First days

These first couple of days have been wonderful :) I have laughed and hugged and kissed more little faces than I have all year... and I feel right at home. Here are some pictures to sum up my life right now. You should be jealous.

A sweet note from a cute student, misspelled name and all.

A drawing of me from my husband (a 9th grader named Carlos Buitron).

Maxi and Anthony excited about their little presents I brought :)

Miss Elena with her basketball boyfriend, Michael Jackson. Garrett, she was so excited to find him in your stack of cards :) You made her and her son's day!

Juver (Miss Elena's son) being silly with his new baseball cards! I can't tell you how excited they were to get these, G-man. THANK YOU!!

This is Adan. He is constantly hungry, silly, LOUD, and cute.

This is a blurry picture of Jorge, but maybe the only one I get of him on this entire trip!

An amazing rainbow in my backyard!

  

Being goofy with our Jhon!

Jill, Ashley, and I with Miss Elena. She is an amazing, strong woman.

 This is the stud, AKA Cristian.

And now, here is a long sequence of PhotoBooth shots with my boys. 

Last details:

1- I realize all of these pictures were with the boys... I didn't take any pictures of the girls today! I don't really know why... so they will have to be top priorities for my next post :)

2- The other interns that are here now (Jill, Courtney, Stephanie, Rebecca, Ashley, and Sean) are awesome. They deserve a whole post for themselves.

3- Yesterday I was hand-washing clothes outside in freezing cold water with the older girls, Catalina, Leonela, and Cinthya for about an hour. As soon as I got inside, I immediately put my hands under super hot water (NOT A GOOD IDEA). My fingers started tingling all over and I literally watched them expand to the size of your average sausage link. They stayed like that for 2 hours and I couldn't even make a fist, or remove my rings. My new nickname here is Swollo. See picture below. 

And now I leave you with a video of Anthony, Max, Sebastian, Adan, and Juver FLIPPING out over the roller coaster effect on PhotoBooth on my computer. Their little squeals of excitement are the best :)

My babies.

Today was nothing short of amazing. Even though I was tired (delayed flight arriving at 3 am meant I went to bed around 5 and got up at 7 for school), I was constantly filled with Gods presence and love.

I missed Ecuador so much more than I even thought.

Can't even explain how my soul cried tears of joy every time I went into a new classroom with old students of mine or saw sweet friends again.

My baby, Anthony, cried and hugged me for forever- which made me cry.

Crazy, laughter-filled hugs from old friends who were like mothers to me when I was here last.

Having lunch with some of the sweetest girls I know.

Constant hugs and kisses and moments that make you want to stop time so you can be right there forever.

It was all so so so GOOD.

And now, as my jet lagged self lays in bed, the orphans and the other awesome interns are having a devo right outside my door. Their sweet, sometimes off-key voices are proudly singing along to "10,000 Reasons". And I can easily think of 10 billion reasons to be happy right now.

If you think this post was sappy, Im really not sorry. I can't help but be sappy when getting to hold my babies again :)

Returning To The Other Half of My Heart

In 1 week, I will be reunited with my little (and big!) ones in Ecuador. I cannot wait. It has been a year, and I am so excited for God to show His love to his children through me. AH!!! :) I am praying daily for my upcoming trip. Please join me in praying for the children at the Hacienda of Hope!!

P.S.: My trip was postponed 10 days.... the reason? One day before my flight for Quito, I decided to jump over a fence at Lipscomb University with a good friend of mine. I am clumsy, and slipped and fell, puncturing my right arm with the pointy part of the fence. 3 hours in the ER and 15 stitches later... I have to wait until I get my stitches removed before heading to Ecuador to make sure there is no infection. Not sure why God threw me this curveball, but I am trying to make the most of it!

Back Home

Hello everybody (if anyone out there is still aware that I have a blog)! I am sorry for not posting at all in the last 3 weeks. I am back in Brazil after 4 and a half months in Ecuador. My goodbyes were SO. SAD. Just as I knew they would be. Just thinking about it now makes me want to cry. I have so many amazing memories from the last weeks in Ecuador! I did just what I said I was going to do before going there: pour out ALL my love on the kids, and ALWAYS be open and willing to do anything for them. I am proud to say that not once did I say "no, not now" to a little smiling girl who wanted to come in and hang out in my apartment for a little while. Not once did I let my shyness hold me back from telling them how much I LOVE THEM. All day. Everyday. (Jill - you know what I mean!!) Anyways, here are some moments from my last days there:

Last picture with Jhon :( 

Last picture with Cinthya :(

Beautiful, beautiful Leonela :))

Yanni and Domenica :(

Last picture with one of my BFF's :( 

My 8th and 9th graders! 

 Packing...... :(

Last picture with THE Jorge. 

Sweet note from Isabella :) 

MY 4TH AND 5TH GRADERS!!!!  

 The big kids! And my baby sitting in my lap. 

 My favorite crazy 8th grade boys :)

Surprise goodbye party - courtesy of my BFF's :)

 Blowing out my BFF candles :) 

Sweet Daniel, Beautiful Wendy, Crazy Erick and Silly Diego :)

The mountain in our backyard was very pretty for me on my last day :)

Sad faces...

On our way to an amusement park on my last day!! 

About to ride a big pirate ship that goes SO HIGH IN THE AIR!

 How my apartment looked the night before I left...

  

Last picture with Cristian!

Last. picture. with. everyone. Only the little boys are missing... they were peeling potatoes and I didn't realize they weren't in the picture until after we took it :(

At the airport with my mami!

My BFF'S!

Sad faces :( 

THANK YOU SO MUCH for all of your PRAYERS, EMAILS, PHONE CALLS or sweet comments on my blog while I was in Ecuador. They meant SO much to me. On bad days, I would come home and cross my fingers hoping there was an encouraging e-mail or voice message on my phone. I am so glad that I went to Ecuador, and I would encourage anyone else thinking of doing something like this to DO IT! God will show himself to you in ways you never thought possible, and you will learn so much and just be ABUNDANTLY blessed. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for your support. 

Cristian, Jorge, Fabian, Jhon, Luis, Matias, Adan, Anthony, Leonela, Catalina, Cinthya, Maria, Gladys, Dayana, Maria Beatriz, Magali and Carmen will be in my heart FOREVER. 

P.S.- Just in case you were wondering, Giovanni IS as cute as ever. 

Do you agree?