Life Lately September 2022

  We began the month with a visit from the Browns and Waldraffs.  They joined us for supper one evening in our home.  They are part of our IMB Guatemala mission family.  We had such sweet fellowship time with them.

 

The Browns will officially retire at the end of the year.  We were thankful for another chance to visit with them in Guatemala.

 

I did a lot of baking this past month.  I like to bake all year long, but my favorite time to bake is in the fall. I usually make something on Saturday mornings for us to eat over the weekend.  A few of the things I made recently were a pecan pie, chocolate chess pie, and a coconut custard pie.

Another thing we've been doing on Saturday mornings is getting ready for a day of football.  Fall at our house is filled with football Saturdays. We watch all the SEC games and a few others that catch our interest.  Cruz's favorite teams to cheer for are Ole Miss and LSU.  We order pizza, make popcorn, and eat our dessert that I baked.  It is a fun, relaxing day that we look forward to all week long. 

 

In early September I started back hosting our weekly mom's group.  We meet at my house on Wednesday afternoons while our kids are at P.E. class. We also had our first Mom's Night Out of the school year on a recent Friday night.  I am glad for a community of moms to do life with and gain wisdom and encouragement from.

 

We are continuing to work our way through the Little House on the Prairie series.  We watch an episode a night during the week after supper.  It has become a great bonding time for our family.

 

The boys dug out this old inflatable pool and decided to play in the water one afternoon.  They are obviously too big for it but in spite of that it kept them entertained for hours.

 

My most favorite time of the week is Friday afternoons.   Our boys get dropped off at Awana class for two hours and we go into town for a coffee date.  It is quiet, peaceful, and extremely relaxing.  It is a small window of alone time that we get every week and we treasure it.  Antigua provides a great setting for dates.  We are trying a different coffee shop each week and comparing our favorites.

 

We are now 26.5 years of marriage and going strong.

 

our precious boys 

David spends a lot of time talking with pastors and visiting with pastors.  He has also been busy getting everything lined up for our fall teams.  In September we hosted a team from FBC Summit, MS in the Antigua area. We have two more teams coming this year.  They will both be working in the Chiquimula area. One arrives today (October 8).  Pray for a great week of serving together.

 

 

our September team

 

 

making home visits

 

learning to make tortillas

 

 

We ended the month attending the Fall Community Day at Encounter Academy.  We had a time of singing, sharing, eating, and fellowship.  There were games set up for the kids to play similar to a fall festival.  Costumes were optional.  David and I recycled some old Disney shirts and went as two dwarfs- happy and grumpy.  It was a fun evening for all the families that attended.

 

Ben playing cornhole

 

Cruz loved the dart game most of all.

Other recent September blog posts are:

Guatemala's Independence Day

Homeschool Days

Our family, September 2022

Thank you for praying for us!

Life Lately February 2022

 Here is a glimpse of some family activity during the month of February.

 

We began the month getting our yearly eye exams.  

 

 

We celebrated the opening ceremony of the winter Olympics.  We had friends over to watch it with us. I have been making this cake for every Olympic opening ceremony since 2012.  It is a fun family tradition.  We had pizza for supper and cake for dessert.

 

Cruz over the years.

 

 

It has been our tradition to let the boys redecorate their bedroom when we return from Stateside Assignment.  They get to pick out new bedding in the States and bring it back.  It gives them something to look forward to and helps build excitement for our return.  This was the first year they insisted on different themes.  Yes, it made my heart a little sad.  Cruz chose Minecraft and Ben chose baby Yoda.  At least the colors still coordinate.  

 

Ben helping me dice potatoes for supper.  We were making a pot of potato soup.

 

A sunset view from the balcony of Doña Luisa in Antigua.  You can see the volcanoes in the distance.

 

Our city has cobblestone streets.  Lately, there has been a lot of repair work being done on them.  

 

The cobblestones add to the character of our beautiful city.  They are nice to look at but not so nice to walk and drive on.  

 

me and my boys

 

 

We spent a Saturday afternoon with friends at Pitaya in Panorama. We walked to it from our house. They have a restaurant and mini golf area.  It is a beautiful garden setting and a fun place to relax and fellowship.  We enjoyed coffee and snacks while the kids ran around playing.

 

 

mini golf with friends

 

There was a birthday party taking place that day and the kids got to participate in the exotic animal show.  A guy had brought several exotic animals that the kids learned about and got to pet. It was fun for them but I watched from a distance.  I am not a fan of snakes!!

 

What a fun time we had!

 

David preaching at the Baptist church in San Andres Itzapa on a Sunday evening.

 

David and the boys after church.

 

 

Our Valentine's Day breakfast.

 

My guys gave me roses, chocolate, and  homemade cards.

 

That evening we went out for an Italian supper at Pasta Nostra.  It is one of our favorite places in town.

 

I love their eggplant Parmesan!

 

We normally get Glacy ice cream afterwards but it was a little cool that night so instead we picked up some cheesecake from Cafe Condesa.  We brought it home to eat.

 

We love watching the Kids Baking Championship on Food Network each year.  We spent every Monday night on the couch watching the show.  All of our favorites made it to the finale.

 

 

I attended a "Moms' Night Out" with a group from Encounter Academy.  We spent a Friday evening at a local cafe drinking coffee and enjoying fellowship around the table.  I look forward to more of these nights in the future.

 

David made an overnight trip to Chiquimula and took our missionary friend Abner with him.  While they were gone, the wives and kids spent time together.  Here are the kids enjoying milkshakes at a local cafe on a warm Saturday afternoon.

 

Our partner church, First Baptist Mount Pleasant, SC, had their annual missions conference.  We have never been able to attend in person but try to send videos when we can.  My sweet friend Jennifer sent me this picture of our video being played during the conference.   We are thankful for all of our partners and the way they promote our work and pray for us.

 

 

We had been to Pitaya in Panorama for mini golf earlier in the month and while there learned that they have two more locations nearby.   There is a restaurant in Antigua and a restaurant and mini golf location at Finca Azotea in Jocotenango.  The Panorama mini golf has nine holes and the one at Azotea has eighteen.  The Waldraffs, IMB/ Send Relief missionaries, drove from Guatemala City one day to join us for lunch and an outing.  We took them to Pitaya at Finca Azotea and had a wonderful time.

 

Pitaya is now one of several restaurants that is open at Finca Azotea.  It has really expanded in recent months.

 

ready to golf

 

 

 

Lastly, I mentioned in another post about our recent trip to Panajachel for the Intermissions Conference.  I did not take many pictures that weekend but here are a few more random ones to share.  This is David and the boys at the lookout.  You can see a little of the lake in the distance.

 

The boys before breakfast on Saturday morning.

 

a beautiful view of Lake Atitlan from our room

 

 

Cruz with a new friend and his favorite leader from the volunteer team.

 

 

The boys favorite part of the whole weekend was just being with MK friends.

 

 

 

Being with friends was one of our favorite parts of the weekend as well.  It was like a missionary family reunion for us. We were able to see and visit with many families who have been a big part of our missionary journey.  Here we are with the Wisemans who were our dear friends when we lived in Coban.  We spent many nights at each others houses having meals and playing games during those years..  We visited with Ms. Barbara Stoltzfus who we knew from our time in Sayaxche Peten.  We soaked up time with the Lubecks from our Chiquimula days.  We also had a few meals with the Hardemans and Stones.  It helped us reflect and see that no matter where we have lived in Guatemala, God has always been faithful to put people in our lives to do life with.  He is continuing to do that even now in Antigua.  What a blessing!!

Other posts from February include my birthday and homeschool.  Overall, it was a fun month.