Super "Two"sday

So the adorable goddaughter's birthday was May 28th, she turned two. The Friday before, Erin and I brought her presents to the office so she could open them. The funny thing was that I had been telling Vivi often what her presents were, and Erin kept yelling at me to stop telling her. I didn't think it mattered, because she had no idea what I was saying, all she kept saying was birthday.

At first, she wasn't really sure how to open the gifts, but after a little help from one of her sister's, she got the hang of it. The first present she opened was from Erin, it was a little puzzle of animals that you put back into their spots on this board. Viviana saw the pig first and started making oink oink noises, it was funny. I thought she would see the dog or cat first and yell BOW WOW, or MEOW, which she does whenever she sees pictures of Ninja, Bear, or Freddy.

Erin came up with a great idea that she was going to get Viviana a Christmas ornament for her baptismal birthday each year. I thought that was a good idea, but I couldn't steal it, so I kind of copied it when I was in Chicago. I saw a snow globe, and thought that would be a good thing to give Viviana on her baptismal birthday from her Nino, so I got one, and will give it to her this November. To start off her collection, I ordered two snow globes for her birthday presents this year, one from Venice, and the other from Barcelona to represent some of the places we went on the cruise. After her puzzle, she opened these, and didn't really get it, but liked the snow when she shook them.

Her last present was from both Erin and I, and it was a big set of blocks with letters, numbers, pictures and other learning tools on them. Vivi was super excited and kept saying ABC when she saw them. I was wearing a shirt with writing on it the other day, and she kept pointing at it and saying ABC. I have seen her practicing and playing with them in the office. She seemed to really enjoy her presents, and I hope she continues to benefit from the learning some will provide, and the connection she will have with the ornaments from Erin and the snow globes from me.

Opening her puzzle

Now she has the hang of it

Working on the wrapping around her block set

Looking at the camera instead of the snow globe

With her sister Mariana and her Barcelona globe

Loving her blocks

Showing off her block set

Pool Party

Last Sunday, Erin, Jeff (he was here last fall for a couple months, and is now back) and myself went to the service at Santisima Trinidad. Pastor Hernandez mentioned that some of the guitarists were going to the pool today, and asked if we wanted to come. Hmmm, lets see, 98 degrees and sunny, Saturday afternoon with nothing much going on, should we go to the pool? UM, ok. So, we invited some of our friends, Ruby and Joana to go with us.

We thought we were just going to a regular pool, because Pastor said the price was good, and you got a buffet lunch, so I thought I could sponsor Ruby and Joana a few dollars to have a good time, guess what? We ended up at the super water park that you may have seen right across the bridge from the mission. Oh well, we were here, and the girls were going to love it, so in we went. Now, in C0lorado, it costs $36.00 to go to Water World, $31.00 if you are under 4 feet tall, and at Wet n Wild here in El Paso, it is $45.00 for ages 4 and up. Guess what it cost for the one in Juarez? 80 pesos. Less than 8 dollars. SWEET!!!!

So in we went, and the girls had a blast. for 8 hours they swam, slid, and ran all over this huge park. I can't believe how much fun they had. It was an awesome day, and I am stoked they had so much fun.

Jeff and I got to talking, and we thought it would be great to give this experience to as many kids from the mission sites in Juarez that we can, so we are developing a plan to try and get around 50 to go in August. If you would like to help by sponsoring a child or two, please contact me for details. Some pics are below. Have a great weekend.