Life Lately April 2025

 Here is a look at some family activities during the month of April.

 

We began the month with a fabulous work trip to Mexico to visit a few of our IMB missionary families.

 

 

We spent a weekend in Quetzaltenango to visit our teammates and attend a retirement party for the Stones.

 

 

We officially have another teenager in our house.  Ben turned thirteen on April 16th.

 

 

David and I enjoyed a morning outing to see the carpets on Good Friday morning.

 

 

We celebrated Easter Sunday with a sunrise service at the cross that overlooks Antigua.

 

 

And, we celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary. 

April is always a busy celebration month for us!

 

 

Our homeschool wall decorated for the month of April.

 

Ben is taking an art class this quarter at Encounter Academy.  Here he is with two of his best buds. 

 

 

Cruz had two more dissections to complete for his Biology class.   He dissected a frog.

 

 

He also dissected a perch. 

Thankfully he has a wonderful dad who does not have a queasy stomach and was able to help him with all four of his dissections this year.  I, on the other hand, would not have been able to do it! 

 

 

Cruz began an online driver's ed course.  He will turn fifteen in May, and we plan for him to take his permit test in the U.S. this summer.  The purpose of the course is to prepare him for the test.  Having grown up in Guatemala, he is not very familiar with U.S. road rules and signs. Driving here is a little different, lol.  In addition to the course, we have been taking him out to practice driving. Thankfully, we have an older personal vehicle that he can use to practice driving.  It is a standard, which can be a challenge, but he is mastering it quickly. 

 

 

We are excited about the arrival of May.  We'll not only celebrate Cruz's birthday but also Mother's Day and the end of the school year.  It is also one month closer to our Stateside Assignment!  What we are most looking forward to is an adventurous family vacation trip in May that we have had planned for a few years. We cannot wait to be exploring the great outdoors together!

 

Coming up...

Celebrating Our 29th Wedding Anniversary

 On April 27th we celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary.  We celebrated in Guatemala City this year.

 

The boys thought it would be a great idea to visit a trampoline park on Saturday (the day before our anniversary).  I wonder if they were thinking of us or themselves. lol  Regardless, we all had a fantastic time!  We went to Air Square at Oakland Place and jumped for 1.5 hours. 

 

enjoying the trampoline park with the boys

 

 

a video highlighting our time at the trampoline park

 

 

That evening we ate supper at TGI Friday's.  It has always been my favorite place to eat in Guatemala.

 

beautiful views of Guatemala City at night

 

 

 

a video of Guatemala City (zone 10) at night

 

We began our anniversary morning with a pancake and bacon breakfast.  I added the number "29" to ours.

 

 

anniversary morning photo

29 years as husband and wife 

April 27, 1996

 

 

 

off to conquer the world together 

We were excited to get to attend worship at Union Church.  It has been a while since we were able to visit there.  For many years, when we lived out, we would always try to attend one of their services if we were in the city on a Sunday.  It was always very refreshing for us to worship there.  It is a sentimental place to us and getting to be there on our anniversary was special.  

If you are in Guatemala City on a Sunday and need a place to worship, look up Union Church.  It is located at 12 Calle 7-37 Zona 9, Plaza España.  They have an 8:15 contemporary service and an 11:00 traditional service. 

 

 

We enjoyed a delicious anniversary lunch in the city before returning home to Antigua.  

Once home, I headed out for an afternoon walk around town, and David took Cruz for a practice driving lesson.  Life is busy when you still have kids at home, but we have always enjoyed celebrating our anniversary with the boys.  We had fourteen years of anniversary celebrations before they were born, and in just five short years we'll be back to celebrating alone.  I'll always treasure these times we have had together!

Easter Sunday 2025

 We had a wonderful Easter Sunday celebration.  It was simple yet sweet.

 

The boys woke up to find Easter gifts waiting for them on the table.  We do not have baskets so I used bags instead.

 

 

We went to an early morning service at the cross overlook of Antigua.  It was a beautiful morning and a perfect start to our day.

 

 

our family after church on Easter Sunday

 

On the drive back home we stopped for breakfast at San Martin.

 

Our table set for Easter

 

 

I came home and began preparing our Easter lunch.  I cooked a turkey breast, carrot souffle, macaroni and cheese, and a corn casserole. 

 

After eating and resting we drove over to Tacana Climbing Gym for a fun family outing.

 

 

It was a fun way to end our Spring Break week.

 

We came home and ate leftovers for supper.  We then began to mentally shift gears and get back in school mode.  After a wonderful week off of class, we were back to the books the following morning.

 

Good Friday Carpets in Antigua, Guatemala

A highlight of the Lent season here in Guatemala is the beautiful alfombras (carpets) that are made.  I look forward to walking the streets of our town each season and admiring them.  They are always so beautiful and detailed. The carpets are made with dyed sawdust, flowers, pine needles, and even fruits and vegetables.  This year there were several that included baked bread and even eggs. 

On Good Friday, your best chance to see the carpets fully intact is early in the morning, right before the processions begin. By midday, the andas (floats) begin to pass, and with them, the carpets are slowly trampled—intentionally, as part of the ritual. 

David and I got up at 5:15 a.m. this year and walked into town to see them.  Here are some of the photos I took.

 

an early morning view of Agua volcano on our walk into town

  

 

 

 

 

As we were roaming around, I saw this lady walking our way from a distance. I immediately got excited because I could tell she was Kekchi from her dress. They were the first people group we worked with. As she got closer I greeted her in Kekchi and it started the sweetest conversation. I used all the Kekchi words I could remember and it made her so happy. She insisted we take a picture before we left. It was the highlight of my whole morning! The Kekchi people will always be my favorite of all!!!

 

This one was made with only vegetables.  After the procession passes, the people rush in to grab what is left.

 

 

We stopped for breakfast at Cafe Condesa on the Central Park.  I love sitting out in the garden area to eat. 

We walked around town a little more before walking back home.  It was a beautiful cool, crisp morning and a perfect time to be out walking.

 

That evening I returned to town with some friends.  We were out another five hours walking around, eating, looking at carpets, and watching a few processionals.  I had around 25,000 steps in all that day.  It was a lot of fun!