Here We Go...

It was a great relief to get everything done at home and be able to lock it up and walk away. Packing is hard. Packing with Cruz and Ben is almost impossible, ha. We left home on Sunday and traveled into Guatemala City.

a quick family photo at our home before we left

We stopped for lunch at McDonald's in Chiquimula.  We are doing a Flat Stanley project for a 3rd grade class in north Mississippi so I snapped this photo of the worker there holding Stanley.   It's been fun taking Stanley around with us the past week.

After arriving at our mission house in the Capital the boys spent the rest of the afternoon playing with the kids that live there.  They had the boys some shirts waiting for them when we arrived.  They were matching shirts and Josue had one also.  Cruz insisted he change into his so I ended up changing them both. 

Josue, Cruz, and Ben in their new matching shirts

We had some Chinese food delivered for supper- shrimp fried rice and egg rolls.  YUMMY!  Ben liked leaning over and picking out my English peas and eating them.

The next two days were spent running errands and tying up loose ends before we leave.  

We went to a local mall to get Cruz and David a haircut.  They were having a dinosaur exhibit.  We didn't have time to go through it but Cruz loved seeing the ones they had around the mall on display.

Cruz getting a haircut  

Normally he loves to sit on the motorcycle but this visit he decided to sit in the pink jeep instead.  I was very surprised.

Ben didn't get a haircut but he spent his time playing on the motorcycle that Cruz didn't want to sit on.  He also loved looking at himself in the mirror as you can tell by his sweet smile in this picture.

He saw this Ronald McDonald figure and ran right up and crawled in his lap.  He kept reaching over and pinching him on the nose.

On Tuesday we ate lunch at a local Pizza Hut.  This particular one has our favorite play land in it.  The boys had a blast playing together and even after we finished our meal we just sat and let them continue to play. 

The boys coming down the slide

Ben had just as much fun trying to climb up the slide as he did coming down.

Here is a video the boys playing-

Now here we are today, Wednesday, November 20, 2013.  Our Stateside Assignment officially begins.  We'll be boarding a plane and heading home.  We are looking forward to our time there and are very excited to think that by the end of the day...

these little feet will be on Mississippi soil!  Hope to see many of you while we are there!!!

Not All Travel Days Are Good Days

Last Monday we drove into Guatemala City for a few days. Ben had his 18 month check-up with Dr. Figueroa, both boys needed vaccines, and we all got flu shots. While there we also got to visit with two teams who were overnight at our mission house. We got to see the team we had worked with the week before in Sayaxche, and also a team from Alabama led by our dear friends Allen and Laurelle Stoudenmire. 

We travel a lot with our kids.  We spend long hours on the road in the car.  For the most part they travel really good.   We used to have some portable DVD players on our headrest that kept the kids well entertained on road trips.  But, back in July our car got broken into and they were stolen along with the CD case holding all of the boys movies.  I am still upset about that!  We lost a few other things too but losing all of their movies is what made me the saddest.  So since then we have had to find alternative things to do in the car to keep the boys busy.  We sing, we play "I spy", we play "the quiet game" ha, and honestly we spend more time together without the movies, but I sure do miss them. 

Here are the boys doing what they do best in the car- dancing!

   When my kids hear music it just makes their bodies move. 

This is Ben "praising the Lord".  He waves those arms in the air and it's just too cute.

By late afternoon those smiles were gone.  They were tired, hungry, restless, and ready to get out of the car.  We were all four feeling this way, but only two of us showed it.  Here is what life with a 1 year old and a 3 year old is really like on any given day-

Oh Mercy!!!

We spent Tuesday morning visiting with the teams before they all flew back to the States.  We then headed out to our appointments.  I'll post about Ben's check-up later in the week.

Here we are with Allen and Laurelle.  We love them!

On Wednesday morning I took a few pictures of the kids before we left to drive back home.  I took their Halloween pj's to the City because it is always cooler there.  It is too hot right now at our house for them to wear long pj's. 

My Little Pumpkins

Here are the boys with the kids that live at our mission house.  I cannot believe how big they are getting!

Rebecca, Josue, Ben, Kaitlin, and Cruz

We stopped for lunch at Burger King near Rio Hondo on the way home.  It just opened this past year and has become our new lunch stop on our trips back home from the Capital. 

Ben on the slide.  Look at that sweet smile!  I could just eat him up.

And here is a video of him going down the slide.  I love how Cruz greets him at the end with a big hug. 

They might scream, cry, and have meltdowns (don't all kids), but at other times they can be the sweetest things we have ever seen.  I wouldn't trade those two for anything in the world, even on long, hard road trip days.

Traveling Thursday

Thursday was a travel day for us.  We had plans to drive into Guatemala City.  We have always traveled in the mornings.  This time we decided to wait and travel in the afternoon.  I didn't want Cruz to miss school so we waited and left later.  He normally gets out at 11:30 but we picked him up at 11:00.  We drove into Chiquimula and ate lunch at McDonald's and then got back on the road to the Capital. 

Thursday is P.E. day at his school.  All the kids wear t-shirts with their school logo on it and track pants.  Here is Cruz in his Thursday uniform before we left for school.  He always comes home pretending to blow a whistle like his P.E. coach does at school.  He likes P.E. day.  I like that he is extra active that day and burns off lots of extra energy, haha.

Cruz in his P.E. uniform

Cheese!!!

Here's a little video of my silly boys in the car as we traveled.

Once we arrived in Guatemala City we went straight to PriceSmart.  It is similar to a Sam's club in the States.  We like to buy in bulk so we visit there almost every trip into the Capital to pick up supplies.   After shopping we stopped by their food court and shared a slice of pizza, some ice cream, and a caramel frappe.  It was a good afternoon snack! 

My little shoeless shoppers sharing a buggy. 

Where we come from we call shopping carts buggies. 

We then headed over to the Arkansas House- our mission house.  Cruz was more than eager to play with the kids there.  He calls our mission house the "Arken House" and asks to go there often. 

Ben, Rebecca, Josue, Cruz, and Kaitlin  

Look at those black little feet.  He was FILTHY by the time he took a bath that night!

Cruz loves to play with these kids! 

Karina, Ben, and Rebecca

The highlight of our day was getting to visit with a team that was staying at the mission house.  Some of our favorite people were on that team.  The Pearson family from Georgia have become dear to our hearts since we first met them back in 2007.  They were on the very first mission team we worked after arriving in Guatemala.  This week they were in Guatemala with a youth team from their church.  The youth did a little mini program for us and the kids on Thursday afternoon.   

They sang some songs in Spanish and English that they had sung in the village they worked in.

They did a really cute puppet show for us also.  The kids loved it!

Josue and Cruz watching the puppets.

Afterwards Cruz got to "play" a few of the instruments the team had.  Here he is with Tabb.

"playing" the keyboard

Our group picture with the Pearson family

(minus 9 year old Jonathan who was not on the trip)

Tonya, Rebecca, Tabb, Rachel, Me, Ben, David, and Cruz

me, David, Ben, Mrs. Joyce, Cruz, and Mr. Gary

This is one of the sweetest, most kind hearted families we know.  We are blessed to know them and are thankful for the friendship we have made with them over the years.  They are golden!

Another Long Travel Day

On Tuesday morning we traveled into Guatemala City.  I had most everything we needed packed up and ready to go the night before, but it still was a stressful morning trying to get away.  Travel days are hard work.  Traveling, period, is hard work. 

I snapped a quick photo of the boys before we left.  They were watching a little cartoons while we loaded the car.  I love their new shirts they were wearing!

Our first stop was for a late breakfast.  We ate at Sarita's in Cuilapa Santa Rosa.  It is a fairly new Sarita's and we love their play area.  It was the first time Ben got to play there.  He loved crawling around and swinging.

Cruz loves to color.  Many restaurants here in Guatemala give the kids crayons and color sheets.  He always looks forward to it.

One of his favorite things to eat at Sarita's is this pancake plate.  You can see he was already nibbling

on a few of the chocolate chips before I could snap his picture.

This trip was our first long road trip since potty training Cruz.  It went very well.  Thankfully we did not have to make any extra stops for him to use the bathroom.  He is doing great!

After leaving the restaurant we traveled on into Guatemala City.  As we were going down the road I looked over at one point and the boys were holding hands.  It was very sweet.  I could not resist taking a photo.

Our first stop in the City was at the pediatrician's office.  Cruz was scheduled for a vaccine.  He has not had shots in several months.  We had told him where we were going and that he needed a shot.  He was not very excited about it.

He weighs 30 pounds and is 36.5 inches tall.

about to get his shot

ouch!!!

I told him that he could have a sucker when it was over.  He quickly cheered up and ran over to the desk and picked out a red one.  He then played until David paid our bill and it was time to go.

Lunch at Taco Bell meant more play time for Cruz.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at our mission house.  Both kids took good naps which meant we got to rest also.  It was nice.

Late in the day we drove to a local mall.  David needed to get passport pictures taken for his Wednesday appointment at the U.S. Embassy to renew his passport.  He took Ben with him to do that, and I took Cruz to get a haircut.  He loves getting a haircut at this shop because he gets to sit on the moto.

There was a Santa and his helper walking around the food court which is near the shop.  Just as Cruz was getting down out of the chair Santa saw him and came in to see him.  Cruz ran over and gave him a big hug. 

Cruz with Santa

The rest of the evening was spent back at the mission house playing with the kids there.  Cruz loves them!

Playing At The Mission House

While at our mission house in Guatemala City last week I took a few photos of Cruz playing with the kids that live there.  He loves playing with them, and asks us all the time to go back to their house.  Most everytime we get in the car and say we are going to town (meaning Chiquimula) he thinks we mean the Capital and the mission house. 

He plays better with the older two than Kaitlin, the youngest.  She is just a year older than him but is the baby of the family and is used to getting her way all.the.time.  She does not share very well, and that makes for a bad combination.  Overall, though, they do okay together. 

Kaitlin, Josue, and Cruz

They have a lot of toys and things to ride.  This is their newest toy, a motorized four wheeler.  Cruz is crazy about it!  I would love to get him one for Christmas, in another color of course, but David is thinking a bicycle would be better for him. 

getting ready to race

and their off!  I love that look of determination on Cruz's face. 

That's my boy!

On another note, a volunteer team recently came down and painted the mission house.  Here are a few photos of how it looks.  It definitely brightened it up.

They also repainted the inside of the guest rooms out back.  There have been a lot of changes and improvements lately to the property and it is looking nice.