Ringing in the New Year 2026

We celebrated Christmas in the States but were back in Guatemala in time to ring in the new year. Most of New Year's Eve was spent running errands and lounging on the couch watching football. That evening after supper, David, Cruz, and I went into town to walk around and get coffee and dessert.  Ben had been at a sleepover the night before and didn't come home until around 9:30 p.m. on New Year's Eve so he wasn't here to join us.

 

Much of town was still decorated for Christmas.  It was pretty!  This is our town's Central Park. 

 

The San José Cathedral that faces our Central Park.

 

 

They had a large stage area set up for the New Year's celebration activities. 

 

 

ready to count down to the new year 

 

me and David in the Central Park

 

 

the famous arch in Antigua 

 

We stopped at Bru'd for coffee and dessert.  It is one of our favorite coffee shops in town. 

 

Cruz got cheesecake.  It is his favorite dessert. 

 

I had ice coffee and shared this cinnamon roll with David. 

 

I love the decorations in there. 

 

We came home, and I watched Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest.  I love Ryan! 

 

 

Happy New Year!!!

 

We stayed up another hour until midnight here to see the fireworks and then went to bed. 

 

 

We had chocolate chip banana pecan pancakes for our New Year's Day breakfast. 

I then spent the morning watching the Rose Parade.  I loved seeing this Mississippi float.

 

our annual family photo 

 

 

We went into town for lunch and ate at Hector's Bistro.  It is one of our favorite restaurants in town. 

 

 

I love these bacon wrapped stuffed dates!!! 

 

A view of Agua volcano on the walk back to the car. 

 

 

The highlight of the day was watching Ole Miss play Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. 

 

 

Let's go!!! 

 

I baked a cake.  I attempted to shape it like a football but didn't cut enough off of the middle.  Regardless, it was a delicious dessert. 

 

We also had Domino's pizza delivered for supper. 

 

 

We built a fire and watched the game. 

 

 

Ole Miss won!!!!!

I have watched a lot of football games in my life, but this one will always stand out as a highlight.  It was the most exciting, thrilling game ever!!!   It was hard to wind down and go to bed after that.  What a fun way to kick off the new year.

 

 

Happy New Year y'all!!!

 

Thanks for keeping up with our family on our little corner of the web.  We appreciate you reading!

 

As we start this new year, we are praying that it is a year filled with growth, obedience, and joy as we follow God's plan for our lives. We are trusting Him to lead every step in this new term. We are grateful for His guidance and excited for what He has in store for the days ahead.

Bogota/ New Year's Eve

A few days after Christmas we boarded a flight for Bogota, Colombia to attend an indigenous cluster leadership meeting.  Part of choosing those dates was our kids all being out of school and free to travel with us. They were looking forward to spending time with the other MK's.  We were excited not only about the meetings but also just getting to spend time with our leadership team and getting to know them better.

 

Our family in the taxi headed to the airport in Guatemala City.

 

 

Cruz on the plane.  We flew direct from Guatemala City to Bogota.  The flight was just a little over three hours.

 

 

Welcome to Bogota

 

 

With the exception of New Year's Day, our days were spent in meetings.  We would start at 8:30 in the morning and go until late in the afternoon. We did a lot of praying, discussing, and planning. It was work, but the fellowship and laughter around the tables made it fun and enjoyable. Here are Cruz and David walking to our mission office one morning. 

 

 

The boys had a week of fun and fellowship with their MK friends. Their week was filled with daily outings to places like a theme park, the movies,  a mall, and a trampoline park. They could not have had a more fun week!!

 

 

 

On New Year's Eve we gathered together for a fun night of celebration.  

 

 

Our family on New Year's Eve

 

We enjoyed some delicious food, watched football, and played several games.  One of those was bingo.  We also did several Minute To Win It style games.  Those were a lot of fun!

 

 

In addition, we played the white elephant game.  That provided much laughter for the group!

 

our Indigenous cluster leadership ladies

 

our Indigenous cluster leadership men 

We really could not ask for a better group of people to serve with!

 

 

We did not make it until midnight together.  Around 9:30/10:00 everyone headed in for the night.  Our family stayed up to watch the fireworks at midnight. We could see them in the distance.  

 

To our surprise we could see several local people from our window out and about with suitcases.  We just assumed they were traveling to the airport for early morning flights.  We found out the next morning that it is part of their tradition there in Colombia to walk around the block with a suitcase at midnight on New Year's Eve.  It symbolizes a desire to travel in the new year.  I think I like that tradition. 

  

 To read about the rest of our trip and how we kicked off the New Year together visit-

 NEW YEAR'S DAY 2025.

Work Trip to Mexico

A few days after Christmas we headed out on a work trip to visit some of our IMB families who serve in Mexico.  We had a wonderful time, and as you can imagine, I took a few hundred photos.  I'll spare you all of those but will try to give an overview of our trip in this post.  

 

We flew direct from Guatemala City to Mexico City.  It was a little over a two hour flight.

 

boarding our flight in Guatemala City

 

flying over Mexico City 

It is enormous!!

 

landing in Mexico City

 

We then took a two hour bus ride to Puebla.

 

David and Ben on the bus.

 

After arriving we had a meal with these fun missionaries.

 

The next morning we visited Wal-Mart to pick up some food and snacks.

 

We then spent much of the day with the English family.  They are currently doing a year of language study before heading to Guatemala later this year to serve on our team.  After many months of phone calls and video calls, it was really nice to finally get to talk to them in person.  They are such a sweet family and will most definitely be an asset to the work here in Guatemala. It was Tyler's birthday so that made our visit more special.

 

 

We made individual homemade pizzas for lunch.  It was a fun activity especially for the kids.

 

 

We ended the day having supper with the Lightseys.

 

 

The next day we were up early to make a 2.5 hour drive to see the Parks.  The scenery along the way was beautiful!

 

We passed through a few of these tunnels along the way.

 

 

our family with the Parks

 

We enjoyed exploring their city with them.  They have a river walk area that includes a zoo.

 

We visited the Central Park, the local market, and also spent time in their home.

 

Before leaving, we rode the cable car up the mountain and back down.  It takes you to a park area on top of the mountain.  It is a fun, popular activity to do in their city.

 

We were all excited!

 

headed up the mountain in the cable car

 

so fun!!

 

 

The next day was New Year's Eve.  We joined the English family for church and then ate lunch together.

 

 

We spent part of the afternoon walking around the Central Park.

 

 

A family photo as we waited to ring in the new year.

 

We went for an evening walk and also explored a local mall. 

 

The last sunset of 2023 was breathtaking!!

 

We had a pizza supper at the hotel and watched some of the midnight fireworks from the window of our room.

 

On New Year's Day we started an eight hour drive to visit two other families.

 

Volcano view as we drove out of Puebla.

 

Somewhere along the way we stopped for a roadside picnic lunch.

 

I love seeing the cactus in Mexico!!

 

It was such a beautiful drive!

 

 

We stopped for the night and enjoyed a pizza supper.  We were also able to watch some of the college football bowl games from our motel.

 

Ready to get back on the road the next morning to finish our drive.

 

a family photo along the way

 

 

visiting the Koons

 

hiking with the Armstrongs

 

 

driving back to Puebla

 

We made two more visits in Puebla before returning to Guatemala.  We met the Jones family for afternoon blizzards at Dairy Queen.

 

 

Our last visit and meal was with the Conners. We love them, and it was a great way to end our visit to Mexico. 

 

The boys at the Mexico City airport ready to fly home to Guatemala.

 

We went to encourage some of our IMB missionary families, several of whom we currently supervise. In the end we left feeling greatly encouraged ourselves. We also left with a deeper love for Mexico and a stronger relationship with the missionaries who serve there. I’d say it was a very productive work trip!