Rockin' Babies - Romania

Christmas Eve at the Placement Center was fabulous! We brought the children their gifts and they all opened them eagerly. In the morning group Alina was probably the most excited by her blue hair clip. She quickly learned how to flip her ponytail and even put on a fashion show walk for us.
In the afternoon the best gifts were the tool kit sets for Ionicia and George.. they loved them! The children all share their toys, which is quite nice because when one child grows bored with a toy there is always another child ready for his/her turn.
After our work was complete we went to Dan and Mihaela's house for our Christmas celebration. When we arrived there was already a group of teenagers who attend Mihaela's school in her living room. We missed their singing but we were able to chat with them about Romanian culture vs. US culture, their future plans, etc. They were very articulate even while using English. It tru;y was an enjoyable time. When they left we went in to supper.. ohhhh myyy, Mihaela and her mother truly outdid themselves! We had a turkey stew, potato salad, and sarmale (a traditional Romanian food -- beef and sausage wrapped in a cabbage leaf and boiled for hours). I could have eaten the entire pot of the sarmale! They were delicious! Emily's favorite was the potato salad. Then came all the desserts... oh my, just let it be known that neither of us will be coming home starving! Around midnight the last group of carolers arrived. The sang several traditional Romanian songs about Jesus's birth. It was unbelievably beautiful! I took short videos of each but am not sure I will have time to upload those today.
Now my Christmas gift to you: Photos of us LOL.. I forgot to turn the photos before adding them to the blog and I am out of time now to figure out how to turn them! So, just tilt your heads for now!