October 12, 2015

Ecuador Day 27: Tio Marios and Bye Bye to 1/2 the Family

As you have probably guessed, the internet was out all weekend long. Boo hoo. It makes for long days without the internet. Sad how much we rely on it, but it was especially trying this time because Friday is the day Devin, Hallie, and Flor flew home. The internet is our only means of communication with them, so that's hard. Luckily, we lived and today it came back on. Wahoo. 

So Friday, 10/9/15
We went with our friends the Baumers to an awesome petting zoo outside of the city called Tio Marios. This is a hidden little gem that was AMAZING and so much fun for the kids. Another couple, Denise and Oswaldo, met us there with their two kids. Oswaldo is Ecuadorian and Denise is from the states. They have lived in Quito for 8ish years doing work with orphans. They were wonderful to get to know in person (I have had some interactions with Denise online). Anyway, I will let the pictures tell the story of our morning at the petting zoo.  (WARNING: Picture overload!)


These pictures appear to be backwards- but oh well. Everything was totally hands on with all of the animals. The last thing the kids got to do is ride a horse. Flor even did it and enjoyed herself quite a lot!

Actually, I think hers was more of a pony, yes?




Mishell was scared of pretty much every animal, so I was shocked when she actually got on the horse and rode it. 


Just holding a little chicken. There were other hens that they got to put on their heads, but I don't think we have any pictures of that...


This is the Baumers 11 year old son Liam. He was adopted a year ago with his two siblings. He is completely fluent in English and super, super kind. He seems like a great boy.

Feeding the ostriches over the fence. They were greedy little things, snapping the leaves out of our hands.

True fear on Mishell's face! Haha!

We got to feed the pigs bottles, which was quite fun for the kids. The mom pig kept shoving the little piglets out of the way and snatching their drinks. haha. Not quite mommy-like, eh?

I think these are the goats. Flor was scared of a lot of the animals too, but would pet them with some coaxing.


Again, feeding the goat from a safe distance. :)

All our kids with the Baumer kids- Hallie, Mari, Cohen, Flor, Dylan, Jace, Liam, and Mishell

The kids got to milk the cow and even drink some of the milk! (EW!)


No cup or anything, just straight squirtage (that's not a word) into the mouth. (Again I say, EW!)


As so





Some of these are out of order- oh well. A view of the property. They were having a birthday party there (on the left).

They also had a big playground area and this awesome antique tractor that the boys couldn't get enough of

Flor liked hanging out on the tractor, too

Feeding the ducks


Back to the pigs


She finally did it- with a TON of coaxing (forcing...)

Turtles. Mishell ran away screaming. 



A game with the big tortoise

Bunnies. I hope that one's still alive...


oh hmm, apparently Flor loves sheep. She would not stop kissing it :)




Trying to "kiss" the llama

And Mishell actually did! Wow!

Oh and a tractor ride around the field. They asked for a volunteer driver, so Oswaldo volunteered. 


All the kids with Denise and Oswaldo's two- Sarah Emma on the left and Josh almost to the very right 


 That evening, we got Devin and the girls ready to fly out. Their flight wasn't until 11:30 pm (like most flights out of Quito to the US), so we had time to get them packed, have dinner, and get them showered and ready to go. It was a really sad event when they left, which included tears by me (lots of them- to continue into the next few days) and wailing by Hallie. Literal wailing. She would not let go of me when it came time to get into the van. I had no idea she loved me so much. :) Anyway, we survived and sent them on their way. It was really hard not having internet, because they I couldn't check in with them to see how they were doing. They had a flight to Atlanta until about 5:30 am, a few hour layover, another flight to Dallas, a longer layover, and then finally got into SLC 4:30 local time Saturday afternoon. That's a LONG day.

Saturday the kids and I went to McDonalds and hung out until we could talk to them, which we did briefly while they were in Dallas. Devin said that Flor basically slept not at all (which is not surprising giving her sleeping routine), so that is rough. Devin's sister Alisa was kind enough to pick them up at the airport and deposit them at home. Thanks, Alisa. I messaged with Devin briefly again Sunday morning as there was wifi at the church (thanks church) and he said that all was well. Everyone slept well that night and they found all well at home. Now we just have to survive our next few weeks without them. Sad, sad day. However, having the internet back is a great blessing as we skyped today and have talked more. Also, my mom and sister come Sunday, so if we can survive until then, we will be in pretty good shape!

A few more pictures:
A note from Hallie. Gosh I love that girl. "roses are red, violets are blue, there is no other person in the world like you. Love you. FROM: Hallie To: Mom"

On their way out the door in their awesome Ecuador t-shirts

These two wanted a picture with dad too

Devin sent me this from the flight :)

And this. She looks tired...11:30 is only 4 hours past her bedtime.
Tomorrow we should get the decree from the court, if all goes as the judge said. PLEASE pray that we do get this! We want to get back to being together as a whole family as soon as possible!! Thanks for all your continued prayers and support.


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