First meeting, after the longest days ever!

Hi We miss ya'll. Everything here is going good. We got to Chiclayo today about 5:30. Tom and his wife, Carol - the orphanage directors picked us up (Maria Elena and Raul are with us till the end of the week) and they took us to Morning Star. The kids were in the middle of dinner when we got there, so it was good timing. Hugo is so sweet. Olenka is the center of attention. Cesia is adorable.

They were all super excited to see us. Hugo and Olenka ran right up to Brent yelling "Pappi!!" and Cesia knows who we are, she is just a bit shy right now. They have been showing pictures of us to them and Cesia can point us out, even in the family photo from April's wedding. She would point to us when asked, who is mommy? who is daddy?  Janet and Bob (the girl's house parent's) are TERRIFIC! They made fried chicken, mash potatoes, corn and chocolate cake for supper. It was good to have "normal" food! :)

We are definiately not renting a car. Driving is CRAZY here! You just go when there is a spot for you - even if you make it yourself and then take off as fast as you can and then 2 seconds later slam on the brakes and swerve to the right or left to make a new spot and then speed up again and well....the driving continues the same cycle. Although, I am not sure that you could call driving. :) HAHA!!

Not knowing the language and not knowing what is really going on was hard on Marianne today. Then the airport tax made it worse and then on the flight down her ears would not pop and were burning and itching. But they are better now. :)  Also Tom and Carol are a breath of fresh air (we can't wait to get to know them more) and made her feel more normal and not so out-of-place. Brent is handling everything in stride. He was  very nervous about meeting the kids for the first time. He is trying to keep everything in perspective. He knows it is going to be tough, but knows that today was the beginning of a wonderful journey, even though more tough times will come. Pray for him to have wisdom on how to travel.

Pray for us to be safe in Lima and Chiclayo. Pray for much need rest and sleep. We haven't been to sleep later than 12:00 or 2:00 in the morning for the last week. Pray for good sense of humor while travel and a good attitude and a sense of adventure. And as we bond and get to know the kids. Pray for us and them. And the house parents need prayers too, they obviously treat each kid as their own and love them very much. It is going to be hard to say good-bye.