Shoe Donations

My little Tatiana with her new shoes!

This was by far one of the most rewarding and enjoyable experiences I have had so far. We finally got around to delivering and fitting the children with the shoes that many of you from home donated. As you can see from the first picture, we laid the shoes out and let the children pick which pair they wanted. We tried them on, if they fit, they were theirs, if not they picked a new pair. They were so happy to get new shoes. Some kept them on, others put their old pairs on, or went barefoot and held their shoes in their arms. An absolutely priceless experience!

DeAnna picking her favoite pair. On the right is their teacher Maria and her daughter Gabby.

Checking the size!

Little Sonja with her new shiny shoes!

Dulce Maria with nothing but pink... her favorite!

This is Maria's nephew who was lucky enough to be at the house this day. He picked the Indredible Hulk shoes. Too Cute!

I love this little guy. Randy getting sized up by Julio. Check the smiles!

Guadalupe "Lupe" should be a model, look at that arm and smile!

Edison with his new spiderman sandals to match his outfit!

Another favorite... Estefanie with her new little mermaid sandals.

DeAnna posing with her shoes

My adorable girls away from home. I have 3 sisters at home that I adore and that are the same age as these 2 in the picture plus their little sister who is at home with mom. They have choosen to sponsor these girls which is awesome! So when I can't be with Sofia, Gianna and Angelina, I get a close runner up with their 'new' sisters, Dulce Maria, Tatiana and Jaqueline!

So HAPPY and SOOO Priceless!!!!

All the kids watching as Julio fits a little sister with new shoes.

The most precious thing was when they left school they carried their new shoes in their hands. Either wore their old shoes, or went barefoot. Heaven forbid they they get their new shoes dirty! I LOVE IT!!

Sponsorship Program

Though we have a lot of fun here, believe it or not, we work even more. The best part about it is that work is fun, therefore LIFE=FUN!

On the Ortho Trip we stopped by one of the daycares we are working with to sponsor children. While there the children sang for us, should us the english words they were learning, hugged us and smiled with us. We gave each child a special little gift... a stuffed animal. The smiles on their faces were contagious and did nothing but warm the heart!

The children singing for us

Nothing but smiles from Sonja!

Look how excited Tatiana is!

A hug for the cheetah

Dulce Maria with her stuffed animal.

I'm very excited to say that we are in the process of sending sponsorship packets out to individuals and families that are interested in sponsoring a child. If you are interested, please either contact me or the office to get more information. It's only $30 and month. Some of these familes live off of close to $30 a month.

"Be the change you wish to see in the world."

Halloween

Dan and I were determined to have a Halloween party and decided that everyone HAD to wear a costume. We had to find items and make them into a costume and this is what we came up with...

Dan the "Pirate", Bert the "Mexican", Lauren the "80's Rocker", and Julio the "Computer"
Rockin out on his keyboard

The big guy working

The chef at work

Norma and Yoli help us here with cooking and cleaning. The house I live at is also where Norma and her family live. (Norma is in the red) This was a little game we played. It caused quite a bit of laughter.

Dan and Christian

Me doing what I do best!

The crew from left to right, starting in the back row.

Luis, Norma, Yoli, Vivian, Christian, Julio, Dan, Bert, Nicole and I

Best shot of the night... Julio bobbing for apples

Bert going for the kill and me laughing hysterically

Too fricken funny for me!

Introducing smores in Guatemala.

A good time had by all!!!

Sausage Time

On our way to Billy's for some sausage making fun!

Bert, Dan and I
Boys with their toys

This is Dan's dog Oso, we took him for a little getaway, and left him with a new home. 800 acres to run on and other dogs to play with... and a 2 year old to torture him. ;)

A view one way out over Billy's 800 acres.

A porker that is lucky to be alive. His pigs usually grow to be 700lbs

I think our faces say enough in this picture. I was distgusted, Dan was excited and Bert was just happy to be there.

About to get our hands messy.

Billy supervising, Dan and I working and Bert, doing something... I'm not sure what.

Proof that I tried it. The flavor was delicious, the texture, not to sure about!

Making the longiniza. We made both Chorizo and Longinza.

Making the sausage segments. That is Billy's wife Xiomara and one of his workers.

What an experience!!!

Orthopedic Trip

So some of these pictures are a little backwards, but that's how it works when I don't pay attention. These are some pictures from the group that was just here a few weeks ago. Though I spent a little time at the hospital, I didn't get any pictures there, so what I have are pics from the clinics and such!

These first 2 pictures are the Guatemala staff and volunteers. We are at breakfast the morning that we dropped everyone off at the airport!

Me, Bert and Julio
Lynda, Robin and Dan

The cutest thing ever at the nutrition center. She actually has no hair, this is a little hat she wears! Precious to say the least!

2 sisters at a clinic in one of the poorest villages I have been to. Most of the houses are built with sticks as a base, with the walls made of plastic, tin, cardboard, and anything else that would make for a good wall.

Alberto working with people that had severe pain. A neat addition to this trip!

This little girl we met at a clinic up in the mountains. She is 2 years old and suffering from severe malnutrition. She was loosing her hair, had open sores on her body, was unable to walk and just looked awful. After sharing with the parents about her condition, we offered to take the little girl to the nutrition center and get her back to health. We just picked her up yesterday and brought her and her dad back. Her mother is 20 years old and her father 24. There are 3 children in the family. A 3 year old, her and a baby brother that was 2 months. Luckily we found her when we did!!

Little eyes peeping through the wall of a clinic.

A church at a very poor village in the middle of the mountains. We saw over 300 people here!

Sisters leaving a clinic we held at the old persons home. This will be my sister and I one day I hope!

Precious little thing getting fitted for glasses.

Take a look at this 94 year olds shirt. "Hottie"

A little girl in line at the dump while we passed out sandwiches and milk.

The cutest old man. He was so thankful for the glasses and care we gave him. Then he saw Breanna, Karen's newest baby!