Archive for guatemalan orphanage
Don’t Pack Away Those Halloween Costumes Just Yet!!
Posted by: | CommentsPlease don’t pack away those 2009 Halloween costumes to collect dust and take up space. We have a good place to re-use those costumes for years to come. Many times during the year the kids dress up in costumes for either parties or just as dress up play. The kids at Semillas de Amor would love to have any gently used or new costumes that you have. They will be used for years to come. Any size is great, from infant to adult. Costumes can be sent to:
Jose Carlos Botzoc Crowley
11114 Oberun River Court Drive
Rancho Cordova, CA 95670
Please include your name with the costumes so we can send you a thank you note.
We had a wonderful Halloween party on Friday. The kids all dressed up, there was food, candy, games and lots of fun. The photos tell it all!
¡Feliz Dia del Niño!
Posted by: | CommentsFriday, October 2nd, we celebrated “Children’s Day” at Semillas de Amor. And what a celebration we had! It was our job to entertain the kids. I lucked out and didn’t have to be a clown and was in charge of the barbeque and strawberry shortcake (an all-american food menu). The kids had so much fun as did all of the adults. We thought the fiesta would be cancelled because of our lack of electricity. Yes, our new generator blew up and no thanks to the Guatemalan company we bought it from because they have been less than helpful in fixing it under the warranty. But Guatemalans are resourceful people and the day went off beautifully. Even our electrician was there. Odd to have an electrician when we don’t have electricity. We celebrated with barbeque, hot dogs, hamburgers and all the fixings and for desert, strawberry shortcake. We had hoped to fill our plastic swimming pools but because of no electricity that meant no water and could only fill one pool with buckets. The kids loved it just the same. All the children dressed up in their “career outfits”, we had farmers, cowboys, artists, teachers, mechanics, writers, doctors, nurses (hmm….no lawyers present, must be sore point).
I hope you enjoy the video and share a part of the day with us. I’ve only started to make movies with Apple’s iMovie, which I love, but am still on the learning curve. Be sure and turn off the sound if you don’t like the music.
And as always, we are forever grateful for your donations to help us keep going. If you would like to make a donation just click HERE
Enjoy the party with the kids!
Feliz Dia del Nino Semillas de Amor from Nancy Bailey on Vimeo.
Party photos
Friday Morning Hike in the Mountains
Posted by: | CommentsFriday morning we left for a two hour hike, up the mountain near our home, with 14 kids, five dogs and six adults. This was the first hike on this trail which is steep going up and not much easier going down. Our youngest hikers were three years old and the oldest was me (but you won’t get my age). What a gorgeous morning. We have had some rain, so everything was green. There were lots of little buggies out, which made the kids very happy. On the entire two hour walk, no matter how steep it was, not one child whined about being tired, thirsty or wanted to go home. In fact they wanted to keep climbing. The kids have lots of space to run at the children’s home but our Friday afternoon hikes take them out from behind our big wall and into the countryside. It is isolated and rarely do we see anyone on the hikes. And the best part, it is free.
The kids filled my pockets with treasures, as you will see in the photos. Our gardener, Juan José, identified all the seeds and plants the kids brought back. The children are going to plant some of the seeds to watch their treasurers grow.
Our hikes give the children an opportunity to “talk while we walk”. Most of the kids have a zillion questions about the world around them. This time gives us the opportunity to spend quality time with our oldest kids and is invaluable to them. We can never replace a family for these children but we can try and get as close as possible to being their family until they are able to have their own. Enough love, attention, food and education is costly but the investment is well worth it.
It is always nice that we can find things to do for free, since running our children’s home is expensive. We continue to need your support in every way. If you would like to make a financial donation to our children’s home please click HERE.
Have a wonderful week, from all of us at Semillas de Amor!
