the kiki adventures: Feliz Navidad...

Christmas was a wonderful and beautiful opportunity to share with the children at OSSO. A definite unforgettable Christmas! First off to join in our celebration, Hannah and Heather Hill from Ogden, UT, arrived to have Christmas at OSSO. They were so fun and always up for an adventure. Such catchphrases were created during their stay; “it’s for the children”, “tres por cinco”, “shake it shake it baby”, and “nine dollar cheese”. So many great memories made with these two girls! We also had a family join us for Christmas, Josh and Katie Garner, also from Ogden. They brought their five children to give them a service Christmas. They were a darling family who worked hard and genuinely loved the children. The OSSO children also loved playing with the Garner children. The Garner family donated money to take the children to Parque Inclusivo, a special needs park. Everyone had so much fun! Thank you Garner family for your kindness, love, and generosity!

Elizabeth, Andrew, Isaac,

The mural they painted as a family

Martin's letter to the Garner family

Christmas Eve we did Christmas activities all day; coffee filter snowflakes, egg carton snowmen, elf hats, and Grinch faces. We played the short Nativity movie the church has and then went to each casa to sing carols to the tias and the children who were in bed that night. It hasn’t felt much like Christmas here in Ecuador, probably due to the heat and sunshine!

But singing Christmas carols to the children made it feel like Christmas. We first went into Casa Esperanza to sing. I went to the boy’s room where Martin was fast asleep. Edi was awake and was nothing but smiles. He loves it when people sing to him. We started singing “Silent Night”; I didn’t make it through the first verse before I was in tears. Seeing how happy Edi was and singing Christmas carols brought a special spirit to the room, the Christmas spirit! I gave each of my kids a kiss on the forehead and wished them a “Merry Christmas”. We then went to Casa Milagros where I sang to Cosme. We sang “Joy to the World” and again, tears filled my eyes. Knowing how special these children are really brought a Christmas spirit I had never experienced before. We ended the night in Casa Alegria where I sat with Ceci. There’s no other child I would have wanted to sing with then with Ceci! Ceci is a true angel sent from above. The heart and light of OSSO. We started with “Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful” and I had no chance of singing one word from that song. So many thoughts and feelings came to me as I sat there with Ceci, watching her sing along. I actually thought of “A Brady Bunch Christmas” while we were singing! I was reminded of Carol Brady singing the exact same song as Mike is stuck in a building after it was collapses on him. “Oh, come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant! Oh, come ye, oh come ye to Bethlehem. Come and behold him, Born the King of angels; Oh, come, let us adore him; Oh, come, let us adore him; Oh, come, let us adore him, Christ, the Lord.” Thoughts of knowing Ceci is an angel sent from above and to the heavens is where she is going brought a surreal peace to the moment. She is beyond a special daughter of our Heavenly Father whose work to get her siblings adopted as a family unit has been fulfilled. Ceci, you are beautiful and such a special spirit. Your smile brightens my day and brings more joy to my heart than I can tell you. I love you Cecilia and singing with you expanded the true meaning of Christmas for me this year, and many more Christmases to come!

After singing carols, Katie and I, Katie’s family, the Garner family and the Hill sisters sat down for a Christmas Eve dinner. Katie and her mom had made baked chicken, potatoes, cooked vegetables, and homemade rolls. I successfully made stuffed mushrooms! It was a beautiful dinner spent with new friends. Afterwards the Garner kids stuffed stockings which was really fun for them.

Later that night Hannah and Heather and I played Papa Noel and took the stockings and presents down to Sala Girasol to place them under the tree. The stockings were stuffed and presents were under the tree. Papa Noel had come and there was nothing more to say than, “Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight!”

Papa Noel * Rudy * Elfie

* Casa Alegria *

* Casa Milagros *

* Casa Esperanza *

“Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight!”

Christmas morning I had made breakfast for the children, volunteers, and tias. The Hill sisters stayed up late helping me make five breakfast casserole dishes. The first dish needed to go in the oven at 4am so I stayed up in the living room, power napping on the couch, with our Christmas tree lite. Although I didn’t get much sleep, it was nice and quiet lying by the Christmas tree all by my lonesome self. Christmas breakfast was a success and everyone seemed to like it, especially the children! Laura had two plates full before coming inside for a bath! Martin C. gave me grief about making french toast but he ate all of them and even had seconds! The best was Stephanie’s recipe for Blueberry French Toast that she makes for every Christmas morning. They don’t have blueberries over here so we had to use mora. It’s a fruit mixed between a boysenberry and raspberry. It was so tasty in this recipe! After everyone got full on breakfast, we helped get the children bathed and dressed so we could open presents. The children were very eager to get started but had to wait for everyone to get dressed before beginning.

There's no Jimmy Dean sausage here! I had to squeeze out all the sausage from the casings!

An OSSO Christmas

All the children were very excited with what Papa Noel had brought them! Casa Alegria all received an outfit and little toys. Nancy wanted clothes, fingernail polish, books, and most importantly…gum! She was very excited about the gum! Laura was very excited to have received a new waa waa, diaper bag, and a new wheelchair! Bryan, Martin, and Christian in Milagros all got soccer gear. Christian and Jorge got new high top sneakers. Christian and Martin got remote control cars which they were so stoked about. Martin was pumped to have gotten a new big face watch with the colors of the Ecuadorian soccer team! Funny story about Martin’s watch…

I had been telling Martin that I was keeping tally on everything that I do for him. He had become so reliant on everyone else to push him in his wheelchair and brush his teeth (things he can do on his own), that I was telling Papa Noel. Papa Noel would give me all his presents because he was being lazy. Martin thought it was funny and just laughed about it. I told him I wrote a letter to Papa Noel so don’t be surprised on Christmas morning when my name replaced his! He didn’t believe me. So come Christmas morning as we passed out presents to all the children, there was in fact a present with my name on it and Martin’s was crossed out. Martin tried hiding it from me but I caught him! I opened the present since my name was on it and it was this very cool soccer watch. Martin freaked out and we all were laughing about it. I told him he could have the gift if he was to stop being lazy. He agreed! It was hilarious!

Laura's old and new chairs!

Christmas Day was beautiful. All the children played with their gifts. The Garner family brought this balloon rocket that everyone enjoyed. It was a very nice day and later that night I and the Hill sisters went into town for a nice Christmas dinner at Goda’s. It was a Christmas I will never forget!!

{Awkward Family Photos}