Costa Rica and CASA event

So while Angela was completing the Avon walk this past weekend, I was busy recuperating(?) from my recent trip to Costa Rica for work and participating in a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) event. While my trip to Costa Rica was for work and I wasn’t able to get out to see much of the country… they did let me stay at this fabulous place:

And I did get to enjoy plenty of good food… the most interesting was this fruit, a granadilla, which is a cousin to the passion fruit but tastes much sweeter. One of my co-workers refused to try it as he thought it looked like brains on the inside. It actually had a sweet, gooey consistency. You also eat the seeds which are crunchy like a sunflower seed. The Costa Ricans eat Granadilla and passion fruit with salt – I didn’t sample it with the salt even though they swore it was great.

 

On returning to the states, my family and I were invited to attend a CASA event for our (WestRash Charities) efforts in raising funds for their organization over the past year. In my county alone, CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) helped 401 Children last year that were victims of abandonment, abuse, and neglect.

These advocates help to ensure that children receive services to help them overcome the trauma of their experiences, conduct investigations of the child’s current and future situations, and work to facilitate permanent adoptive homes when it is deemed by the court that the child cannot return to their family.

CASA is a nationwide network for abused and neglected children – to find a location to volunteer at or for more information in general please visit: http://www.casaforchildren.org.

Below are some of the photos:

Hubby and I prior to the event – we managed to convince our 8 year old to stay still long enough to take our photo

 

My parents, Charlyn (CASA Exec Dir), Me and Scott

My mom and I enjoying some cotton candy

My parents (love them!!) right before they hit the dance floor to show us how dancing is really done.