Feliz Navidad!!

We hope that you all had a blessed Christmas. We were very busy leading up to Christmas and it feels like all of a sudden it is over and the kids start back at school next week!

I have a lot of pictures of events to share but I think I will put them in a few different posts. First I will share the two different plays that we did about the nativity. In the church, the week before Christmas, the sunday school put on the presentation. It of course included the other children in the church. We even had a 5 month old "baby Jesus". It was priceless as always.

Denis, Noe and Engler waiting to go in.

Angels getting read to bring the good news! (Fernanda, Katerine and Maria)

"I bring you good news of great joy!"

Very cute shepherds leaving the church.

Apparently I am a little partial to the shepherds!

On Christmas Eve everyone at the Home went to the Men's Rehab Center to put on the play there.

Getting ready.

The men are all ready to watch.

The angel comes to Joseph in a dream.

Shepherds receiving the good news.

Baby Jesus is born! And wrapped in a diaper. :)

Shepherds and wise men worshipping Jesus.

The whole cast.

Some shepherds need a lift and a laugh. :)

Then it was time to pass out the drinks,

and the goody bags.

The End. ;)

Happy Birthday!

December 13th was Edgar's 18th birthday. He was the last of the older teens to turn 18. They are all now legal and "adults"! I use the word adult loosely. :) To celebrate this, we put on a big party for all three of them. We invited the youth group from the church and each teen was allowed to invite 2 other friends.

Antoni went to retrieve a stray balloon.

Visiting with guests. Denis is on the right talking to his sponsor Conchita. Her and her family are a big part of our kid's lives and are always around to celebrate milestones. As well, she is our youth leader at the church and does a fantastic job!

There was singing and worship put on by the teens,

and then Conchita gave some inspirational and encouraging words.

Chici also spoke to the boys, encouraging them.

Edgar "volunteered" to speak a little.

A time of prayer for the boys. That God would be present in their lives, would guide them, that they would grow in their knowledge and wisdom of God.

Everyone happy and congratulating them.

I am so proud of all of them. (L to R- Miguel, Edgar and Jose)

And of course, what is a party without food?!

Time for cake.

Following the tradition of a face full of cake for the birthday person.

Jose's turn.

Miguel put up a good fight,

but lost!

It was a fun day of celebrating a big milestone in our boys lives. The hard part is now treating them like adults! Some of the staff here have watched them grow up and as Conchita said, it is hard to see them as anything other than the young boys they came as.

Please pray with us as the make this transition and move on to bigger and better things in life!

Seniors Centre.

The Saturday before last was the Christmas visit to the seniors centre. We had most of the teens and some of the medium age kids with us.

They had put all these balloons on a string and they got all tangled up in the drive over.

Getting set up.

Angel, our angel.

I liked this ladies bright green shoes.

Everyone is waiting for the show to start.

First they heard the true story of Christmas,

then the kids sang some Christmas carols,

and afterward the kids visited with the residents and handed out treat bags.

The bags had cookies, marshmallows, and juice. Here, Luis is helping open the package of cookies for this resident.

This gentleman was new. I haven't seen him there before. He asked me to take his picture and he sat up straight and arranged his bag so it was just right.

The man on the left is always helping the man on the right. I thought it was sweet and mentioned it to one of the teens. Then he told me that the "helper" would give the other man a bite, then take a bite for himself. Hmm. I don't know. Still makes for a sweet picture!

Miguel helping open a package of cookies.

Next week the kids are going to the Rehab center to put on a play of the nativity. They will also take them treat bags.

Shopping in the big city!

Last week we went into Guatemala City to window shop. It was about an hour's drive from where we live. It was a lot of fun of course! We went to a mall that had a food court and a big grocery store with a large toy section. We looked in a few of the stores in the mall and went to have a snack. All Guatemalans that I have met love Pollo Campero. It is like KFC for North Americans. When Brian and his team were here a couple of months ago, they gave out money for the kids to spend on whatever they wanted. They started with Pollo Campero and then each bought things like toys and other candy snacks. It was so much more fun for the kids to have their own money to spend, and not just have to look at everything.

Thank you again Brian and friends!!!!!

Everyone with their "happy meals". Here they are called "cajita feliz" which literally translated into "happy box". Doesn't quite do the same for me. I would rather have the happy food! :)

Some of the older kids needed a little more sustenance before heading out to shop!

I picked a Belguim waffle covered in chocolate of course! The poor lady had no idea who she was dealing with! She asked me to tell her to stop when I thought there was enough chocolate. I finally stopped when I was embarrassed, not when I thought there was enough!

Miguel, Denis, Edgar and Mr. McDonald.

Fernanda, me, Mr. McDonald, Maria and Karla.

Wesler

Obviously they are enjoying their pizza lunch!

Noe and Edgar

Wesler

After eating (twice!) we wore all the kids out looking at more toys. We went to 3 different places and had so much fun! The kids love getting out and seeing new stuff. Especially when they are looking for Christmas presents!