A Look at Ben's Birthday Over the Years

I normally add these photos to their birthday posts, but since Ben's 13th birthday post was already long enough, I just decided to give them their own post.  I love looking back at these each year and reminiscing his birthday celebrations over the years.  We have had a lot of fun celebrating him!

 

Welcome to Our World

Benjamin Miller White

April 16, 2012 

Hospital Esperanza

Guatemala City, Guatemala

 

I have made his cakes every year with the exception of his 12th birthday when he wanted me to make a lemon pie instead.

 

We also take family photos on the boy's birthdays.  He are our family photos celebrating Ben over the years.

 

 

 

 

Officially a teenager!!!

 

 

his birth video

 

We are thankful for this precious gift that God gave to us!  We have loved watching him grow.  We look forward to the years ahead and seeing him become the person that God created him to be.

First Day of School 5th and 7th Grade

 We started back to school on Friday, July 29.  Here is a look at how we kicked off the new school year.

 

Our dining room was decorated with balloons and streamers.

 

me and my boys on our first day of school

 

Cruz is starting 7th grade.

 

Ben is starting 5th grade.

 

We had our traditional pancake breakfast.

 

a few more photos before class began

 

 

 

I made this countdown for our school year.  The boys love it!!  

 

more classroom decorations

 

We did our first day of school questionnaires and memory pages. We have done these since kindergarten and I keep them all in a folder for each boy.  They are fun to look back at.

 

We had a full day of class.  We had some introduction to new curriculum we will be using.  It will take us a little while to get in a rhythm but once we do our days should flow well.  I will try to do a post soon on what curriculum we are using this school year.

 

For lunch we met a volunteer team in town and in addition to great fellowship we had a wonderful meal together.  Their church had learned about us through VBS this summer and wanted to meet us while they were here serving.  They brought us cards that the kids had made for us.  What a blessing and encouragement that was!

One of our favorite things to do in the evenings is go into town to wander around.  We don't always have an agenda.  We just walk leisurely and make plans as we go.  That is what we did that evening and it was a lot of fun. 

 

For supper we had chili fries and pizza fries at Patata Frites.

 

The boys love the playground they have.  It is good for older kids as well as younger ones.

 

 

 

After more walking and exploring, we made a stop by Cafe Estudio for coffee and dessert.  It was our first time to visit there and we loved it.  They have a wonderful rooftop with great views. We will definitely go back again. 

 

 

 

Cruz clowning around.

 

He asked, "What is this???"  I had to explain about the phone system we grew up using.  I had him dial my old home phone number and he could not believe that is how we used to make calls. He said it was a lot of work.  

 

Enjoying a family night out in Antigua.  It really is a fun place to live!

 

It was a little chilly that evening but in spite of it we all ordered iced coffee.  Cruz has become a big fan of iced caramel lattes.  David had mint and I had white chocolate.  Ben is not on board with coffee yet. We also shared a slice of carrot cheesecake.   It was not our favorite but I'm glad we tried it.

 

My boys are growing up fast!  We are just trying to soak in all we can.

 

I look forward to the new school year and seeing the boys learn new and exciting things.  It should be an adventure for all of us. 

School Days May 2021- Ending our School Year

Our last week of school was spent reviewing, taking exams, and doing online assessments.  We focused mainly on math but also did Bible, reading, keyboarding, and spelling, We learned about the Pygmies and also the life and ministry of Peter Cartwright.

 

morning devotion time

reviewing spelling words

 

Cruz read The Chocolate Touch and Ben read this Flat Stanley book.

 

 

Friday, May 14, was our last day of school.  Yay!!  We were excited. Here is our kitchen decorated for breakfast.

 

We had pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream

 

 

 

We then took pictures before starting class.

 

This is how we were all feeling!

 

They received their math certificates.

 

They took the online ADAM and DORA assessment tests for math and reading.  They also filled out their end of the school year questionnaires that we always do. I gave them their summer reading logs and they are very excited to begin our annual summer reading challenge.  It felt great to wrap up the school year.  It was one more thing I could check off my list of things to do before ending this term.  We cannot wait to get to spend our summer break in the U.S.  I have so many fun things planned for us to do.

 

The boys chose McDonald's for lunch. 

 

 We sat outside to eat.  The McDonald's in Antigua is a beautiful place.

 

We baked a chocolate chip cookie cake for dessert.

 

Hello Summer!!!

 

That afternoon they went to Awana class and then we had our normal Friday movie night. It was a really fun day.

We have moved this little car from July all the way to May.  It has been a great visual to see where we are in the school year.  Hooray for reaching the finish line!  It feels like a great accomplishment.

 

Now, let's go have some fun...