Life Lately March and April 2021

 Here are some miscellaneous photos that I have taken over the past two months.   

I love when these flowers bloom on our terrace.  They look like grapes hanging down.

We participated in a garage sale with some other missionary families that was hosted by Encounter Academy.  I went through the whole house and collected things that we no longer used or needed.  Cruz was a big help at the sale and we sold a lot!

 

One is cooking eggs and the other black beans.  

They would eat that for every meal if I let them.

Ben helping cook breakfast one morning before school.

I mentioned in another post that my oven went out on New Year's Day.  It took almost two months to get a new part and then that part ended up not being the problem.  We had some friends flying back to Guatemala at the end of March and they brought us another part down.  Hooray, it worked!!!  In the meantime, my toaster oven got a good workout.  Here I was cooking a Sunday lunch of baked ham and a potato casserole.  

Once my oven was repaired the first thing I baked in it was a cake.
 

 

 Cruz put the icing on it.

 

A yummy lemon cake.

 

The good news is that my oven now works.  The bad news is that once we changed out the part for my oven, now my gas burners don't want to come on.  It's always something around here!!

 

The boys enjoying hot chocolate in their new mugs from the avocado farm on a recent Friday movie night.

 

They took all of their blankets and turned their bedroom into a large fort.  They pieced it together using a roll of masking tape.  

They enjoyed getting to sleep in it a few nights.

playing checkers on a Saturday morning

using Jenga blocks to build a tall tower

King Ben eating lunch at Burger King in Guatemala City

We have been busy getting paperwork renewed.  Cruz got a new Guatemalan passport.  I had to renew my Guatemalan driver's license and David and I both had to renew our residency.  Doing any type of paperwork here is a chore.  I am thankful to have gotten all of it behind us before Stateside Assignment.

On one of those trips into Guatemala City we stopped for donuts at Krispy Kreme before driving back home.  That was a treat for everyone!

We love donuts!!!

 

We enjoyed a quiet, simple Easter this year.  Some friends came over that Saturday.  We enjoyed lunch in Antigua and walked around town seeing some of the Semana Santa carpets that were displayed.  The normal festivities were cancelled but many still made beautiful carpets that were pretty to see.

a family photo on Easter Sunday morning

 

Cruz being still long enough to fall asleep has always been rare but this one particular night he laid his head on my lap and did.  I loved it!

A friend suggested this candy bar for us to try so we had it as our dessert on a recent Friday movie night.  We were watching Cars because it went well with a study we were doing on Route 66.

 

I cannot believe he is turning 11 next month!!

The boys got haircuts earlier this week and the shop always gives them a drink when they are done.  Ben was tickled to get a Coke with the letter "B" on it.

 

We are counting down the days until our Stateside Assignment.  It won't be much longer until we can hopefully see many of you face to face.  We can hardly contain our excitement!!

Ben's 9th Birthday!

 On April 16, Ben turned nine years old.  Here is how we celebrated his special day.

Cruz helped me decorate the night before.  He made this sign for their bedroom door.  He is a big help when it comes to party planning.

I always take a picture of the boys sleeping on their birthday eve.  Here is Ben on his last night as an eight year old.  He went to bed very excited about the next day.

 

He was up extra early and eager to open his gifts.

He quickly got dressed for the day and we took a few photos before breakfast.

my sweet baby boy is growing up fast!

We had blue pancakes for breakfast.  For months Ben has mentioned different themes he wanted for his birthday.  He changed his mind often.  At the last minute he decided he just wanted a blue party- all things blue.  So that is what we did.

We had a normal morning of school although I did give him a lighter load.

We took him out for lunch in Antigua and he got to choose the location.  He chose TaCool. 

He loves the chicken tacos.

They surprised him with a birthday dessert.

That afternoon they went to Awana and afterwards he had a few friends come over.  Just like his party theme, he was very indecisive about what he wanted to do for his birthday.  He ended up wanting a small home party and sleepover.  

 

We started the party with a pinata.  

We then played several games.  I used many of the same games we do for our New Year's Eve family party.  The kids had a lot of fun.

This game was a favorite.  The cups were filled with small bills, coins, and candy.  They used Nerf guns to try to win a prize.

We had pizza, popcorn, and blue jello jigglers for supper.  Ben opened his gifts during the meal.

 

His blue cake.

He loved the topper!!

The rest of the night was filled with Nerf wars and video games.  We ended with a late night movie.  He said the best part of his birthday was having friends over to celebrate with.  What a blessing!

                                                                     and then he was nine!!!