Scrapping walls and eating ice cream

It was very exciting to see the changes made this weekend at "our" orphanage here in Dili. The children at Sawyers school had done fundraisers and saved etc. to earn enough money to make some major renovations to the walls, doors and roof. We were then extraordinarily blessed to have the help of the American Sea Bee's (If you have not heard of this branch of the military you have got to click HERE to read about them, especially the section on "most recent activity", they are AMAZING). I was able to head over and help with some of the work, scraping walls and pounding a few nails.

We brought with us 3 of the older girls who have worked extra hard raising the money and getting involved with the orphanage.

It was so cute watching some of the children watch and try to help the soldiers

We also discovered the boys everywhere LOVE beef jerky. This little guy in particular

By the end of the day the entire exterior was patched and and painted. New doors and frames were put up. The roof was fixed and reinforced. Now we are planning on how to set up running water for them as opposed to the system they have now

And the next MAJOR project is their one bathroom. Warning this is not a nice picture.

The children there are sooooo sweet! They love seeing a picture after you take it and I have learned to show them then snap another one right away because they will still be smiling.

They each have a little information sheet about themselves up on the wall with a cute little picture

This is Alianca. She is 8 and I want to bring her home SOOOO bad. Her parents are still living though and simply cannot afford to take care of her. That is actually how most of the children in this particular orphanage are. I honestly don't know which is more tragic.

This is Rosita. She LOVED the gum we gave her and thought it was HILARIOUS when I would blow big bubbles.

After heading home I took the boys to the grocery store with me to purchase food with the mola we had been saving from selling cupcakes at the embassy each Friday. This time Sawyer TOTALLY got what we were doing and made sure we bought lots of hot dogs "cause there my favorites". Both boys were excited to deliver the food and items I had made. Evie on the other hand was in THE worst mood

The hubby said it was because of the shirt I made her wear that I made. What!?! No way :)

We also purchased a HUGE thing of ice cream to take and share with them. (there are usually a lot more children but some were in school, don't worry there was plenty left for when they got home ;))

I also gathered up and finished some skirts out of the fantastic material I have been sent. I hope some of you recognize it :) I made 2 of every skirt for a grand total of 14 skirts. I also made some curtains to separate the boys room out of some awesome truck material.

Sam loved handing them over to Sister Rosa (the lovely lady who runs the orphanage).

We also found out that Sister Rosa is being transferred back to Jakarta NEXT WEEK!! We were so sad and really worried about what is going to happen to the orphanage. There is a lovely "second in command" nun that will be there until they can find a replacement, which is hopefully very soon. Of course grumpy Evie would not let her snuggle her good bye.

How do you explain that she is a wonderfully kind nun and just needs some baby snuggle time ha! I just wanted to share with you the wonderful things the US military is doing abroad and where some the fabric you have been sending has been going. Thank you so much for helping!! They really love it :)

Cheers!

Kelly