Life Lately June & July 2026

Hello blogger world!  I took a break during the summer and will try to get caught up in the days ahead.  Here are some random pictures from the months of June and July. 

 

In early June David preached at a special Father's Day service at the Baptist church in Jocotenango.

 

We met this sweet family from Maine and enjoyed visiting with them over coffee at a local coffee shop in town.  They were in Guatemala on vacation.  We love opportunities like this.   

 

 

A highlight of my June was watching the college baseball playoffs and World Series tournament.  Of course, we cheered on Ole Miss until they lost.  

 

We all had dental cleanings.  This was the view while we waited to see the dentist.  Not a bad sight!

 

 

The boys attended Camp Guamiski, which is a summer camp for MK's living in Guatemala.  They love this week!   

 

 

While they were at camp, David and I spent some time in Guatemala City doing annual medical checkups.  What a pretty view from Zone 10. 

 

 

A highlight of our city time was having lunch at Del Griego.  We love gyros!  We also enjoyed a meal at P.F. Chang's.  It is a tradition while they boys are at camp. 

 

 

As soon as camp ended, we flew home to Mississippi for a few weeks of summer in the South.  I'll share about that in my next post.   

 

 

We returned to Guatemala mid-July and then just three days later flew to Peru for a work meeting/ training. 

 

Landing in Lima 

From the Lima airport, we had a two hour bus ride to our location.  Peru's Independence Day was coming up so that meant we saw their flag flying everywhere.

 

This pretty much sums up the area.  It was dry, dusty, and brown. 

 

A highlight was the alpacas and llamas that roamed the property where we stayed.  We loved seeing them every day. 

 

 

 

While we were at our training, Cruz enjoyed spending the week with other high school TCK's whose parents serve in the Americas.  This annual retreat is one of his favorite things!  This was his second year to go.  You have to be fifteen to attend, so next year Ben will get to join him. 

 

Cruz with some of his friends at the retreat. 

 

They loved dressing up for an evening meal.  They also had a hoedown and a decades night. 

 

We are thankful for the way the IMB invests in our kids! 

 

 

We returned to Guatemala with one week left of summer break.  I spent most of the week getting ready for the new school year.   

 

Here are some photos of our classroom this year- 

 

I bought this wall decoration because it reminded me of Colorado, which I greatly love! 

 

 

 

We started back on August 3.  I'll share about our first day of school in an upcoming post. 

 

 

The boys spent the week catching up with friends.  They both had sleepovers.  Ben joined a friend to see the new Spiderman movie.  Cruz enjoyed a workout with a friend and a visit to a coffee shop.  They both joined friends at locals pools for a day of swimming.  They had a busy social week!  On this particular day we enjoyed lunch with friends at a local coffee farm.  This is Ben with his friend Josue. 

 

A cute planter at the coffee farm.

 

Overall, it was a fun summer, and I'm a little sad that is has come to an end.  But, new adventures lie ahead, and we are fully embracing what fall has to offer.  What am I most looking forward to?  SEC college football!!!  Football season is my favorite season of all.

Life Lately May 2026

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

 

The first Sunday of each month local churches do the Lord's Supper.  We were in two churches the first Sunday in May and enjoyed it twice. 

 

In early May David attended a pastor's conference at Lake Atitlan. 

 

 

I enjoyed a wonderful Mother's Day celebration. 

 

 

Cruz and his friends have discovered a love for pool and have found a few places in town where they can go play.  These three do a lot together.  In addition to pool and meal outings, they went bowling and saw two movies in May. 

 

 

David made a trip over to the Chiquimula area to make visits. Below are a few of the people he saw while there.

 

 

He was in La Libertad with Nicolas. 

 

He drove up the mountain to Nearar to check on the church and visit with Pastor Rafael and his wife Luz. 

 

He stopped by Camotan to see the Lubecks. 

 

 

Also in Camotan, he visited with sweet Jane.  She runs El Olam school, which is where Cruz attended preschool when we lived there years ago.

 

 

I enjoyed a long lunch outing with my friend Susan, who was back in Guatemala for a visit.  She lived in Antigua for several years but has since returned to the States.  She loves playing cards, and I miss getting to play with her.  It was fun to catch up!

 

For many weeks now Cruz, a few friends, and the youth group leaders have been going out to eat together after Wednesday night youth group.   He loves these outings!

 

 

We had our last day of school on Friday, May 15. That is always a fun celebration day.

 

 

Our night-blooming cereus or sometimes called Queen of the Night cactus bloomed in mid-May. I had been watching it all week knowing that it was getting ready to bloom. The blooms only open at night and last just one night.  By the following morning they close up and die.  They can be as big as 8-12 inches across.  In all, over a three night period, we had thirty-six blooms!  It's a beautiful sight with the sweetest smell.

 

 

 

David and our teammate, Mark, made an overnight trip to Ixchiguan to visit with ministry partners and make plans for our upcoming Indigenous conference.

 

 

On Cruz's birthday eve he enjoyed a meal and outing in town with friends.

 

 

He turned 16 on May 26. 

Here is a look at Cruz's 16th birthday celebration. 

 

 

The following day he got his Guatemala driver's license.  He was very excited! 

 

 

We traveled as a family over to Copan, Honduras to visit with Pastor Nahum. 

 

 

While in Copan, we made a visit to Macaw Mountain to see the birds. 

 

 

Lastly, we ended the month watching baseball.  It was fun to see the Ole Miss Rebels advance to the Super Regionals.   We'll be watching this weekend hoping they advance on to the College World Series.

 

Visiting Copan, Honduras May 2026

In late May we made a trip over to Copan, Honduras to meet with a local pastor.  He will be hosting an upcoming annual conference we do, and we needed to finalize some details. Here are some photos I took of our time there.

 

Crossing the border into Honduras 

 

In all it was a seven hour drive from our house to Copan. We arrived, checked in our hotel, and then spent some time walking around town. It felt good to stretch our legs. It had been eight years since our last visit there. 

 

 

Copan, Honduras 

 

 

 

 

There were so many beautiful flowers blooming all over town! 

 

a mango tree at our hotel 

 

 

I have three favorite places in Copan, and we were able to visit all three on the trip.  The first was Jim's Pizza. We made countless trips over to Copan when we lived in Chiquimula.  I think we ate at Jim's on every one.  It is simple and rustic, but we love it!

 

supper at Jim's Pizza
It is a family favorite! 

 

 

My next favorite place is Welchez Cafe.  We went there on every visit also and often multiple times. 

 

 My favorite coffee shop of all!

 

I always get their carrot cake. It is so delicious! 

 

We then headed to bed because after all that traveling, we were exhausted! 

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel and then walked back over to Welchez for coffee. Cruz and I both love an iced coffee.

 

 

Here we are enjoying coffee there back in 2012.  

 

David with Bro. Nahum 

We spent time with Bro. Nahum that morning. It started with breakfast in town. Afterwards, a visit to his church, then the hotel where he would like to host the upcoming conference, and ended with a home visit with his family. His wife served coffee and empanadas.

 

the guys with Bro. Nahum 

 

 

Before leaving town we made a stop by Macaw Mountain to see the birds. It is my third favorite place in Copan.

 

Mid-afternoon we crossed the border back into Guatemala and made the long drive back home.  It took us eight hours to return. It was a quick trip but a fun, productive one.