SO here's the longer version... WARNING, THIS IS GOING TO BE A VERY LONG POST.
We left our house Friday afternoon the 6th worried about the neighborhood kids who had been trying to break into our house. we had a long journey! We finally arrived at Javier's grandma's house on Mother's day, Sunday afternoon where they were having a party and what a lovely party it was!
Javier's grandparents had 9 nine children and they were all there for the first time in a very long time, because one of his uncles came home for a visit from Colombia. My mother in law is the oldest child and she pretty much raised all of her siblings because her mother had to work as a teacher. They grew up in the country in a tiny village called Mancha Grande. Senora Ruth ( my mother in law) washed all their clothes by hand in a river from the time she was 9 years old. Isn't that amazing. The party was beautiful! It was so nice to be there and talk to everyone and meet aunts and uncles I hadn't ever met before. Abuelito Jacinto gave a little speech that was really sweet and it was kind of a big deal because he never talks. I think the most I had ever heard him say before was "buenos dias". It was very sweet! And Mama Estrellita (Javier's Grandma) spoke too about how much she loved all of her children and grandchildren and how she wished that she could have given them more. I think every person was crying. Mama Estrellita is one of the most selfless people in the whole world and she is so warm and loving. The first time I came to Ecuador when I was just Javier's girlfriend volunteering in an orphanage in another city, she called me once a week to chat and get to know me. That meant so much to me! And then the last time we came, when I was having such a hard time getting along with everyone, she was so kind to me and with her I always felt totally loved and welcome. Mama Estrellita is a very special person to me!
Then Javier's tio Jaime spoke about how much he loved his mother and also Ruth who was like another to the children. Javier's family does these formal kind of programs often for family home evening, or holidays where a few people speak to the family and it is always very touching and beautiful! I remember before we left last time they had a family home evening like this to say goodbye to us and a few people spoke to tell us how much they love us and we had the chance to speak and tell everyone all at once how much we loved them. That was really special.
Max was pretty overwhelmed to be thrown right into a group that size immediately when we got there and noknow anyone and everybody speaking Spanish. While I was giving everybody hugs and kisses, someone wisked him away but then put him down and didn't notice that he ran off and took off running down the street. Luckily Javier's Dad was paying attention and went and got him, but everyone realized right then and vthere that our Max is a little ball of fire! I really enjoyed hearing Javier's Tio Umberto tell me about how crazy Javier was as a little boy, and later Javier's mom told me about one of her aunts that asked her not to bring her boys to visit again because they were so wild and crazy. Now I know where Max and Sammy get their adventurous spirits :)
Max ended up being more or less comfortable with the kids. He started talking nonstop to all of them in English and the kids just laughed and loved it. They were having so much fun listening to the foreign tongue and trying to come up with ways to keep him talking. Sweet kids! Max sure loved their attention!
And Sammy had no trouble adjusting to Ecuador at all. He was mister pleasant from the very first minute we arrived. He went to everybody and everybody loved him!
Monday, for Family home evening we got together with Javier's brothers and Mom and had such a great discussion about parenting strategies. We all traded ideas and the kids played together and had so much fun. I like the way Javier's family is so open. It isn't awkward or offensive at all for the oldest brother to encourage his youngest brother to have family scripture study with his children. They love each other enough to help each other be more faithful. That was nice and I got a lot out of listening to them. Our brothers and sisters in law are really pretty wonderful parents! I was really impressed to see one day when our nephew made his sister fall down, his mother tell the remorseful boy, "You are still her brother. How about if you go comfort her and then putting the two traumatized kids together to comfort each other in a hammock. That was pretty sweet!
The kids loved eating Jello for the treat!
I just like this picture because it shows some trees and architecture. Pretty, pretty.
Sammy loved his Papi Ada! And Papi Ada was pretty taken with Sammy! I was really pleased to see that.
Javier had to work the first week we were there. It was nice because we were able tro go for 2 weeks and he was able to work from home for one of them. He did really well at not getting too distracted, but still being kind of accessible.
Cristhian is Javier's 16 year old brother. He LOVES Cold Play, has taught himself to play the guitar AMAZINGLY well in the last year, is a little rebellius, and quite the ladies man, but I think it is sweet the way he has always got a baby in his arms.
Sammy has a shoe fettish. Even when he was wearing shoes, he would put on someone's big shoes on top and walk around the house with them. Papi Ada one night said, "Who keeps moving my shoes!" We all had to laugh at that!
Domenica lent Max her movie, "UP" And he watched it almost everyday. Its an awesome movie! Its cute to see all the kids there playing. Mami Ruth's bed is kind of a gathering place.
We all went to a wedding while we were there for the daughter of the former Stake President. I already wrote a little buit about how fancy and fun it was, We had such a good time! I had to borrow a dress from my sister in law, Karla because I didn't bring anything fancy enough and I had to go get my nails done even. I thought it was all overkill until we got there, then I was so grateful to Karla for making me get fancy because I would have been so embarrassed if I would have come in my church clothes. As it was I was almost underdressed. But we had to laugh because we all ended up wearing black and then when we got to the Wedding, how funny to find that even Javier's aunts were dressed in black! Not on purpose of course, but just funny!
Senora Ruth takes care of Little Gianna every day while her mom goes to University. Karina has sacrificed SOO much to get her education! I am really happy for her that she only has one year left!
On Max's birthday, Javier's Abuelita Maria surprised us by bringing a cake! We had a fun little party in the middle of the day with her and Javier's Tia Nellie who is very sick right now with Cancer and with two of Javier's cousins Andrecito and...I can't remember the girls name. Poor little Andrecito! A couple days afetr we got home we heard the terrible news that Andrecito's mother, Javier's Tia Cecilia died in a car accident. Words can't express our sorrow at this news. She was a single mother, so little Andrecito has just about lost his whole world. We were so moved that we offered to adopt him, but of course, everyone wanted to keep him, so he will be staying with his Grandma. He is such a sweet little boy, my heart is broken for him! But that day we didn't know any of that would happen, we just had fun.
It's a tradition in Ecuador for everyone to take a picture with the birthday boy in front of the cake.
We took a fun little vacation with Javier's parents and brothers and their families our last weekend in Ecuador. We went to the beach in Canoa and played hard all day.
Sammy loved the beach and was fearless! Once Max had my hand and a wave came a knocked Sammy down!I had to get free of Max to go rescue Sammy, and it took me like 15 seconds to get to him, but whe I finally pulled him up out of the water he was laughing! I was so amazed! He must have somehow known how to hold his breath! He wasn't even phased at all by that! He had so much fun playing!
Max mainly enjoyed digging holes in the sand and being with his cousins. The waves made him a little more nervous. Actually when he was Sammy's age he was totally fearless around the ocean too! I remember him crawling right into the ocean and laughing at the waves too.
How sweet that Gianna was able to take a little nap, wrapped up in towels!
We ate at this restaurant right on the beach. I thought the food was delicious, but people from Manabi (The province where Javier's family lives) are famous for being great cooks and food conniseurs, so everyone else was so disappointed with the food they would hardly eat it. Isn't that interesting! This is Javier's brother Fabian and his cute wife Karla.
Then in the evening we stayed in a hotel and stayed up late playing games and laughing and having so much fun together! We taught them president scum and they loved it!
The hotel was cool! We put all the beds together so Sammy would be less likely to fall, but he was so tired after all his playing in the ocean, he never moved :)
Our last night in Portoviejo, we went out for corn with most of Javier's family. Oh how we love them! We had such a fun time! One of the people in this picture is Tio Jaime who introduced Javier to the church and was his young men's president when he was a young man and has basically been his role model all his life. He is the stake president of their stake now and was called to be the stake president whe he was 30. When we went last time, I said something to him to the effect that it must be difficult to be a stake president and have young children and be trying to build his career and stuff to which he replied, "It is an honor to serve my God." I have thought about that so much. Every time I start to feel like I am busy with church I think about that and it always helps me. They are the most amazing family! His wife Jessica is a very special, loving person and their 2 sons are amazing!
Max was crazy about the corn!
This is Betty and Lenin. I love them. They are super down to earth and just love their two girls to pieces. I love hearing their updates on their sweet daughter Lisette who is in college. They miss her terribly. Ecuadorian families are very united. It is actually pretty unusual for a kid to go off to college and move away from their parents before they get married (often they live with their parents forever, even when they are married and have their own children. In fact Lenin lives with his parents) But Lisette is an amazing basketball and soccor player and she got into a great university in Quito with a scholarship that pays for everything. But it is sweet to see how much they miss her
This is their othe daughter Milena, she is a sweetie! Max Adores her!
And then our last day (Sunday) everyone came over again and we played and talked and I cried a little and then everyone one came all the way to the airport with is in Manta which is a city 45 minutes away and we said our goodbyes and I sobbed and sobbed and really couldn't even walk without Javier guiding me because I was crying so hard I couldn't see a thing and we left.
And remember how last time we went to Ecuador I was so upset because everyone just had nothing but criticism for me? Well this time people just kept saying so many nice things. That I was so thin, that I am such a patient mother, that I am responsible. I don't know how it happened. It is like It was a completely different set of people. I would say that it is just me that I have matured so much in the last 2 years (which I have) and that all the problems of last time must have been all my perception and I'm guessing that was probably mostly what happened. For the last two years I have been carrying this sickness. Just a mention of anything Ecuador related was enough to make me hyper-ventilate, cry, panic. I knew they hated me, and while now I am guessing that most of that was my imagination, I know it wasn't all.
Well, the other story I have to tell is this one. About three months ago I finally started the process of change. I started praying earnestly for the power to love the people I most resented and feared. Slowly and a little painfully the Lord purged me of those feelings a little everyday. At first it was like he just planted the idea in my mind that maybe I had been the one at fault. I had to work hard to remember different times in Ecuador than the bad ones I had been remembering over and over. Conference was amazing! I listened to those talks over and over again. I studied the life of Christ and I pleaded for help, because I already knew that I couldn't make it work on my own. I had already figured that out. Well, over time I started to feel differently. First, like it was a challenge to love my in-laws even if they hated me because that is what Jesus wanted me to do. I sang, "I'm trying to be like Jesus" like a million times everyday, and you know what? My heart really did change. Pretty soon, I felt like I could understand why some of the stuff that happened last time happened and it made sense to me and I really did love my in-laws by the time we went to Ecuador. But Heavenly Father is more merciful with me than I ever expect. I never would have imagined that I would have felt so much love from every single person, like we were just wrapped in the love of that sweet big wonderful family! If I loved them before we went, now they are printed on my heart. I love them like I love my own family. How grateful I am that the Lord gave me the chance to change and to feel his love and theirs. HE is so good to me! And I love him! I know I am a goofy girl almost all the time, but you know, at least I feel kind of encouraged to see some movement towards improving. It makes me feel like if I live another 80 years, there may be some hope for me to figure out the rest of my issues by then...or at least some of them.
