So much for keeping an updated blog of this trip. We have not had much internet access. When we have, Duane has been working on a personalized Snapfish calendar to send to Casa Hogar. We begin the trip back to Minnesota tomorrow.

I will try to record the main events in a series of entries.

We visited Casa Hogar on three occasions. The first was to celebrate Dia de los Reyes. Duane and two other men dressed up as the three wise men. We arrived with a bag of presents for each child. Many people were involved with delivering the gifts, so it was very exciting for Casa Hogar kids to see a multitude of people arrive carrying big sacks of gifts. After passing out gifts, we sang, read books, goofed around, and had dinner together. The children were incredibly sweet, polite, and well behaved. They were full of love to share, and even more willing to accept hugs and love we could give. It was amazing what a big family they seem to be for each other. Their ages range from 2 to 20 years old, with the majority being young teens. Duane, Charles, Daniel and I left the first day wishing we would spend more time at Casa Hogar.

Our second day with them was spent doing crafts, singing, reading, playing around, and celebrating the birthday of Conche, a 14-year old girl. Charles and Daniel especially enjoyed playing with the boys who were rough-housing and making scary faces in the dark together.

The final meeting with kids from Casa Hogar was an afternoon of fun playing outside. Up to then the weather had been rainy and cold so all of our activities were inside. The final day we played tag, badminton, SPUD and just enjoyed the sunshine.

Much of our time in the state of Veracruz was visiting other people, many of whom are associated with Casa Hogar in one way or another. Everywhere we went there were people to meet and meals to be eaten. Duane and I were overwhelmed with the kindness of people, especially Jorge, our host, and his family.