We'll be back on Tuesday...

Thank you all who continue to read our blogs and pray for us.

Here's a quick update as we run out the door....

Last Saturday Staci's dad and the 4 other men that were here working for a week left. We loved having them here, and miss their community.

This past week we worked on various projects & attended staff and intern meetings. All went well - we're continuing to learn to hear spanish, so those staff meetings are helpful for both keeping up with all that's going on around here and practicing our listening.

We're headed to Panajachel today. Panajachel is a small town located on Lake Atitlan in the mountains. We'll be there for 3 nights for our annual staff meeting. All of the missionaries with New Life Advance International that are in Guatemala will be there along with the president of NLAI, his wife, our speaker and his wife, and the Houston office administrator and her husband. In all there should be about 34 of us. We're looking forward to this weekend of connecting with our coworkers in other types of ministry.

Please pray for us this weekend. Pray that the Holy Spirt would manifest Himself in our times together of worship & fellowship, and that we'd be ministered to. Also, Staci tends to get carsick on the roads that we'll be taking. If you'd pray that she would be free from this, we would appreciate it .

So, we'll be back late Tuesday night, look for a blog either Tuesday or Wednesday.

Mimi's Coffeecake goes International!

My dad has been here with us this week. Because this is the end of the school year, my mom had to stay home and finish up the year with her second graders. We emailed a list of things for dad to bring with us, and he came through with everything, including my Mimi's coffeecakes.

I have lots of memories of baking with my Mimi during the weeks that we stayed with she and my granddad each summer while I was growing up. Specifically, I remember making lots of coffeecakes - and eating them too!

So in the picture below, you see Lee and I attacking one large piece of coffeecake - what you can't get a good idea of is how great that sweet bread with lots of gooey sour cream, sugar & cinnamon mix on top is!

So thanks, Mimi, for sending 3 excellent coffeecakes.

If you happen to be in the central Texas area and run into my Mimi - maybe you'll be lucky enough to get to try this delightful treat!!

A 6th Love Language?

"The Five Love Languages" by Gary Chapman is a popular book. It speaks about how we communicate love is 5 basic ways: words of affirmation, quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service, and physical touch. In our 8 months of being here in Guatemala we have discovered that Mr. Chapman missed one important love language: the string of blackcat firecrackers.

You see - Christmas Eve, the country blew up at midnight. Seriously, it was much like a scene out of a war movie. New Year's Eve was a repeat - many firecrackers at midnight then again at 6am, 12noon, and 6pm. Mother's Day we began to hear firecracker's at 4:30. Really? The one day each year to celebrate mom's and we do that by waking them up at 4:30 with a string of blackcats. Then there are birthdays...... everyday their are birthdays, and every day we hear a string or 2 of blackcats.

This past Wednesday was by birthday, my first Guatemalan birthday. I woke up to find that Lee had left a cupcake cookbook for me to find. I love to bake. During the 6am hour our friend and coworker went through the apartment across from us, lit a string of blackcats and then threw is onto our balcony. (We live on the third floor) About the time the smoke cleared the girls set off a string downstairs. We spent the day with the group from Texas Tech Wesley & Trinity Church in Lubbock in Antigua. We were back in plenty of time for supper, and Kendon & Wendy took our duties for the evening so that we could go out to eat. Wendy called and said that before we left we needed to drive by the dining room so that she could give me some instructions about some medicine that she needed us to buy. Poor Lee, knowing the whole situation tried his best to get me to move a little quicker - after deciding that I could check email a little later we went. We showed up to a dining hall full of kids (waiting on me) with cakes (all decorated, with candles & plenty for everyone). After they sang the Guatemalan birthday songs, 2 more strings of blackcats were lit, and the candles were blown out, I was handed a whole stack of homemade birthday cards from the kiddos.

To top all of that, we got to eat Pizza Hut that night!

What a great birthday.

Here are a few pics from the day:


This is the blackcat "leftovers" on our balcony with the smoke from the second string.


This is what was left of the second string as we left for the day.

Thank you Florida State Wesley

This past Tuesday we said goodbye to a group from The Wesley Foundation at Florida State. We enjoyed having them here for just over a week. They all were so great to do whatever we needed them to do at any moment. They helped us with tree trimming, painting, building picnic tables, and running down lots of kids energy.

We realize that we've been back for a couple of weeks with little blogging, so we'll help to fill you in a bit....

The latest in Guatemala news was the possible strike by gasoline/diesel trucks. From what we understand there are specific hours that these trucks cannot drive in the capital city because of the heavy traffic. They blocked two entrances to the city one night in efforts to have their voices heard. The president sent the army out to take care of the situation. Today - there are no lines at the gas stations - everything seems to be normal.

Also, the temperatures have been a little warmer than usual - probably in the upper 80's. (We know, we know, most of you are gearing up for a hot summer, we shouldn't be complaining...) The rainy season is a bit late this year in making itself known. While it's been nice to not have to deal with the rain (and mud) we're ready for cooler afternoon temperatures & less dust.

This past Monday we celebrated our first wedding anniversary. It seems much longer than just a year, as lots has changed in the past year. We moved countless times (including moving countries), learned a new language, started new jobs, and started a marriage. That's a lot to put in one sentence, much less in one year. :) We are thankful to be settled into life here at the children's home and are very much looking forward to the next year having fewer big changes.

Tonight we'll leave you with the latest story about Sammy...

Sammy wanted to know why the group was cutting branches off the trees. I (Staci) said "well, Sammy, you get your haircut once a month, don't you? It's the same with the trees, once a year we cut their branches." Sammy said, "the trees must be sad." I asked him why so. He said, "because I don't like getting my haircut."