Day Seven (Sunday)

Wow, it is hard to believe that we only have one more day here before we start our journey back home. I can say for all of this that this trip has gone by very fast and most of us are not ready to get back on the plane quite yet.

Today we got up and headed out to Santa Ana where we spent the entire day. First we attended church with all of the kids from Casa. As soon as we came walking down the hill all of the children clung to someone, whether it be they knew them from a previous trip or were meeting them for the first time, and they sat together through the service. Dorian, the pastor, was prepared for a room full of Americans and had a special Power Point that was in English for all of us to follow along with.

After church we headed to the Orphanage where Ashley lived while she was down here and we just played with the kiddos until it was time for their lunch and we also got to do a little shopping in the Casa store. Once lunch time arrived we all walked down the road to a little restaurant where we had our lunch. Ashley had to read the menu for all of us, and most of us still didn't know what to expect when our food came out :)

After lunch we loaded on to the bus and went to a local village where we did some shopping. There was also a festival going on at the same time so we got to experience a little bit of the cultural side as well.

Then back to Casa de Esperanza it was for us to love some more on the kids. The girls were especially fond of riding on top of the boys shoulders and racing around. While we were there we also grilled some hot dogs up for supper and had a weanie roast with all the kids, and they were loving it. But no one could put the hot dogs away like our own team leader Ashley Lauer....who beat out everyone with 5 1/2 hot dogs! After our meal we continued to play with the kids and watch them run around, play soccer, get on the trampoline, or just hug you!!

Once it was time for the kids to go and get their showers we loaded back on the bus for our journey back to the Mission House. Once we arrived everyone went straight to their rooms and pretty much fell straight asleep as soon as their head hit the pillow! (Hence why this is written in the morning and not last night :) ) But most of us our up now and feeling good for the day! So you can check back in later to see what we did, and feel free to leave some comments on the blog because we love to read them here!!!

-Emily Beam