And then...You have to come back home!

Friends,

There are lots of stories I want to share with you. Many are written in my journal, i.e. Highlights, Lowlights, Most exciting, Things I won't ever forget, etc. I hope those make it on this blog. I need to make time to type it all out.

In the mean time, I'll be honest and say adjusting to home has been a bit harder than I imagined. I don't know why - - Well, Okay, I do...Watch this video and maybe you'll have an idea why.

The Faces of Casa Bernabe

The A-Team

We have dubbed our team of two as the A-Team. There is a family that is also here that isn't a part of a team and we've added them to the team. It's been awesome building a relationship with them. Because there are so few of us, we have the privilege of being floaters, whereas the teams that come through get permanant assignments. As the A-Team, we go wherever we are most needed and it's given us the opportunity to build relationships with three of eight houses. Two of the houses are young girls ranging in age from six to seventeen. And the other house is a house full of rowdy boys.

the cutest girl on the A-team and me

With Casa Ester, we helped clean their house and organize their belongings. We also play hair salon and the girls get to fix our hair however they like. We both have ended up with serious prom hair! We also taught them how to play a card game that everyone seems to be playing these days - Egyptian Rat Stew.

Some of the girls working on Ashley's hair

parting her hair to make french braids

With Casa Promesa, we helped prepare for a lovely Quincenera. It was pretty funny how we all (everyone from Casa Promesa) were working so hard to make the house look like a party. Then the World Cup game started and everything came to an absolute halt. We finished in time and the Quincenera was PERFECT!!

I hung up the lights using a HUGE ladder...have I ever mentioned I'm TERRIFIED of heights?

the beautiful birthday girl!

We also had the opportunity to take the girls of Casa Promesa out to the movie theater to watch the World Cup on the big screen. It was SOOO much FUN! The outing included lunch from Burger King and delicious ice cream. All the girls were very appreciateive and itwas fun for us to be able to bless them in that way!

The BOY in the girls house. He works the charm!

With Casa Nuevo Pacto, we have just hung out. We've watched a movie and created the most ridiculous dance moves. (hahahaha!!) We also went to a going away party for one of the boys. It was bittersweet.

he was a little one the last time I had seen him

oh the TORTURE! haha! He was probably five the last time I saw him!

Some of the staff members took the youth away for an overnight retreat. We have had an awesome time babysitting one of the staff member's two young boys. We have watched movies, eaten lots of palomitas (popcorn), played in the mud and laughed a WHOLE lot!

Best Buds!

the sweetest boy you ever did see!