Weekend Road Trip

Last Friday we picked Cruz up from school and headed out for a little weekend getaway.  We stopped for lunch at Pollo Campero in Chiquimula and then headed on towards Coban.  On the other side of Tactic is a little country restaurant that we have stopped at many times before when we lived in Coban.  It is a rustic place with a lot of old decorations hanging from the ceiling and on the walls.  It reminds us of an old country store back in the States.  We stopped there for a bathroom/ snack break and to stretch our legs. 

Cafe La Granja

We ordered a slice of carrot cake, a slice of cinnamon cake, two cappuccinos, and a glass of milk.

After eating we let the kids play a while on the large playground area outside.  Cruz loved it!

It didn't take him long to spot the red barn out back.  It housed the many ducks that were running around. 

They sold many homemade goodies and I picked David up a jar of homemade blackberry jelly to go in his Father's Day bag.   

We then drove on in to Coban and checked in to a little hotel on the outside of town.  Some missionary friends had recommended it.  After unloading the car we spent some time walking around outside.

the hotel restaurant where we ate breakfast on Saturday morning

Behind the property was a small Kekchi house.  They had several pigs and chickens running around.  The boys enjoyed going to look at them.  I think Ben would have got down and tried to catch one if we would have let him ha ha.

That night we ordered Dominos pizza delivery for supper and ate in our room.  The delivery special included a pizza, cinnamon rolls, a drink, and a small tub of ice cream.  It was yummy!  We took baths and were all in the bed early.

We took this family photo on Saturday morning before going to eat breakfast.  I am crazy about taking family photos!  I just love having pictures of my little family and know that we will look back at them one day and smile.   I also love reminiscing about the past and photos help me remember things and places.

After eating we drove over to Miss Fran's house for a visit.  After 50+ years on the mission field she will be returning to the States in August.  It's sad to think about her not being in Guatemala, but she knows it is time to go.  We spent the morning catching up with her, and enjoying our visit together.  Would you pray for her as she is trying to get all of her things in order to leave.  It's a huge task and at times can be very overwhelming for her.  Pray that her transition to life in the States would be a smooth one.  She is a true treasure and we are two that have been very blessed to have her in our lives.  In addition to the Kekchi language she has taught us so much about culture and missionary life.  We are grateful for her hard work and dedication to the Kekchi people!

She wanted us to have this glider swing so we got it loaded on our car and took it home with us.  I think we'll treasure it forever just knowing that it was hers.

Before leaving town we stopped by the Baptist mission property.  The boys loved getting to see Precioso and play with him a moment.   We miss that dog!

We ate a quick lunch at McDonald's and then got back on the road.  Our next stop was for a little R&R to celebrate Father's Day.  I'll post about that part of our weekend tomorrow.

Spring Break Road Trip Day 2

When we woke up on Wednesday morning in Coban the first thing I did was walk out on the balcony to check the weather.  Sure enough it was still raining.  Ugh!

looking down the street from our hotel balcony

Our initial plan was to just travel to Coban and stay two nights there.  We had planned to picnic for lunch on Wednesday at a local park and play in the waterfalls.  We thought we would spend some time just walking around town.  But, with cold, rainy weather there just isn't much you can do- especially with small kids.  So, instead we went with our Plan B option and decided to pack up and head north.  We have been wanting to make some visits up that way anyway so we just decided to make the loop.  Before leaving though we still had some more people to see in Coban.

We had breakfast with Miss Fran and the Groff's at our hotel that morning.  Miss Fran brought Cruz a coloring book and Phyllis brought the boys several reading books.  It was sweet of them to bring gifts for the kids. 

me, Cruz, Galen, Phyllis, Miss Fran, Ben, and David

The Groff's stayed and watched the boys while we got the room packed up and the car loaded.  It was soo nice of them, and it helped us out greatly.  That was a BIG blessing to us and gave us a few minutes of calm in our day.

Phyllis reading one of the books to Cruz that she bought him.

When we checked out of the hotel we stopped by the Baptist property there in town.  We were greeted at the gate by Bro. Juan.  He seemed very happy to see us and especially the boys.

Cruz, Bro. Juan, David, and Ben

We all enjoyed seeing Precioso!

I am certain these two would have become big buddies if they had the chance.

We walked over to the Kekchi Baptist mission office to see Armando.  Some of the WMU ladies were also meeting there so we got to peek in at them.  Former national missionary Bro. Augustine was teaching them.  We always loved working with him.

Cruz, Armando, and Ben

Armando runs the Kekchi Baptist office there in Coban and does a wonderful job.

We tried to visit with Bro. Raul and Chus at the Baptist church in town but no-one was home.  So we stopped by the Dieseldorff coffee farm to pick up some good 'ol Coban coffee.  That made David very happy.  Afterwards we drove out to Sergio's house to see him and his family.  Sergio was our former helper and David's Kekchi tutor.  We love his family and were so excited to get to see them and show them the boys.

Bro. Juan, David, and Sergio

One of my favorite memories about Coban was seeing the flower ladies outside of the post office.  I was a regular customer of theirs.  I love having fresh flowers in my house.  I was tickled when we stopped by there and they recognized my face and ran to greet me.  That made me feel good.

We made a quick run by the McCafe for coffee to-go and then set out for another long day of travel.  We headed towards Sayaxche.  Our first stop was at the hotel in Chisec.  We made peanut butter sandwiches in the car and then took them inside to eat.  We bought drinks to go with them.  We have spent many, many nights at that hotel.  It was good to catch up with the owner, Alecia, while there.

Cruz enjoying his peanut butter sandwich

No "picnic" would be complete without a little Sarita's ice cream. 

We walked around the property, looked at some of the new areas they had added on, and let Cruz play a minute on the dinosaur slides before loading back up and driving on.  We have lots of good memories from that place!

Once we reached Sayaxche our first stop was by the King's house.  We enjoyed getting to know Arlen and Keturah when we lived there.  They are leaving Guatemala (next week) and will be reassigned to a new position in Orlando, Florida.  We were very glad we got to see them one more time before they left.

David, Cruz, Arlen, Ben, and Keturah

We stopped by to see Anita and her family also.  We love keeping up with them on facebook but its so much better to see them in person. 

me, Ben, Sara, Anita, Barbie, and Cruz

We stopped by our previous house to visit the landlord and his family.  He sadly was not there at the time so we missed getting to see him.  I really wanted him to see Cruz.  We stayed for a while visiting with his family and letting them play with the boys.

Our landlords family were all so sweet to Cruz when we lived there.  They considered him (and us) a part of their family.  All of our neighbors there were that way.  We have missed that since we moved.

I was very anxious to see the neighbor kids who came to our house everyday.  I wanted to see how much they had grown and changed.  We enjoyed having these kids around.

Susy holding Ben

Ben, Lesly, Jennifer, me, and Iris

I love these girls and just could not quit hugging them.  They had really grown in a year since we last saw them.

Enoc, Cruz, Lesly, Jenifer, Ben, and Iris

We were sad to not get to visit with the family who lived right across the street from us.  They were the family with all the older teenagers. They adored Cruz and the feeling was mutual.  A few months ago their daddy was murdered and because of that they had to leave town.  We have been in touch with them and knew it had happened.  Our hearts are very sad for them.  I really wish we could have seen them to pray with them and encourage them.  They are dear to our hearts.

Our last stop before calling it a night at the Hotel Del Rio was for supper at the Oasis.  When we lived in Sayaxche it was by far our favorite place in town.  We ate there several times a week.  I just loved going there to hang out.  They serve hamburgers, hot dogs, and nachos and play a lot of English music.  It always felt like being back home to us and we loved having that place to go and unwind when we lived there.

The workers there are just precious and we love all of them.

As you can see it was a pretty long day.  We were all EXHAUSTED by the time we got to the hotel.  We showered and all went straight to bed.  It had been a very fun day getting to travel to some places that are dear to our hearts and seeing many people that we love and have enjoyed getting to know.

Cruz in Coban

We had an overnight trip to Coban this week to do a few errands that needed to be done for some guests that were coming in.  It is always a joy to return there!  The weather was beautiful- not too hot nor too cold.  It was a welcomed break from the high temps we have been having here in Sayaxche.  I took several pictures of Cruz in the yard while we were there (imagine that, haha).    Here are a few of him-

If that stick were a little longer it would look like he was fishing.

He loved seeing Precioso again.  The dog is starting to warm up to him, or he is learning to tolerate him more with each visit.   They just kind of followed each other around the whole time.  He let Cruz pet him on the head, which is not his normal.  Cruz also ran over his foot with the walker and he didn't seem to mind.  They are becoming good buds. 

There are a lot of pretty flowers in bloom on the property there right now.  Here is Cruz checking out some orchids. 

We are looking forward to our return visit there next week when we will be attending the Indigenous Summit.  We are anticipating a great week, and cannot wait to see how the Lord is going to work!

The Grass is Greener on This Side

We have spent a little time this week in Coban.  We had to go to meet with two of our bosses from Mexico.  I'll post about that tomorrow.   It was fun to visit and hang out there.  We'll always love Coban!  While there we enjoyed letting Cruz play in the grass.  One of the things we love about the Coban property is the pretty yard.  He wasn't sure what to think about the grass at first, and wanted me to pick him up.  He later decided he liked it and had fun picking at the grass and leaves.  Here are a few photos I took of him-

his first mini futbol

He loves balls and will chase this one all over the house.

You can see all six of his teeth in this photo.  He has not cut any new ones lately.

He loves to play with leaves!

having one of his "I don't like this grass, pick me up Mommy!" moments

sweet feet!

He also enjoyed some more time with Precioso.  We forgot to take his walker so he just crawled after him this time.  He really likes the dog although we are still unsure just what the dog thinks of him.  In the photo below it looks like Cruz is crying and Precioso is biting him but actually I snapped the photo just as the dog approached him and he squinted.  We think it's funny how the picture turned out.

It was a refreshing break for all of us!

Cruz and Precioso

While in Coban recently we put Cruz in his walker and let him play outside.  There is a lot of concrete there he can walk around on.  He loves being outdoors, and on this particular day all he wanted to do was get to our supervisors dog, Precioso.  Cruz always wants to pet him, but the dog is a little unsure of Cruz.  We got a lot of laughs watching him chase Precioso around. 

He also kept pulling leaves and wanting to eat them.  

plotting how he can get the dog...

hmmm... 

he's got his eye on him...

 

 there he is...

here doggie doggie

and this is as close as Precioso would let him get.

Here's a little video of him in action-