and then there were six

We hardly know what to think! It hasn't sunk in yet. Six children who have been with us since our first days have left. The last time we "lost" several in a week, we received even more, so this is a first!

Six year old A summed it up perfectly when she said, in response to how she was feeling as she packed, "A little good, but a little bad, too". I assured her that I felt the same way and that was perfectly normal!

When the caregiver asked the kids how they felt about the four siblings leaving, boy A expressed our feelings exactly when he burst out "somos muy pocos niños ahora" (we're just a few kids now)!

After having between 12-15 children at a time since opening Casa de Amor on July 4, 2006, this is definitely different.

Today I was going through years of pictures to choose some to print for the kids as memories. They changed SO MUCH!

July 10, 2006, arrival day (the 4 kids to the right)

December 28, 2009



J, July 2006



C's first birthday with us, August 2006

V with a puppy at Tia Rosi's farm, August 2006

Does anyone recognize these kiddos, from 2006? What babies!!

Since early last year, CDA’s staff has worked towards the successful return of the 4 siblings to their mother. The childcare staff prepared them to live in a much smaller space, cook for themselves, heat bath water in the sun, and good life skills such as finishing homework first.

While we carefully moved closer to the 4's return, little did we know that the same week another two would return to their father! So after 4 years and 4 months with us, including the time for the whole paperwork process and reports, A & E were finally reunited with their father on Christmas Eve.

A (right side of my lap) & E (baby at far left) in July 2005, the month they arrived as some of our very first children

December 24, 2009


A's first birthday with us (2 years old)

E's 2nd birthday

While the house seems empty without these six, their excitement to be with family again is heartwarming! We have the next several months of follow-up visits/court reports planned out, and it begins tomorrow as the social worker and I go to visit the four siblings in their new home.

Pray with us for these children, their families, and us as we all enter a transition time. (More news soon!)