It has been a little over a week since we first got here!:) And everyone knew it was coming.. if I were 25 and married I would most definitely be adopting a few of these kids! haha Words can´t even explain how amazing they all are. I feel like I have learned more this week and had my heart broken more times than I have during any other week in my life. I have learned that I never will ever take advantage of my family. Wowww do I love them so much! I got Karsons letter today and it made me so happy!! I have been getting cute notes from my family in my socks and shoes and every time I get one it just reassures to me how great they are. Also, I have decided that when I have kids I will most definitely not take them for granted. I have also become extremely aware of how much Heavenly Father is aware of my life. Every day something happens that lets me know he has heard my prayers. I have been praying to understand Spanish better so I could better bond with the kids and the other night I was talking to my roommate Andrea and responded to her in Spanish.. ahh it was incredible and I honestly just caught myself off guard haha It´s such a blessing to be here and I really hope I am able to learn to love more and better. Something I have also realized is that I need to learn to discipline better as well. haha when it comes to rowdy kids I usually just get trashed haha. I was playing with an autistic boy named Christian in the sandbox the other day and I thought we were having a great time till he started throwing it at me hahah I wasn´t sure how to respond and I just don´t deal well with those situations. On Monday night we went to HML (the all girls orphanage) and my friend from last week named Isabel remembered me. Ahh it made me so happy. She just ran up yelling Nicole and introduced me to her little sister. She saw my green eyes and just kept saying verde! and showing all of her friends. Would have thought they hadn´t seen green eyes before haha It broke my heart because I realized that Isabel is the closest thing to a mom her little sister has and she is only 9. It´s hard to even comprehend a life like that. These kids are amazing. Last night I was asked to be the Casa Milagrose (Miracle House) Site Leader. I am beyond excited. I ADORE the kids at that house and being site leader means I get to spend one shift a day with them :) At Milagrose we have Orvie who is about 2 and has cerebral palsy, when he came to the orphanage he had been abandoned and was malnourished.. you could see all of his ribs and bones. He is one of the sweetest little boys I´ve ever met and loves to fall asleep when you want to feed him haha! Next is Laurita and she is my little buddy. She loves to give hugs and I am determined to have her walking before I leave. She used to walk but because of lack of therapies her legs have gone stiff. She loves coloring and bossing people around :) Guapo is one who I probably know the least. He is autistic and loves textures and twisting different materials around by his mouth. He hates to be approached but if he approaches you then anything is fair game. I am determined to be approached :) Jorge is about 18 and is the one who is pretty difficult to bathe. He communicates by making loud noises and loves to grab onto things. Roman is hilarious and you can tell he has a lot going on in his head. One second he will have this really serious face then the next he will be laughing so hard. When he was little he was also abandoned and was found scooting around in the market. Bryan is 16 and so sweet. He likes to be talked to and treated like a 16 year old but he also loves playing tricks on people and being read too. Blanca is gorgeous and loves to swing. The only times I have seen her smile is when she is on the swing or when me and Andrea sang "Because You Loved Me" by Celine Dion to her. Maybe she was just smiling because she realized how tone deaf I am haha Finally we have Martin whose about 18 I think and so awesome. I wrote early about him but he knows both English and Spanish and loves being the goalie when we play soccer. He is the biggest helper when I am at shift and when I have no idea what I am doing he always lets me know if I am doing something wrong haha! Today I had my off shift with Andrea and we went to go pick up her fiance from the airport. 5 of the girls are leaving tomorrow to go to the Amazon and then home to the States, then we are getting 7 new girls on Friday. The rules were that they couldn´t be alone so I got to third wheel it up all day :) haha just kidding. It was really fun and her fiance Tyler knows Spanish so he was able to barter for us when we went shopping. I am excited to move into the comfier bed when these girls leave. I have been on the top bunk and if you imagine the worst mattress you´ve ever slept on it´s probably 10x worse:) haha xoxoxo Nicole