Jamesley Comes Home to Mass

Jamesley Comes Home to Massachusetts from Haiti

Jamesley's orphanage and home where he was growing up waiting for his adoption to our son Eric and Stephanie Anderson was destroyed in the terrible earthquake that hit Haiti. We were so surprised and shocked when our son called on Monday afternoon to say that he was headed for the airport to fly to Florida to pick up Jamesley. The American Embassy had released all of the children at the Three Angels Orphanage to their adoptive parents who were waiting for approval from the Haitian Government and travel papers from the American Embassy. We had almost given up hope of ever getting custody of Jamesley due to paperwork delays and beuracratic games being played by the Haitian Government. Much to our surprise, we were about to receive a really big blessing out of such tragedy.

Below are some photos that I have taken. Jamesley is such a good baby. He does not speak much english and we are learning Creol/French as we go along and he is picking up some english. He is very sweet and loving. He hardly fusses and is very attached to Mama and Papa at this time. The following photos are of his second day in America.

Mama and Jamesley having a snack. He loves to eat and is probably wondering where all of the food is coming from. We are experimenting with him on what he will eat and we have not found anything he won't try.

Quiet time with Mama. He is really attached and wants to be held constantly.

Eating Cheerios. He took to them right away and he also loved the ziplock bag.

Cheerios everywhere.

First peanut butter sandwich. He ate some of it and then wanted to eat the peanut butter without the bread. We gave him a container of it and he ate almost all of it.

Nana and Jamesley reading a book. He is picking up the words really fast.

Big brother Carston and Jamesley after school. Jamesley is facinated with the cell phone. Carston found an old one and gave it to him. He had a ball with it.

We took Jamesley shopping to Target and he had a ball riding in the cart. Stephanie pushed the cart backwards so he could see what was in front of him. He liked Target and we think it may be his most fun place to go at this time. He loves to go in the car. We figure he had probably never been in a car before coming to the U.S. He call them "machine" and asks to go all the time. We also went and shopped for a pair of shoes. He probably has never had a new pair of shoes. The Crocks that he arrived in were too big and looked like they had been worn by many children before. Also, he loves his socks. Never had them before either. Not too fond of the cold and although he will say snow for Nana, he doesn't like to touch it.

Jamesley in the Pack & Play playing with Carston.

Day 4 - Chichen-Itza

Chichen-Itza

"Mouth of the Well of Itza"

*Please see below for pictures of temple and background.

Sacrificial Well

This is the alter where they threw off the sacrifices.

Dave called this the long green mile. This is the path that took the virgins from the temple to the well.

Today the tour bus picked us up at the Resort at 7:45 am and we headed out of town for about 2 1/2 hours to see one of the new 7 wonders of the world. It is an ancient Mayan temple that was built in about 600 - 900 A.D.

Possibly the best known construction on the site is Kukulkan's Pyramid. El Castillo (Kukulkan-Quetzalcoatl), a square-based, stepped pyramid that is approximately 75 feet tall. This pyramid was built for astronomical purposes and during the vernal equinox (March 20) and the autumnal equinox (September 21) at about 3pm the sunlight bathes the western balustrade of the pyramid's main stairway. This causes seven isosceles triangles to form imitating the body of a serpent 37 yards long that creeps downwards until it joins the huge serpent's head carved in stone at the bottom of the stairway. Mexican researcher Luis El Arochi calls it "the symbolic descent of Kukulkan" (the feathered serpent), and believes it could have been connected with agricultural rituals. This temple was built over a second smaller temple. When you clap your hands you hear the sound of the Quetzal bird.

This area became an important religious center and is known for the well where they sacraficed young girls (between 4 and 12 years of age). There is a path that leads directly from the base of the temple to the alter where they threw the girls off into the well.

To find out more about this wonderful place, please click on the link below to read about the history and facts.

http://www.locogringo.com/past_spotlights/apr2002.html

Day 4 - Mayan Lunch

Lunch

We were taken to a restaurant near Chichen-Itza (Mayan ruins). We had a traditional Mayan meal including traditional dancers for entertainment. The food was fabulous. The menu consisted of a fish dish, pork that was cooked in banana leaf in ground (delicious), chicken that was prepared with paparika, and of course hot corn tortillas, rice and beans. The sauce that we put on it all was made from habenaro pepper. Very tasty.

The grounds were lovely. We could not figure out why there was this nice swimming pool in the middle of the area. Perhaps for fiestas.

Can't believe that they were dancing with bottles of beer on their heads. They also put trays of glasses and bottles. It is common for the women of the Mayan tribes to carry great loads of good on their heads. I guess they have translated that talent into part of their traditional dances.

This is the traditional Mayan dress for women. They are brightly embroidered with flowers on a white lightweight fabric.

We expected to see the Padre come out of this old church. Notice the two bicycles in front of the mission. Perhaps the Missionaries were there visiting???? ;-)

This veranda is typical of the tropical landscape here in Mexico and also Central America. The red tile floor is wonderful as it can be washed off each day.

Day 4 - Ik-Kil

Ik-Kil

Limestone Sinkhole fed by Spring

This is a sink hole in the limestone that is prevalent in this Mexican state. The sinkhole is 150 feet deep and filled with a natural spring. The water is about 65 degrees and very clear. It was 90 steps down to the pool and as you can see by the pictures, I decided to have a Mango frozen pop instead of swimming. Very good.... Also, Dave loves to get me talking on the phone to Erin. Seems like almost every picture of me is on the phone. Gracious, what does that say about me????

Dave took the pictures of the hole. It was very impressive. People were jumping off the ledge and into the cold water. We took our bathing suits and were ready to go but when they said how cold it was we decided not to partake..

Trip to Cancun Day 2

Well, we woke up this morning in Paradise. Dave and I headed to the "Workout" room and took advantage of that facility. Here is a brave couple parasailing. We hope to do this later in the week.

The person is standing in the pool but it looks like she is coming out of the ocean. The bumps that you see in front of her are lounges that you can lay down on and be in the water. Really neat....

Here we are at the Market. We rode the bus from our resort and wandered around this very huge market place where you can purchase authentic Mexican handicrafts, etc. I was taking a break and talking to Erin about what the kids would like under this tree with a nice gentleman who told us he was 90 years old and had been in the US during WWII. We talked to him for some time and enjoyed the goings on.

After shopping at the market we were told at the Resort that there was a good "authentic" Mexican restaurant near where we would be and so we tried to find it. We were reading the map, trying to find street signs (which were very speradic) and thought we were lost. As we turned a corner to cross a street we ran into a couple of Mormon Missionaries. Lo and behold, they could speak Spanish (gasp) and we were able to be guided to our restaurant for lunch. We invited them to join us but they said that they had things to do. We should have gotten a picture with them but did not. The food was good here but as usual they served too much and it was rather heavy for the hot weather. After we left the restaurant we had to walk what seemed like miles to, get this, Walmart. We picked up some supplies for the studio apartment and headed back via the bus.

Trip to Cancun Day of Arrival

The following four pictures are of the evening that we arrived in Cancun, at our resort. Dave took these picutures from our balcony. This is part of our TimeShare and it is really beautiful. Each night they turn on the lights under the fountains that are under our balcony. We are on the fifth floor and it is beautiful. We have spent hours sitting out on the balcony listening to the waves hit the shore and enjoying the wonderful breeze that comes our way.

Gettysburg for Dave's Birthday

Dave and I had a wonderful mini-vacation for his birthday. We went

to his favorite place in the world, Gettysburg. Here are just a few of

the pictures that we took of the trip. We spent three days on the

battlefield. I now understand why he has such a passion for this

place. Some of the battlefields are haunting.