Moments From The Past Few Months

This will be a random post of all the miscellaneous photos I have taken over the past few months.  They are not necessarily in any order but cover a little of our life lately.  Enjoy!

Back in late March we had a prayer retreat with our Guatemala mission family.  The retreat took place in Antigua which was very convenient for us considering we live just right down the road from the hotel. These are the families serving here with us.  Our Guatemala family has really decreased over the years which only makes times like these more important and special. 

A group photo of everyone at the retreat.  It includes our leaders and our member care family.  We had a wonderful few days together!

Back in early April the boys attended a birthday party for twin boys who are in Cruz's P.E. class.  It took place in Guatemala City at a go-cart track.  It was a Mario themed party and a lot of fun.

Cruz was over the top excited because he was finally tall enough to drive himself.  Look at that smile.  He was one happy boy!

a few of the party guests waiting their turn to ride

These next two photos will give you a little hint at one of Ben's favorite treats.  He gets it honest.

Another fun outing we had was at the Pizza Grizzly in the SanKris Mall.  We met some friends there for supper one night.  There are three Pizza Grizzly locations in Guatemala City.  Each one has a different theme.  The theme at this particular location is Jurassic.  How fun for the boys.

 Afterwards we went to ride the bumper cars at the mall arcade.

fun times!

 The boys helping us buy food supplies for our last team.  They love getting to do that.

We love Ta'Cool.  We ate there twice with our team from our home church.  They loved it too.  The next time we went there after they left we were a little sad.  We took this picture to send to them to let them know we missed them.

This is a picture with sweet Ms. Ruth.  She is a precious lady!  We lived in her home when we first arrived in Guatemala and were studying Spanish. We lived with her again when I was pregnant with Cruz in my final weeks and we were looking for a place to rent in town. She was a wonderful host and took such great care of us!  I enjoyed getting to catch up with her recently at soccer practice.  Her grandson is on Ben's team.

Proof that they do run out of energy but just not often enough.

My boys two favorite things about school are art and science.  Here they are one afternoon outside doing art.  They set up their own art station complete with a shade tree and had the best time.  I had a good laugh when I went outside and saw them.

We learned about stained glass windows and then they made their own using construction paper and tissue paper. 

These look really pretty on our school room windows.

another day, another project

This sweet drawing was on my dry erase board one morning when I went into school.  It sure made me smile.  He put our initials on each finger and the "G" stands for God. 

The boys will each have a presentation to do next week at our homeschool conference.  Ben will be sharing about China.  Here he is painting straws to look like bamboo for his diorama.  It turned out really cute.  I'll share some photos of it in an upcoming post.

For the past few months the boys have been enjoying a science experiment class at a local facility.  They have covered some great topics and they are always so excited to tell me all about it when I pick them up.  It has been a huge blessing to have this class offered for them.  It has given me a break and given them an opportunity to learn more about their favorite subject.

their first day at science class

On this particular week they had a space theme.  They built a rocket.  Their friend Eli joined them for the class and then spent the afternoon with us at home playing before he and Ben headed off to soccer.

Another fun day at science learning about robots.

Here they are this past Thursday with their teacher Mrs. Caitlin.  This week they learned about things that float and sink.  They made boats and tested them in water.  They loved it!   After the science class there is also a history/ geography class offered.  We have not been staying for it but they did this past Thursday.   It was an extra fun day for them getting to do both classes.

The same facility where they do science and Ben takes soccer has been offering a monthly Kids Night Out.  Mrs. Caitlin also leads that and does a great job.  The boys really love it!  They get to play, eat supper, make crafts, and watch a movie.  It provides us with a monthly date night.  It is a win, win for our whole family. 

Our April date night while the boys were at Kid's Night Out.  We enjoy getting to go out to eat, have leisure walks around town, and end our nights with coffee and dessert at a local cafe.  Antigua is a perfect place for that.  What a blessing to get to have some one on one time.  We have had more dates since moving to Antigua than we have had in the past 9 years combined (since Cruz was born).  It has been one of my favorite things about the move to here so far.

Our March "Kids Night Out" date in beautiful Antigua

These outings have also given us an opportunity to scout local restaurants and hotels for future teams.  Getting to do that without the boys has been fun and stress free.

having a late breakfast date while the boys were at science class one day

having a Valentine's date while our February guests watched the boys

having a breakfast date while our March team kept the boys

and here we are this past Thursday squeezing in a lunch date while the boys were doing their science and history classes.  One of our favorite places to eat without the kids is Pappy's BBQ.  We always get the same corner table and just really love the food.  I am not a big fan of country/ western music but they play it there in English.  It makes us laugh and feel like we are back home. 

Thursday night we had the Rozycki family over for a cookout.  We enjoy any time we get to spend with them.  The kids play really well together and we enjoy the adult fellowship.  They are a sweet family and we are glad to call them friends.

On Friday we wrapped up our school year.  This photo does not even begin to show our excitement (at least mine anyway).  This school year has been a challenge and I am happy to be closing it out.  Hello summer break!!!

We are all packed up and ready to go.  Our first summer adventure begins today (4:30 a.m. to be exact).   No rest for the weary.  Next stop- the U.S.A!