Life Lately June & July 2026

Hello blogger world!  I took a break during the summer and will try to get caught up in the days ahead.  Here are some random pictures from the months of June and July. 

 

In early June David preached at a special Father's Day service at the Baptist church in Jocotenango.

 

We met this sweet family from Maine and enjoyed visiting with them over coffee at a local coffee shop in town.  They were in Guatemala on vacation.  We love opportunities like this.   

 

 

A highlight of my June was watching the college baseball playoffs and World Series tournament.  Of course, we cheered on Ole Miss until they lost.  

 

We all had dental cleanings.  This was the view while we waited to see the dentist.  Not a bad sight!

 

 

The boys attended Camp Guamiski, which is a summer camp for MK's living in Guatemala.  They love this week!   

 

 

While they were at camp, David and I spent some time in Guatemala City doing annual medical checkups.  What a pretty view from Zone 10. 

 

 

A highlight of our city time was having lunch at Del Griego.  We love gyros!  We also enjoyed a meal at P.F. Chang's.  It is a tradition while the boys are at camp. 

 

 

As soon as camp ended, we flew home to Mississippi for a few weeks of summer in the South.  You can read about that HERE.

 

 

We returned to Guatemala mid-July and then just three days later flew to Peru for a work meeting/ training. 

 

Landing in Lima 

From the Lima airport, we had a two hour bus ride to our location.  Peru's Independence Day was coming up so that meant we saw their flag flying everywhere.

 

A highlight was the alpacas and llamas that roamed the property where we stayed.  We loved seeing them every day. 

 

 

 

While we were at our training, Cruz enjoyed spending the week with other high school TCK's whose parents serve in the Americas.  This annual retreat is one of his favorite things!  This was his second year to go.  You have to be fifteen to attend, so next year Ben will get to join him. 

 

Cruz with some of his friends at the retreat. 

 

They loved dressing up for an evening meal.  They also had a hoedown and a decades night. 

 

We are thankful for the way the IMB invests in our kids! 

 

 

We returned to Guatemala with one week left of summer break.  I spent most of the week getting ready for the new school year.   

 

Here are some photos of our classroom this year- 

 

I bought this wall decoration because it reminded me of Colorado, which I greatly love! 

 

 

 

We started back on August 3.  I'll share about our first day of school in an upcoming post. 

 

 

The boys spent the week catching up with friends.  They both had sleepovers.  Ben joined a friend to see the new Spiderman movie.  Cruz enjoyed a workout with a friend and a visit to a coffee shop.  They both joined friends at local pools for a day of swimming.  They had a busy social week!  On this particular day we enjoyed lunch with friends at a local coffee farm.  This is Ben with his friend Josue. 

 

A cute planter at the coffee farm.

 

Overall, it was a fun summer, and I'm a little sad that is has come to an end.  But, new adventures lie ahead, and we are fully embracing what fall has to offer.  What am I most looking forward to?  SEC college football!!!  Football season is my favorite season of all.

Visiting Chiquimula February 2024

Earlier this month we made an overnight trip to Chiquimula to visit the church in Nearar.  It has been a while since we were there, and we were eager to return and see them in person.  On a good day it would take us about five hours to get to the city of Chiquimula.  We left home on Saturday morning and because of road accidents and road construction we did not arrive until eight hours later.  Needless to say, it was a long travel day!

 

It took us over four hours just to get across Guatemala City.  We stopped for a late lunch at McDonald's near Metro Norte.

 

 

Once we finished lunch and got back on the road it was smooth sailing for the rest of the drive.

 

We are going through a missionary study in our Bible class.  We will study twelve missionaries in all this school year.  We listened to our latest one on the drive there and back.  The story of Lillian Trasher is fascinating!  She started the first orphanage in Egypt in the early 1900's.  We love missionary stories!! 

As we got close to Chiquimula we began seeing signs for some new businesses that we had no idea were there.  We were quite surprised to see a KFC, Pizza Hut, and even a Starbucks now located there.  It makes us very happy to see progress continuing all throughout Guatemala.

 

now in Chiquimula!! 

It blows our minds.

 

Of course we had to stop for coffee.  Like all Starbuck's locations in Guatemala, this one was beautifully designed.

 

It was fun to see Amy Cordero there.  She is Jane's daughter who runs the school in Jocotan where Cruz attended preschool. We love their whole family!

 

On Sunday morning we made the drive up the mountain to the village of Nearar.

 

Driving these mountain roads brought back so many fond memories!  We miss it greatly.  We used to travel these roads a minimum of three times a week leading Bible studies when we lived there.

 

The Baptist church in Nearar. 

What a joy to return and worship with them again.

 

ready for Sunday morning worship

 

David preached a wonderful message.

 

me with Luz and some of her children

 

Our MK's with the youngest PK.

 

us with Rafa and Luz

Pray for them as they lead the church each week. We are very proud of them and the way they have grown in the Lord over the years.  What a joy to see them become believers, be discipled, and lead the church.  God is Good!   We do not get back to see them in person as often as we would like, but when we do it is always a special time.

 

 

Before driving back home we made a stop by the Lubeck's house.  I knew she would have sweet rolls and coffee waiting on us.  We had a wonderful visit with them.  They are dear precious friends and mentors.  Our lives have been greatly blessed because we have them in it.

 

She sent us on our way with a package of sweet rolls to go.  Yum!!

 

We made a stop over in Guatemala City to join our mission family for a Super Bowl party before driving home to Antigua.  We had a fun night together.  I'll share about that next.

Life Lately September 2023

I began the month of September by decorating the house for fall.  We do not have seasons here like in the States but I still decorate.  Fall is my favorite time of the year.  I love the colors, the smells, and all the fun that comes with it.  I miss being in the States during this time of year so creating it in my home makes me feel happy.

 

our dining room

 

 

a YouTube video I made of our decorations

 

 

We watch a lot of football on Saturdays.  One recent Saturday night while watching a game, the boys got out their old Magic Tracks and played for the longest time.  They will say they are too old for some of their toys but every now and then they will get them out and play.  It makes me smile.

 

The boys go to a youth group in San Cristobal near Guatemala City on Wednesday nights.  We carpool with another family and take turns driving them. We saw this beautiful rainbow on a recent drive there.

 

I did a lot of baking in September.  I made my first pumpkin pie of the season.

 

I also baked some chocolate chip, pecan, pumpkin bread.

 

a sunset view from our terrace

 

our flowers are in full bloom

 

another view of Agua volcano from our terrace

 

The boys had a blast on a Saturday youth outing to Loops with Union Church in Guatemala City.  They did bowling, skating, go-carts and more.  It was a fun day for them.

 

 

Cruz doing Science a experiment.  His Physical Science curriculum this year is filled with fun experiments. 

 

Here is a video of him clowning around while making a 3D Atomic model.

 

 

having fun with water

 

 

Ben on a recent school day.

 

We celebrated Guatemala's Independence Day on the 15th of September.

 

 

Here is a YouTube video of one of the Independence Day parades.

 

 

We enjoyed a family bowling outing in Guatemala City.

 

We love 1890 Bowling inside Miraflores Mall.

 

 

bowling video

 

 

a video of Guatemala City Zone 10

 

 

We were in four churches during the month of September. Here we are walking up the hill to church in San Rafael.

 

David preached three times in September.  Here he is on one of those times.

 

 

a video of our drive to San Rafael one Sunday morning

 

 

another video of a family feeding their cows in San Rafael 

 

We had a visit from Miguel,

He was our ministry partner when we lived in Chiquimula.

 

 

Lastly, at the end of the month Cruz volunteered to work at a Kid's Day carnival at a church in Antigua.  He volunteered all on his own and spent the day there working. He was responsible for the basketball game.  He had a wonderful time!  It made us proud to see him want to serve.