Juntos

"Juntos" is one of my favorite words in Spanish. It's a favorite not just for the way it sounds (huntos), but for what it means...together. Also, the picture below is one of my favorite pictures lately. It's a picture of Luke and Zair (our housekeepers' son) playing together. Over the past couple of weeks Zair has come to work with his mom, Patricia, because his daycare was closed for the holidays and then for cleaning. Though it was a bit of a challenge, I think it was good for Luke to have another child around to play with and we know Patricia definitely needed the work. Zair is about 6 months older than Luke and it was really cute (most of the time) to see them interact.

Though Zair has been walking for several months now he often followed Luke around on all fours. I guess he wants to be like his littler friend. Too funny!!

Patricia and I both spend lots of time in this spot. One of Luke's favorite things to do is to come up right next to us and play with the safety latch on the door while we wash dishes. So far he hasn't figured out how to open it.

And of course the boys were in charge of cooking lunch together on this particular day!!

Luke showing Zair just how interesting the wheels on the stroller can be. And yes...that's a make shift baby gate (i.e. coffee table) at the bottom of the stairs. Unfortunately, Zair did figure out how to squeeze past the "baby gate"!!

I just love this picture. Zair will sit and look at books for a long time. He carefully turns the pages and examines every pictures. He often brings a book to me, hands it to me, and grunts. Clearly I am supposed to read it to him. I have fun practicing translating "The Big Red Barn" and "That's Not My Monkey" into Spanish. If only Luke would sit still long enough to read a book!

This was pretty typical of our days together. Luke spinning any wheel he could get his hands on and Zair holding as many books as he could get in his hands.

Patricia has become not just a housekeeper, but a friend. I believe that the Lord certainly brought her to work in our home by His providence. We never really imagined having a housekeeper before coming to Peru. When we were approached before coming here about hiring Patricia to work in our home because of her desperate need for work, we agreed. She was a single mom, new to Cusco, who had no experience working as a housekeeper. We agreed to hire her and have been so grateful. She cooks the best "lomo saltado" (one of our favorite Peruvian dishes) in town and has been wonderful company throughout many days. We are thankful for the opporunity to show and talk to her about the grace and love of Christ. Though at times our pasts and our lives seem like a world of difference (literally), we have much in common. We just celebrated Patricia's 30th birthday this week and have a sweet understanding of one another as young mothers. I am glad that we can experience this season of our lives together.