Life Lately August 2026

 August flew by!  Here is a look at some of our activities over the past few weeks. 

 

We started the month celebrating David's birthday. 

 

 

The following day we started back to school.  

Cruz is in the 11th grade, and Ben is in the 9th. 

 

 

Ben had a sleepover with his friend Joshua, and we made him an early birthday pancake breakfast. 

 

Cruz spent time with his friend, Malachi, while he was in country visiting family.  Here they are at a local Antigua soccer game. 

  

 

On another evening Ben was invited to a soccer game with his friend Josue. 

 

 

David attended a kid's ministry event with a new local partner in Alotenango. 

 

 

He also attended a regional pastor's meeting.  Here are some of the leaders from our part of the country.  

 

He joined Pastor Apolinario and his church for a baptismal service. 

 

 

There were four people baptized that day. 

 

 

The boys have enjoyed getting back to their youth group after missing about seven weeks during the summer.  We enjoy weekly date nights while they are there.  Here we are at Del Griego in Guatemala City.  We love gyros!

 

 

Cruz has been driving more and more.  Here he is on his first time driving into Guatemala City. He was going to a high school worship night with some friends. That first time about sent me over the edge, but now that he has done it several more times, it is getting easier to tolerate.   He's a great driver.  I just worry about all the other driver's around us.  

 

 

I spent a Saturday morning baking.  My freezer is empty, and I need to get it restocked with baked goods.  On this day I made chocolate chip banana bread.  I plan to continue in the coming weeks with zucchini bread and pumpkin bread.   

 

 

I know it was only August, but I was very eager to decorate the house for fall.  I love fall decor!  The colors just give me a warm, cozy feeling.  My stuff is a mixture of pumpkins and football, which are two of my favorite things.

 

 

Here's a little glimpse of my house.

 

 

The outside is looking good also.  Here's a few things that are currently blooming in my yard.  

 

 

It has been a while since we used our fire pit.  On a recent Saturday night, we built a fire and cooked hot dogs.  I love sitting out by the fire.    

 

 

Our homeschool year is off to a great start!  Ben is taking Biology this year.  He is excited to get to use the microscope. 

 

Ben doing a science experiment. He was testing different antacids to see which one was more effective at neutralizing acid.  Both boys have already had several fun experiments.  Experiments have always been one of my favorite parts of homeschool.

 

 

Ben is taking a geography course this semester.  For an elective credit, I am paring food and recipes with the countries he is studying and calling it an International Cooking class.  It has been very interesting so far.  He just completed his fourth week and here are the recipes he made.  For Germany he made Spatzle.  For Bahamas he made jerk chicken with beans and rice.  For Japan he made ramen, and David took him out to eat sushi.  For Bolivia he made pique macho.  He is a picky eater, and I love seeing him try new things.  His favorite so far has been ramen.  He has made that recipe several more times since his class.

 

 

Ben enjoying a sushi lunch date with his dad. 

 

 

I posted about his study and love of Japan.  A Facebook friend who lives here wrote me and offered to gift Ben some things from there.  Just days before she had returned from a two week trip vacation to Japan.  She gave him a newspaper, some receipts showing Japanese writing, a deck of cards, some coins, several varieties of chocolate, and some stickers.  It was very kind and generous of her!

 

Ben's gifts.

Did you know Kit Kat is popular there?  He got several different flavors to try like matcha, cherry blossom, banana, and blueberry cheesecake.

 

 

We ended the month with a Saturday day trip to our favorite mall in Guatemala City, Miraflores. We spent the day walking around, picking up a few things, and having lunch at the food court.  

 

We were surprised to see these beautiful balloons on display at the outside grassy area of the mall.  They do not go up in the air but were actually a dining experience where you can reserve a balloon and have a meal at the table inside the baskets. 

 

There were eight balloons and each represented a different country. They were so pretty to see!

 

Well, August is slipping away, and it's time to welcome September.  I'm excited mostly because it means college football season will be here.  It's my favorite season of all!   

 

 

And, to show my excitement, I'm using it as my theme for our September classroom wall decoration. 

 

Hello September!