Hugs and Games in the Valley

Jayson and Thomas

Jayson, the boy in the picture above, sent me an email a while ago saying how much he hoped we would be able to visit him soon at Valley Cathedral Children's Home. Of all the places we have traveled, Valley Cathedral Children's Home is one of our favorites. As our family talked about it, we thought the Christmas vacation would be a great time. In fact, we were as excited about this portion of our holiday travel as we were about going to the beach.  We were not disappointed!

Alleen and Lisa

The children, ours and theirs, were on vacation from school so that allowed for plenty of time for reading stories, playing games, and just being together.

Alayna reading stories outside the girls' cottage.

Alexie and Jenny, still inseparable friends

One day, our girls thought it would be great fun to put on a carnival for the kids. We had brought a few small gifts for the children and they decided to use these as prizes for participating in the various games.

Annalise and April

We spent New Year's Eve watching a movie then went outside to watch the fireworks erupting as the new year came in.

On New Year's Day, Lisa put together a collection of Minute to Win It games. The children went from one station to another, testing their skills against the various challenges.

There are too many happy faces and great memories to put into a single post, but here are a few...

and here are some more...

I had to cut out a lot of photos, even for the video, but the memories of the time spent with the children and the staff, our friends, will stay with us for a long time.

Finally, it was time to head back up to the mountains.

Adriana giving a few early morning hugs before we left.