Things to be thankful for

1. Family- Obviously being around orphans all the time makes me think about how lucky I am to have a family, but this past week has especially. When any of my kids fall or hurt themselves, they run to me for comfort and a kiss on the head. They call my name when they are doing something funny and want me to see. They ask me to read them a book, and cry when I say goodbye for the night. They take comfort in knowing that I know the certain ways they like to eat, or what will make them laugh when they are crying… All these things are comforts I feel in my own family, and I get to feel them forever. I don’t have to start over with someone new every 2 months or so. That fact alone should make all of us want to treat our family better and realize how lucky we are to have them to love us forever.
2. Sundays- I remember when I was young, I would hate not being able to go out and do super active things on Sundays. Now that I am here without any days off, I can honestly say that Sundays save me! For our Sundays here, we go to morning shift and then leave for an hour and a half for sacrament meeting. After a quick lunch at home, we return to shift. At the end of the day, we eat dinner, have a devotional and then go to bed. I love that extra time with the kids, but I have started to crave my old Sundays when I can go to all of church and have an actual day of rest. I will never take that time for granted again.
3. Bananas- Kind of something weird to be thankful for… but nevertheless, I really am! On our field trip this week, we went to the beach of Jambeli. To get there, we drove for three and a half hours to the coast, and half of the drive was through miles and miles of banana fields. The labor is hard and never ending. As we got to the coast, we arrived at a port where we took a small boat to the area where the beach was. The port had massive ships with semi truck-sized containers full of bananas. The crews on all the ships we saw were working very hard to get everything ready, and then had a long journey ahead of them to their final destination. When I go to buy fruit twice a week at the fruit market, we buy 60 bananas for the girls in the house (bananas are a main staple in our diet) It’s only 5 dollars for all 60 bananas! Also, the banana split ice cream at Tuddo Freddos- one of our favorite restaurants- is divine. Whenever I go to grab a banana once I am back in the states, I will think of Ecuador!
4. New friends- I think it is so rare to be able to have a house of 17 girls without so much as an argument. Ever. And not only do we not argue, but we all get along so well and have such a fun time together. I feed off all of their spirits daily. We all have a hard time going to bed very early because we are up laughing and talking with each other. They are all selfless people and its so nice that we all have a mutual trust and can go to each other when we need advice or just someone to listen.
5. Government- Although I didn’t love everything about our government before I came here, I am so grateful for it now! The safety we feel in our country is unreal. Nowhere else in the world do they have that! When we go into town on our offs to shop, it is not at all uncommon to see a protest going on at the government building. Sometimes the protests are so big that they fill up all the streets, causing us to stay at home.
6. Warm showers- We’re among the few lucky people in this area to have constant running water, but the fact that we haven’t had warm water for the past week has been quite interesting in the house. Showers have shortened to two minutes because no one can stand leaving their head under the water for longer than that. We boil water to clean the larger dishes, and its made me realize how lucky we are to be able to turn a handle and have warm water like that back at home… So many people are without it!
7. The time I have with my kids- Anna Lou got put in Casas starting today. I was heartbroken as I had to walk her to her therapies and realized that I’m not her “mom” anymore. I know it will be like that when I have to leave all of them for good, but as I left her in the therapy room, I was so grateful to have had the time with her that I did! The last shift I had with all of them together was on Sunday morning, and it was hands down my best shift ever. As soon as I got home, I wrote down experiences that I had with each of the kids that I know I will never forget. One of my favorites- We were in the sala, and I was on the ground reading a book to all of them. When I was finished, they slowly went off to their own activities. David looked over and saw me, got a huge smile on his face, and ran full speed towards me to give me a hug. He then sat in my lap and I put my arms around him in a hug. He picked up a book, and I put my arms behind me to lean on and as soon as I did, he grabbed both of them and put them around him again.
8. Flowers- We have a huge flower market right in the middle of town, and all the flowers are dirt cheap! As we passed the market on our way home during my second week here, we decided to stop and buy a bouquet for our room. Now it’s a weekly routine! They brighten up our room and our day.