A very fun, sad day.

We were very excited to get to the Home of Purpose this morning to do all the fun decorating now that all the painting was finished.  Most of this post will be pictures since it is very late here and we have to be up at 3:30 am to head out to the game park.  These just loaded in random order so I am not going to take the time to rearrange....Here were the highlights...

 These hands belong to Brayden and Kevine.  At one point in the day we had time to just sit and visit while I was finishing up sewing the rings on the curtains.  Kevine and Grace climbed onto Brayden's lap and cuddled with him. This picture is probably my favorite one from the trip.

 Here is the painting Juliet made that is now hanging in their living room.

We made Brayden the designated "ladder guy".  That thing was scary.  We hung these tissue paper flowers all over the house to brighten things up.

 This is Louise's room.  She is one of the house moms for the girl's home.  She has 3 children that are being supported through Ten Talents.  Her son Amani lives at the boys home and one daughter is at boarding school and Flamine stays with her at the Home of Purpose.

 This is also Louise's room with some added color. (Brayden made that painitng.)

 And here is Lousie.  I can't believe that I can't find a picture of Valerie on my phone.  She is the other house mom that lives there with her daughter Stacey who is about 2 years old.

 Robert came back again to help us today and here he is making a tissue paper flower. His were actually the best ones!

 Here is Valerie's new closet with new storage compartments.  I can't find the picture of the wall hanging that Camden made that is now hanging in Valerie and Stacey's roon.  It looks like the others that are hanging in the dining room and it says JOY on it.

 This picture is dark, but this is one corner of the girl's room that is now bright and cheery!

 This is the dining room.

 And here are 3 more of our paintings.

I already showed you this one last night...but it's worth showing again I think!  It came out great and they were all so happy.  Tonight during our time of celebration and goodbye's Valerie said that she was so excited to invite her neighbors and friends to come inside her home.  She said that she thinks they will be very confused and they will think that they have stepped into America because of all the beautiful things.  She also made us laugh because she said something about how she will miss the way we smell.  She could always know we had arrived by the nice smell.

At 6:00 we went to the Home of Innocence to have one last visit with all the children from HOI and HOP.  They first performed a traditional dance for us and then I shared my story of how I became connected to Rwanda through our adoption of JP. (Last night one of the boys at the home asked me to share my "testimony" the next evening. )  I then shared some parting words for them that I felt God had given me for them long ago when we first started planning this trip.  After that, in typical Rwandan fashion, each person in the room stood up to say a final word of thanks and goodbyes.  It was very emotional.  I think we all cried a bit.  Goodbyes are always difficult I guess.

We ended our night at Sole Luna, a very nice Italian restaurant, where we reminisced about our favorite moments of the past week and the hardest moments too. I think the most satisfying thing for me is to have some of my closest friends and family come to understand why I love this place so much.  Not only is this country breathtakingly beautiful to look at, but its people are equally as stunning.