Magical Moments

I can not explain all the emotions I feel! the one thing I really wanted to do was go to an orphange while we were in Mexico. We asked people how to go to them and they said just show up. So after we went to Puerto Vallarta we went to get candy and headed to the orphanage. The house mother welcomed us and we gave candy to the little kids and went in to see the toddlers. They were getting ready for bed and we got them all hyper, then we settled down and said good night and they went into bed. Then we went into the baby room and this one little guy loved Tatyanah, he cried when she tried to leave him. We all loved him so much.

The little girls, happy sweet little girls that loved having their picture taken and wanted to see the pictures after. They were also very naughty too!
This little girl kept leaning over and rubbing her forehead on mine and being so sweet. But when I reach over to pick her up, she would not come to me. I was holding a little boy on my lap and plaing but I was curious to what she wanted.
Then she leaped into my arms for tons of hugs, she was holding my face and laughing so much. I loved her heart, we kept hugging heart to heart. Amanda, Jake and Taty watched for a while and then jumped in and started to play.

This little guy LOVED Amanda, he was so smart. He was telling Amanda all kinds of things and they had quite a conversation going on. They talked about the window and how to shut it. He was such a happy boy.

This little guy was a climber, he climbed everything, including into our arms and held on so tight, he gave big huge hugs and it was precious.

These little girls loved their picture being taken and they loved seeing their silly faces.
This is Amanda with her little brilliant man, Jake was a little quiet in this room but the kids loved him, he was just shy and felt bad.
he was such a love, we all just wanted to love them forever!

I suck her out of bed, she was already in bed and looking around so we played with her, she was so sweet. And when we put her down she was fine, she jus went on looking around.
This is Taty's little love, he loved her, he wanted her to stay with him. He was rocking back and forth in his crib and when he saw her he would not let her go. he was so smart and so tiny.

The bigger kids are always ready for love but they are also orphans and they know it is a moment of love not a lifetime. Some are cautious while most just dive in. Poor Taty was to give the kids their 2nd candy but she asked if they had one or 2? The kids said they 'wanted' 2. She thought they had 2 so she was not giving them another, she was so confused and so were they. In the end, everyone got candy and Taty was fine.
This little girl was full of giggles, we played for a long time, laughing and tickling and giggling. I love when she decided it was time for me to be tickled.

And then we played! We danced and sang, played ring around the rosie, clapping games, hand games, rides and singing. Amanda, Jake, Tatyanah and I played with the kids for a long time, Amanda had the camera for a bit but then we all just had fun together.


At one point a little girl went over to Jake and whispered in Jake's ear and sat beside him and just held his arm. It was so precious but I did not get a picture although it is etched in my heart forever.

Another time a little girl said something to me in Spanish and one little girl spoke pretty good english and when I asked her what she said she said, " jesus loves me" and all the kids broke out in song. It was one of the most beautiful raw real moments of my life. These precious children know that they are loved in spite of their world. They were loving, trusting and happy. They learned early what life can be like but they are loved by the ladies who love them and raise them, by strangers and by a god they believe in.

I think what made this special for me is the similarities for me. When I was a child I too was raised in a home, I was thrilled to share as much love as I could with these precious kids for the time I had with them. I walked in an saw the little girls beds all lined up and it was just as my first home was, lined up little beds. And the kids just wanted to be loved and be kids. This was an orphanage filled with love, structure and happiness. I will go back! We all left with our hearts over flowing with the love they gave us.

Monkeys, Parrots and Spiders

Animals!

We all love animals in our house! On the excursion we went on we were able to hold parrots, monkeys and spiders. If you know much about me you would know I do not like birds, I guess I do like them but I am afraid of them. You can see in the picture I held a parrot and then kissed her. After I held the monkey no one was around so I went over to the parrot and held her and then she kissed me. I was so so so scared, that is why I look very scared! It was great. Amanda and Jake held the spider, it was cool! She was neat.

Blue Chairs resort

Blue Chairs Resort

I fell in love with this bracelet and I could not find it anywhere, I showed the picture to all the street vendors but no one could make it. I guess it was not meant to be.

This guy just played music using a harmonic, on an old crutch with a flashlight attached to the side and he sang his heart out, it was great.

Jake, Tatyanah, Douglas, Karen and Theresa went swimming and the waves were HUGE! They had so much fun!

We made it to the famous Blue Chair resort where we went with some great ladies and their family there. We had lunch at the resort and some went swimming. For the famousness of it, it was ok. But it was great to see how happy and free people were there. We met some neat people, one from Denmark, an actor and his partner from Los Angeles.

Tatyanah is not always the happiest child and she decided one day that she was in a bad mood except Jakob was in a really good mood. Tatyanah was telling Jake he was horrible and she was mad. She lost an anklet and apparently it was the end of the world. Jake started saying the funniest things, but the funniest is when he said, "Senorita I did thee deeshes, please Senorita let me stay." Then he packed up his stuff and told her he was going home to Mexico. Then he put her to bed and tucked her in. The whole time Amanda and I were rolled over laughing. he has a crazy mexican accent the whole time. Even Taty could not sty mad she ended up laughing so hard too! In the end Jake was welcome to stay!

Babies

Beautiful babies

We were at the little fishing village and people were selling their beaded crafts and there was two beautiful children playing on a piece of cardboard playing with a small shawl and a beaded necklace and a small car. I decided to say hi. All the people watched me intently and I started tickling the wee boy, he had the most amazing precious giggle. Their mom came and sat beside me. We played and laughed and laughed and had so much fun. The little boy went and played away from his sister and I noticed the little so I went and picked her up. She had a thin rag for a diaper and she was wet. I felt like there is something I could do, so we were on a mission to find diapers. We finally found diapers but could not find someone that spoke english enough to ask if it would insult the mother to give her diapers. After about 8 people we found a lady who spoke english and said she would love it. We bought the diapers and headed off to see her. She happened to be walking up the street and we gave her the diapers and the boy a ball. She was so happy. A few days later when we went back to Bucerias she was nursing her daughter and she stopped and handed her to me. They were both wearing the same clothes but the little one has on a diaper. I was so happy. She was beautiful. We found a guy to ask the kids names. The boy was a lllooooooonnnnngggg name and he was 4 1/2 yrs old and the little girl was 5 moths old and she still did not have a name. It was neat. I loved them and will always think of them and say a little prayer for them!

Mexico bartering and painting

At the resort there is ceramic and wood things to paint. Tatyanah, Amanda and I decided to paint something each, it was so fun and somehow when it is all done it looks great. We painted them, the guy fixes it up and then they take it home and fire it and bring it back the next day.

Amanda made a bowl for us to have salsa or pico in!

Tatyanah wanted a beach scene so the guy drew it on for her and she is starting her travel wall!

I made a small bowl for my rings and a few small things. I love it!

All of our creations!

Tatyanah has always been a money conscientious girl and it is very hard to barter with her. She went to the Bucerias market and saw a hammock she wanted. She let the guy talk and he started at 700 pesos. She was not interested. He went down to 500 pesos. She was not budging, He said she is a Mexican babina the way she barters. In the end she paid 300 pesos. And got the exact hammock she wanted.

Pie in the Sky

The famous Pie in the Sky!

Amanda LOVES anything cake and we realized the famous Pie in the Sky was waling distance to our resort, practically right outside the main entrance! So we went and has the most luscious cakes ever

http://pieinthesky.com.mx/index1.htm

The bonus they also support education, human rights and animal rights