers, a box that weighed 90 lbs, a Yamaha piano, and eighteen 50 lb suitcases) made it through customs. They were a bit dubious about some of the machines we brought down for the coffee shop (including two espresso machines, a professional blender, and a professional coffee grinder) we are helping to open here in Camiri... yet another blog... We were so happy to see our friend, Mark Mattix and another family from Santa Cruz, who came to pick us up with a truck and trailer and an extra car to take us to the New Tribes Guest House.

No matter how you do it there is nothing easy about traveling with eleven people internationally. We have gotten pretty good at it. We have learned to carry on as little as possible (less to forget on the airplane!), make sure to take a jacket and some blankets for those cold flights and long layovers, and most of all lots of prayers for sanity and safety!!!