Finally at Hope of Life

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Today ended up being a day of waiting around, more than we anticipated. We began our day with a wonderful breakfast buffet at 8:00. The Barcelo Hotel where we stayed was beautiful. It was probably about the nicest place I've ever stayed, and quite took us by surprise. We were ready to leave, with our huge mountain of luggage at 9:00. Around 9:20 or so we found out because of circumstances our ride would not arrive for about another two hours. So I'm anxiously waiting to see my babies and Cristina, and now I have to wait even more! Everyone took advantage of the time with facebook, and I read a book that I brought- after I dug it out of the suitcase, and of course it was in the one on the very bottom. We were able to leave a little after noon, and after a quick stop at Pollo Campero for lunch, we were finally on the road for Hope of Life. The traffic today was terrible. It seemed to be back to back almost the whole way. Of course we passed quite a few of them, Guatemala style! Thank goodness we remembered to take our dramamine.

Finally at 3:30 we were pulling into Hope of Life. It felt like coming home. We are staying at the Tank House, which is the nicest housing I've seen at HOL. Chrissy and I have our own room with two big beds, private bath, fridge, and couch. Mom and Dad also have a room with 2 big beds, private bath, and fridge. The view from the Tank house is spectacular. It's just a short walk up to the orphanage and my Cristina, so we quickly dropped our luggage and headed up to find Cristina. We found out she had been moved to a new house, but we got to spend a few minutes with Maribel, Emilio, Diego, and Hugo before going to find her. When we found Cristina, she seemd so happy to see us. She sat in my lap for the longest time. She just kept looking up at me smiling the sweetest little smile. She would never say anything, but just stare at me and smile. I just wanted to hold her and never let go. It was one of those moments I'll never forget. Chrissy played with Kenneth, who attached himself to her leg and wouldn't let go! It was so hard to leave Cristina, but we promised her we would be back.

We had time for a quick stop at the hospital on the the way to dinner. Dr. Laura was there, and I got to check in on my babies. Heidy was quickly in Daddy's arms, and cried when he put her back down. I couldn't believe how big Obdulio had grown! He was asleep so I couldn't hold him, but there's always tomorrow. I saw lots of new babies I can't wait to get my hands on! Maria Delmy was so delighted to see Chrissy. She was so full of smiles and giggles. Tomorrow we are scheduled to give out Christmas Hope Sacks, and will be in El Canal. We can't wait!

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