Celebrating Ruth's Birthday - Nov 27

The day after Thanksgiving brought special guests from the US - Ana, Julie and Nanette - good friends from the Indianapolis area. They came down a few days early to hang out with us before participating in the week-long Extreme Response Christmas Outreach

On Saturday, November 27, we celebrated Ruth's birthday in a big way - starting with a little service at the Hogar Betania (Bethany Home for the Elderly - see photo below) due to the fact that we could not go on Sunday as we normally do (more on that in another post).

Then we had empanadas (turnovers) and fruit for lunch (see photos of the girls waiting for the empanadas),

After lunch we headed to the art park to see some beautiful ecuadorian art and made some special purchases for all of us (forgot to take photos though)

And for supper, it was on to our favorite restaurant - Crepes and Waffles. We finished out the day with a two hour ride on a "chiva bus" - a special holiday/event bus that is open on all sides and has music (see photos below). We enjoyed driving through down town colonial Quito and seeing all the old churches and buildings lit up at night! What a great way to celebrate!

To see more photos of our special chiva bus ride, click HERE.

us girls on the chiva bus!

Looking good on the chiva bus in downtown Quito!

Standing in front of the San Francisco Church - oldest church in Quito!

The girls waiting for our empanadas for lunch!

The service at the Hogar Betania, with Ana sharing, earlier in the day!