Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Thanksgiving 2016

We spent our Thanksgiving break in Guatemala City celebrating with some of our IMB mission family as well as a few other families who were invited to join us.

we enjoyed a beautiful sunset view on our drive into Guatemala City

For many years our mission has celebrated Thanksgiving at our mission property in Panajachel.  That property was sold earlier in the year which meant we had to change it up a little this year.  We also lost the majority of our Guatemala mission family during last year's reorganization which left us few in numbers this year.  We chose to celebrate at our mission house in Guatemala City and a few other families were invited to join us.  It ended up being a great time in spite of it being a little sad.  Change might be necessary but that doesn't mean it's not difficult to walk through.

The tradition has always been to eat supper on Thanksgiving Eve at the Circus Bar in Panajachel (it's a pizza shop).  This year several of us gathered for supper at TGI Friday's in the Capital.  It is one of my favorite places so I was happy with that.   

supper at Friday's

One of my favorite things about Thanksgiving this year was having a few other kids around for my boys to play with.  It was their first Thanksgiving here to have other kids their age to celebrate with. That was big for me!  The Riddle family was invited to join us this year and they have three boys.   It was our first time meeting them and getting to know them. With the exception of when they were sleeping the kids were side by side the whole time we were all together.  My boys had a blast!  I had someone to talk to about motherhood and homeschool and it blessed my heart.  It just made this Thanksgiving extra fun and filled the void of missing those who were no longer with us.  

The boys looking over the map and showing each other where we live.  Here Cruz is pointing to Tikal and talking about our recent trip there.

(The next two photos are a little blurry because they were taken with my phone.)

the boys playing video games before bedtime on Wednesday night 


My boys love long pajamas but it is too hot to wear them where we live.  I surprised them with a few new pair that I brought back from the States to wear while in Guatemala City.  You would have thought I had given them gold.  They were so excited!!!

We began Thanksgiving morning by taking our annual family photo.  I had forgotten my camera battery charger at home and my battery was dead.  You can only imagine how mad I was at myself!  Thankfully, Lily let me use her camera and charger and I had mine charged by lunchtime. 

our family on Thanksgiving Day 2016

The ladies all gathered in the kitchen and cooked together. 

For those who have asked and wondered, we always eat traditional Thanksgiving foods here- turkey, dressing, casseroles, pies, etc.  It might take some tweaking for certain things and pre-planning on trips to the States (example: I brought back Durkee French Fried Onions for green bean casserole on my trip to the States this past summer) but we always make it happen.  Our meals have always been delicious and similar to what we would have back in the States.  You just have to think ahead of time and pre-plan.

While lunch cooked we spent some time watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  That is one of my favorite traditions! Later in the day the guys watched some football.

ready to eat!

 David and the boys enjoying lunch






One of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions here has always been the share and prayer time that we have on Thanksgiving afternoon.  Each family gives an update and voices any prayer needs they might have.  At the end those needs and families are prayed over. It is just a sweet encouraging time that we always enjoy.
share and prayer time

And lastly I'll end with another favorite tradition of mine and that is taking a group photo.  We usually have two-

everyone looking normal

and everyone having a little fun

Yes, it looked and felt different this year but we still had a wonderful time. We kept a few old traditions and started a few new ones. We left feeling very thankful and blessed for the faithfulness of God to us and all of our mission family this past year.  It has been an adjustment but God has been good!

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