well...i'm back! it's kind of surreal. actually a lot. everything has changed, but at the same time nothing has changed, if that makes sense. saw krista last night (yay!) and made it to church in ensenada this morning. it was so awesome walking in and seeing everyone...friends, parents of friends, people that are like family...josue, cande's son, was there for the first time since this summer, and his son is 5 months old! when josue's hair was long, these two were identical.

a bunch of people went to cande's house for lunch. i guess you could call it a fish fry, since he fried fish, as you can see. he also sang a song about lifting his hands as he splashed oil on the fin which made it slowly go up to a 90 degree angle...
so good to see them!

walking up to gabriel house was weird...i was like sick to my stomach! it was probably just the anticipation, although i guess it could have been the fish hahaha. i came around the corner and teddy, marcos, josue, ruben, and pily started yelling my name, which is just about the best homecoming ever. the rest of the night was chaos as usual. new rooms are finished, there's a new boy, lots of new staff, new ideas, new progress that some of the kids have made...you get the idea.

my baby! i spent an entire year trying to get a picture with jamie where he's a - looking and the camera and b - smiling. i never came close, and then this is the first picture i take! i walked up to him and he goes 'ama!' - his way of saying mama. love him.

nene helped feed jamie at dinner. obviously it was a group effort with roles to be played by all :)

i'm exhausted and overwhelmed. off to bed for a full day tomorrow!