YCE News

Monday, January 11, 2010

What a wonderful day!  The cold let up a bit - just in time for our outdoor Christmas party for the little ones!  Some of the men left early this morning to begin painting the rooms in the girls dormitory while the ladies bought food and supplies for the party.  We all met up at Casa Hogar for our group photos and then began the fun and games with the children.  The kids fluttered from table to table with huge smiles on their faces as they decorated their own Christmas ornament, received face painting, and decorated a postcard (intended for their rooms, but those sweet-hearted children decided to write messages on the postcard and present them to various team members and Casa Hogar staff). 

We are very grateful to Sisters Evangelista, Luisa and Roselena for spending the majority of the afternoon in the kitchen so that we could have some delicious Puerto Rican dishes and homemade salsas.  Everyone was very grateful and many had seconds!  We are also thankful for all those who remained outside to prepare the tables and keep the children busy until it was time for the party.  And I know the girls were so happy to have freshly painted bedrooms!

We ended the party by giving the children their Christmas gift bags, one by one.  (We had quite a hard time keeping them from peeking beforehand!)  They showed off their new toys to the onlooking crowd and then immediately got down on the ground to begin opening the packages and testing things out.  It was a joy for all present and we thank everyone who donated to help make the whole day possible.

In the evening at the hotel we gave the teens their Christmas party.  The room looked so festive and cheerful (good job team).  The kids filed in one by one as the team sang “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer.”  We did a group photo and some individual photos and then ate pizza together.  The team organized two hilarious games - one in which the teens had a relay (boys versus girls) to sit on balloons until they popped, and the other in which each group (again, boys versus girls) had to pass a marshmallow from one teen to the next using only a toothpick held in their mouths.  Their were screams of laughter that probably were heard in the lobby!  After that, we moved on to passing out the gift bags.  The kids were so appreciative and all seemed to really enjoy their presents.  We each received several hugs of gratitude and friendship before they left.  Several of the teens expressed looking forward to seeing us tomorrow.  It was a special night for all of us. 

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