Happy Birthday Calvin and Tyrese!

What a great day!  We had some fun adventures at the Natural Reserve.

The guys had a great time on this zip line!  In line we met a young man who works at an orphanage several hours from Pana.  We ended up visiting there last week and had a great time!  More on that later.

We crossed some serious Indiana Jones bridges

Entering butterfly world!

Boxes with hundreds of cocoons

Dennings came over and shared some dessert with us.  The people at the bakery are getting to know us quite well with all our April birthdays!

Of course we had to top off the evening with some fireworks!  We love you so much, Calvin and Tyrese!  Happy 16th and 6th birthdays!

Eagle's Nest Orphanage!

Eagle's Nest is located in Solola (about 20 min. bus ride from here).  I first found out about this orphanage through my good friend, Angie Abilla.  She had found Amy Block's blog somehow, and when she found out we were going to Guatemala, Angie encouraged me to email Amy.  I'm so glad I did!  I emailed Amy last year, and told her of our plans to come to Guatemala.  I asked if we could come visit the orphanage, and she said we could!  I've been so excited to do this, and I could hardly believe that after all these months of emailing back and forth, we were actually here!  Amy her family live at the orphanage.  Amy and her husband Todd have nine children (some adopted, some biological).  What an incredible family!  We all instantly bonded with Amy.  Funny thing was, we actually saw each other earlier that morning in Pana, just passing on the street.  She and her daughter were out shopping, and our family were on our way to Mayan Families.  Come to find out when we met, we both had had the feeling when we saw each other in Pana, that she was the orphanage lady, and we were that family coming to visit later that day!

Eagle's Nest is over 7,000 feet in elevation.  It literally looks like a huge nest on top of a tall mountain!  We are looking at an amazing view of Lake Atitlan and the towns below.  Amy said on clear days, the view is even more incredible! 

These prison style barbed wires are their security system.

Eagle's Nest was owned by other people previously- I can't remember the full story but I think it was some kind of a resort, but the owners went bankrupt.  It sat vacant for many years, and the poor had used it as a shelter.  Windows had been busted out, and it was filthy.  The founders of Eagle's Nest fixed it up, and now it is a beautiful residence for over 40 orphans.  They also serve children who do have families, but are in extreme poverty.  The first picture on this post is some of the children who qualify for meals because of their family's poverty.  We arrived just in time to help serve these children lunch.

After showing us most of the facility, Amy asked what we wanted to do next.  "Hold babies!" was my quick response.  So Amy took us to the main room where all the children stay.  The first baby I saw was Victoria.  I knew who she was immediately.  I had seen pictures on Amy's blog and had read all about Victoria.  She is partially blind and deaf.  As soon as I had her in my arms, I couldn't stop my tears from flowing.  

Emily holding baby Victoria. 

Kyah holding a sweet little girl (I wish I could remember all their names!)

Rachel showing this sweetie her camera.  She was quite fascinated! 

Lucy fell completely in love with baby Abby (we all did)! She is only a few months old.

Greg and Victoria

Tameeka thought it was hilarious that this little girl fell asleep in her arms!

Precious Abby

Tameeka went from baby to toddler to baby.  "Can I hold a baby?" she would ask me.  Tiffany was playing a game outside with the Denning and Jensen boys.  They were collecting acorns and throwing them at each other.  She was having a blast and preferred to play outside, as did Tyrese.

Tameeka is probably saying, "can I hold that baby again?"

The kids were enjoying the many areas to play outside.

We suspected a tummy ache, so Amy asked if I had oils for that.  I put a drop of DigestZen and Serenity (calming oil) on her tiny little feet.  

I've had a vision of this above picture for a long time.  I love the creation process of making our dreams become reality!  We really can create any righteous desires of our hearts.  It starts with a desire, a passion for a cause, then a plan.  Then we start by taking little action steps toward that plan, and before we know it, we are there!  Our dreams are right before us, and we are living our purpose!
As a child, I remember drawing pictures of me bringing baskets of food to orphans in Africa.  I would sit and dream up how I could help kids who didn't have families, homes, or food.  That vision has carried through into my adult years.  When we started learning about the essential oils, this dream of helping children evolved even more.  "Oils and orphans" has gone through my head many times.  We are going back to Eagle's Nest tomorrow and I'm bringing a Family Physician kit with me.  I've had that extra kit for many months, just waiting for the perfect person to give it to.  Amy is that person.  She will go through those oils fast, so we'll see what we can do after that.  Amy purchased the doTERRA Lifelong Vitality Pack vitamins to help her be on top of her game.  I know those vitamins are necessary for me to be at my best with my 6 kids....can you imagine taking care of over 40 children?  Energy is a necessity.  Amy has others who help, but she and her family do so much.  They are truly amazing people, and are doing what they have felt God has called them to do.

One of my kids was missing a show when it was time to leave.  Luckily, one of the "mamas" noticed that it had been thrown onto the roof in the playground!  Luckily I was able to get it down.  Then Greg got some more items down (toys, other shoes).  Seems like a popular game to chuck stuff on the roof :)

Colin served as the dedicated photographer during our stay at the orphanage.  I realized I didn't get any pictures of him or of Amy either!  I will for sure when we go back tomorrow.

Here we are hiking our way back to the bus.  Yesterday Tameeka asked me about 10 times when we could go see the babies again!  "I just want to see those babies again and hold them!"  I explained that we would go back really soon,  in a few days.  "Is that a long time?" she would ask.  "It's so sad that those babies don't have mommies and daddies!"  Then her eyes lit up.  "I know! Dad could be their daddy, and you could be their mommy, and we can keep them all day and all night, and feed them pancakes!"  Looks like Tameeka is taking after me. :)