Orphanage Visit....

We had originally planned on taking the entire family to visit the orphanage...in the end we decided that Big Daddy would stay home with the girls so that I could attend the trip to the orphanage and the next day he would return. As much as I would have loved to see Hope and Faith with the children of the orphanage it opened the opportunity up for me to be more available to hold and play with the children. Shaley brought paint to paint faces and I helped her. The kids seemed to really enjoy it...all kids seem to and they are no different. It gave me a chance to really make eye contact with them. I couldn't help but wonder what must go through their minds...a complete stranger touching them and speaking with them... The children are beautiful and made my heart so full. I wanted so badly to reach out and hug them and hold them but I was hesitant to cross their line of boundary. I would touch them as much as I thought I could...quick rub of the shoulder, pat on the back, pat on the head and the little ones got as much love as they could handle. There were 9 children that I saw from the orphanage. It is a fluctuating number as they had 18 last month. The children ranged in age from 15 (I think) to 0. We brought jump ropes for them to play "jump the river" and "limbo". The kids smiled and laughed and it brought so much joy to me to witness such a happiness among them. They were thrilled. We brought a stage and puppets and puppet show with songs in Spanish that they enjoyed. We brought them toys and supplies and the following day a group came and babysat the group so that the house mom and dad could go out to eat together....a rare treat. We played a game of soccer...I played for a while...although, not well...I still made the effort. The people that care for the children are precious...so sweet. There was a little boy named Julio who was 2...you will see him in the photos...he has a moustache...he has such an attitude for being so young. At one point he had a cell phone and it was taken away and he threw quite a fit...he was very upset and Bec went to comfort him and gave him a ball...he put the ball down and reached for her and fell asleep in her arms...later she shared with us how rewarding it was to be a mother to this child who had no mother even if just for a few moments. It was so sweet. He was full of himself but just the cutest thing ever. He has a little brother, Kevin, who is one. He is a super cutie too, he was quite attached to one young lady who was 15. She recently left the orphanage and was there for a visit and he wasn't letting her out of his reach. She apparently helped raise him and if you didn't know better you would think he was her own son the way she cared for him and his bond with her. I enjoyed holding a sweet thing named Lupita...just a real cutie. She was under 1 and it broke my heart how it wasn't her natural instinct to smile...I don't know if she ever smiled. She was so serious. But, oh, she was a doll. I could go on and on but I think the slide show will tell more than my words.