Sentencia fiesta for The VanderMaas Family

I don't want to sound like a broken record, but today we woke up to another beautiful sunny day! We are getting spoiled seeing the sun almost every day. Today we decided to walk to Unicentro Mall with the Thompson family (Tony, Rachel, Josiah, and Gabriella). We didn't do too much shopping just enjoyed walking through the mall. At lunch time we ate at Crepes & Waffles. We have heard raving reviews from other families about this restaurant so we had to taste the food for ourselves. We concurred with all the other families. This restaurant makes Panera Bread look and taste like McDonalds (sorry to those people that find McDonalds pleasing to their palates). Dave and I split a spinach and cheese filled crepe with a mushroom sauce on top while Jacob enjoyed a crepe with chicken and cheese. For desert Jacob liked the presentation as well as the taste of his ice cream.

Alright Dad Houseman, what do you think about this ice cream presentation? Maybe you would like to stop barbering and put a Crepes & Waffles next to Houseman's Ice Cream Shop. You could serve waffles with ice cream on top. How does that sound?

Jacob thoroughly liked the chocolate eyes and he ate everything except part of the cone.

Just in case you are wondering who the Thompsons are....this picture was taken at dinner time. There son is not present in this picture.

I guess that it is a tradition to have a picture on "the couch" with all of the kids that are being adopted. So prior to dinner the kids hopped on the couch with Katya and all said "whiskey" (that is what they say in Colombia instead of "say cheese." The little girl that is holding Luciana is Camilla, Valeria's seven year old daughter. As you can see Luciana got a handful of her hair. That doesn't feel good when she gets a hold of your hair! The two girls on the left of the couch are sisters that are being adopted by a couple from France. Katya is holding Marta and Gabriella. Carolina is in the pink behind the couch. Jacob is in the orange and Josiah is the little guy in blue.


Dinner was excellent once again! Juanita made beef fajitas with homemade guacamole, pinto beans, shells, and rice.

After dinner it was time to cut the cake. Wow was it good! Donna, I think that you would have really enjoyed this cake. It was a three layered yellow cake with light fluffy frosting with fresh strawberries mixed in it spread between the cake layers.

The food, cake, and fellowship was in honor of the VanderMaas family getting Sentencia. We are grateful having two weeks with Kristi and the girls. We are happy for them to return home but sad at the loss of a fantastic Colombian Adventurer! Thanks for the fellowship, entertainment, and companionship Kristi, Caroline, and Marta!

After the cake was served and devoured, five Colombian men came in bearing musical instruments. They played a drum, guitar, an accordion, and an instrument that I have never seen before. It looked like a canister that you start charcoal with but had small holes in the side and you rub it with a stick. I will have to find out what that instrument is called. That is when the real party started. The majority of hotel inhabitants and hotel employees enjoyed dancing to the Colombian music.

Both Dave and Jacob had the privilege of dancing with Katya.

Dave had his first dance with his precious little girl.

As you can see everyone was having a great time.

Dave was pulled off his seat by Valeria.

Jacob was swept off his feet by Camilla.

Camilla is a gifted little dancer. Giselle, I was picturing you out there in front of the band doing all your American moves while Camilla did her Colombian fancy foot and hip moves.

Once again, it was another good day in Bogota!