Pan de Vida

When we first started talking about exploring Peru, a friend connected us with Carlos, who runs a multiple non-profit organizations in Arequipa. After a couple conversations, he invited us to come visit. To understand what he does and why, one needs to hear his story. Born in Peru, Carlos was abandoned at a very young age, then adopted by a Dutch couple. He grew up in the Netherlands, and when he became an adult, returned to Peru with a heart for the children there in difficult situations. He raised money to build a children's home, which opened in 2014 and is currently home to some 20 children under 16, most of which are very young. Some are eligible for and awaiting adoption, others have lived there for many years. Carlos also started a feeding project for children who may not have access to sufficient meals at home. Over the last twenty years, this has grown from one location to forty, now in many locations throughout Peru! Please take the time to watch this video introducing three of his projects. You'll also get a bird's eye view of the area where we stayed, the city of Arequipa and a look at the local market, a bright and busy place.

After Carlos got to know us, he invited us to help out with the children a bit by walking the big kids home from school, or taking the little ones to the park. 

A few times we got to play with the big kids after they completed their homework. Journey showed them the church clap dance and they all tried it.

To celebrate Arequipa Day, we walked with all of the children to the mall for ice cream. Afterwards we returned for a traditional meal together back at the Casa. 

Along our walk I saw swallows dipping over the fields with volcanos in the distance. So charming.

We had the honor of being invited to attend and celebrate the quincenera of one of the girls. In latin culture, the 15th birthday is when a girl becomes a woman, so it's a very important birthday and one that is celebrated with a beautiful dress, food, guests and lots of traditions. I gifted my photography skills for the party and made portraits of her before the party began. Isn't she lovely?

You could just see how incredibly proud Carlos is of her. Having lived at the house for many years, she is now the oldest and has taken on a mothering role with the younger children. I was very impressed with how well she takes care of them and anticipates their needs. She is a very sweet, young woman with a kind heart and a beautiful smile.

Everyone lined up to give her hugs!

I took photos of her with each of her guests. Here she is with the women who work in the house taking care of all of the children. It's not an easy task, but a tremendously important one. 

Before we left, I took portraits of the rest of the children for Carlos. Such precious little ones each with their own big personalities.

After spending three weeks here with Carlos, his family and the children, I can't even begin to express the impact he is having on vulnerable children of Peru. The feeding program is making a huge difference in the lives of the families participating. If they can't be with their birth or adoptive parents, the children's home is the next best scenario for children who are in a very difficult situation. Having been separated from their parents, they find here a loving home, one with rules and responsibilities, they attend school and come home to a house full of brothers and sisters to play with and caretakers who feed them, help with homework and take very good care of them.

We're so thankful for the opportunity to meet Carlos and his family and spend time with the children. They are doing amazing things. If you would like to support them thru prayer or donations, connect thru their website here. 

A Season of Reconnection

We decided to sell our 29' RV and refocus on international travel. (More about this in our upcoming post.) As soon as we sold our RV, we were invited to two camping trips with friends. The first was with Steven and Darcy at Hopkins Prairie. After birding and enjoying dinner conversation around the campfire, they slept in their overlanding trailer, us in our rooftop tent. All four of us on the king-sized bed! Daddy woke up well-rested and surprised how much room he had, while I ended up with both kids practically on top of me. 

A week later, Kelley, a friend I hadn't seen since high school, visited us during a Florida road trip with her husband and son. After camping in our yard for a few days, we joined them at their next hipcamp spot. This is someone's four-acre backyard in Meritt Island, Florida. An absolutely incredible piece of property! Parking was too far away for our rooftop tents, so the owner set up these teepee tents for us to use. 

We had so much fun together! I love that we were able to reconnect and look forward to future adventures together.

After these two camping trips, I realized my days of enjoying tent camping are pretty much over. We ended up buying a used Weeroll overlanding trailer to make our trips more comfortable (A/C, real bed and a little bit of kitchen space). We put our rooftop tent on top and Asher and Daddy used it on the father/son church campout. The awning has another tent that attaches to it, so we have three options for sleeping. 

Later he accompanied Journey to the father/daughter dance. Daddies get to have all the fun! Somehow seeing your daughter all dressed up makes you realize how much she has grown.

It turns out this was truly a season of reconnecting. The Logsdon family invited us to visit them at their house in Venice, and let us stay in their beautifully decorated guesthouse (the RV they usually live in fulltime). They took us to the parrot rescue where they volunteer and to the wildlife sanctuary where we met a leucistic (all white) Screech Owl named, Luna. 

We spent time together at the beach and took a day trip to Peace River to do some shark teeth hunting! 

Six weeks later, they came to stay with us and we hiked Ocala National Forest, kayaked Silver Springs and they experienced bird banding!

We took our friend Helen and her husband, Art, boating and swimming at Salt Springs. 

Mom and her friend, Sandy, came for a visit. We watched a plane land on the lake while we ate at Gator Joe's. After kayaking, we got to see a manatee from the bridge! They also helped us decorate for Night to Shine.

Easter at church

One morning in March, I got the most shocking phone call from my dad. My aunt, Janie, had passed away. That morning she had taken her beloved dog, Zoie, out and then reclined in her chair for a little more sleep, and just never woke up. It didn't feel real. Four months later, it still doesn't. We had become very close over the past five or six years. The only person I called more often was my dad. I looked forward to our conversations. She loved to hear about my family, our adventures, and the birds I was seeing. She had begun her own path of learning about birds. She signed up for a birding class and was looking forward to joining walks with her local Audubon chapter. She particularly loved eagles, hummingbirds and was enjoying being able to identify the birds coming to her feeders. She is very greatly missed. But if you knew Janie, you'd understand that's exactly the way she'd have wanted to go- no sickness, no fuss, straight to Jesus in a blink.

Journey and I flew to Ohio to be with family and attend her funeral. The cousins are growing up! 

A flamingo in the Tampa airport welcomed us home.

A couple months prior, my friend, Lisa had offered for my family to stay at her condo on the beach in St Pete, during the Villages birding trip. The timing couldn't have been better, as Daddy was able to pick us up from the airport and go straight there. It ended up being an opportunity for healing and processing what just happened before going back home.

This is the view from her patio of the kids playing flashlight tag on the beach.

We spent a day at Fort DeSoto where Asher fished from the pier while thousands of fish swam in a huge swarm below us! 

He also did lots of fishing, day and night, at Lisa's while I enjoyed beachcombing plus birding Fort Desoto with my friends Liz, Alice, Wendy, and Candi.

As we were prepping for our upcoming trip, we had visits from multiple friends. Our dear friends, the Bemis Family, had moved away to Michigan during our road trip last summer. It was great to have them visit and reconnect. Everyone has grown so much!

The Duren family included us on their summer road trip (via minivan) thru SEVENTEEN states! We took them kayaking and they taught us to play the One Night Werewolf game.

Our friend, Carrie, brought her boys, Trevor and Logan, to spend a few days with us. This time we got to see monkeys up close! While they are regularly at the park, this is only the third time I've seen them and the other times were from a boat.

June Challenge was a super fun experience. Basically it's a contest to SEE more birds in the county that anyone else. Hearing them doesn't count, so it's a lot more challenging. On day one, Alice, took Liz and I birding by golf cart, which is SUPER fast and fun! 

Steven and Darcy took us birding by boat many times during the month and helped us get birds we needed.

Tami ended up winning the contest with 115 (+2 non-ABA) species and Alice came in second. It was a fun way to spend the hot mornings and helped our group grow closer together.