Ecuador Day 7- MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Well here we are- Christmas Day! Our day has been really wonderful, so much so that I haven't had time to think about the festivities going on at home and be sad.

We woke up at our standard 6 am (what are we going to do when we get home and we are still on this schedule? 4 am?? No thanks! Someone please tell me why the children are waking up at 6 am here, but would wake up closer to 8 at home?) and prepared to go to Church. Church started at 9 and we used all three hours to get ready. We had a "special breakfast" (for here anyway) of French Toast. Flor had hers with yogurt over top since she can't have syrup and everyone enjoyed it.

We made it to Church on time and I was so happy to see my old OSSO friends/directors, Angel and Jenny with their kids. We also met three or four senior missionary couples (one from Rigby, Idaho, where my mom lives) and two or three sets of young missionaries. There were quite a few North American families in attendance, so that was nice. The service was of course in Spanish, but I found that I understood a lot of it. Balancing three kids in Church was a chore, though! What will we do when we go to all three hours? NO idea. Flor is all over the place and Jace is in a mode where he needs me to hold him all the time. Then Hallie gets feeling left out as Devin will be holding Flor and I will be holding Jace, so she wants a turn. Hm...we are figuring this whole thing out still! It really is like we are caring for two babies and then Hallie as in most respects Flor is much like a baby. This is tough work! But, so far, so good. I feel improvement every day and think we are getting into a groove, so we will see!

Well, that was totally tangential. I just throw out thoughts as they come, apparently. After Church, we ran home just in time to make a salad and get things ready to go over to Stephanie's apartment, where we were having dinner with the Broaddus, Harlan, and Shinnerer families. All three are here adopting as well and so it was great to feel some friendship with them. We had a really, really good dinner (and I mean REALLY good), especially compared to what we have been eating! Seriously, all I do is talk about food, huh? We had the traditional Christmas dinner, turkey, potatoes, salad, rolls, pie for dessert, etc. It was so divine. And, we have two trays of leftovers that will last us for a while. Wahoo! The little things that make me happy! We stayed at Stephanie's apartment all afternoon until Erin and Zac had to fly back to Cuenca (they are adopting their little girl in Cuenca).

Stephanie and I had planned on going to SVP to deliver Christmas gifts that afternoon to the children. SVP is the orphanage where Flor started out, and the Broaddus' daughter, Alison, also spent some time there in her younger years. The Shinnerers son, Pablo, has been there for many of his 14 years. So, we wanted to go there to visit and bring gifts. We had worked this out already and were ready to go, but due to Christmas Day, we were unable to find any taxi's that would take us that far south in the city. It was a major bummer, but we will plan and try to go sometime later this week. It will still be great to give the gifts to the children (between us we had three large suitcases full, plus a bag full of handmade bears), but it would have been great to give them something a little extra on Christmas.

It was probably for the best that we did not end up going as our kids were about to hit "breakdown mode". We made it home about 5:30 and had dinner, then sang some Christmas songs together and opened gifts. We had opened most of the kids' gifts before we came from our parents and such, but we did bring two small things for each of them to open here. Hallie and Jace each got a movie, while Flor got some alphabet and number blocks. Each also got a pair of Christmas Jammies.

The biggest Christmas gift for us this year is just having Flor with us. She has already captured our hearts and we love her so much. I know that it has only really been three days that we have had her with us, but it seems like much longer. She has such a special spirit and I know that Heavenly Father sent her to this Earth, and particularly to us, to teach us great things. I am not going to lie and say that things are always easy with her, as she does require a lot of work, but it is all worth it. I am grateful to Heavenly Father for hearing our prayers and making our Christmas wish come true. I am also grateful for that day thousands of years ago when our Savior was born in a lowly stable. I am grateful for his life and his mission here on earth. I love him and I am grateful for this time this season that we have been able to reflect on his life. You know, I think this Christmas season has been the one where I have most felt the Spirit and the true reason for Christmas, despite not being home and being able to celebrate the way we normally do. I am grateful to the other families we have met and become friends with here through this journey. This is a Christmas much different than any other that I have ever celebrated, but it is one that I will surely remember for the rest of my life. It has been special and full of tender feelings of the Spirit.

Now, a great load of pictures! The internet is being nice today and uploaded these speedy fast. A Christmas miracle!

I had to crop this so that it isn't just a shot straight up Flor's dress. I tried to get a good picture of the kids in their Church clothes, and this is the best we could do. Hallie and Flor had twinner dresses thanks to my mom. They were adorable, of course. Jace was just mad here. Oh well.

Getting around here is really a chore. We had a lot of stuff today to take to Stephanie's, so I sat with the kids and all our junk while Devin walked up the road to hail a taxi. We get looks everywhere we go and it's great! Devin's motto is "stare right back!" haha.

Dinner time at Stephanie's house! Hallie was in heaven with a Mickey Mouse table, plus a Mickey Mouse plate! Can't get better than that!

Stephanie's apartment is much more gigantic than ours, which is great, because there were 18 of us there to eat!

Sorry about the glare-- there is a large mirror above the couch and we caught some of that. This is the Broaddus family, so you know who I am talking about all the time. Stephanie, Jenna, Allie, Jamie, and Alison. Stephanie's husband had to return to the US shortly after their court date to work. They are from Kellogg, Idaho.  They will probably be going home in a week or so, which is sad, sad for us, but great news for them!

We wanted a picture of all the Ecuadorian kids. Alison (age 8), Pablo (14), Flor (6), and Adriana (4). So adorable. 4 less orphans in the world. What a beautiful thing.

uh...not sure why I don't have a better picture of the Harlan family, but this is all I have, so it will have to do. Zac, Adriana, and Erin. They also have another daughter (Addie, 3) who could not travel with them. Addie also has Down Syndrome and so Zac and Erin are uniquely prepared to get Adriana the best services possible when they get home to Iowa.

Oh and this is us, in case you didn't know. :)

The Shinnerer family from Oklahoma.While Erin, Stephanie, and I corresponded for months leading up to this experience, I just met the Shinnerers here. They are so great and I think we will be getting to know each other a lot better. They came in just the day after us and live really close by, so we will probably be seeing them a lot in the next 6 weeks! They are Pablo, Robin, Camden, Audrey, Jim, and Hayley in the front.

Hallie has a lot of new friends. Being around everyone has been very helpful to her. She is just so social and loves being little miss independent. We have definitely seen improvements in her behavior as we have been around others. So, we will have to make an effort to get out of the apartment and see other people as often as possible. Too bad the Broaddus's are going home so soon as she and Jenna really get a long well!

At home ready to open presents!

Flor first-- new pajamas!

What a surprise, new pajamas too!

uhhh...do I even need to add captions here?

Flor got new blocks! We hope they will help with fine motor skills (stacking, lining up, etc.) for her. She really didn't want to look at me for a picture here, so this will have to do.

Hallie got "Pete's Dragon" - One of my favorites! We used to act it out all the time when we were kids. Hilarious. She sure has the cheesy face perfected, does she not?

And Jace has the concentrating look down. He got "Sword in the Stone" -another of my favorites! I wonder who picked these gifts??? 

 

 

Well, that wraps up our day today! Merry Christmas everyone. I hope it has been wonderful and in some way has drawn you closer to the Savior.