Where Did May Go?

Just the other day, I asked Jen, "Where did May go?"  How can we possibly be on the verge of all of our summertime activities and many, many pool parties?

Right after the Canadian Team left, Jen and I decided to be spontaneous and go somewhere we hadn't been in Romania.  We actually didn't go that far….just about 20 minutes out of Bucharest.  But, we found these really pretty grounds called Mogosaia Palace.  The weather was beautiful and the park there was a gorgeous place to lay in the sun and take a nap, have a picnic and read.

We have really enjoyed going to the Voluntari Orphanage this spring and playing with these little cuties!!

She's a sassy one!!!  And, if she doesn't get her way, she pouts!!

Ruthie loves to go shopping!  After church on Sundays, she ALWAYS asks, "Mall?"  How can you say no to this face??

We had another great group from North Carolina this year!  They loved playing with the kids, going to the zoo and dancing and hanging out with the kids from a very special needs orphanage (one that we only go to a couple of times a year and one where we have some kids that used to be at Peris)!

April Showers Bring May Flowers

We kicked off April by taking this little cutie to Starbuck's after we picked her up from pre-school.  She loves sharing our drinks with us and crunching on the Bobo (candy) ice!!

April is always a busy month with teams and Easter.  During the first part of the month, we had a dental team from Indiana with us, so I became a dental assistant!  Our kids had a lot of dental needs so the dentists were much appreciated!!  Thanks Dr. Payne (how's that for a dentist's name??) and Dr. Brett!!  Jen and I were the primary dental assistants.  The dentists were very patient with us and taught us so much about dentistry.  They even let us do some things that wouldn't happen so much in the states.  I gave one of the kids a deadening shot!  It was a lot of fun learning and experiencing and working alongside them.  It makes me appreciate my good teeth!!  There was one girl that we saw and we probably could have pulled all of her teeth…and she would have been much better off and in far less pain!  So sad!  The stats: we saw 71 patients, we did 132 fillings, and 73 extractions!  Whew!

Jen and I searching for just the right instruments!  Is it a scraper or a carver?

On this one occasion, it took both dentists to do the job!

Open wide!!

H2H staff with the dental team

Easter was fairly calm for us this year because we didn't have a team and some of kids were either working or out of town.  We did hide the annual golden egg and it was almost not found.  But at the last minute, it was found taped up in one of our outside umbrellas hidden inside of another egg!!  We were very tricky this year!!

Pre-Easter bunnies at the Voluntari Orphanage!

She's so cute!!

Dying Easter Eggs

My cookie making helper!!

The big day….

Me with the BTH boys

Searching for the "Golden Egg"

Searching, searching, searching….

Nope, not in the rose bushes!!

Pinterest…epic failure on the bunny rolls!!

Is it in there?

Yep, the "Golden Egg" is found!!

We have this same picture on our fridge from last year!  Ruthie wanted to recreate it!!

Yummy desserts!!!

Inside of the cake!!  Surprise!!!

After Easter, we hosted the Canadian Team!!  A delightful little group that is always very, very helpful!!  

Crafts!

Carnival!

Stories!

Birthday Party complete with cupcakes!

Playtime!

Time for water!!

In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb

March was a crazy whirlwind of interns, the Mission Possible Team, lots of fun kid time, walking around Herastrau Lake and Elena's going away party!

Having fun with the kids at Voluntari

 The Lord blessed H2H with two interns this last winter, Tyler and Heather!!  They got along like a brother and sister and were just the extra hands that we needed!!

I do 4 main things when we have teams here….

Drive them places...

Cook for them….

Help them at the orphanage….

…and host events like Mommies and Me at our house!!

We love to go to the Voluntari orphanage and hang out with the kids outside.  Sometimes we just play, but sometimes we take a story and a craft!

This is my cute and SASSY Alexandra!!  She runs into my arms screaming, "Mommyyyyyyyy," every time I show up!!

Daniel and the Lion's Den masks!!

Jen and I decided to take Ruthie to the park one Saturday morning when she was at our house.  It was a beautiful day and we thought we might try to walk around the whole lake.  It was actually a much longer distance around than we thought it was, and well, with a three-year-old, we only made it about 1/3 of the way and she was tired.  We ended up carrying her on our shoulders!  After we got some lunch in her (and found the playground toys) she was much happier and loved her chocolate ice cream!

The last big event of March was Elena's going away party.  Last May, some of our team members fell in love with Elena and her sweet spirit and decided to try to help her get a Visa to come to America as a student!  Everything fell into place and she moved to North Carolina at the end of March.  I, of course, miss her to pieces here in Romania, but, am glad for the experiences that she is having in her new family!