Christmas
Okay, we are halfway through January and I have yet to post any information about Christmas. It has been a whirlwind this past month, so please forgive me if you have been on the edge of your seat waiting for an update from us. There is a lot to write about, but for those who just want a brief synopsis, I'll give you a much abbreviated run-down. We went caroling with the orphanage and handed out gifts in the community, our kids were blessed with gifts from the mission, Hannah got sick with a UTI and the flu, my parents arrived for a visit, we took them to “sand dollar beach”, 3 of us developed a tummy bug, Autumn came down with the flu, we went to San Diego and got to go to Sea World, Bekah came down with the flu, we drove back to Mexico with a malfunctioning car, Naomi got the flu, Shay got the flu, Eli got the flu, and then school started back up again. Whew….makes me tired just looking at all that! Now that you got the brief version, those who want more detail can keep reading. I am going to break all of this up into two blog posts, as it is a lot to type out.
When school got out for Christmas break, the festivities began. We had the opportunity to go caroling in a migrant camp and pass out gifts to the children there (our own children and the children at the orphanage each went through their belongings and found stuff still in good condition to give away to others.) It was very eye opening to see the kids running out to meet us in dirty clothes and bare feet. We were cautioned not to hug them, likely because lice and fleas are rampant in those areas, but we were still able to spread love and joy to those children. I think most people have no idea just how good they have it, but seeing such poverty first hand made me extremely grateful for all the luxuries I have. Later that same evening, the cafeteria served a light dinner of sandwiches and Mexican hot cocoa before we all met together for the handing out of stockings. I had been told that supporters of the orphanage put together stockings of toys for the kids (staff kids included), but I didn't realize that the "stockings" were good-sized bags and not your normal Christmas stockings. It was fun to see all the kids run up to receive their bag of toys when their name was called. Most of them received brand new back packs and craft items, in addition to a few toys. My kids were thrilled to be included and didn’t even grumble when it came time to write thank you notes!
My parents were coming down on Christmas, so we spent the next several days relaxing and looking forward to seeing them soon. However, on Christmas Eve things started to get a little crazy. Hannah started to have symptoms of a urinary infection. The clinic here was open for only a few hours, but I managed to get her seen by the doctor before they closed. However, all the labs around here were closed already, so there was no way to test Hannah and see if her urine sample tested positive for an infection. The doctor kindly gave me a prescription for Hannah anyway and I quickly went to a pharmacy to get it filled before they closed. I wasn't totally convinced Hannah had an actual infection, as the only symptom she had was severe pain when urinating (several of my girls have had similar symptoms that just ended up being external irritation) but I wanted to at least have the antibiotic in hand should Hannah get worse. Also, that evening we received word that my parents' flight was already delayed for the following day, which meant they would not get to our town until after dark. We were all disappointed at that news. As we tried to settle kids in to bed for the night, it took a lot of intentional effort to try and stay positive and full of Christmas cheer. But we did it, because that is what parents do.
That night proved to be a VERY long night. Multiple kids had problems getting to sleep. Mexicans are great at putting together celebrations and we had fireworks going off all around our town (including some from the orphanage) until after midnight. I was finally able to crawl into bed around 2:30 after spending much of the night comforting 3 different children. Only to be woken up by a feverish Hannah who had also developed a croup cough at 4:30 am (and also needed to use the bathroom, although she cried/screamed the entire time). I got Hannah breathing well again and tucked her into my own bed, but she awoke again at 6:00 due to her UTI. I gave up on sleep and gave Hannah her first dose of antibiotics. By that point, the only way we could get Hannah to release her pee was to put her in a Rubbermaid container filled with water in our shower, so Hannah hung out in her “tub” until the rest of the kids woke up and Christmas morning began. Gabe made a big pot of coffee and I focused on enjoying my children. We finished our Advent book, Bartholomew's Passage, and delighted in its ending. They unwrapped the gift that Gabe and I got them, as well as their gifts from each other. Despite my exhaustion, I enjoyed Christmas morning and was able to celebrate the birth of our Savior with my family.
Once gifts were unwrapped, Gabe and I hatched a plan to meet my parents in the city of Ensenada for dinner. Ensenada is about a 2 1/2 hour drive away, about halfway between San Diego (where they flew into) and our town. My parents could reach Ensenada before dark, but night would fall quickly after that and we knew it would be stressful driving in a foreign country at nighttime, especially since their cell phones wouldn’t work in Mexico. By meeting them in Ensenada, we could then guide them along the rest of the journey to our home here. My parents were very receptive of this idea, and God timed our arrivals to Ensenada perfectly, as we both arrived at our meeting place within 5 minutes of each other! What a joyful reunion it was! We were able to enjoy dinner in Ensenada before traveling back home. It was late by the time we arrived back home, but we had no regrets.
The next day my parents brought out some of the gifts they had brought along for our family. We weren’t expecting much, as their biggest gift to us was going to be our upcoming trip to San Diego and Sea World. They presented the kids with a few gifts and presented Gabe and I with over $400 from some of my relatives with the express purpose to use that money for the orphanage. What a blessing! But then we were blessed beyond measure when my parents brought out gifts to us from our church. We were not expecting anything from them. They told us that several families came together to bless us. The kids received books, card games, stickers, coloring items, and more! What touched me the most though were the Christmas cards and letters from some of the families back home. It was so touching to know that they were thinking and praying for us. Yes, I just about cried…so to our church family back in Trout Lake, THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts!
Later that same day, we took my parents to “Sand Dollar Beach” and enjoyed playing in the surf and sand. My mom had been looking forward to experiencing this beach with us and it didn’t fail to meet her expectations. The weather was wonderful. Sunny and calm! The kids (and I) enjoyed collecting as many sand dollars as they could for Grandma to look through and add to her collection at home. Such a shame my mom couldn’t take them ALL home! It was a great, fun, relaxing day.
Then came Thursday. Bekah woke up puking. Eli and I developed diarrhea. Autumn began running a fever. At least Hannah was improving! In reality, although most of us didn’t feel well, none of us were feeling super bad. We stayed home and rested that day. It wasn’t a very exciting day, but I am thankful that it wasn’t any worse. We debated when to start our journey to San Diego and decided that if everyone was feeling okay, we would try to leave the next day. Friday morning dawned and other than Autumn coughing a fair amount, most everyone was feeling better. We left for San Diego that afternoon. Since the border crossing time at San Diego was long, we went to a border crossing a little further east to bypass the long wait. It may have added an additional 40 miles or so, but we crossed the border in about 10 minutes as opposed to the 3 hour wait time listed for San Diego! I’d say it was worth it!
I will leave the rest of the details of our Christmas break for the next blog update. Stay tuned for part two in another day or so!