When we woke up on Wednesday morning in Coban the first thing I did was walk out on the balcony to check the weather. Sure enough it was still raining. Ugh!
looking down the street from our hotel balcony
Our initial plan was to just travel to Coban and stay two nights there. We had planned to picnic for lunch on Wednesday at a local park and play in the waterfalls. We thought we would spend some time just walking around town. But, with cold, rainy weather there just isn't much you can do- especially with small kids. So, instead we went with our Plan B option and decided to pack up and head north. We have been wanting to make some visits up that way anyway so we just decided to make the loop. Before leaving though we still had some more people to see in Coban.
We had breakfast with Miss Fran and the Groff's at our hotel that morning. Miss Fran brought Cruz a coloring book and Phyllis brought the boys several reading books. It was sweet of them to bring gifts for the kids.
me, Cruz, Galen, Phyllis, Miss Fran, Ben, and David
The Groff's stayed and watched the boys while we got the room packed up and the car loaded. It was soo nice of them, and it helped us out greatly. That was a BIG blessing to us and gave us a few minutes of calm in our day.
Phyllis reading one of the books to Cruz that she bought him.
When we checked out of the hotel we stopped by the Baptist property there in town. We were greeted at the gate by Bro. Juan. He seemed very happy to see us and especially the boys.
Cruz, Bro. Juan, David, and Ben
We all enjoyed seeing Precioso!
I am certain these two would have become big buddies if they had the chance.
We walked over to the Kekchi Baptist mission office to see Armando. Some of the WMU ladies were also meeting there so we got to peek in at them. Former national missionary Bro. Augustine was teaching them. We always loved working with him.
Cruz, Armando, and Ben
Armando runs the Kekchi Baptist office there in Coban and does a wonderful job.
We tried to visit with Bro. Raul and Chus at the Baptist church in town but no-one was home. So we stopped by the Dieseldorff coffee farm to pick up some good 'ol Coban coffee. That made David very happy. Afterwards we drove out to Sergio's house to see him and his family. Sergio was our former helper and David's Kekchi tutor. We love his family and were so excited to get to see them and show them the boys.
Bro. Juan, David, and Sergio
One of my favorite memories about Coban was seeing the flower ladies outside of the post office. I was a regular customer of theirs. I love having fresh flowers in my house. I was tickled when we stopped by there and they recognized my face and ran to greet me. That made me feel good.
We made a quick run by the McCafe for coffee to-go and then set out for another long day of travel. We headed towards Sayaxche. Our first stop was at the hotel in Chisec. We made peanut butter sandwiches in the car and then took them inside to eat. We bought drinks to go with them. We have spent many, many nights at that hotel. It was good to catch up with the owner, Alecia, while there.
Cruz enjoying his peanut butter sandwich
No "picnic" would be complete without a little Sarita's ice cream. 
We walked around the property, looked at some of the new areas they had added on, and let Cruz play a minute on the dinosaur slides before loading back up and driving on. We have lots of good memories from that place!
Once we reached Sayaxche our first stop was by the King's house. We enjoyed getting to know Arlen and Keturah when we lived there. They are leaving Guatemala (next week) and will be reassigned to a new position in Orlando, Florida. We were very glad we got to see them one more time before they left.
David, Cruz, Arlen, Ben, and Keturah
We stopped by to see Anita and her family also. We love keeping up with them on facebook but its so much better to see them in person.
me, Ben, Sara, Anita, Barbie, and Cruz
We stopped by our previous house to visit the landlord and his family. He sadly was not there at the time so we missed getting to see him. I really wanted him to see Cruz. We stayed for a while visiting with his family and letting them play with the boys.
Our landlords family were all so sweet to Cruz when we lived there. They considered him (and us) a part of their family. All of our neighbors there were that way. We have missed that since we moved.
I was very anxious to see the neighbor kids who came to our house everyday. I wanted to see how much they had grown and changed. We enjoyed having these kids around.
Susy holding Ben
Ben, Lesly, Jennifer, me, and Iris
I love these girls and just could not quit hugging them. They had really grown in a year since we last saw them.
Enoc, Cruz, Lesly, Jenifer, Ben, and Iris
We were sad to not get to visit with the family who lived right across the street from us. They were the family with all the older teenagers. They adored Cruz and the feeling was mutual. A few months ago their daddy was murdered and because of that they had to leave town. We have been in touch with them and knew it had happened. Our hearts are very sad for them. I really wish we could have seen them to pray with them and encourage them. They are dear to our hearts.
Our last stop before calling it a night at the Hotel Del Rio was for supper at the Oasis. When we lived in Sayaxche it was by far our favorite place in town. We ate there several times a week. I just loved going there to hang out. They serve hamburgers, hot dogs, and nachos and play a lot of English music. It always felt like being back home to us and we loved having that place to go and unwind when we lived there.
The workers there are just precious and we love all of them.
As you can see it was a pretty long day. We were all EXHAUSTED by the time we got to the hotel. We showered and all went straight to bed. It had been a very fun day getting to travel to some places that are dear to our hearts and seeing many people that we love and have enjoyed getting to know.
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