Toro Toro

I recently got to spend 2 days in Toro Toro National Park.  Toro Toro is about 150 kms from Cochabamba and home to some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen.  Although it was the most intense hiking I've ever done, it was an awesome time of renewal.  It was great to be able to be away and relax.  The pictures below don't even begin to show the beauty of the mountains.

Yes, we had to climb up a broken tree branch to get to where we were going.  What you can't see is that the ledge I'm standing on is very, very small and on the other side was nothing...You fall, you die!  Yikes!

Very narrow passage way

Dinosaur foot prints...they are scattered throughout Toro Toro

Found a great swimming spot at the bottom of the canyon...

Amazing waterfalls

Yep, we had to climb through that to get down...

Amazing!

Birthday Time!!!

We recently celebrated C's 3rd birthday with a small gathering at our home.  The celebration, which I'm sure was the first of her life, was filled with cake, gifts and lots of love.  We even had the privilege of having Abbey, our special guest from Texas, here to celebrate with us.

FBC McKinney Team Visits Cochabamba!

We spent a week with an awesome group of friends from FBC McKinney.  The Simpson and Montgomery families came to Bolivia to experience our everyday lives. Their mission was simple: to uplift, encourage, support and love on our family. It is impossible to put into words how much of a blessing they were to us.

A few highlights of the trip:

1)  Jim doing magic tricks for the kids at house 2

                 Bubbles that don't pop when you catch them...Amazing!

Brock and Callan the esteemed magician assistants

                                                 
                                                      Card Trick

2)  Presenting a donation to CDA on behalf of FBC McKinney

And then playing with the kids at house 1

3)  New Clothes!!!!  The boys are still excited about their new pajamas!

4) The team experiencing the awesome ministry of baby washing on the plaza

5)  Supplies Supplies Supplies!!!

Six of those huge bags were filled with items for our family!  Needless to say we were as excited as children on Christmas morning!

Yep...that's right...a bunch of velveeta!

6)  The team hanging out with the kids at our house so that we could sneak away for a family day and a date night!

What an amazing time!  We are so blessed to have been able to spend time with these 6 wonderful people.  Their love for these children and our family was evident from the moment they got here.

¡¡¡Feliz Cumpleaños!!!

On May 21st we celebrated the 4th birthday of J...This little guy will capture your heart within the first 5 minutes of meeting you.  He is very shy and reserved, but when he comes out of his shell he is a fantastic to be around.  We were able to rent an outdoor facility with lots of room to run, play and have fun.  The facility also had animals such as cows, chickens, goats, rabbits and a few others that the children got to see and touch.

Let the party begin

This must be the trouble makers section ;)

After much convincing, we talked him into wearing the hat!

Bring on the presents!!!

Touring the animal section

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to!!!

Poor guy...He's so shy and timid he didn't know how to handle all the attention when we started singing  the happy birthday song...He quickly recovered and manged to eat his cake and ice cream.

All in all we had a great day.  We had 22 kids and 9 adults in attendance.  J walked away with puzzles, cars, building blocks, books and more! 

Welcome to the neighborhood!!!

Someone once told me that it looks like all we do in Bolivia is "play". While we do try to have lots of fun, life isn't always peachy...This week our car was broken into while parked on the street in front of our house. After having a 24 hour all out pity-party, God gently reminded me that my focus should be on Him and Him alone. I knew God was reassuring me that He was in control when I opened my Bible to Matthew 6 and saw the subtitle, "Do not worry". I love the way that God sends reassurance when I need it. He is so good!

Wow! I didn't know that was possible!

Chau, Chau Radio!

Not even sure what was there, but it's gone now!!!

Praising God that the the damage was not greater, or that the whole car wasn't stolen. Looks like we will be out about $1500 to replace all the parts that are gone. While this is a lot of money, it's small in comparison to what it could've been.

Felices Pascuas!!!

We had a great time with the kids this Easter season. It was great explaining how much God loves us and what Jesus did for us. One of my favorite moments was talking with Jhon Kevin (age 5). He knew the story of the cross, and kept telling me that Jesus was on the cross and that he had nails in his hands. I explained to him that Jesus WAS on the cross, but is not there now...He is ALIVE!

Of course, we had an easter egg hunt as well...A first for some of them...

The egg coloring part!!!

Such concentration!

Let the hunting begin!

O.K., now what do I do???

Madison hunting very competitively

Look on the ground!!!

Counting up the goods!!!

Madison found the prize egg

I crack up every time I look at this photo...Priceless!

All the kids got a toy, chocolate bunny and surprise egg

Boys!!!

About a month ago, we welcomed brothers age 5 and 3 to our home. Things have been a bit more lively around here with two older children in the house. These guys are full of energy! Please pray for their continued adjustment to our home (their third orphanage) and for their adjustment to their new school.

**Our computer died about a month ago and was in the shop for 3 weeks...We're up and running again!!!**