Picture Day

At SVP our main orphanage we get one day during our service time that we are allowed to bring our camera and take pictures. One day to capture all those little moments that we have been having with the kids since day one.

I have been looking forward to this day for

so long

& in typical SVP style.. the day started off slightly chaotic :)

As soon as we walked into the orphanage we were hit with a stench so bad I felt like I was going to get sick. Usually it smells pretty bad in the mornings, since theres 10 kids per room and 3 rooms... all of which haven't had a diaper change since the night before.. but this smell was different.. it was MUCH worse. As I walked into the first bedroom.. I quickly realized what was going on. 5 /10 kids had their diapers off and were playing and/or eating their poop.. sick!! As we started to bathe them, we realized that every single one had a dirty diaper.. and to top it off 3 more started to pee in their cribs after we took of their diapers. Lovely.

What a way to start off my picture day! :)

I actually ended up getting some pretty cute pictures.. but I am not surprised.. these kids are adorable! I also, might I add, used up my whole camera battery and took over 500 pictures... I know I know.. thats a little much. But I'm not mad about it!

Here's a little peek at my daily life at SVP...

Every morning we get the kids ready for the day, which includes bathing, dressing, and doing their hair!

This is one of my fav parts of the day because I get to pretend I am a hairdresser :) I like to think I'm pretty good..

We then feed the kids breakfast, which is usually yogurt. I haven't yet mastered the art of feeding 10 kids at once with one bowl and not spilling everywhere.. but I'm not too worried about it since I don't plan on ever having 10 kids!



After breakfast is playtime!! We usually take the older kids for a walk or go play at the park.. but whatever we do it is always a good

BTW.. notice the bit of drool on my arm in the pic on the right? Ya.. its a daily occurence. When I get home in shift I am almost always covered in some combination of snot, drool, and food. And yes... I Love It :)

During the day we have to do therapies with each kid. A lot of the kids at SVP are behind developmentally, so we work with them on numbers, colors, movements, etc... to help them be at a level more appropriate for their age. This is our attempt to teach Ana Maria how to walk... she is adorable and I love her.. but she is so lazy. She crawls everywhere and wants to be held all the time. So far the only way we can get her to walk is if she is being bribed. I think she knows how to work the system.. haha gotta love her!

For some shifts I get to work in Sala Uno (Room 1) & take care of the newborns. They don't do much.. just eat and sleep.. but I love to take them out of their cribs and lay them all on the mat to play for a bit! This is Angie.. I've posted pics of her before. She is my girl. On picture day, I made sure to pick out the cutest outfit for her and bring a flower for hair & we had ourselves a little photo shoot.

We love each other :)

I look forward to each shift at SVP & as my time here is winding down

I am starting to realise how much I love these kids

and just how much I am going to miss them...

Mindo Trip

Every Friday we get the day off of work to go and tour around Ecuador and today was by far my fav field trip. We went to a little tourist town called Mindo and did a zipline course in the jungle, followed by touring a butterfly farm and finishing off with tubing down a river. SO FUN! Here are some pics from the day :)

Riding the ziplines was a BLAST.. minus the awkward moment I had when our guide asked me if I wanted to try a trick and go head first. I was all for it... until I realised that I had to wrap my legs around his waist.. maybe a little too close for my comfort haha

If you put a piece of fruit on your nose at the butterfly farm they will come and land on you :)














Abbey and I before we set off on the raging river of death. For reals. It was sccaaarry but so so fun!



Our field trip this week was a nice break but I am glad to be going back to work tomorrow. I miss my babies. They have become such a big part of me... I wake up in the morning looking forward to seeing them, and I miss them when I have to go home. They are each special in their own way, with their own little loveable qualities that I just can't get enough of.

I only have one month left with them...

& I want to cherish every single moment.

Sick Day

On Tuesday night I had "Night Shift" at the SVP Orphanage.. which basically means your pullin' an all nighter with the newborn babies. Normally I love this shift - I have all night to write in my journal, read my scriptures, study, and jam out to the 90's music on the radio (Last week it was Mmmbop by Hanson.. Classic!).. PLUS it's an excuse to snuggle with my Angie baby all night! Unfortunately this night shift didn't happen like usual. Around 2 am I started to feel super nauseous and dizzy, so much so that I couldn't stand up straight! I ended up getting sick everywhere and an orphanage worker had to come take care of me AND the babies!

Long Story Short - I have been confined to my bed ever since. I'm not sure if its the flu or just a bug, but this blows! After sleeping 16+ hours a day, watching all 3 High School Musicals, creeping on all of my facebook friends... twice, hours of online shopping, and skyping all my besties, I have reached my limit..

I am so0o0 bored!!

Hopefully I get better soon..I miss seeing my babies everyday, and to be honest.. I think I am starting to lose it! My roomie Katie walked into our room to find me asleep.. with my puke pot on my head.. ya..reeeeaaal cute.