Thanksgiving on the Beach...what?

A description of this week? The sounds of waves on the seashore, the beautiful breeze, sun, unlimited food and snack bars, sand squishing through toes, sunscreen, paradise....oh yeah, and 17 kids that can't swim! : ) I'm not sure "restful" would be completely accurate, but "beautiful" and "fun" certainly are! As an early Christmas present, the Acosta family treated their kids to three days at a beach resort on the Pacific Ocean and we got to tag along. I truly enjoyed our time. It was a blessing to be able to see the stunning beauty of the Pacific Ocean surrounded by mountains. I can truly say that this is the first (and probably the last) time I've ever spent Thanksgiving at the beach! I've attached pictures below.

Favorite quotes from the beach:
"My bathing suit isn't wet! It just has a lot of water in it!"-4 year old
"There's too much water in here!"-an 11 year old talking about the ocean
"I'm not even going to bug you tonight! "-4 year old talking about bedtime

On top of all that, Friday was spent preparing an elaborate Thanksgiving feast. The kids had been practicing Psalm 136 and recited it before the meal was served. I felt absolutely spoiled! Even though Thanksgiving is not a typical Mexican holiday, we have enough representatives from the U.S. to make it a tradition for the shelter!

We are eager to begin our last month of school before Christmas break. We still have no news on accreditation, but would appreciate continued prayer in that area.

One other fun piece of news is that my friend Diana is coming to visit for a week, arriving this Thursday! I would love prayers for her safe arrival! Happy Thanksgiving!

Jenny and I with some of the clan on our way to the super cool pirate swimming pool pictured below!

Our lodgings

Zipline!!!!!! This was at the resort as well, along with a mini-zipline for the kids. Super fun!

Teachers and interns! 

Stunning sunsets at the beach

The resort put on little shows every night. This was the kids' show that offered pictures with different Disney characters. :) 

The whole group at the beach-29 people in all!

 

Our massive Thanksgiving table                                         Desserts anyone? 

Just playing around in the yard! I loved this picture! 

A New Arrival

Last week, we received a new little two-year old girl at the shelter. She initially came with some stomach problems, but those seem to be getting better after a trip to the doctor. Overall, she is adjusting fairly well and is an absolute cutie! I've posted a picture of her below.

We've been feeling spoiled lately with special events! A group of women from the church comes monthly to do something special with the children. This week, they brought an entire Thanksgiving dinner...I mean EVERYTHING! We enjoyed all the typical U.S. treats-stuffing, turkey, ham, cranberry, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes (with gravy), pumpkin pie, apple pie, etc. I apologize if I'm making your mouth water :). The kids made a big poster with all the things they were thankful for and their words warmed my heart! I've attached a picture below of all these happenings.

We also were treated to a field trip by another friend of the shelter today. We went to "Trompo Mágico [Magic Top]", an absolutely amazing children's museum. The kids not only had a chance to explore the hands-on museum, but took classes at the museum as well (in music, movie-making, and drums). The outside of the museum had some more "extreme" activities like a zipline and bungie-on-trampoline activity. The kids LOVED it and had a chance to overcome some of their fears.

As a prayer request, our little one who gets seizures had another one at the museum today. We have to watch him closely for a while, but we were thankful for a number of things. First of all, we recognized some early symptoms so I was holding him when it occurred. This kept him from falling and injuring himself. Secondly, there was a first aid station right at the museum that employed a doctor. The doctor was able to help him right away and his fever was down within about half an hour. If this would have happened when we were still at the shelter, we would have had driving time to include before reaching a doctor. God is good and provides what is needed!

Our new precious 2-year old!

 

Left: The "mommy and daddy" referred to on this Thanksgiving note are the parents at the shelter. Right: The group of women from our church that come out once a month! 

Typical Camichines beauty...

Some of the kids with Dixie, Jenny's donkey, after her bath :)

Above: Our group at the children's museum

Below: The bungie/trampoline activity that the kids loved!

Mixed Emotions

On Monday this week, we were told that two of our kids had been adopted and would be leaving by the end of the week. The sudden transition was very emotional for all of us, as we had to say "goodbye" to two of our precious little ones. They have both transformed since their arrival and I praise God for bringing them here. We would greatly appreciate prayer in the weeks to come as they are adjusting to a new situation and we are adjusting to life without them. Our hearts are truly grieving their loss, but we are working hard to place them in God's hands and are hopeful that their new situation will provide them with stability and close family. We also pray that they would remember the truth about Christ and his sacrifice for them. We were able to send them off with their bilingual Bibles and a book of Bible stories to remind them of all they learned while they were here. I've posted a picture of them below. 

In regards to the accreditation possibility (mentioned in my previous post), we drove into the city with the kids last week to meet the government representative who is working on our case. He assured us that he was pursuing accreditation for us, but we still do not know if it is within reach. Continued prayer in this area would be greatly appreciated! 

Thank you for your prayers for health for all the kids! For the first time in over a month, none of the kids are sick!  I've posted some pictures below of general happenings in the house. Enjoy! :)  

It's corn time! The kids love taking the grain off the corn-in fact, they voluntarily spend much of their recess and playtime working on this job. They are preparing it to be ground, turned into "masa" and made into delicious corn tortillas!

Our weekly Bible study with the teenagers and older girls. We are currently studying Philippians. 

Piano lessons in session!

One of our kindergarteners learning to read

Above: Two of my buddies at a rodeo

Below: The cowboys bringing the bull down

Our Ladies Bible Study meets once a week. We're going through the new Beth Moore study on James and are absolutely loving this time to connect and learn together!

All 29 of us-staff and kids!