Lola's Visit!

I am not sure how much I have written about my friend Maria Dolores (Lola) here on the blog. Lola is an Ecuadorian woman who works at the Hospital Baca Ortiz in Quito, where Flor spent a lot of time when she was itty-bitty. During my first trip to Ecuador, when I met Flor, Lola became an immediate friend to me (though we had a language barrier). She has always taken special care of the OSSO volunteers who spend time at the hospital with the little ones from the orphanage. Lola has a huge heart and is extremely generous with her time and money. When I was at the hospital with Flor when she was a baby, Lola would often bring me food or just come keep me company when she had down time. This meant a lot, because it was such a new and different experience for me and it felt so good to have someone who went out of her way to care for me. 

When I went to visit Flor for the last time that trip, she had just been transferred to a new orphanage clear on the other side of Quito. While I was on a jungle trip with the girls from my group, Lola and my friend Ashley arranged for me to be able to go see Flor at her new home the afternoon we got home from the jungle, which was the day before I flew out to return to the U.S. This was so meaningful to me. 

I returned to Ecuador a few months later with my friend Kylee for a two week visit and that was the last time I saw Flor until we returned to adopt her. During that visit, Lola again took good care of me and Kylee. She had us over to her house for meals a few times and took us on trips to different locations in the city, including again to see Flor. 

When we went back this last time to adopt Flor, Lola was again there for us, having us over for dinner, letting us tour Baca Ortiz (where Flor spent so much time), and just checking in with us often to make sure that we were okay. During that trip, she told me that she has always wanted to come to the United States, but that she had never been granted a visa- she thought because she was deemed too poor and the government officials thought that she would not return to Ecuador if she were to leave. I am not sure how she got a visa this year, but she did! Lola came this past week and spent some time in Las Vegas with another OSSO volunteer, then in Sun Valley area with my same friend Ashley, mentioned above. Ashley adopted one of Flor's friends from her first home, Manuel, a few years ago. Ashley drove Lola down on Friday of last week and she stayed with us until Sunday. Ashley also stayed in the area with another friend, and it was awesome to see her and Manuel (plus her two other kids!) as well. I haven't seen Ashley since my wedding-- craziness! And I haven't of course seen Manuel since he was a little boy. Have I mentioned how great it was to see them all? Well, it was great, in case you missed it. :) 

Saturday we packed the day full with activities. First, it was Hallie's birthday party (another post on that coming soon) and then we took the train to Salt Lake to take Lola to Temple Square. We had a great time there, though Lola did say at the end that maybe next time we should try to go without any kids. haha! It was a bit distracting with Ashley's three kids and my three kids, but what can we say?  By the time Lola left, I will also add that my head felt like it was going to explode, for the sole purpose that she does not speak English (or won't is more like it-- I think she actually knows quite a bit more than she lets on), so I had to use my completely rusty Spanish the whole time. Lola was a good sport and helped correct all of my mistakes, which were many. It was good to practice, but let me tell you, speaking in another language when you just aren't that good at it really stretches your brain. :) 

Lola said that she plans to come back in 2 years and spend more time in Utah this time and I really hope she does. It was really amazing to have her here. 

At Hallie's birthday party. She was a big help, even though the kids were confused about her Spanish. :) 

On the train. On the way there, Lola asked if we could see a big hospital so that she could take pictures of it. Luckily, one of the train stops is at IMC Murray Hospital, which is the biggest hospital in the area. She was fascinated by how big and how nice it is. She was satisfied just to take pictures from the train of it. 

Manuel and Flor- reunited! Manuel is such a handsome and sweet kid. I was so impressed with him! He had some health problems as a baby but has overcome them all and seems to be a happy and adjusted ten year old. It was so great to see him. I posted this picture on Instagram and said that I have a mental image (because we weren't allowed to take actual pictures) of Manuel and Flor in the hallway of their orphanage and Manuel had his arm around Flor. He was very protective of her and so sweet with her when she was a baby. 

Just thought I would throw this in for fun. This is probably the one picture I have with Manuel in it when he was little. This is my volunteer group with the sala tres kids at the time (who would all be like 10 years old now-- so weird!) Manuel is on the top row with the orange striped shirt and the hat on. So cute.

And while I am in the mood to walk down memory lane, here is the one with Flor in it. You have all seen this one a million times, but maybe not the whole picture? This is what we got when we left there- one picture with our whole group with all the babies from that sala.

Anyway, on with the rest of the trip this time and on U.S. soil, how about? 

The kids were able to get some energy out on the roof of the Conference Center, which was just great. 

We bribed them all with money that they could throw in the fountain if they all smiled for a group picture-- you'll see below how well we did with that....

Jace and Ashley's Johnny (in the red shirt) are about the same age and boy did they have some rowdy fun together. :) Boys.

The group shot. So lovely.  You know Flor, me, Hallie, and Jace, but the rest are Johnny (in the red again), Manuel (behind hals), Lola of course, Ashley and her daughter Emery in front of Lola, and then Ashley's brother Rex, her sister Lisa and her son, and then Ashley's friend (another volunteer after my time) Amber. 

Florinda on the train ride home. Just had to throw this one in there. It was way past her bedtime and she thought that looking at herself in the window was quite possibly the most hilarious thing ever.



I really do hope Lola comes again in two years. We had a fantastic time!

Happy Halloween 2013

I totally know that my blog is exceptionally boring these days. I am so so sorry, but I just can't be that clever and exciting when I have billions of things to do. I apologize to the three of you who are still reading my blog and vow to do better once I get done with school. I feel like all I do these days is throw up some pictures of whatever our last event was and call it good, so today, I am going to make a bit more effort and write up a Top 10 list of Perry family amazing Halloween facts. I know you are excited, so let's get started:

10) We got to trick of treat and have dinner with our closest family (proximity)-Sarah, Daniel, and baby Josh (who is no longer a baby!) I have zero pictures of Josh dressed in his cute cow costume and I am super sad about that. Just trust me when I say that he was cute.

 9) We always love going Trick-or-Treating in downtown Provo, where many of the stores participate in handing out candy to the cute little trick-or-treaters. It is especially exciting to get a full size candy bar and a coupon from the jewelry store (one year my coupon was for a free set of pearls-- $100 value!).

8) While I dress up for pretty much any occasion possible (see Mud Run, Neil Diamond, and Witchapalooza posts for any examples you may need), I am super lame when it comes to Halloween itself. I haven't dressed up for years. Probably since the year that I made Devin wear the pioneer woman costume when my friend Meghan and I dressed up as dead people. I think he still has a bad taste in his mouth from that costume (can't imagine why) so he is not eager to dress up again and it rubs off on me. lame. I do have desires to be one of those cute families who dresses all up in themed costumes, but I am not cool enough yet. Maybe some day.

7) Jace wanted to be a cowboy for Halloween ever since he found a cowboy hat in our dress up box. He wore it around for a few days and kept telling me that he wanted to be a cowboy for Halloween. Well, he makes a pretty darn cute cowboy if I do say so myself, even if the hat that came with his costume was a bit on the large side.

6) After Flor and Jace were in bed, Hallie and I trick-or- treated around our whole ward boundaries, plus we went up to her preschool teacher's house and did her road. She made a complete haul and I have not seen her so genuinely happy in a long time. I really enjoyed the time with just her and I. The simple things in life...

5) Devin and I have been enjoying the kids' Halloween candy very much. Thank you Halloween, for rolling around once per year to help feed our sugar addiction until the next holiday. :)

4) Hallie insisted upon being a cheerleader for Halloween this year. She had the idea in her mind for months and would NOT let it go. So a cheerleader it was. Good thing there is Amazon.com for ordering such things. :) She was asked so many times to do a cheer by people and did she ever do it? NO! Oh, well. She was super cute nonetheless.

3) Devin carved pumpkins with the kids the day before Halloween and while I was kind of sad to miss watching the kids enjoy it (I was at my internship), I was actually secretly was thrilled because I really do not like carving pumpkins. Let's be honest, I am quite horrible at anything artsy fartsy. So not my forte in life. Devin on the other hand? Super fabulous. I think he carved all four pumpkins we had by himself. I know that you are thinking that we have five members of our family and thus we should have had five pumpkins. To that I tell you that we did have five pumpkins until Jace split one open (who knows how-- but straight down the middle!) because he apparently wanted to eat it? Who knows.

2) I skipped two classes in order to come home from school (Thursday is my ALL DAY day at school) and it was oh-so-worth it to be home to see my kids trick-or-treating. Hallie was especially really into it this year and it was just fun.

1) Flor wore a bumblebee costume that we have had in our bucket for a few years. This costume will always have a bit of significance to me because it was the costume that Hallie was wearing on Halloween two years ago on the day that we were finally matched with Flor for her adoption. Two years ago. Can you believe that? Me neither. And now, here she is to wear the costume. Love it.


Bam. Halloween blogged. Next up, a fantastic visit from our friend Maria Dolores (Lola) from Ecuador. When I get around to it....

Witchapalooooooza 2013

Ah, another favorite Clark family event! It just gets better and better every year. I look forward to Witchapalooza at Gardner Village every year. If you have not been, GO!! We always have a great time dressing up and then walking around the cute shops before the dinner show. The show is hilarious and gets funnier every year. The actors are all super talented, hilarious, and amazing singers. Time with family+ dressing up + an amazing show? YES please!!

This year, I almost didn't get to go because we had sick kids and I wasn't about to leave them with a babysitter. Devin was nice enough to stay home from work though so that I could go. What a husband. We had one extra ticket, so I took Hallie along last minute since she was feeling fine. I was a little worried about how she would do, but she just loved it. She laughed and laughed and thought it was great. It was so nice to just spend time one-on-one with Hals too. I know she needs more of that. At four years old, she has a lot of responsibility to take care of her two "younger" siblings, keep the toys clean, etc. I think I require a lot of her and sometimes I need to remember how young she really is. So little outings and individual treats for her are a great thing. I am always amazed at what I learn about Hals when I spend alone time with her too. That girl has a memory like a steel-trap. As we were driving up to the event, after she quizzed me on how to spell words along with addition and subtraction (how she would ever know if I got things wrong, I don't know!) she asked about last year's Witchapalooza event and remembered that we had been in Logan and that she was babysat by my aunt Angela and kids while we cleaned Brad's house. She then remembered driving back to Salt Lake and that I was dressed up with cobwebs in my hair. Crazy girl.

Anyway, it was a fantastic and much needed evening. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. Long live the Witchapalooza tradition! 6 years now-- I was pregnant with Hallie and delivered her about a week after we went the first year and now here she is able to go with me. Crazy.

The whole crew. Hailie, Sue, Ony (Colby's girlfriend), Jen, me (I make some terrible faces), Grandma, Carlie, Hals, Che', and Mari (in Linda's sweater so that she can "be" with us every year too).

Oh, you wanted to see that face again, did you? What IS that? We were supposed to be making a scary face. I think I succeeded in producing the scariest looking thing ever.

My cute girl and me

Che' looking fantastic. It's the hair.

I really wanted to wear an ugly halloween sweater this year (no offense to those out there who really wear these things!) so I searched high and low at the thrift stores locally and scored big time with not only an ugly sweater but an ugly vest too! Yippee!! I went as a "teacher" witch. :) 

Cute Jovi got to come along too! Hailie's makeup is pretty great, eh? 

Dinnnnner

Hals is one gorgeous girl. She got her makeup done too for the event!

Spider web tattoo (that we still can't get off....okay this was only yesterday :))

Mari the librarian witch and me the teacher witch. 

Hals was afraid of all the witches placed around Gardner Village, thus the very unhappy face that I am making her take this picture with me. 

A terrible picture of the play, but it is all I have of the actual play. So much fun!!

Until next year....

October Randoms

A few random pictures from October:

Being a monkey at the park

Jace found this cowboy hat in our halloween bin and didn't take it off all day. Pajamas and all!

We went to the BYU homecoming parade this year, which is always a fun little parade. The kids come away with mounds of candy, so what could be better?! We had Sadie with us this year while her parents were having a weekend get-away for Jen's birthday.

The three amigos

fall decor!! We love this time of year. It's my favorite. Doesn't my sister make cute wreaths? I have no creative talent in life WHATSOEVER-- so I am so glad she does these things for me!

A trip to McDonalds and Costco? Two year olds' dreams! These two are so funny together. 

Breakfast with my mom and Dave and Dave's kids while they were here for a weekend. Jace thought it was fantastic that Grandma gave him a whole container of whipped cream to just eat. Clogged arteries here we come!

Just driving around town and Hals and Jace were holding hands the whole time. They are becoming fantastic friends and I love it.

This cute girl is about to turn 5 and requested a princess birthday party. She even insisted upon delivering her invitations in her princess get-up. Wish us luck next week for the big party!

And, that's all for random October happenings!