i went to eliseo's for dinner last night and got back and fell into bed...too tired to do anything! i think i still need to catch up on sleep from all those late nights in mexicali...
his family always ask me to make cookies, which i love to do. but to caleb, eliseo's younger brother, i'm convinced i'm nothing more to him than a plate of cookies. i told him that on sunday - caleb, what am i to you?! - and he goes, oh but you're my favorite sister who sometimes happens to bake cookies! hahaha.
so i was making cookies to bring over yesterday and i checked on the first batch about 5 minutes in, and they looked strangely unbaked. i discovered that my propane ran out. in the middle of batch #1! unbelievable.

yesterday in class, marcos apparently discovered his muscles. i caught him flexing and had to take a video...

i love these kids. ruben, who i got an email about when i was in mexicali about his bad behavior, has been so affectionate lately. just runs up to me and gives me a huge hug and then sticks his cheek out, waiting for a kiss. i'm so happy to see him like this.

the kids who lived down below - nene, marcos, josue, ruben, and pilar - are spending their first night in the big house. the women spent all day moving their stuff and the guys were ripping beds apart, making bunk beds, and other manly things that alex and jose couldn't tear their eyes away from...

we'll see how it goes! there have been so many changes lately - moving houses, people coming and going, groups visiting - that it has messed some of the kids up. hopefully with time, love, and consistency things will settle down, but in the meantime, send some love our way!

saturday some people from carpenteria, california, spent the day with us at gabriel house. brittni and darryl came with the mexican medical group a couple weeks ago, and brittni's brother cody came this time, too. it was so fun! great to hang out with people my age :)
we spent a lot of time with the boys making jewelry to sell. they love doing crafty things like that, so it was great.
later that night, i went to eliseo's graduation. he's been taking voice lessons for 2 years and had his recital. he did so well! he and his brother, caleb, lead worship at roca de salvacion. their dad is pastor cande.

it was great to be back at church today and see everyone!

on the left is bryan, the son of the abrahm, the drummer at roca de salvacion. he may quite possibly be the only 3 year old in ensenada who can say my name hahaha. he's adorable and has been my shadow since i started coming to roca de salvacion. i love it! he already plays the drums. and he's incredible. here's a video of him playing along while his dad warms up...

this is the classroom! i realized today just how awesome it is to have a room. i feel like i'm student teaching all over again. i think the kids do better too...there's a lot more order and sense to the day.

josue had a much better day today. here he is in class...

i found out the circus is back in town! i went to talk to the boss but he wasn't around...we are so going. it's just a matter of when and how much it will cost. the way they advertise here is by bringing the circus to you...literally. trucks drive around, blaring an ad for the circus while pulling circus animals behind them...zebras, horses, camels, tigers, monkeys, and more. it's crazy but the kids absolutely love it.

jose and i in our matching tshirts...his is from patrick boyd! he was so excited to wear it and when he saw i had mine on too he could hardly contain himself. the simplest things bring such a big smile to his face :)

nothing like diving in headfirst...we're in our new classroom, finally! the boys were in the process of moving when my mom was here, and i haven't been here for school since then. the classroom is no longer outside (my farmer's tan will definitely suffer), but inside the boys' old house. it's nice to have an actual room that isn't affected by wind, rain, or small animals!

i'm glad i'm back for the boys. they don't have someone who is with them like i am - almost all day, working intensely with them to bring out their best. i don't say that to brag, at all, but it makes a difference for them. as their teacher, it's my job to figure out how to help them learn and grow, and they thrive on that (as most kids do). as their friend, i get to love on them in all different ways...at any given time i'm a mom, sister, aunt, cousin, counselor, therapist, punching bag, or tissue :)

josue, the 8 year old who wears a helmet, had a horrible day today and it sounds like that's how he's been lately. he's been so angry. throwing chairs, kicking and hitting kids and adults, slamming doors, and being really disobedient. i'm so sad for him. when the kids hit lows i realize just how tough their lives can be sometimes. i sat with him today in a bear hug as he tried to hit and kick me, and after awhile he just gave up and got limp in my arms. it was good, eventually, but i hope we can help him so that he doesn't need to be like this anymore. pray for him, please!

i'm back! dang...if you ever want to feel so much more love than you deserve, just walk up to gabriel house after being gone for a couple weeks. teddy started screaming my name as soon as he saw me and the rest of the boys raced to the gate to meet me. the first thing marcos says to me - 'hilary! hilary! i behaved very well!' it was awesome.

you know, it's funny. i was excited to get back, but until i stepped foot across the border, i didn't realize just how much i love mexico. i crossed and the smells changed, the sounds changed, and i felt different. i felt like i was home.

i'm glad to be back. it sounds like the boys are having some trouble adjusting to their new living situation, among other things, and some behavior that we don't want to see is happening. having physical disabilities and not being able to speak can lead to some frustrated teenagers. please keep them in your prayers!

my beautiful mom with lidia at gabriel house :)

oh my. i'm so far behind it's overwhelming. still not back in ensenada so not a lot of pictures to post, but it was an incredible two weeks working with azusa pacific university and their mexico outreach program in ensenada and mexicali.

the camp that i was working at is located 40 miles outside of the epicenter...needless to say we felt the earthquake. i was playing scrabble inside an rv on sunday afternoon when it started shaking. someone i was with goes, 'aw someone's just messing with us and shaking the trailer.' then we looked up at each other, looked outside, and ran for the door. cars were rocking back and forth, alarms were going off, kids were crying, lampposts were swaying back and forth, and the earth was literally rolling around. it was so weird. at first it was a trembling feeling, but then it was like waves were moving through the ground. some people i was with got nauseous, and we heard that the initial earthquake lasted for almost 2 minutes. it was insane. the craziest part, though, was the aftershocks that happened all week. there were hundreds. some of them were just a couple seconds of the ground quivering, and it was hard to tell if it was an earthquake or not. other times we had to decide if it would be over soon or if we needed to evacuate the building we were in.

we went into town the next day and saw lots of damage...mostly broken store windows and some roofs that had caved in or fallen down. there was a lot of water damage from water being pushed up through the ground, but only 2 deaths.

we worked at the zoo the next day, helping clean up, and the damage there was pretty crazy. there was a new walkway that had recently been commissioned by the president's wife, and it was absolutely destroyed. just split right in half. we heard that a tiger and a hippo got out while there were 15,000 people at the zoo as the earthquake was happening. they caught them and no harm was done, but even the day after as we were walking around cleaning up there were birds everywhere who had gotten out of the aviary exhibit and were just hanging out all over the zoo grounds. it was kind of funny to see random peacocks walking around the playground...

this is at the zoo...this used to be a beautiful path meandering along the water, but half of it has fallen into the lake...and that's concrete, not dirt.

i miss my gabriel house kids so much. sonia was in the hospital but is doing a lot better and is back at gh. regular updates, i promise, once i'm back there on wednesday!