The Walsh half of the Walton family left this morning. All the kids and teachers gathered up to say goodbye with a send off party. Some of the kids danced. We passed around lots of hugs and said a teary "hasta luego".

We decided to squeeze every last drop out of our last day here. During the day a bunch of the kids worked in the bakery. All sorts of good smells were coming out if the kitchen. We were treated to snacks of warm banana bread after lunch and cookies during evening playtime.

While the kids did chores, we sadly cleaned the volunteer house, collected up the cards and drawings from the kids. And packed up. Not. Ready. To. Leave!!

We had an awesome evening. We played seemingly endless games of Twister. Holy Cow!  It was very competitive. In the end, Christofer (big one), Junior, Josue, and Maury competed for Champion of the Universe. After trying my best to twist them up, they wore me down and they were all crowned co-champions.

We brought the paper flowers out again and pasted them on the Popsicle sticks to make a lovely garden. Mikaela brought out the yarn balls and made God's Eyes with the kids. Sean played a lot of soccer and basketball tonight. He is wiped!  He is really going to miss Christofer (big one) and Mykel. They have gotten to be great pals.  Everett and his new best friend Jaison made shields out of old card board boxes and fended off attackers (including Nancy, who apparently has a crush on poor Ev.)

We miss our Walshes, but we are glad to know they have safely arrived in Houston and are with our dear friends the Nolascos. (Muchos besos y abrazos a los Nolascos, por favor.)

We leave El Hogar at 8:30 tomorrow. Sigh. It has been a truly memorable week. Every time I leave this place I feel sad.  But, I always know I will be back.

Con muchas gracias,

Julie

Another great day at El Hogar began with pancakes and papaya. After breakfast and chores, a colossal water balloon battle ensued and Pete was the target. He retreated into the volunteer house to hide but the enemy knew where he was. They filled their bombas with water, stormed the front door of the house yelling "Pedro, Pedro". He managed to escape only to get soaked later. Fun was had by all kids on the campus. Next we moved on to paper airplanes which became drawing and then mask making. Soccer and wiffle ball was also always available.

 After a lunch of delicious soup, the fun continued with painting with Mikaela, fingernail painting with Chaney, card playing (the game spoons became tongues which Matt found very amusing) and an introduction to ping pong. We now know that ping pong is not welcome as paddles quickly become weapons!

We, the Walsh family, visited with Carlos and his family, a boy we used to sponsor. We had a great visit and the boys were happy to finally meet each other!

Chores and dinner were followed by more play time. A heated competition between the gringos (Sean, "Guillermo Claus", Pete and Matt) vs the Hondurans (Junior, Christofer and Josue) took place. Yes, the Gringos were staying in the game for a while until Mateo left- evening the teams- and the Hondurans easily whooped them. Bill and Sean were so sweaty they needed showers and Advil! The rest of us made paper flowers and played board games and epic Uno until bedtime.

 The Walsh gang, who is leaving tomorrow :(, is starting the process of prying ourselves out of this special place and its not going to be easy. None of us want to say goodbye to the precious children we have been with this week. As you know, it won't be pretty!

Betsy, Matt and Chaney and the rest of the Waltons

We had an absolutely fantastic Christmas Eve. Played with the kids all afternoon. We had a talent show in the afternoon with lots of singing and dancing. The combined "Walton" family decked the dining hall with garlands, lights, and all sorts of decorations. We decided that you can never really have too much confetti at a party for so many kids. They kept picking it up and throwing it for hours. Endless fun! We took the kids to church (that was absolutely insane taking so many kids to church!!) but it was really beautiful and the kids were incredibly good - even ours. 

The service was in Spanish, of course, but the cadence and the rhythm of the prayers sounded just like home. We sang Silent Night, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, O, Come all the Faithful, and lots of other familiar, and unfamiliar hymns. Even a little Simon and Garfunkel mixed in. The kids enjoyed the electric guitar and drum set versions of all those familiar songs. We lit Sparklers as we sang Silent Night before heading home.

We piled back into the van (28 bodies in one of the vans!) and came home to a big fiesta. Lots of music and running around. And glow sticks! Then Santa (AKA Bill) showed up with gifts and stockings for everyone. 

The kids lined up to receive their Christmas cards and stockings and for turn to sit on Santa's lap. Their faces lit up as they dug through Santa'a bag for a puzzle, race car, coloring book or other toy. After gifts, we all enjoyed the cakes the kids baked in the bakery the day before. And, if course, continued throwing confetti. 

Then at midnight the entire city erupted in Fireworks. Think 4th of July all over the city. The school sits up high so we could look down across the city full of fireworks. Absolutely gorgeous!  Also at midnight, everyone exchanges hugs and kisses and says Feliz Navidad! I got at least a year's worth of hugs and kisses. It was like Christmas, New Year's Eve and 4 of July all at the same time!  We went to bed around 1 am. And, believe it or not, Santa found us! All ten if us woke up to a small gift and a stocking.

Christmas Day is quiet in Honduras. All the Excitement happens on Christmas Eve. We loaded the kids into the van to take everyone to see "Frozen," a new Disney movie, in the theater in Spanish. Popcorn, soda and the works!  The rest of the day was pretty quiet with the regular soccer games and crafts. 

While Chaney, Sean and the boys played soccer, Julie, Bill, Betsy and Mikaela hung out in little boys' dorm before bed.  Apparently Betsy was identified as a "robber" and was put in "jail" several times. Luckily, Julie and Mikaela broke her out of jail in a daring rescue. Exhausted, we said good night to the boys.  Everett said this was his best Christmas ever. He had been playing soccer, baseball and tag all day with 50 of his best friends. And he got a stuffed polar bear. Who could ask for more? 

We all agree, this has been the absolute best Christmas ever. So much love, so many smiles, and so many hugs. But there were also some sad moments. Small faces with tears rolling down their cheeks during church. Quiet little ones alone in a corner while everyone played. Reminders of why this place is so important. El Hogar is an oasis of love. It is wonderful that these kids get to live and grow here. But at the same time it is sad that they have to.

We are privileged to be here with them. And with each other. 

Feliz Navidad!

Feliz Navidad!  Ev and I are writing the blog today.  That means my Spanish comprehension has doubled to at least 10 words.  First let us tell you about Christmas Eve in Honduras.  The day actually begins several days before with the encroaching sounds of firecrackers.  They greeted us upon our arrival on the 22nd.  And they have increased with frequency such that it's now 6:30pm and we're up to about quatro per minute.  We predict it'll be like the fourth of July by midnight.

But let's recount our day.  We joined the El Hogar family for breakfast.  We had a delicious meal of eggs, refried beans, tortitas and mixed fruit - Ev loved it!  We then split up among the children.  Ev started a game of baseball with several of the younger boys.  After taking a much needed water break, Ev then joined a game of futbol.  Sean played basketball and was thoroughly schooled by Cristhofer & William, the former of which has reminded me quite regularly throughout the day that he is the "basketball champion."  Matt Walsh also joined the elite team to continue the domination.  

Having been thoroughly exhausted by the children, we enjoyed a post-lunch siesta.  Well, one of us did and the other played Nintendo.  The highlight of the day so far was being feted by the El Hogar singers & dancers as they performed a number of Christmas classics.  We have several great videos that we will share when we return.  After that, the Dalton/Walsh (Walton) clan then spent a good portion of the afternoon turning the café into a holiday spectacular.  We learned that in Honduras Christmas Ev is the day of celebration while Christmas Day is a far more typical day.  And so, as we write to you, the rest of the Dalton/Walsh team is on their way to a Christmas Eve service with all the children.  In a couple of hours we will be reunited with everyone at El Hogar for an amazing Christmas Eve dinner around 9pm.  To help the children make it through the evening, Mikeala offered a cookie snack around 4pm.

But that's only the beginning.  We heard a rumor that Santa himself will be making a flyby sometime before midnight.  Apparently a few elves will also be participating.  And there's a good chance that Mikaela will be reading The Night Before Christmas in Spanish.  I'm sure the pictures from the celebration will be marvelous - you'll have to tune in tomorrow to see them.  Forgive all of us if the blog is somewhat delayed tomorrow as we are told that seeing a bed before 1am would be highly unlikely.   

Feliz Navidad  to all, and all a goodnight!

Another great day at El Hogar! We were visited by the US Marines stationed in Honduras this morning. They brought a huge collection of Toys for Tots gifts for all the kids. We brought the kids in groups of the girls, the young boys, then the older boys into the auditorium where the Marines set up tables filled with toys. One by one each got to come up and chose which ever gift they wanted. Seeing their faces light up at the sight of all the gifts for them was absolutely precious, it was an amazing pre-Christmas surprise!

The rest of the morning was spent playing with the plethora of new toys and games ranging from coloring books and crayons, stuffed animals, toy cars, marbles, barbies, dolls, Legos and more! The El Hogar kids also completely destroyed the Marines at soccer, it was a great game!

After lunch while some kids continued playing with new toys, others helped make and decorate cookies in the bakery! We all were decked out in aprons and chef hats while making cookie dough and little round sugar cookies on trays. The kids loved decorating the cookies in sprinkles of every shape and color, some getting very fancy with designs, including a few Honduran flag cookies. We made several trays of cookies saving them for an after dinner treat, because nothing sends 40 kids to bed quite like sugar cookies!

Goodnight from "the Waltons!" (Walsh-Daltons)

The Walsh and Dalton families arrived safely in Honduras! But not without a little drama. The Walsh family was delayed in DC for four hours, spent the night in Houston and arrived with only three of their eight bags. But we are confident the rest will show up tomorrow. The Daltons came via Atlanta. All was going smoothly until someone tried to board the plane with improper documents and they had to take every bag off of the plane to search for the man's bags. Did I mention it was pouring rain and they left all of our bags on the runway in the storm for half an hour?  So we arrived late with all of our bags -- but most of our stuff is completely drenched.
I'm working on a "gently" worded letter to Delta suggesting a donation to El Hogar might make up for the damage. Feel free to send Delta your own thoughts on the subject. . .

But the truth is, none of us really care about the bumpy journey.  We are here, and it is amazing! We were greeted by a bunch of smiling faces and warm hugs. Who really needs dry socks anyway? The few things that made it safely and dry were the hand made Christmas cards and bracelets donated by the kids from Belmont Day School, the school supplies they collected and the stockings we stuffed for all 50 kids at El Higar for Christmas. I'm pretty sure someone was watching over those previous valuables. (Although I really wish my clothes had been packed in that bag)

After dinner we had a great evening with the kids. Sean, Everett, Matt, Pete and Bill ran themselves ragged trying to keep up with the kids playing futbol. Matt and Pete set up a race car track, and Betsy launched a spirited game of Uno. Meanwhile Bronte, Mikaela, Chaney and Julie brought out some art projects and floss to make friendship bracelets.

We all practiced our Spanish as best we could, and the kids were very tolerant of our improvised grammar. Lots of goodnight hugs, and the kids were off to bed.

What a great day! We are tired and bit soggy, but so happy to be here. Tomorrow we are expecting a visit from some US Marines stationed in the area. They have collected Toys for Tots and are bringing gifts for the kids.

I can't wait to wake up to all those little faces tomorrow. I'm feeling pretty blessed to be here, and to share this experience with my family and dear friends.

Besos!

Julie

A few shout outs:
Selenia: hola Claudia!
Freddie: When is Kate coming back?
Cristofer: Jenny!

Dear friends and family,

26 hours and counting until the Walsh family takes to the air making our way south to the balmy 80 degree weather in Honduras! We are flying through Houston (so that we can visit our dear friends Karina, Carlos, Sophia and Sebastian Nolasco on the return trip). We will spend Saturday night at a Houston airport hotel (some of you remember sleeping on the floor in the Houston airport- I really hope to avoid that this time around!) and then fly to Honduras Sunday morning where we will join the 6 Daltons who will be flying in at the same time from Atlanta. May our travels go smoothly and according to plan!

We have packed the toys, gifts, activity supplies, games, crafts, sporting equipment, clothes, sheets, school supplies, socks and undies that so many of you have provided- 5 huge bags so far! We have your letters and photos safely packed to be delivered upon arrival. We carry all of you with us on this adventure. Thank you for joining us on it! We hope to update the blog every day and share with you the special stories of being at El Hogar for Christmas.

Claudia Castro, Director of the Elementary School at El Hogar, reminded us recently that, in the midst of our joy in being there, this can be a very difficult and painful time for the 40 or so children who remain at El Hogar during the holidays- those who have no one to call family and/ or no home to go to. May we give these children the love they need and the knowledge that they are special and valued. We know we are blessed to be with them.

Merry, Merry Christmas to you all!

Betsy, Bill, Pete and Matt

December 14, 2013