Current Child Count

  • HOGAR DE AMOR I: 11 babies
  • HOGAR DE AMOR II: 6 boys
  • HOGAR DE AMOR III: 8 girls
Showing posts with label anniversary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anniversary. Show all posts

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Happy 10th Anniversary!!!

On December 3, 2004, we received our first baby, a 12 month old boy from a jail/street life! He now lives with his loving parents and sister in Italy (I visited him last year!), but he launched the adventure that continues today.


Special thanks to VivaBolivia for the grant to print our invitations and a little gift (below)!

Our calendar bookmarks! (Reverse side lists the requirements for Bolivian adoption.)


This week has been full of anniversary preparations and activities to celebrate the milestone! On December 3rd, we were blessed to be able to celebrate in government facilities downtown on our pretty main plaza. Here are a few pictures of that morning!


Getting set up (my four kids!)


Sophia socializing with some of CDA's babies


Seven years in a row of nativity pictures featuring a "baby Jesus" and our kids! 


TEN years of group pictures, beginning with our first arrival (start at top left corner and go left to right)


Display of hand prints of our current children


With permission from the mother, pictures of twin boys we cared for until their mother was more stable


Also with permission, pictures of the famous "triplets of gold" (as the press called them) that we cared for 13 months, until they went to live with their mother and doting godparents


 Display of the different areas of work of Casa de Amor Children's Homes




Speakers: Dra. Patricia Gisbert of Child Defense, Dr. Freddy San Millan (Director of SEDEGES), Jennifer Beaty (Founder/Director Casa de Amor), Celia Jordan (President of Bolivian Adoptive Parents Association), Maria Medina (CDA Health Coordinator)
Our administrator/social worker Rosa Sarzuri was the Master of Ceremonies



Lots of press came!!


 Not very far into the program, it was standing room only. I estimate nearly 100 people (many of those children) were present!


David, our accountant, presenting Jennifer with a very thoughtful gift, a plaque commemorating 10 years of service to Bolivia's children!


Maybe after another 10 years, everyone will know how to spell my last name (at which point, it will be officially Beaty and they'll have to start over learning, ha)...

Milling about for a long time after the event, catching up with new and old friends


It was a wonderful reunion of past children of our homes. So fun to see them all again!

Two mischievous girls (both in local adoptive families now)


The twin boys (so big!) and their mother (thanks for the picture, Hannah!)


The triplets on the front row with their mother


Jennifer with the triplets, all grown up (thanks, Carla Booher, for the picture!)


The next morning, Rosa and Jennifer got up early and went to a TV interview to share more about our work. As nerve-wracking as it was to sit down under those bright lights with cameras rolling and a well-dressed journalist, we had a great time! We might head back soon for a one hour long interview.

Many, MANY thanks to all of our faithful supporters who have made these ten years not only possible but so wonderful!!


Links to other blog posts and great pictures of our 10th anniversary celebration:

Hannah

The Booher Family







Sunday, March 11, 2012

Two years of triplets

Today marks two years to the day that everything changed at the Baby Home with the arrival of...
We never ever thought to be blessed with newborn abandoned triplets.
I can't believe how tiny they were back then...
And so, in honor of the day, I'm reposting "Triplet Top Ten" from last year, below!
As the triplets near two milestones (their first birthday and returning to their mother), we are running around with preparations here at Casa de Amor.

Today, which just so happens to be the two year anniversary of their much-heralded arrival, I assembled all of the pictures of or with the triplets. Can you guess how many there are?

641!!!!!
And that's even before their first birthday next week, which by all appearances will be the social event of the year for Casa de Amor.

Even with so many pictures, here are ten that immediately came to mind as my favs from this absolutely unique experience:

March 11, 2010, my first picture with all three, newly at "home"
It TOTALLY hadn't sunk in yet...not even during that same night, taking the first night shift. Alone!


St. Patrick's Day 2010
Photography, dresses, design all by volunteer Elena Boisvert

Easter 2010
Flower crowns from volunteer Savannah, dresses borrowed from baby Fabiana

April 2010, first park outing!
with three proud {slightly sleep deprived} mommas

May 2010, Baby Burritos
(All I've gotta say is: Praise the Lord for Miracle Blankets!!! My night shifts didn't begin till I'd located all three.)

May 2010, barely able to juggle all three at once
Picture by Melissa Dickey, professional photographer visiting from Texas


July 2010, Happy US Independence Day!
And we thought they were getting so big and chubby in July, ha!

September 2010


September 2010
Right in the thick of the "chewing on the shirt" phase. Obviously!

September 2010


November 2010, Live Nativity Scene!
Never seen more adorable wisemen babies!!

That's 11, you say? Aw, who's counting.

And a few runners-up...
(There are 641 pictures, after all!!)




FEEDING TIME!!!
Gotta say that when all three pipe up, it's dangerous for the ear drums!
{Both from volunteer Savannah when the babies were three months old}


Christmas 2010
Definitely goofy!

The biggest blessing we've had in raising these babies: the V family, successful business owners in Bolivia. Their daughter, on the right, is the triplet's madrina (godmother).

So till the birthday bash pictures, that's it!!

Monday, January 23, 2012

Three Years

Today is the three year mark of being forced to let go our baby twin Gabriela. We will never forget her, and it's precious to know that other friends of Casa de Amor never will, either!

Multiple-trip volunteer "kiwi Katrina" sent me a beautiful album today that she took over the weekend at Oakura Beach (North Island, NZ).







Thank you, Katrina!

Thursday, August 11, 2011

learned.

On July 19 I celebrated seven years living and serving in Bolivia! Since early last year I even have my permanent residency visa, which is WONDERFUL! This means I never have to apply for a visa again as long as I’m not out of the country for extended periods of time.

Right now is one of my ever-rarer trips back to the US. I have a week more visiting my family and this weekend we'll attend my cousin’s wedding in Texas!

As I add more and more time in between trips, it becomes a little like visiting a foreign country! The United States changes, my family changes (changing houses right now), and I change. The main reason I feel different since my last trip is all that I’ve been privileged to experience and learn in 2010 and 2011.

I’ve learned how to…

…Drive stick shift

…Care for triplets! (In a phrase, it’s exhausting, rewarding, and definitely felt like a once-in-a-lifetime blessing!)

…Lead a worship team at church

…Be part of a leadership team at church of university students and young professionals

…Make a real Bolivian “torta” (birthday cake)!

…Administer first aid (second aid?!) for many and various urgencies and emergencies

…Stitch minor wounds

…Give shots (to humans…before I’d only given them to goats)

…Choose medicines for various complaints and illnesses

…Coach soccer :)

…Get out ID cards for Bolivians

…Deal with macho police on a daily basis

…Speak and understand many, many legal and medical terms I had no idea of before 2010

…Speak “street slang” (literally dozens of new phrases and words in my vocabulary…some usable, others—well, NOT!)

…Go to a beautiful Christian wedding in the maximum security prison

…Enter the three main jails plus juvenile detention facility in Cochabamba

…Get someone out of a holding cell…or jail

…Navigate far reaching corners of the huge valley that is Cochabamba as I take street friends to their families

What other country and job would allow me to learn all of THIS in 1 ½ year’s time?!

I LOVE learning, what about YOU?

Friday, February 11, 2011

Triplet Top Ten


As the triplets near two milestones (their first birthday and returning to their mother), we are running around with preparations here at Casa de Amor.

Today, which just so happens to be the 11 month anniversary of their much-heralded arrival, I assembled all of the pictures of or with the triplets. Can you guess how many there are?

641!!!!!

And that's even before their first birthday next week, which by all appearances will be the social event of the year for Casa de Amor.

Even with so many pictures, here are ten that immediately came to mind as my favs from this absolutely unique experience:

March 11, 2010, my first picture with all three, newly at "home"
It TOTALLY hadn't sunk in yet...not even during that same night, taking the first night shift. Alone!



St. Patrick's Day 2010
Photography, dresses, design all by volunteer Elena Boisvert



Easter 2010
Flower crowns from volunteer Savannah, dresses borrowed from baby Fabiana



April 2010, first park outing!
with three proud {slightly sleep deprived} mommas


May 2010, Baby Burritos
(All I've gotta say is: Praise the Lord for Miracle Blankets!!! My night shifts didn't begin till I'd located all three.)


May 2010, barely able to juggle all three at once
Picture by Melissa Dickey, professional photographer visiting from Texas




July 2010, Happy US Independence Day!
And we thought they were getting so big and chubby in July, ha!



September 2010



September 2010
Right in the thick of the "chewing on the shirt" phase. Obviously!



September 2010


November 2010, Live Nativity Scene!
Never seen more adorable wisemen babies!!


That's 11, you say? Aw, who's counting.

And a few runners-up...

(There are 641 pictures, after all!!)





FEEDING TIME!!!
Gotta say that when all three pipe up, it's dangerous for the ear drums!

{Both from volunteer Savannah when the babies were three months old}

Christmas 2010
Definitely goofy!


The biggest blessing we've had in raising these babies: the V family, successful business owners in Bolivia. Their daughter, on the right, is the triplet's madrina (godmother).

So till the birthday bash pictures, that's it!!