It's Been A Good Week

I had planned to post this first thing this morning but our Internet service has been out all day.  bummer!  So, I'm a little late but here is a glimpse of our week. 

As you can imagine from the photo below I was second guessing my idea to purchase Ben a Lightning McQueen stamp pad kit for his birthday when he came to me earlier in the week showing me what he had done.  Obviously the idea of pressing the stamps into the ink pad and putting it onto paper was a little boring for him, ha.

Let me also add that it did not come off easily.

And then later in the day I second guessed my idea of buying him a set of Lightning McQueen magic markers for his birthday when I noticed he had drawn on our ottoman.  I had already sprayed it with a cleaner when I took the picture.  He is normally very responsible with craft supplies.  Maybe it's the new three year old coming out in him, ha.

Cruz has been begging me to let him get his hair cut so that it will stick up.  Many of the boys in his class have that hairstyle.  Cruz calls it "fire hair".  I am trying to postpone him as long as I can.  One afternoon this week David and the boys were playing around and he styled their hair like "fire hair".  They were both tickled and loved it!

I needed to pick up a few grocery items this week so we waited until late in the day to go.  Our grocery store is inside a mall so while I shopped David took the boys upstairs to play on the playland and ride a few coin operated rides.  They also played a few games and got tickets for their scores (like at Chuck E. Cheese).  They cashed in their tickets and both picked a slinky.  The idea was fun at first but it was short lived.  Ben's lasted about 10 minutes before he tangled it up and Cruz's lasted about 30 minutes.  I cannot tell you how many times we have untangled those two toys this week!!!  I have a headache just thinking about it.

their first (and last for a long time) Slinky's

On Wednesday morning we headed to Tunuco Arriba for Bible class.  We had 60 kids total that day which was great.  But, what excited me most was the 16+ mothers who came and stood around to listen in.  Many of them stayed for both classes which meant they heard the story, memory verse, and songs twice.  How great is that!  It was our best Wednesday there yet.  Please continue to pray for the people in this village and the weekly Bible classes there.  They do not have school this coming Wednesday so we will not be meeting but Lord willing we'll be back there on the 6th of May to share again.

Mrs. Diana with several of the mothers in Tunuco Arriba

Mayan people do not typically smile for pictures so that is the reason for the serious faces on these ladies. But thankfully after a few months of regularly being in their village the women are starting to warm up to us and laugh and smile some.  That is a good sign.

The area where we meet is outside under this tin roof.  Just on the other side of that yellow wall is school classes going on at the same time.  It gets really loud at times.

some of the 2nd - 5th graders

I snapped this photo coming down the mountain of some clothes drying on the line.  I loved the bright colors!

Just one of Cruz's many homework sheets this week.  Here he had to write a cursive "p" with the vowels.   He does pretty good for a 4 year old, but it was by far the most stressful thing I have done all week!!!

This is a picture of pure deliciousness!!!  David found a new bakery in town that makes specialty cupcakes by order.  He brought me home a pack of Snicker's cupcakes on Thursday.  Words just cannot even describe how good they were.  Needless to say they didn't last very long.  I've already made a request for Mother's Day, ha.

Thursday afternoon we traveled to Muyurco to do Bible study.  It's my favorite study of the week.  I just love the sweet family that hosts us.  They are precious!  I had 16 kids this week learning the story of Moses.

Cruz snapped this photo of me and David hiking the trail to the house where we meet.  These are the faces of two tired missionary parents but with hearts overflowing for all that God is allowing us to do.  We are blessed beyond measure!

Here are Cruz and David hiking back to the car.  My boys love crossing the creek every week.

When we returned to town that evening we visited a new place for supper that we spotted recently.  One of our favorite places to eat while living in Antigua for language school was at a little restaurant run by a young couple from El Salvador.  They made Pupusas.  They are stuffed corn tortillas.  You can get them stuffed with beans, cheese, or sausage.  Here in Guatemala they have different names.  We love them and were excited to try out this place here in town that sells them "El Salvador style".

our delicious supper

They usually come served with a cabbage slaw on top and a tomato sauce but we asked for them plain because the boys eat them better that way.

Another reason we wanted to eat there was to get us excited about an upcoming road trip we plan to take.  Our anniversary is Monday.  We'll be celebrating 19 years of marriage.  We plan to spend it with our toes in the sand.  I am so looking forward to a few days of R&R!

But, before that we have a few other commitments to fulfill. I anticipate a lot of fun for our family over the next several days.  I'll be back soon to share with you all about it.