Our newest visitor...

We have been lucky to have so many guests recently and now Luka had a guest of her own. Her sister, Blossom, has been staying with us for a couple days while their mom that she lives with is recuperating from being spayed. They have had fun together over the past couple days. They walk around everywhere together and play but most of all Luka likes to dominate Blossom and rough her up a little. She's a bit of a bully.

They don't look alike at all.

But they're both cute!

And this is what I was talking about before.

Chapare con Nate y Emily

We went to Chapare for the day to do something special for Nate's birthday on Wednesday. Chapare is the jungle region of Cochabamba. It was a really good day and I think Nate enjoyed his birthday. Here are some pictures...

On the way there

Getting some fresh air and good pictures

We stopped at a lagoon on the way for a swim. This was on our walk to the lagoon.

And this is at the lagoon.

It was SO pretty there and it felt so good to swim since it was so hot and humid.

But when we got back to the car the battery had died. Here are Matt and Nate trying to help with clutch starting it. It didn't work but fortunately there was a car shop close by and we got a new battery. It could have been a bad situation since we were basically in the middle of no where.

Then we went to an animal park where they rescue animals from the black market and other bad situations. There were monkeys that were VERY people friendly. Here is one that became very attached to Matt.

This guy is having fun playing on a swing.

The monkeys would take anything you had on you or in your pockets. This little guy climbed on me and is checking if I have anything in my camera case.

Matt received a lovely grooming from this monkey. He was checked and picked through his hair, picked off dry skin on his face and licked off the sweat from his forehead. It was quite a sight.

Nate was groomed as well and the monkey made sure to check through his beard.

This little guy jumped onto Matt's leg when we started to leave.
I guess he just didn't want to see him go.

There were turtles.

And some pretty birds.

We also took a hike to see the town of Villa Tunari from above.

And on the way back we took one more swim.

A trip to the lake

Yesterday we took a trip with the kids from Villa Israel to a nearby lake. It wasn't exactly what you would expect since the water was brown but it was a pretty scene none the less. I think the kids just had fun going somewhere new and having a fun lunch out...and man they can eat. Even little Franz can put some food away.

We had Joel drive us out there. The driving age is way lower here...just kidding.

Emily and Franz.

So it wasn't the bluest lake I've ever seen.

A floating restaurant.

The restaurant where we ate.

Matt and I had this little trout for lunch...I'm not kidding this time.

Nate and Erland both knocked out on the way home.

And the other thing that made it a special day was that we got to meet the newest little girl to the home. Her name is Neydi and she arrived at Villa Israel on Friday. She has no birth certificate so she is guessed to be about six years old. We only know a little bit of her story but are hoping to find out more from a local lawyer. We know that both her parents have died but not sure how. She was living with her aunt when she showed up on a young couples' door in the middle of the night saying that her aunt had abandon her. This young couple then took her to the Bolivian equivalent of Social Services.

This picture is from the day after she arrived at her new home. She was quite sad on Friday but you couldn't tell from this picture! She is such a beautiful and sweet little girl. Yesterday she kept asking me to take pictures of her holding different things and was asking me to sit next to her in the car. Every time you caught her eye she would smile this adorable little smile. I was caught off guard by her loving nature after having gone through so much in the last couple months. Hopefully she can continue to be happy as she gets used to her new family.

And today is Dia del Peaton in Bolivia which means it's pedestrian day. It is an environmentally awareness day of sorts where nobody is allowed to drive for most of the day. There is no public transportation and also no church. Since we live a little out of the city...and the Seahawks are playing...our household has opted to stay in and hang out at the house.

Our second anniversary

Matt and I celebrated our second anniversary on Tuesday and it was a great day. We spent the day eating some good food which included a great big breakfast which is not so easy to find here in Bolivia. I just love going out to breakfast. We also spent the day picking up the trash around one of the playgrounds where the kids from one of orphanages frequent. There is so much trash on the streets and we figured that we could kill two birds with one stone by cleaning up the playground and make it safer for our kids. So Matt, Nate Spies, Kristin and I filled up about 20 bags of trash and definitely could have done way more. We plan on continuing this in different parts of the city in the future.

It was just a good day to enjoy each other and we still can't believe it has been two years already. But it has been a good two years and we look forward to many more.

Keeping busy

So I thought we would share about some of the fun things we have been doing lately. Nate and Emily from Portland are here and it has been great to have them. Matt and Nate have known each other since they were born. So we have Nate, Emily and Jeff at our house right now and it's fun having a full house. We have been showing them around the city and bringing them to hang out with the kids. A couple of days ago we had a birthday party for Erland who turned 5 years old. It was a lot of fun to see the kids having fun and Nate and Emily had a great time meeting them. We also took Jeff, Nate and Emily to see the Cristo which there are some pictures of too.

Here is Erland blowing out the candles of his birthday cake.

Me and Ana

Nate and Franz. Franz became very fond of Nate this
night and even cried when he put him down to leave.

Matt and Lily. Lily is the daughter of our friends slash
teammates from Australia, Nathan and Kate.

Nate and Emily standing by a beautiful purple tree by the Cristo.

Some funny faces.

Luka is a healthy dog...she loves fruits and vegetables.

An update from the Johnsons

So I guess I hadn't realized that it had been so long but we owe ya'll an update on what we have been up to. Let's see...where do we start...

First of all we can let you know the results of the referendum that happened on August 10th. It was a pretty big deal here. There was a country wide vote to decide the status of the president of Bolivia and all the governing officials in each department of Bolivia. We had a big ole' sleepover here at our house and invited all the interns to stay the weekend since we were advised to stay out of the city that day anyway. It wasn't actually dangerous but there were some rules that day such as no driving, no walking in groups, just to prevent any riots or violence. Anyway, we had fun hanging out and watching what Olympics we could. The results were that Evo, the president, would stay as he promises to continue to help the poor, women and those that haven't had a voice in the past. He plans to redistribute land and wealth to those who have none and wants to end extreme poverty in Bolivia. It will be interesting to see what happens. The other result that effects us is that the prefect or governing official of Cochabamba was voted out by the people of Cochabamba. He refuses to leave and is waiting for the courts to rule whether the vote was constitutional or not. So it will be interesting to see what happens with that too. Vamos a ver.

We have enjoyed having Jeff, Matt's brother, here for the past month. He will be here for about one month longer. It has been fun to show him around our life here in Bolivia and he has enjoyed having some time to rest as well. We have been impressed at how he just jumps right into speaking Spanish and getting to know the kids. He has fit in great with our friends and the ministry and it's just been great to have a part of our family here with us. We also are excited to have our friends Nate and Emily later this week to stay for a couple weeks. Well, Emily is technically our soon-to-be friend since we haven't actually met her yet but we know that if she is with Nate that we will definitely get along. Also this week our team leader and his family is coming back to Bolivia after spending the summer in the States. We are excited to have them back with us.

Other than that we have been keeping busy with work and Spanish lessons. We just had a fun but informational "Hygiene Day" for one of the homes and we plan on doing it at the other home soon. It was an attempt to get the kids excited about hand-washing, toothbrushing and general cleanliness. And they got quite excited about it all which was great and a little surprising. We didn't expect them to have so much fun with soap. We also took those same kids on an excursion to see "Kung Fu Panda". They loved it and had a great time at the movie theater and especially eating ice cream. It was a lot of fun for us too just to see them so excited. I found myself thinking that night "Wow, I really love these kids." They are just hard not to love...adorable, affectionate, so sweet to us and each other, and so fun to be around. We are constantly recalling special moments with kids and times when they are so loving to each other. It's just wonderful to see. On a similar note the two new boys, Elian and Franz, are doing better and better each time we see them. Both seem more adjusted and happier whenever we go to the house. And we can't believe how fast Elian, who is six, is learning Spanish. Before he came he could only speak Quechua and he already seems to speak so much Spanish after about only 6 weeks or so. It's just amazing and heart warming to see them progress.

Here are a few pictures from that night at the movies...

Waiting for ice cream.

Then eating the ice cream.

Roberto, Erland and Ana. Erland in the middle told us that
he liked the ice cream better than the movie.