Feliz Dia de la Madre

Mother's Day is a big holiday here in Guatemala.  The locals do a great job of honoring their moms.  Mother's Day here is May 10.  Most all of the schools do special programs for the moms.   Cruz's school had theirs on Friday morning.  They had seats set out for all of us moms to sit together.  The director shared a bit about being a mother and then each grade did a little presentation.  It was a good program, and I was tickled to be a part of it.

the decorations on the school gate

There are only 4 students in the 3 year old class.  Two of them (siblings) were absent that day.   That left Cruz and Joselin to do their part.  Cruz's teacher, Miss Olexi, is in the red skirt.

They each had to share a poem.  Cruz's teacher sent it home with him on Wednesday.  He did not go to school on Thursday because we all went up in the mountains in the village.  That gave us little time to teach it to him before Friday morning.  In spite of that, he did good.

Cruz saying his Mother's Day poem (in Spanish).  He had to say- "Mamita bella, Mamita hermosa, en este dia te dare' una rosa".  He made me proud!

bringing me my rose

I didn't get a picture of the 4 and 5 years old's, but I took photos of the other classes.  The older kids were doing their program later in the day.

the first graders

the second graders

the third graders

After the program the teachers served the mother's a sandwich, a canned drink, and a piece of cake.

me and Cruz

Later that day we drove into Chiquimula to eat supper.  This week we chose McDonald's.  Below is a beautiful sunset photo I took as we approached the restaurant.

soo pretty!

I also took this photo on the way to town.  It's mango season here and you see them EVERYWHERE!  This guy had most likely been picking them all day and was delivering them to the market to be sold.  David and Ben love them!

It's cool that I get to celebrate Mother's Day twice.  We celebrate on the Guatemala day and then again on Sunday along with the States.  This year we just turned it in to a weekend long celebration.  I was not complaining. 

Waiting For The Green Light

On Thursday we traveled up the mountain to a Chorti village to be a part of a school program they were having.  Our being there was part of a Mother's Day celebration the school had.  It was a solid hour drive up the mountain road.  One of the locals told us it takes them about 3 hours to walk to town from the village.  I am glad I don't live that far out!  haha

We were greeted with a warm welcome.  Everyone came out to see us and say hello.  The first thing I noticed about this village was how friendly they were.  They smiled (which you don't always see with Indigenous people- especially ones you don't know).  The kids were very friendly and were all over us.  It just gave us a welcome feeling. 

They had decorated the school with red and white balloons and streamers for Mother's Day.  They also laid pine straw on the ground.  That is very cultural and the locals do it for all special occasions.  It smelled soo good!

This is the school where we had the program.

a side view of the school

This is me, Mrs. Diana, and the teacher who invited us to come.  Both of them have been praying for many years for this village.  There is no Christian work there or believers that we know of.  They can pick up Radio Alegria, a Christian radio station, on their radios.  One of the men said he had been listening to Mr. John's teachings on the radio.  That was fun to hear.  That man also happens to be the Vice President of the village.  He seemed very happy to have us there, and eager for us to return.  He just might be our open door!

some of the locals

me and Ben with a few of the kids

Mrs. Diana talking in Chorti.  They loved hearing her.  Being able to speak it ourselves would be a HUGE advantage to building relationships with these people.  Many of the ladies there are monolingual.

The Lubeck's sang several songs and then did a Bible study.

This is Cruz during one of the songs.  Those little hands were just clapping away!

Afterwards they served everyone a lunch to honor the mother's.

eating our meal (I think they all had food in their mouths when I took this photo, haha)

They served everyone a chicken stew, rice, pasta salad, and tortillas.

You can tell by Ben's cheeks that he ate well. 

They let all of the mother's eat inside.  I love how colorful their dresses are.  Isn't it pretty!  This is how many of the Chorti ladies dress.  They also wear black jelly shoes.   Their hair is in a pony tail.  They love beaded necklaces, and some wear earrings.  I just think it's beautiful and love seeing all of the Mayan people in their typical clothes.  I just feel that I have more of a connection with the ladies since becoming a mom.  Oh to be able to know them and share my heart with them. 

We are planning to return one day next week to do some follow-up.  We would love to be able to return there on a regular basis and share Bible stories.  Would you pray that we would get the green light to do that.

"My Birthday Is Next!"

Cruz is pretty excited about his upcoming birthday.  Every time we mention a birthday he says he wants it to be his birthday.  It started with my birthday back in February.  He was a little upset that I had a birthday and he didn't.  We've been trying to explain to him that his is coming.  Well, Ben's came first.  He did (after many discussions about it) handle it very well.  I've explained to him that mommy's birthday is first, then Ben, then Cruz, and daddy's is last.  We have to take turns.  He doesn't really grasp it yet, but he's getting there. 

With that being said you can imagine his reaction when we told him on Sunday afternoon that we were going to a birthday party for his friend Brayden.  "No", he said.  "My birthday is next!".  In all my explanation to him I didn't take into account other people's birthdays.  I was just thinking within our own family.  He went but he was not real excited about it. 

The birthday boy, Brayden, is the grandson of a missionary couple in our area.  He and Cruz are only about three weeks apart.  He had a Mickey Mouse party.  Cruz loves Mickey Mouse so he quickly warmed up to the party idea once we arrived.

Brayden (on the left) with his little brother Brent and step-dad Gustavo

There were two pinatas- a Mickey and a Minnie.  Pinatas are always the most lively part of birthday parties here.

Cruz loves getting candy!  He will pick it up and then bring it to us to put in his treat bag.

Cruz hitting Mickey

I need sound effects to go with this one.  It gets loud, haha.

more candy

Little Ben is not quite old enough to understand what's going on.  It won't be long though and he'll be gathering candy with his brother.

Getting ready sing and blow out the candle.

In addition to the cake we ate tostadas with chicken salad and had horchata to drink.  The kids had fun running around and playing.  We stayed until almost dark.  Cruz enjoyed himself, but has reminded us every day since that his birthday is next.   Poor Cruz.  He will soon find out that his little friend Kimberly has a birthday next week.  Uh oh! 

Come on May 26th!  We are all excited about that days arrival!

Sharing In Spite Of The Stress

Sunday morning we headed up the mountain to the village of Lagunetas for Bible study.  We are thankful for the opportunity to share God's Word there with them.

David with a few of the regulars

David teaches the adults and youth in the house and I teach the kids outside.  Let me just say that it is HARD WORK trying to teach a Bible study with a 1 year old and an extremely active almost 3 year old!  All the other kids will sit down, listen, and participate, but my two act like it's the first time they've ever been out of the house.  Cruz runs around like a crazy person and I feel like I am constantly having to stop to correct him or check on him.  Ben normally naps in the mornings so he misses it when we do Bible study.  That means he gets really cranky because he just wants to be laid down, but there is no where to put him.  A few times he has fallen asleep on the way there and we just rolled down the windows and left him sleeping in his car seat.  This past Sunday I took Cruz's booster seat and tray and put Ben in it while I taught.  That helped some.  I am eager for him to start walking so that at least I can put him down and he not be crawling all over the nasty ground.  It's a constant challenge, and one that at times completely stresses me out.  This too shall pass.

Ben at Bible study.  There were chickens running around everywhere and it was driving him crazy that he could not get to them.  He is very interested in animals these days.

Most of the kids played soccer when we finished.

my little soccer boy

A few workers from the Ag Center in Honduras drove over to meet with the students after we finished.  We waited for them to arrive to visit with them a bit before we left.  I took the photo below of their vehicle as they drove up the mountain.  The picture was taken from the yard of the house where we meet.

You can see their vehicle in the center of the picture.  It looks so small.

This is an up close picture of their car.  You will notice my little wild child found his way on top and appears to have encouraged some company to join him, haha.  There is never, ever a dull moment with him around.   Ever.

We made plans to return in two weeks and do it all over again.  Excited?  You bet!  A little anxious about how I am going to balance it all?  Always!

As Of Lately

What have we been up to lately?  Lots of sneezing, coughing, wiping noses, and blowing noses.  We have all been under the weather for the past week.  There have been a lot of sleepless nights and many long days.  Ben has had the worst of it.  He ran fever for three days last week.  We are not well yet, but getting better.  Head colds and hot weather just do not mix well. 

Here are a few photos from the past week and a little more about life lately around our part of world.

Every Monday morning they have chapel at Cruz's school.  It is the first thing they do each week.  All grades assemble together for a time of Bible study, singing, and prayer.  Last Monday Cruz's class sang during chapel.  His teacher asked me to make him some rabbit ears.  I printed a sample off the Internet, let him color them, and then I taped them together to make a headband.  I also painted his face a little.  I think he looked really cute.

my little "every now and then" sweet bunny, haha

He only had school on Monday and Tuesday of last week and was out the other days.  There was a folklore festival taking place in Jocotan so everything was closed for the celebrations.  That meant I had to come up with lots of things for him to do and stay busy.  We spent a lot of time painting, coloring, working puzzles, reading, watching cartoons, and just playing. 

He loves to paint!  He is getting an art easel for his birthday and I am thinking he is going to love it.  Lately his new thing is mixing all of the colors together (usually with his hands).  He calls it "making brown". 

One night last week during bath time he jumped out of the tub and came running into the room where I was.  He was naked, wet, and wearing his dirty shorts on his head.  He was shouting "look mommy, look at me!"  I grabbed my camera to take his picture.  When I showed it to him on the camera he smiled real big and said, "ooh I look like Jesus!".   He can be soo funny.

I love his imagination!

We got out one afternoon to run over to the grocery store in Jocotan.  On the way there we rolled down the windows and let the breeze blow in.  The boys love when we do that.  Because Ben sits in the middle of the backseat rear facing the breeze blows his hair the most.  It is so funny to see.  He will wave his arms in the air, giggle, and just have a ball.  Cruz usually shouts "faster Daddy, faster".  He knows that the faster David drives the more Ben's hair will blow.  We all laugh a lot during those times.

wheeeeeee...

David completed a few "honey do" things for me last week.  He got some valences hung in the kitchen that we recently had made.  He also hung a few more ceiling fans up.  We added another one in our kitchen.  When it's 100+ degrees and I'm in the kitchen trying to cook it's just miserable!  So far the extra breeze is helping (a little). 

Of course Cruz had to be right in the middle of all David was doing.  He is such a little handy man. 

Don't think Ben missed out on the action.  He was just as eager to get involved with them.  He (just like Cruz) has become obsessed with ladders.  David spotted him and he climbed (by himself) almost all the way up.  You know my heart dropped when I walked in and saw it taking place!  It looks like I have another climber on my hands and I am praying overtime that the Lord would help me keep them safe.  There are days when I wonder how I am going to survive being a mama to boys.

On Friday night we made our weekly trip to Chiquimula to eat out.  This week we chose the food court and our friends Josh and Jessica joined us.  We love when we get to hang out with them.  David and I ate McDonald's and we got Cruz some chicken strips from Pollo Campero.   Pollo Campero was advertising some new milk shake flavors.  We tried the peanut butter.  It was SOOO good.  It was crunchy peanut butter mixed with vanilla ice cream.  It was thick so they served it with a spoon.  Everyone in our family loves peanut butter so you can imagine how we were fighting over it.  We'll be returning for one of those again soon!

On the way home we stopped by a street vendor that sells typical furniture made here in Guatemala.  I love it and wish I had a house full of it!   I have been wanting to buy a book shelf for our living room with the birthday money my mama sent me.  I finally picked one out, David strapped it to the roof of our vehicle, and we drove home.  I am not sure how I want to decorate it.  For now I just have a few photo frames sitting on

it.

My new bookshelf.  Thanks Mom!  It looks really pretty and matches the t.v. stand we bought for Christmas.

Saturday was a lazy day.  David was the only one who got dressed.  The kids and I stayed in p.j.'s all day.  We got out for a little while in the late afternoon and cruised around.  I was just hoping we didn't break down or get in an accident that would require me to get out of the car HAHA.

Cruz cruising in his p.j.'s  Sometimes you just need a day like that!

Sunday we had Bible study in the village and then a birthday party that afternoon. I'll blog about those things later this week.  Happy Monday everyone!  I hope your week gets off to a great start.

May 2013 Newsletter

Greetings from Guatemala!  April was a pretty hard month for us.  It feels like we have been under spiritual attack more this past month than I can remember in a long time.  It's been a trying month for us, but with the Lord's help we are pressing on.  If God is for us, who can be against us?   That is giving us much comfort these days.

We began the month with David spending a few days in Copan, Honduras attending an Indigenous Conference with nationals from all over Central America.  He was back in Copan later in the month teaching Bible stories to a group of young adults at the Ag Center there.  We did two Bible studies in the village of Nearar and two in the village of Lagunetas.  David spent two days helping with a medical clinic in the village of Nearar.  We have been meeting every Monday morning at the Lubeck's for Chorti Bible study.  We
also began meeting for some grammar lessons with Mrs. Diana.  We celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary and Ben's 1st birthday. 

We are excited about the possibility of an open door in a new village that is very Chorti in language and culture.  We met a national pastor who has a daughter who is a teacher in that village.  She has been praying for several years for the people there and has invited the Lubeck's to come do a service in Chorti at the school for the students and parents.  We will be joining them with the hopes of getting an invitation to return and teach some Bible stories there.  We had the Lubeck's translate a greeting for us that we will read/ share and Mrs. Diana has given us a song to learn and sing to them.  The service will be on Thursday, May 9.  Would you join us in praying for that time that God would anoint each of us as we share the Good News with those in that village. 

We know that God is working even when we do not always see it.  Pray for us as we strive to be usable vessels to share God's Word with those around us.  E Dios uch'ojb'esicox (that's Chorti for- May God bless you all). 

Celebrating Number Seventeen

My anniversary is one of my most favorite days of the year.  I love thinking back to the day we got married and reminiscing about how we have spent past anniversaries.  We have always tried to travel somewhere for our anniversary, and celebrate it big.  It's the one day out of the year that we celebrate us as a couple.  I love that and look forward to many more years to come to continue the tradition. 

Things have changed a bit since having kids.  Since we don't have anyone to keep them we just take them with us.  It takes the romance out of the trip, but adds an extra fun element to it.  Maybe when they get a little older they can appreciate our celebration and do things to help make it special.

We love water.  We also love warm, sunny days (just not too hot).  When trying to decide what to do for our anniversary this year we had to keep two things in mind 1)  we would not have childcare for our kids so they would have to tag along with us  and 2)  it's hot here right now.  We knew we wanted to go somewhere that had a pool so we could enjoy splashing around and cooling off in the water.  We had a few options in mind, but ended up going to Esquipulas. 

One thing we love about living in this part of Guatemala is that many of the hotels not only have a pool but they also have mini water parks.  The hotels might be very basic, but they go all out on the pool areas.  Many people here make day trips to the hotels to swim and play.  It's big business around here.  We also love that many of them have playground areas for the kids.  Most all of them are family and kid friendly.  That's good considering we are planning on living here for a while.

We drove to Esquipulas on Friday afternoon and stayed one night there.  Once arriving and checking in we went straight to the pool.

The large/ main swimming pool.  It has two water slides.

This is the kiddie area.  It has three shallow pools, a lazy river, and two water slides.

a back view of the kiddie area

We all had fun going down the water slides.  David took Ben and I went down with Cruz. 

All that swimming will make you work up an appetite so we ordered a little late afternoon snack- chicken and cheese quesadillas and French fries.  I love fries!!!  We all shared and then swam some more.

We also spent a little time on the playground.  The kids loved it.

That night for supper we called in a pizza from Dominos and ate it in the room.  The special for that day included an order of BBQ ribs.  Pizza and ribs are two more of my favorite foods.   We might not have eaten fancy on this trip but we ate good, haha.

After supper we went walking around the property.  They had it lit up really pretty.  We spent a while sitting out by the pool.  The underwater lights on the main pool at night rotate colors.  Cruz loved watching it turn blue, green, red, purple, etc.  He met this little girl and played with her until we had to make him go inside.  He name was Regina.  I love that!  She wanted Cruz to teach her all of the colors in English.  He liked being her teacher.

Cruz took this photo of us while sitting on one of the couches in the lobby.  He loves to take pictures with my camera, and he does a pretty good job.

We were all in bed pretty early.  Keeping up with two little one's is hard work, especially when you are away from home.

Saturday was our original anniversary.  We ate breakfast at the hotel restaurant.  David and I ordered typical plates (scrambled eggs, black beans, fried plantains, and tortillas).  We ordered pancakes for the boys. 

our anniversary breakfast

We had planned to visit a small zoo that is near there but ended up just spending the whole morning at the pool.  We'll make a return day trip to the zoo one day soon.

Ben and David

We checked out around lunch time and took this family photo before leaving.

We ate lunch at Pollo Campero before driving back home.  It was a fun trip and gave us lots of new, fun memories to add to our anniversary celebrations.