July 7, 2008 (Monday)
The Lord’s Hand in my Life: The ability to dance and have lots of fun while doing it!

I woke up at 6:oo this morning so I could work out, eat breakfast and read my scriptures. I wanted to get a head start on the week. It was awesome! I love being able to take my time getting ready in the mornings. I despise feeling rushed. I’ve decided to start reading my scriptures in the morning as well. It’s much more effective. I’m always so tired by the time I go to bed, and then I don’t get much out of them.

At the orphanage we were outside most of the day. Andrei was inside sleeping the entire time we were outside – I’m not sure why, but he was. When I went upstairs to check on him he was sitting up and attempting to put his suspenders on. They were completely twisted, and the poor thing was trying so hard to get them straightened out. I love it when they don’t know you are watching them. They are so cute!

Later the workers let me get Andrei out of his crib, but we were all done with playing outside. I was amazed at how bored I was without him out there to chase around. The rest of my kids can’t run around – so I held them on the bench or pushed them in their wheel chair. Valentina kept me the busiest out of all my kiddos. She got a hold of my hair and pulled as hard as she could. She also managed to run her nose down my outfit which left a trail of snot. Then Valentina rubbed it on Whitney S. one second before she started moving away from Valentina exclaiming “I can’t handle snot!” It was pretty funny and disgusting all at the same time.

As we left the orphanage Elisa and Whitney S. were like “I don’t know how you handle Andrei’s tantrums – they make me antsy.” To be honest I don’t know how I handle them either, but for some reason I just look past them and ignore them. Maybe it’s because I have some weird connection to him. I don’t know. All I know is that I love him tantrums and all – and he throws a lot of them. It’s weird that they don’t bother me because Iulia will start screaming for no reason sometimes and her screaming really gets to me. Who knows?

In between the orphanage I got Annie a chocolate croissant because I know she loves them. I wanted to get her one for her birthday yesterday, but it was fast Sunday so she couldn’t eat it – so I decided to give it to her today. She was excited when I gave it to her. I love getting people gifts! Too bad I don’t have a ton of money to do it all the time.

The hospital was pretty hot as usual. One of the kids from our room in the orphanage (the Mickey Mouse Room) named Kristen was there to receive some medication and treatment. He is such a sweetheart. He has cerebral palsy, but all the workers adore him because he is so cute. He has the most beautiful blue eyes and lengthy dark eyelashes. He looked so scared when the nurses were shooting medicine into his IV. When he saw our faces he looked so happy and relieved to see a familiar face. Whitney S. and I were excited because we got to take a picture with him. We aren’t allowed to take pictures of our kids in the orphanage, but we are if they end up going to the hospital. Weird huh?

We visited the regular kids in the hospital like Alexandra and Marion. Us girls were cracking up when we went to see Marion because the nurse had a blanket wrapped around his entire body so all you could see was his head. She was feeding him and I guess it is their way of keeping him from grabbing the food. He looked like a little mummy…haha…

Then there was a new baby today. He was crying when I walked into the room, and he immediately stopped when I picked him up. I think I’m starting to get the special touch with children. He was definitely a different looking baby. He looked like he had a fully developed man’s face trapped in a baby’s body, but he was still cute. I rocked and cuddled him, and he was happy as a peach. However like most children the second I put him down he screamed bloody murder. I hate that part.

On the way home Annie and I stopped and grabbed a treat for Mary. She has been having a rough week this week, and we all know chocolate cake is a perfect pick me up. She has been missing her family which is completely understandable. We gave it to her and told her we loved her and we were sorry she was having a bad week. She seemed very appreciative of our thought. I was really glad we could make her feel at least a little bit better! I’ve really grown to love all the girls I’ve worked with here, and it makes me happy when we can help lift each other up. We have all had hard days and weeks since we’ve been here, and since we don’t really have our normal support system around we are all each other’s. Annie was so cute she was like “Whitney, I don’t know what I’m going to do when I go home and you’re not everywhere I go.” We both started cracking up! I was like “Oh Annie you can still call me anytime you want!” I will never forget any of the girls I’ve met here…they will always hold a very special place in my heart.

For dinner we had a random assortment of foods but it was soo good. We had grilled cheese, tomato soup, fresh corn on the cob and stuffed mushrooms. I adore stuffed mushrooms, and they tasted divine. Good job Annie. Good job.

Family Home Evening was really fun tonight. Annie and Melissa taught us American Triple Set Swing Dancing. Dave (our professor) for one of our internship classes came to visit for a couple of days to observe our work here. He decided to attend FHE regardless of his horrible jet lag. He ended up being really nice and friendly. I was afraid he was going to be stuffy, but he wasn’t at all. He joined in learning triple step with us and had a grand time. He is a very tall man though. WOW. Talk about towering over us…We all had a great time…Mindy was one of my best partners. She threw in a couple of her “awkward and absurd” dance moves during our triple step haha…I hope she reads this.

After FHE we talked with Dave about our plans for the week. Apparently tomorrow night we are going out to eat with him. Then Wednesday we are taking a day and visiting all the local monasteries. It should be fun, but boy am I busy. I have so many assignments to get done before I leave, and there is absolutely no time to do them! GRRR!