The Sunbeams of La Molina

Kennedy, Emma, Sarah and Sophia

I just wanted to share this cute photo of the Sunbeams in La Molina.  Their teacher is Carol Waddell.  She is a shining example of magnifying a calling no matter how big or small.  Each Sunday afternoon, she sends home an email with the lesson topic, any follow-up activities that the girls can do throughout the week and possible FHE ideas.  Today they learned about the Creation, made a paper flower garden, looked at various seeds and then received a real one to give to someone else.

This is such also a unique class because these girls are such good friends and Sister Waddell can really tailor the lessons to the needs of little princesses.   Emma just moved into the ward 2 weeks ago and it will be fun to get to know her.  Sarah's is the youngest of 5 until Wednesday when she becomes the big sister of two more sweet baby girls and Kennedy spends at least 6 days a week with Sophia.  These two are like cousins who can sit together with a small set of figurines and play for hours - literally.

We are so blessed to be a part of the La Molina Ward.  This ward has helped to strengthen the testimonies of each member of our family and will always hold a special place in our heart.

And just for journaling sake, I should mentioned that Sophie offered a prayer today in Primary.  I only heard about it later, but apparently she blessed Divercity (the indoor amusement park) and all the people so that they didn't go too far into the water and become sharks (or get eaten by sharks, though Abe insists she said socks).  Eventually, she prayed for reverence. The entire primary for laughing, which was just more fuel to the fire.  She is such a ham and keeps us all on our toes.  This was so Sophie.

High Season in Iquitos

It has been far too long since the last time I updated the blog, but life has been going at 80 mph since October.  I can't believe that it is almost March!

I have a few posts, but in no particular order.

A couple of weeks ago, Nina and Papa came to visit.  Steve and I left the kids at home and took my parents to Iquitos to experience the jungle.  Honestly, you could spend weeks there just exploring.  Here are some of my favorite photos from the trip.

This first photo is to give you a frame of reference.  This is a photo of a Catholic church in Belen in October...

 

and here is the same church 4 months later.  The water had risen about 25 feet since the last time that we were there.

The following photos are from our time at Ceiba Tops.

Nina and Papa under the Ceiba Top Tree

Leaf Frog

The strangest beehive that I have ever seen

A butterfly with an eye marking on each wing to ward off predators.

Late night tarantula hunting.  I would not want to find him under my covers...

Papa and the deer

No matter where you take the guy, he always catches the most fish - even with a homemade pole.

Steve kising a baby anaconda.  Oh boy, he (the snake) was mad.

Wild male sloth who tried to pee all over Papa.  Apparently, sloths only come down from the trees when the need to relieve themselves.  We found that to be a true observation.

Chillin' on the Amazon

Papa surprised us with a trip in the float plane.  It was A.W.E.S.O.M.E.  My mom completely disagrees. :)

Cool aerial photo from the plane.

Our guide called this the local McDonalds.  This was at a port only used to transport good inland to the nearby village.  If you look closely, you can see balls of rice and chicken wrapped in banana leaves.

Skewered and grilled chicken parts.

Bring new meaning to "Bucket Chicken"

Adorable girl from the Yagua Village

and her mom preparing lunch.

This one liked me.  Later he tried to steal my glasses.

Steve was obviously missing the kids, so he found himself a monkey to play with instead.

This just can't be real. :)

Afternoon bird came for a snack every afternoon in the hammock house

Commuter boat.  I just love how rustic and primitive the Amazon really is. 

With 4 days of great weather, the rain clouds began to approach as we headed to the aiport.  Perfect ending to a great trip!

Christmas 2011

We enjoyed such a wonderful Christmas this year.  After our trip to Manchay, we spent Christmas Eve BBQing with great friends at the Bloomer home.  We opened our annual pajamas, sang carols and read the story of Christ's birth from the scriptures.  Steve and I enjoyed the fireworks show at midnight from our patio.  

On Christmas day, the kids opened their stockings and played with the gifts that Santa had left unwrapped. This was the year of the hexbug.  Steve had to leave for church an hour before us and so we had some time to enjoy the first round of gifts before opening more.  He had to stay afterwards as well and so we had a little photo shoot, played with the toys some more, changed our clothes, made lunch and patiently waited.  It was nearly 11:30 before the kids really opened most of their presents.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve Pajamas

After Church - waiting for Dad to get home from tithing settlement

Just trying to buy more time...

Still waiting for Dad...

The girls found these in their stockings, so they took them with us to church and then played with them throughout the day.  It is so funny how the most random gifts become the instant favorites.  Peyton insisted that I take a few photos of them.  She liked this photo the best.

Dad finally got home from church and the kids thought that he should open his new video camera first so that he could use it while they opened all of their gifts. If you knew Peyton well, you might notice her right hand.  When she gets really excited about something, her hands tense up.  

Sophia loved opening gifts.  She was happy to open it if it was for her and happy if it was for someone else.  She just wanted to see what was inside. 

Santa knows that little girls love trinkets, even if mom finds it impossible to keep them all organized.  Another favorite of the season were the Squinkies.

Christmas Eve Gifts

This year, Steve and I decided that it was time that our children give to those in need instead of focusing on what they would receive.  With a timely trip to the States, empty suitcases and 3 children old enough to understand, we made a plan.

Just 10 km away (a 20 minute ride over the mountain), is an area that is part of our Stake called Manchay.  Manchay is an incredibly humble area where most people live without running water in their homes.  Many, like the photo below live in less than 100 sq feet with many children in homes constructed of leftover materials or partical board.  Recently, the Stake Young Mens President priced out the cost of these prefab homes to see what it would cost to house a member family if we need to and found out they they cost about $120 or an average 2 weeks salary.   

So on Christmas Eve, we tooks the kids out to Manchay with more than a hundred small toys to gift to children playing on the streets.  This made such a strong impression on our children.  They understood that they would not receive as many presents because we had decided as a family to spend part of our Christmas budget on these children.  

I wish that I could have videoed some of the exchanges, or even had taken a few pictures of some of the children, but it did not feel right.  For the sake of our family journal, I would like to record a few small incidents.

When we first arrived into the area, there were a few small children playing in front of their homes on the side of the main highway.  Seeing our American SUV, they ran to the car and the kids handed them each a gift.  As we began to drive off, a few other kids quickly started running after us.  We would stop and make sure that they were rewarded for their hard run. :)

About 10 minutes later as we four-wheeled through the neighborhood, we spotted a family of four sprinting for us. We watched them dodge through other homes in order to cut us off at an intersection.  I was so touched by the spirit when this family accepted our small gifts.  I had wished in that moment that we had so much more to give than what we had. These families struggle for survival each and every day.  Our small gift was appreciated, but I wanted to truly help them - and yet what could we do in that moment?

After driving around for another few minutes without seeing anyone, we spotted four children washing their dog outside of their home. There were 2 older sisters and 2 younger children.  The young girls (maybe 9 and 10) stepped back from us and allowed their younger siblings to accept a gift and when we offered one to them (we had some art supplies) they looked at us as though we didn't have to.  We insisted and they were grateful. As we drove away, all four ran into their house yelling for their mother with shrills of joy.  

As we moved further on to give away a few last toys, we saw people walking down the street with large bags full of traditional Christmas breads called panetones and other dinner supplies, then we stumbled upon this crowd waiting for  their own gifts from this truck. This was most likely the donation of a charitable organization in Lima.

In this area, we have a HUGE branch that is about to be split into two wards.  Incredible.  There are 85+ Young Women on the rolls and they have about 50 in regular attendance.  This is a huge organization for what is still just a branch.  

We are so very grateful for this experience and have been humbled by the Spirit.  As much as we would like to think that this experience was for our children and for those in Manchay, as it is in service, it was probably Steve and I who were the most touched.

Fort Real Felipe in Callao, Peru

Today we headed out to Callao, which could be just be another neighborhood of Lima as far out on the water as you can go, but is actually it's own city. It is about an hour away from where we live on the opposite side of the city.  Callao is the port where all imported goods come in and the home of Fort Felipe, an old Spanish Fort dating back to the late 1700's.  

We just wanted to let the kids run around and explore the fort while we tried out our new cameras, but they insisted that we HAD to have a guide.  Long story short, the guide was so nice, but long-winded, and the kids had had it by the time we came back the area where I had wanted to get great photos of the kids. Unfortunately, things don't always turn out as planned, but we had a great time and these photos will just have to do.  Sophia had no interest in standing still and Abe wanted to make funny faces - surprise, I know.

And after our visit to Fort Felipe, we headed to El Mirador for lunch.  I love eating fresh fish right on the ocean.