Christmas in Ecuador 2017

The volunteer director was extremely sick when we arrived at OSSO, so we found ourselves in charge of a lot of things to pick up what she couldn't do.  (Which we were happy to do...we wanted to be put to work any way we could.)  When we went to bed after midnight on Christmas Eve she told us she hoped we could make breakfast...hash browns, eggs and bacon for 45 to be served by 7:30.

We didn't succeed in our task until about 8:00 or 8:30 but it got done and it was an adventure to work together in this unfamiliar kitchen trying to scavenge for the tools we needed to make it work.
I loved it.
Good way to switch up Christmas.
We got the table all set up and brought out as many kids as could eat solid foods to join in.
Even those who are tube fed were wheeled out to enjoy Christmas morning together.

Here are Dave and Lu coming down from the volunteer house:
...and a little glimpse of rooms where you can see a few of the snowflakes.


(Couldn't take pictures of the kids but they were at a table behind this picture which was wheelchair accessible and some of us volunteers got to sit by them and help with whatever they needed).
This endeavor took a LOT of dishes I tell you!  And I had some good helpers to get it done.
Then it was time for the Christmas gifts.  See that window in the top middle below?
That's where the kids were opening their gifts, mostly with the tia's help.  The room was so jam-packed we just watched from the window. 

Most of the OSSO kids were not aware of Christmas and were unable to unwrap things, but there was such a happiness amidst the whole scene that hopefully they felt a little of the love.  And it was fun to see them wearing their new clothes and the excitement of the few who were so over-the-moon about super heroes and barbies and bubbles to be blown.
It was such a simple and unique Christmas morning.

After presents a big soccer game began.  Those kids LOVE being pushed around and a handful of them were so dang excited to have willing players to help.

Again, I can't post pictures of that, but it was my favorite part of Christmas.

When we weren't working with the kids, these kids got some pretty good games in:

...and the other moms and I got to accompany Sasha, the director at OSSO, to a couple of other orphanages in the same city to deliver the things we brought for them from the States.

There was a lot of mango eating (man alive those things are delicious).


Here are the other two families we were with who we adore:
These guys above live close to us and they are the best.  We loved being with them and learned so much from their goodness and grit.
And that last picture is of our neighbors...the ones who decided they better bring their oldest two and come with us and Max and Elle to India a few years back.  They have remained such dear friends ever since.
Julie, bless her heart, brought little bags of the sweetest gifts for all 12 kids we were with.  The kids thought it was the nicest thing that had ever happened to them...and they were right.  That is one good woman!

After we helped feed and brush teeth down at the orphanage we headed into town to find our own Christmas dinner.
I love walking the streets of new places...
...especially at Christmas where everything is all aglow.
It's almost like my girls have a tractor beam that zips them right up to silver rings of any kind.



We ate dinner at an Indian place...the kids:
...and the adults:
(Not shown, the puddle of water we were wading through because of a water leak...)

Dave and I gathered our girls into our room when we got back to OSSO and had our own little Christmas devotional.

We gave them each one of these little stockings with a few pieces of candy and this scripture Dave and I had loved from "Light the World" before we left:
(Dave printed out those suckers and even mounted them on green construction paper before we left.  How's that for being prepared?  He rocks.)
So grateful these girls were on board to have such an experience this year rather than getting more things.  And so grateful that their faces looked like that after a Christmas well-spent...one we will never forget. 

We sure missed that Maxwell of ours, but were pretty grateful that we got to have the six of us at that place, at that time, surrounded by so much goodness on every side.