Christmas 2025

We got to celebrate Christmas in the States this year.  It was only the boy's fourth time to ever be there for Christmas.  They were excited.

 We spent Christmas Eve with David's family and Christmas Day with mine. 

 

On Christmas Eve we gathered at David's late grandmother's house in Crystal Springs.  We had a great meal and fellowship time together and all the kids opened presents. 

 

our family on Christmas Eve 

 

 

us with David's two aunts and cousin 

 

us with his Aunt Terry 

 

us with David's sister and her family 

 

David with his aunt and cousin

 

 

our tree ready for Christmas morning 

 

For breakfast I baked these caramel rolls.

 

 

This was the first year they both slept in on Christmas morning.  We have definitely come a long way from those early morning hours. Here they are ready to open gifts.

 

Ben is our candy man.  He loves sweets!  He gave me a long list of specific things he wanted. 

 

Most of Cruz's gifts were Ole Miss themed.  I got him this Oxford print on our visit to the Lucky Rabbit in Hattiesburg back in November. 

 

Egg Bowl 2025 t-shirt

I am so glad we got to go to the game!! 

 

Ole Miss blanket 

 

hot sauce for David 

 

new gaming blanket for Ben 

 

I got a small digital frame to put in my kitchen.  

 

 

My mom and Aunt Nita came down to eat lunch with us.  I baked a ham, and we had potato casserole, macaroni and cheese, Lima beans, green beans, rolls, pecan pie, and sweet potato pie.

 

Later that afternoon Mr. Thurman stopped by to see us.  We had a great visit with him. 

 

It was a simple celebration, but sweet time spent with family.  As soon as Christmas was over we kicked things into high gear and got ready to leave the country.  We had two days to clean up, pack up, and get to the airport for our flight back to Guatemala. I'll share about that next.

Life Lately December 2024

 Here is a look at our family life during the month of December.

 

We kicked off the month attending the Antigua Bread Festival.  

 

 

a video of the festival

 

 

In addition to the bread festival, there was also a chess tournament taking place in the Central Park that day.

 

 

And, a Jeep expo taking place around the Central Park.

 

 

 

David and our teammates participated in the annual Indigenous Conference.  As always, it was a wonderful time of fellowship and growing together. This year it took place in Solola with beautiful views of Lake Atitlan.

 

The boys had a blast at their youth group Christmas party.  They enjoyed tamales, hot chocolate, and a bonfire with s’mores. They decorated cookies, played Christmas themed games, and had a Christmas dress up contest. They had been collecting food items since October. They packed giveaway bags with the food items to be delivered later in December. It was a fun, festive night. 

 

 

youth group Christmas party

 

 

I had a luncheon with some missionary friends.  We enjoyed a delicious Greek meal at Santo Gyro.

 

 

The Waldraff family was back in Guatemala leading a retreat, and we enjoyed lunch and an afternoon visit with them.  They serve with the IMB leading Send Relief efforts.  They lived in Guatemala for a while before transferring to South America.  It was our first time to see them in a while, and we really enjoyed catching up.  Plus, getting to love on those sweet twin girls was an added blessing.

 

 

Cruz and I had a Saturday one on one day.  We did some shopping, eating, and laughing together.  I greatly enjoyed it!!

 

 

Cruz at lunch.  He is growing up fast!

 

Cruz and I on a mother/son lunch date at Santo Gyro in Antigua.

 

 

While Cruz and I were out and about, Ben was having a day of fun with friends at Eco Farm. They played all day together and even when they returned to town they had a pizza and movie night together.  He was very tired when he got home. 

 

David spent part of that day teaching a group of church leaders on the topic of "The Heart of a Servant Leader".

 

 

Cruz's friend, David, was home from his first semester at college.  He was eager to catch up with him, so we planned a lunch outing.  While they sat at their own table to visit, David's mom and I had our own table and enjoyed catching up.  We are thankful for friends like David and his mom who encourage us greatly.

 

 

Ben and his friend Josue spent an afternoon playing and exploring at some local ruins in town.

 

Josue is one of Ben's best friends. 

 

 

As part of our December classroom decorations, I included these cute angels that we made back in 2014.  The blue body is the boy's footprints, and the wings are their hand prints. It was ten years ago that we made them.

 

 

Here is our last day of school photo before Christmas break. We were all VERY ready for some time off.

 

 

As soon as we finished school, we drove into Guatemala City for some family fun to kick off our Christmas Break.

 

 

We rode go-carts at Loops,

 

 

We visited the new trampoline park at Oakland Place.

 

 

Oakland Place at Christmas.

 

 

A view of Guatemala City in Zone 10 (our favorite!)

 

 

Click on the link to see how we celebrated Christmas Eve .

 

 

Christmas Eve candlelight service.

 

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Christmas Eve midnight fireworks.

 

 

Click on this link to read about our Christmas Day celebration.

 

 

A few days after Christmas, Cruz's friend David and his older brother Kevin (who was also home from college) came to Antigua.  Cruz enjoyed spending the day with them.  He took them as guests to the gym.  They walked all around town.  They enjoyed good food and coffee together. Cruz had a wonderful time!

 

 

Cruz at a local coffee shop.

 

On the last Saturday of the month, we spent the day in Guatemala City with the English family.  We went to Miraflores Mall for lunch and some fun kid friendly activities.  

 

 

Cruz on the carousel. 

 

Ben on the carousel.

 

Miraflores Mall has a beautiful outdoor space where you can rent scooters and these little electric "cars".  The kids enjoyed getting to ride them. 

 

A video highlight from our outing to Miraflores Mall with the English family.

 

 

Lastly, we ended the month with a work trip to Bogota, Colombia.  Here we are in a taxi headed to the airport.  Our trip overlapped New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.  I'll share about how we celebrated both of those in my next few posts.