Life Lately September 2024

  We began the month by hosting a medical mission team from The Church at LifePark in Mt. Pleasant, SC.   We had a fantastic week serving together!

 

 

Our family enjoying an afternoon coffee break after a day of working in the medical clinic with our team. 

 

Fall is my favorite season for decorating.  I was eager to get all of my stuff out and on display.  We do not have seasons here like we do in the States, but I decorate for them anyway.  Those beautiful fall colors just make me feel all warm and cozy.  I love fall most of all!

 

Ben attended a paintball birthday party for his friend Josue. We are very thankful for their sweet friendship.

 

Dressed and ready for battle!

 

 

We celebrated Guatemala's Independence Day on the fifteenth.

 

 

We officially welcomed the English family to our IMB Guatemala mission family on the nineteenth. They finished language school in Mexico and made the transition here to begin full time ministry.  Our whole team is overjoyed to have them here to serve alongside us.  Continue to pray for their adjustment to Guatemalan life and culture. So far they seem to be doing very well.

 

Our IMB Team Guatemala 

(minus David who was taking the photo)

 

 

After many months and phone calls, I finally got my dad's veteran plaque placed at the cemetery. His birth date is coming up in October and the one year anniversary of his death will be in November. I am happy to have this completed before those two events.   It was a huge relief and another big step towards closure for me.  

 

“When someone you love becomes a memory, that memory becomes a treasure” – Unknown

 

I sure do miss my dad!

 

Homeschool is keeping me busy these days.  High School is not for the faint at heart. lol I do not take near as many school photos as I did in the past, and I miss having those photo memories.   Here are a few I quickly snapped of Cruz doing science experiments.

 

He is enjoying his biology class.  He will usually say it is his favorite subject this year. He loves hands on learning and has done several fun experiments so far.  In this experiment he was testing two different antacids to see which one was more effective at neutralizing acid.

 

In another experiment one of his steps was to add baking soda to vinegar to help understand carbon dioxide and the greenhouse effect. 

 

 

Lastly, we ended the month with a weekend trip to Quetzaltenango to visit our Team Guatemala families. We went out to eat with the Stones on Friday night.

 

On Saturday we had our quarterly team meeting.  We met at a local restaurant that had an amazing outdoor space for the kids to run and play.  It was our first meeting with the English family joining us live. We had a great time of discussion and fellowship around the table.  Here is a photo of our whole group. 

 

Our IMB Team Guatemala

 

 

Our family in Quetzaltenango

 

 

That evening we enjoyed delivery pizza, homemade cookies, and some really great college football games.  

 

 

  

Mexico Mission Meeting July 2024

Three days after returning to Guatemala from our summer trip to the States, we boarded another plane and headed to Mexico.  We spent a few days at a marriage conference and then a few days of training with our IMB colleagues.  

A team from Berea First Baptist Church in Greenville, SC came down to serve during those two meetings.  In addition to helping in the adult sessions, they also had volunteers to work with the babies, children, and youth.  It was a like a VBS week for the kids. We are very thankful for the team and the way they loved on us and our kids.  They were a blessing!

 

Our family at the Guatemala City airport waiting to board our flight to Mexico.

 

Volcano view as we were leaving Guatemala City.

 

 

 

The boys patiently sitting in the Mexico City airport bus station waiting on our bus to Querétaro.

 

 

A highlight of the week was the team hosting a Christmas in July party for the MK's.  They had polled the MK's beforehand and asked for a gift idea that each of them would like.  They then purchased those gifts, wrapped them, and brought them down for the kids.  

 

During the party we enjoyed Christmas music, Christmas games, Christmas photo props, and hot chocolate.  It was fun and festive in so many ways!  

 

At the end of the evening one young MK declared, "This was the best Christmas ever!". 

 

 

Christmas in July

 

Cruz with his gift.

 

Ben with his gift.

 

Cruz with the student minister from Berea.  He really enjoyed getting to spend time with him that week.

 

 

One evening after supper we enjoyed a bonfire and made S'mores.

 

The youth playing volleyball one evening.

 

Another highlight was our IMB Guatemala team getting to be together in person for the first time. This meant us all getting to spend time with the English family.  We had one afternoon session where we all sat down together at a table and just talked about the future.  It was wonderful.

 

 

Arriving back at the Mexico City airport to return to Guatemala.  We had guests flying home with us that I will share about in my next post.

Life Lately April 2024

 Here is a look at our family life over the past month.

 

We made a trip to Quetzaltenango for our quarterly team meeting.  This was our Saturday morning view of the Santa Maria volcano.

 

our IMB Guatemala team

 

Cruz began a seven week flag football program that will end with a game in late May.  Here he is after his first practice.  He loved it!

 

Ben went on a field trip with Encounter Academy to Los Celajes, which is up the mountain from Antigua.

 

 

 

 

pretending to be birds in a nest

 

 

 

We enjoyed a Saturday evening fire and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows.

 

The boys and I were invited to an afternoon outing at our neighbor's house to play games.  This was my coffee cup while there.

 

Home alone, pizza, and the Pioneer Woman- what more could a tired mama want?

 

 

We enjoyed a visit with an old friend who was in town.  We first met Maria back in October 2008. We were flying back to Guatemala after making our first vacation trip back home to Mississippi since arriving on the field in 2006. We were flying on Delta buddy passes and got bumped several days in Atlanta trying to get back. While waiting to see if we would get a seat, we met the sweetest lady who was also flying on buddy passes and trying to get to Guatemala to see her sister who was dying. We formed an instant friendship and have regularly kept in touch all these years.  She has been back to Guatemala a few times since then to visit family, but we have never been able to meet up.  After fifteen years of emails, messages, and Facebook interactions, we finally saw each other in person again. It was so special! We enjoyed a meal together that included us getting to meet her daughter and her getting to meet the boys.

 

 

We celebrated Ben's 12th birthday.

 

 

Ben was invited to a birthday celebration for two of his friends.

 

David helped our IMB teammates host a volunteer team.

 

David translating in the clinic for the mission team.

 

 

Sharing the gospel.

 

 

making new friends

 

 

We ended the month celebrating our 28th wedding anniversary.