A lot to be thankful for

So this post is going to be a bit of a shot gun approach.  Usually I try to stick to some sort of a theme or weekly activity but so much has been going on I haven’t posted for a couple weeks and we have experienced a lot of cool things.  So here we go.

We enjoyed having Christ the Shepherd Lutheren team with us.  They helped us finish up Isabella’s house in Jucanya.  Little Rachelle brought us all leaves to wear for this photo.

So cute to work alongside such sweet children who are willing to help with anything. Even carrying concrete blocks.  Pretty sure this block weighs as much as she does.

This is Denis and Elena they are our families close friends.  We pay Elena to come and help Amber clean so Amber can home school Abra.  We are really excited that Porch de Salomon is going to be building them a new home!  They are standing at a possible site for their new home.  Little Melanie started school this week!  We are still in need of someone to give $50 a month for her to go to school.

We dedicated a new home for Cristina and Rosa this past week with Monticello First United Methodist church.  

Rosa was pretty excited to have a new house, bed, and clothes.

Cristina made a large meal for everyone there.  This was a huge sacrifice on her part.

Some of her family helped with the cooking and serving.

This is Cindy our Porch Secretary enjoying the meal prepared by Cristina.

Daniel and Caroline hanging out at the house dedication.

We also stopped at a nursing home in a village nearby to share a little love.  This man was all smiles!We ate good this week for sure because it was Thanksgiving!  Melanie (Co Porch founder) spent all week cooking for the team and lots of other folks from the community.  It was great to be able to celebrate an American Thanksgiving.  

This is the crowd that attended.  So many cool people.  Amber and I both agreed it was the most unique Thanksgiving we have celebrated so far.

On Friday we put up our little Charlie brown Christmas tree.  Amber and baby Deeds put up the lights.  It’s not the best tree, but for $10 from the Dispensa (local grocery store) it will have to do.

Abra was so excited to get the christmas stuff out.  We brought a few of our special ornaments back with us.

Ezra got into it this year too.  His favorite was a guitar ornament which he has been sleeping with every night.I have to admit I get very nostalgic during the holidays.  I found myself shedding a few tears because it won’t be the traditional Christmas I’m used to.  But it will make it easier to focus on the real meaning of Christmas.The real tradition of Christmas is humbling ourselves and giving up our rights so that others might find joy, hope, and love through Jesus.  I had to take a photo of this guy sitting on the street with his shades.Oh and even though we don’t have snow we do have this view to walk to and look at.