tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62166323290182743282024-03-21T17:32:05.845-05:00Lee & StaciLee & Stacihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361423580554395343noreply@blogger.comBlogger85125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6216632329018274328.post-52168182540480091382009-05-16T13:04:00.002-05:002009-05-16T13:21:53.975-05:00La Casa Del WaffleLast weekend we took the two current interns on a retreat to lake Atitlan. On the way home, I looked up and saw a bright yellow sign with black block lettering that said, "La Casa Del Waffle" or "The Waffle House". We made a note then to make sure that we took an adventure there someday.<br /><br />Usually on Friday nights Michelle spends the night with us, but sometimes we change due to varying schedules. This week, she spent the night with us Wednesday night, which freed up our Saturday morning a bit. Michelle is a girl after my own heart and likes to stay up late and sleep in - so going out to breakfast when she's with us is only an option if we want to deal with a little girl who didn't get all of her beauty rest.<br /><br />So this morning we left to go check out "La Casa Del Waffle" upon arrival we knew that it would be something that we'd want pictures of, except we forgot the camera at the house. In the parking area there was a handicap parking sign from the city of Phoenix. In front of other parking spots were signs that said "Dale Jr. Fans Parking Only, All Others will be Towed", "Jeff Gordon Fans Parking Only, All Others will be Towed", there was a traditional mail box with numbers on the post and the red flag raised, and a sign that read "For Sale By Owner" just like you'd find in Home Depot. What was extra funny about it all is that no Guatemalan knew what any of it meant. Inside we quickly observed that it's not a place you'd want to eat when it was raining because of the massive holes in the roof. Somehow it seemed fitting. There were various license plates from various states on the walls. Other decorations were an old Singer sewing machine, a fishing rod, cast iron skillets and pots, and lots of framed pictures of the 3 Stooges. The menu also showed their love for the 3 Stooges, Larry, Moe and Curly each had their picture on a page. One wall had various street signs like a yield sign, a stop sign, as well as, a Route 66 sign. It even said "get your kicks on route 66."<br /><br />As for the food, the menu offered various breakfast with eggs, bacon, sausage, black beans, plantains, and of course waffles. Lee had a pretty traditional breakfast of 2 eggs, black beans, bacon, and a waffle. I had a waffle with strawberries and whipped cream. The food wasn't great, but it wasn't bad, and for about $10 the experience was well worth it.Lee & Stacihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361423580554395343noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6216632329018274328.post-26792422111334343892009-04-18T13:21:00.003-05:002009-04-18T14:00:47.967-05:00The blog of all blogs!!Over the past month we've had two teams, Holy Week, and internet in spurts - so be sure your in your comfy chair - this blog is going to be lengthy!<br /><br />Thanks, Trinity Christian School.<br />In mid-March a group from Trinity Christian School from Lubbock, TX came for a week. We had a medical clinic, construction projects, soccer games, lots of UNO games, and just an all around great time. TCS has what they call "missions week" the week before spring break. All students in the school were involved in various missions projects in and around Lubbock, Texas, and around the world. <br /><br />Thanks, Lifesong Church.<br />Lifesong Church from Orlando, FL spent a week with us late March - early April. The pastor of the church lead the team, he and his wife had been here before leading teams for a church they pastored before they moved to Florida. For every other team member it was their first time to be here. We enjoyed so much getting to know them. We also enjoyed how much help they were. Their main project was helping to put in parts of the sewage system that will be used by buildings yet to be built. They also helped with a big cleaning project, made banners for our dining hall, did some painting, and taught us a new game called "move your buns". <br /><br />Holy Week.<br />Our kids spring break changes between various parts of March and April each year to match Holy Week. At New Life Children's Home there are some die hard traditions like "Holy Week Olympics", sleepovers, and special foods. During that week, everyone went to the swimming pool on Tuesday - and most everybody came home with a sunburn! Usually, only kids that are on good behavior levels get to go to the pool - an exception was made this time. It was great to watch them all enjoy such a good day together. Wednesday - Friday we had the "olympics" each afternoon. Wednesday was "Rally Day" which was much like what I remember "field day" being in elementary school. For 2 hours there were all kinds of relay races. Thursday was "food day" and for another 2 hours we played various games that all involved something edible like a bubble gum blowing contest, saltine cracker eating relay, blindfolded apple eating contest, and a cake decorating contest. On Friday we had another 2 hours of water games. We ended that day with tug-o-war in a mud pit. For all of these days the kids were broken up into teams - they worked together and cheered one another on. At the end of the games each day a theme was announced for supper that evening. They had just about an hour and a half to shower and get ready as a team for supper. We had 3 theme nights: ocean night, clown night, and zoo night. It's really fun watching how creative they are and how fast they can come up with ideas. Also, during the week each age group of kids had a sleepover. On Wednesday we had the younger girls in our place, and then on Friday we hosted the older girls. We learned that we're not as young as we used to be, staying up past mid-night is such a stretch these days. Some of the older girls stayed up until 5 am watching movies and eating junk food. <br />On Friday night, we had a Good Friday Service, and then on Sunday morning we had a sunrise Easter service. The Easter service was followed by a special breakfast of breakfast burritos.<br />We were so thankful to have the help of Chad, Marlana, Dave, and Lindsey this year, along with a few of the older kids here at the home. <br /><br />Dave & Lindsey.<br />We have two interns here with us these days. Dave is from Seattle. He came late February and after studying spanish in Antigua for 3 weeks has joined us here for the remainder of his time until late May. Dave graduated from the University of Washington in December and will begin Med school this August. He's helping out in the medical clinic in the mornings and then helping with homework in the afternoons. Lindsey is from Abilene, TX. She is married to Ben, who is a pilot in the U.S. Air Force. He is currently deployed and so instead of staying in Abilene in a quiet house, she's spending a couple of months in Guatemala. She has completed one week of language school and has one more to go. Once she's here with us she's going to help out in the kitchen in the mornings and then with homework in the afternoons.<br /><br />Lee & Staci.<br />We really enjoyed the two teams and Holy Week - we also enjoyed the long nap that followed the ending of the three events. We will receive our next team in June. Until then, we have several other things going on. The accountant/bookeeper here is on maternity leave so Staci is helping out some in the office. We're not finished with the sewage project, so Lee is about to become good friends with the backhoe. We're also looking forward to having groups of kids back in our apartment. We're also beginning to gear up for the summer as we anticipate several groups and interns. <br /><br />Baby Jarvis.<br />Yes, that says baby Jarvis! We're expecting to welcome baby Jarvis into the world in late October. We went to the doctor for the first time this week. He did an ultrasound, and we got to see the little baby show off a bit. Baby was pretty active, and everything appears to be very normal and healthy. We plan on staying here to have the baby. We really like the doctor and hospital a lot, and feel very comfortable with going through this whole process here.Lee & Stacihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361423580554395343noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6216632329018274328.post-23168207304278636582009-03-06T19:08:00.002-06:002009-03-06T19:16:44.639-06:00Almost a month...Tomorrow will be a month since we've written, so we thought we'd fire off a blog before midnight to keep that from happening.<br /><br />In the states, spring breaks are happening which means "team season" is heating up. Tomorrow we'll receive our first group of the spring from Lubbock, TX. Lee's been busy getting their work projects together and making sure that all necessary materials are in order for Monday morning<br /><br />In a couple of weeks, the book keeper/accountant here at the home will start maternity leave, so Staci's been learning the in's and out's of such stuff to be able to lend a hand in such capacities while she's gone. <br /><br />About 3 weeks ago we were in Antigua on a Sunday afternoon, in the central park with a few friends when we heard, "Staci?, Staci?". A girl that Staci went to high school with, and hadn't seen in 11 years was there as well. The following weekend she and a friend came to visit us for the weekend. It was fun to have visitors for a couple of nights and catch up on 11 years.<br /><br />Lee spent a good part of February with Don Snow, a retired shop teacher from Pennsylvania who comes down twice a year, usually. Don is the master of many trades, and a perfectionist. Lee and Don did a lot of maintenance on the girl's home unit, built some bunk beds, and lots of small odd jobs that no one ever seems to have time to complete. <br /><br />So sorry for such a boring blog - life here is nothing short of boring, but it sure seems like it from this blog.Lee & Stacihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361423580554395343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6216632329018274328.post-8180496071420056442009-02-07T18:39:00.008-06:002009-02-07T19:15:29.573-06:00Lee's week out and aboutWe mentioned in the last blog that we're in the process of seeking out "what's next". Before we tell you about Lee's last week, we'd simply ask for you to join in prayer with us about this matter. It's not easy, it doesn't feel good, but we are certain that the Lord will lead us to the right decision.<br /><br />On Thursday the 29th, Lee headed out by himself to Nebaj to meet up with and travel around with Mike. During the following six days they taught in four different places.<br /><br />If you care to google a Guatemalan map, we live in Villa Nueva - a suburb in the capital. Nebaj is north and west of Villa Nueva (mostly north). You can google names of towns, which will help you travel along with where Lee travelled.<br /><br />On Friday, they left Nebaj early (between 4 & 4:30) to head to Huehuetenango. After teaching from 8:30am - 5pm on Inductive Bible Study and the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit they drove to Santa Cruz del Quiche (we'll call Quiche from now on). Saturday morning they taught the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit again until lunch. After lunch they drove to San Andres Joyabaj to have a meeting about possibly starting classes there in the future. On Sunday, they left a town called Chichicastenango and went to Barrillas. It took 8 hours, 3.5 of which that were only in 1st and 2nd gear because of steep mountain passages and switchbacks. On Monday they taught in Barrillas. On Tuesday they taught in Nuevo Porvenir, a small town near the Mexico border. On Wednesday they drove from Barrillas back to Nebaj; it took about 8.5 hours. On Thursday they left Nebaj and headed back toward the capital city so that Lee could drop Mike off at the mechanic's place and then Lee came home.<br /><br />Lee said it was a great time with Mike and the Guatemalan highlands were really beautiful. Teaching in spanish was difficult, but really good at the same time to be able to train those mountain pastors that will never have the opportunity to go to seminary. <br /><br />Here are some pics from the adventure:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHmTOv1-qffSoDwSKTQAaA5QcoAuaR2pj9mpXgAqv_NiMRyMlxm6cLUhn_uVmMp3SoLfX1yeSaZ8K0OCkLt2wqTT404OkWgMXX81yuaZMEfFdNrnkNIO0h0Y_6fnrwZGD2PuThfJ0_/s1600-h/IMG_0781.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHmTOv1-qffSoDwSKTQAaA5QcoAuaR2pj9mpXgAqv_NiMRyMlxm6cLUhn_uVmMp3SoLfX1yeSaZ8K0OCkLt2wqTT404OkWgMXX81yuaZMEfFdNrnkNIO0h0Y_6fnrwZGD2PuThfJ0_/s320/IMG_0781.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300225060636851202" /></a><br />This is a huge bolder left from a landslide from last year's rainy season that is blocking 3/4 of the road.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLwMDIGJnVX1jLdpnBi6xS_QdCJ894JfTv7yOWebbi7exB5rqsK9XdMJvrUW77cTTDXk2xIW_7GxJT2AI3rMvoFIDYDiku9R7vsJdXz0C5yMYGf5cmRXXZggnuY22Pp3GIroZWkreL/s1600-h/IMG_0836.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLwMDIGJnVX1jLdpnBi6xS_QdCJ894JfTv7yOWebbi7exB5rqsK9XdMJvrUW77cTTDXk2xIW_7GxJT2AI3rMvoFIDYDiku9R7vsJdXz0C5yMYGf5cmRXXZggnuY22Pp3GIroZWkreL/s320/IMG_0836.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300225415845600914" /></a><br />Teaching the doctrine of the Holy Spirit in Barrillas.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3nJx0WwN5rJD3o1P5hCgD_xri_kdN7Fm1KUM3MT0H8JR4J3Ua8KuSCvd-TsIxskab9pkRXRcYHHGR3ihtMOdAfZ5FlaEN-wwJfkJYuVPZv9LGilBo1mbWPGR9F-Qm5n-rD1UUxzCF/s1600-h/IMG_0834.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3nJx0WwN5rJD3o1P5hCgD_xri_kdN7Fm1KUM3MT0H8JR4J3Ua8KuSCvd-TsIxskab9pkRXRcYHHGR3ihtMOdAfZ5FlaEN-wwJfkJYuVPZv9LGilBo1mbWPGR9F-Qm5n-rD1UUxzCF/s320/IMG_0834.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300225682945262130" /></a><br />These last 4 pictures are just to help give you an idea of the varied climate zones that Lee saw this past week. This was on the dry side of a mountain.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCrxbCacVrReOFNJOxJ_H-I8FaS5EfR7XhLVa0z2WUvmpfMR3X9AX7NFJL06OhmbTR1RGQKHsEhVgRKcAtRQCi8gWM1Q-gkKQKIkz0pg2X7NaAE08-_elO001cxwxLOH6aA0wsfdJc/s1600-h/IMG_0848.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCrxbCacVrReOFNJOxJ_H-I8FaS5EfR7XhLVa0z2WUvmpfMR3X9AX7NFJL06OhmbTR1RGQKHsEhVgRKcAtRQCi8gWM1Q-gkKQKIkz0pg2X7NaAE08-_elO001cxwxLOH6aA0wsfdJc/s320/IMG_0848.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300227238550648178" /></a><br />This picture was in the rain forest.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlW5oYqi1MSjHY0ZW8IQbGZNmhJMmVfbM-JPGsaKQugrp5X9-Q7RZjt94oDuYj2lGIajgThZt22eaaR7ZaUmB6LAVIedB3dzP1a1WtNqIG_QHDd9MYUeKH1rbxjNCVIhnOcVKpOhCe/s1600-h/IMG_0856.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlW5oYqi1MSjHY0ZW8IQbGZNmhJMmVfbM-JPGsaKQugrp5X9-Q7RZjt94oDuYj2lGIajgThZt22eaaR7ZaUmB6LAVIedB3dzP1a1WtNqIG_QHDd9MYUeKH1rbxjNCVIhnOcVKpOhCe/s320/IMG_0856.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300227475965045298" /></a><br />Many of the people in the highlands are subsistence farmers. On the bottom of this picture is a man in front of his house, hoeing his field.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPLzrj3wd7ZPN0GqVfU10nx74Pkj5FW_XoRtBIprwr4M0lEJZWwpwYxZ0O4B2oKFKJdYb_XdYLeL7DcEoeUUoR4nHwCAh3XC4HW2FzM40XZ55-QaSe5Y354Ha_8c-Br__NcHtJPTnt/s1600-h/IMG_0863.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPLzrj3wd7ZPN0GqVfU10nx74Pkj5FW_XoRtBIprwr4M0lEJZWwpwYxZ0O4B2oKFKJdYb_XdYLeL7DcEoeUUoR4nHwCAh3XC4HW2FzM40XZ55-QaSe5Y354Ha_8c-Br__NcHtJPTnt/s320/IMG_0863.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300227852267600850" /></a><br />Thought we'd throw in a picture of wheat for you west Texas farmers.Lee & Stacihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361423580554395343noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6216632329018274328.post-64319674897211967692009-01-26T21:04:00.004-06:002009-01-26T21:36:21.070-06:003 days, 300 miles & 6 quarts of oilWe came to Guatemala in September 2007 on a 2 year commitment. So that means between now and September we have some decisions to make - like do we stay in Guatemala or do we move back to the states.<br /><br />We're beginning to process that decision. Part of the process was us taking a trip to Nebaj (pronounced Neba) this past weekend. Mike & Terri and their kids are missionaries with New Life Advance International - the same organization that we're a part of. They live in Nebaj. Mike is the International Director of an organization called ASELSI. ASELSI does pastoral and church leader training in remote areas. Lee is a teacher (a good one if you ask me) and is looking into the possibilities in becoming involved with ASELSI.<br /><br />So... on Friday we left here about 8:30 in the morning - sparing you many details of the days before dealing with how much oil we had in our car, or if we had any at all we'll begin this story in Chimaltenango, an hour into our trip, and the check gauges liight came on. Aware that the oil pressure gauge was low we checked the oil - no oil. Added 2 quarts. Skipping many more details, we arrived in Nebaj about 3:45 - and added 6 quart of oil along the way. Nebaj is only about 150 miles from where we live, but it's way up in the mountains, and the roads weren't great in all areas. We checked out Mike & Terri's beautiful home at the base of a very green mountain and then Lee took the car to the local mechanic.<br /><br />We spent Friday evening with Mike, Terri and their 4 kids. They were thankful that it wasn't as cold as it had been - we were thankful for the long sleeves that we brought. We have become very accustomed to the weather in Villa Nueva - rarely above 80, rarely below 60. So the 40 degree weather in Nebaj was freezing to us.<br /><br />On Saturday morning Lee went with Mike to an extension site for ASELSI where 8 students had met to receive teaching. One student began walking at 4am to reach Nebaj by 8am for the class. Mike taught a 2 hour session that morning and Lee observed.<br /><br />After the guys got back to the house we loaded up and drove about 30 minutes on mostly dirt roads to a dairy for lunch. The story is that an Italian guy came to that area in the 1920's and settled there because it reminded him of his home in Italy. 90 years later the family still runs the dairy and makes cheese just the way he did in the 1920's. We had a delicious lunch, including the cheese they make there melted between 2 tortillas. The weather there dumps between 7 and 9 feet of rain every year is never really hot - thus, really beautiful plant life. She had a green house full of orchids among other flowers.<br /><br />We spent Saturday afternoon and evening at Mike & Terri's house with a few other missionaries from Nebaj. It was great getting to be a part of the community that they share.<br /><br />Sunday morning the alarm went off at 3:15am and we left their house at 4am so that we could be at a little town called Los Encuentros by 7:30am. After grabbing a quick bite of breakfast in Los Encuentros we drove another 20 minutes to La Argueta. That morning Mike taught for a while and then handed the reigns to Lee for a bit. He taught about 5 pages of the material that morning which took about 45 minutes. Another teacher, Jose, taught the last part. This was Lee's first time to teach in a setting like this in spanish. (He was awesome, if I do say so myself. It's one thing to have a conversation about the weather in another language, it's something completely different and difficult to teach. I certainly wouldn't have felt comfortable in that situation - he didn't mispronounce one word!)<br /><br />After having a snack and spending some time with a family in La Argueta we headed back to the capital. Thanks to the mechanic in Nebaj, we didn't have to add any oil!!<br /><br />It was such a good weekend. Great time with great people in a beautiful place.<br /><br />On Thursday Lee will head back to Nebaj to spend a week travelling with Mike to several extension sites. He'll be gone for a week.<br /><br />Here are a few pictures of the little trip:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEkmf3SOHjE_knKCVTQs2DQjx7SaeHahFqYgd3532zDo2opICddttEz7Yq9LmKBKhUQ4OGoSd3A13y2_JNCJCIYLW9wbtFJ-R7APEFZKDB7g-llffq_mSE0dXUmS4syy7xYPs-cuaz/s1600-h/IMG_0774.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEkmf3SOHjE_knKCVTQs2DQjx7SaeHahFqYgd3532zDo2opICddttEz7Yq9LmKBKhUQ4OGoSd3A13y2_JNCJCIYLW9wbtFJ-R7APEFZKDB7g-llffq_mSE0dXUmS4syy7xYPs-cuaz/s320/IMG_0774.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5295810634769225330" /></a><br />Lee teaching his first class.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" <br />href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZbHH1Dsw-mqLyOPDX4rr7EXeFtE50QpNq4LEH6cHi2gN_xjOJLXpzGB9bidCEIVJwUcpu66Uf5DzZs6HfDlj5xLtAWOUyCdUN_llyjCL5uzkIXv-RHbEYeVlPjzWtMDo-hueGu7s-/s1600-h/IMG_0765.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZbHH1Dsw-mqLyOPDX4rr7EXeFtE50QpNq4LEH6cHi2gN_xjOJLXpzGB9bidCEIVJwUcpu66Uf5DzZs6HfDlj5xLtAWOUyCdUN_llyjCL5uzkIXv-RHbEYeVlPjzWtMDo-hueGu7s-/s320/IMG_0765.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5295810631123948114" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM30g4Jk12ku18EYfzdO0NyDnOqYq4leDIWy9bKPsZ-utUyKwKU9xtPEWtE5PoF2KmON0vc6nSa0374yIYCafL_Pd1OWuzjBkzmpvx3SerKvxBP_HC8WdQZtV9hpB-GS0Cw_PR7PVN/s1600-h/IMG_0754.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM30g4Jk12ku18EYfzdO0NyDnOqYq4leDIWy9bKPsZ-utUyKwKU9xtPEWtE5PoF2KmON0vc6nSa0374yIYCafL_Pd1OWuzjBkzmpvx3SerKvxBP_HC8WdQZtV9hpB-GS0Cw_PR7PVN/s320/IMG_0754.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5295810626301388146" /></a><br />This was part of the dairy that we had lunch at.Lee & Stacihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361423580554395343noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6216632329018274328.post-2057013809158493422009-01-19T19:52:00.002-06:002009-01-19T20:06:47.076-06:00Mid-January updateSo we'll officially stop apologizing about not blogging more often. We would love to think that we would blog more often, but as you can see from over a year of blogging, we're just not good at blogging consistently.<br /><br />So here's the run down:<br />We rang in the New Year's with a bit of a get together in our apartment with fellow gringos. We ate, played board games, and had a great time hanging out. Just before midnight we gathered up our loot (fireworks) and matches. About midnight we began to light one by one the biggest fireworks that we've ever lit. There are a lot of things here that differ from that in the States. One of those is the control of fireworks - there just isn't much control here. So, we purchased 100 shot roman candles - they were about 5 feet tall. Lee got to blow up some huge, very loud firecrackers.<br /><br />Our kids enjoyed their last two weeks of freedom before school started on the 15th. <br /><br />We had a team of 6 from Pennsylvania from the 8th - 16th. This team comes twice each year - our kids dearly love them and an always anxious for their arrival. While the team was here, and with their help, we took 18 of the kids to a water park that is located on the pacific beach. What gets better than a couple of pools, a few cool slides, and the beach? For many if was the first time that they saw the ocean. For one little guy it was the first time he'd been to a pool or the ocean, it was a bit of fun overload for him, he hardly stopped playing to eat lunch. <br /><br />During the rest of their time here, the Pennsylvania team got our phone intercom system working properly again, we know have wireless internet in more areas, they demolished a couple of walls (on purpose), and put doors on a couple of medicine cabinets - oh yeah, and fixed several leaks!<br /><br />Now that school has started, a change in schedule happens for everyone - it was no fun for the kids to wake up at 5:30am last Thursday. Most of our kids struggle with academics and would appreciate your prayers for their school year.<br /><br />Without going into details, we'd ask for your specific prayers over New Life Children's Home as this new year has brought some new challenges that it has never faced before. <br /><br />Thanks for standing with us,<br />Lee & StaciLee & Stacihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361423580554395343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6216632329018274328.post-28746234129131521852008-12-30T21:54:00.008-06:002008-12-30T23:04:49.873-06:00Christmas 2008We hope that you all had a great Christmas.<br /><br />We'd like to share a bit about what Christmas was like for us, and share some pictures of such a fun time.<br /><br />We shared last year that most of the Christmas festivities happen on Christmas Eve. We love the deep tradition that New Life Children's Home has and things that must happen for Christmas to be Christmas here.<br /><br />We'll start with the preparations. Church on the Rock in Lubbock, TX begins each summer collecting gifts for each of our kids. You would be amazed at what these people can stuff in a sack. I'm particularly thankful for all of the Texas Tech gear that they pack in for our kiddos. :) The church that we attend here in Guatemala finds several sponsors for our kids and they purchase gifts as well.<br /><br />Once the gifts arrive, we open and check them all for sizes and the redistribute if necessary. On the 23rd we began to move gifts for our "workshop" to the dining hall to start to surround the tree. We added another pile on the 24th. If we were to put gifts out earlier it's amazing how some gifts would unwrap themselves a bit early, because "no one" touches the gifts before it's time to unwrap.<br /><br />The evening of Christmas Eve is when the fun begins. Here it's call "noche buena" or "The good night". At 9pm the kids left their homes to come to the dining hall. Some of the little kids did a dance, some of the older ones played instruments, our older girls sang "O Come All Ye Faithful", and one little guys, the newest at NLCH sang "Jingle Bells" solo and a acappella, Kendon read Luke's account of the Christmas story and we had communion together. After our Christmas Eve service, we had snacks including homemade cookies, cheese, crackers, ham, sausages, apples and grapes. Apples and grapes are a must have for any Guatemalan Christmas festivity. Snacks were cleaned up, and the we began handing out presents. Once the present touches your hand you're allowed to open it. The table of little boys (there are 12 of them) was electric! <br /><br />After all of the presents were opened, everyone took them back to their rooms and then came back outside for the midnight fireworks. At midnight the whole country sets off fireworks - it's the best fireworks show there is.<br /><br />Christmas morning began with the traditional oatmeal pancakes and stockings that were filled with popcorn, candy, small toys....etc...<br /><br />During breakfast, Lee and the Wheeler's kids began to put together the trampoline that the kids had no idea about. After breakfast the kids came out to see their new trampoline. It's only been in service for 5 days and already has a lot of miles on it. :)<br /><br />Here are a few pictures from such fun days:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNx2gFS7NBlfKNbQ48rFZOE4QDxdmyYfR8M_JN1RmMKZvZTANU4IUy-eOZbbQeDKJmuXCyZ32IXtMxM8iCi5dl-4s3G_0UwbtbF6UVwvGHgZ4EoqnlXZ-Ghq7DSk6i9PYCOl2-Pk2r/s1600-h/kids+and+presents.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNx2gFS7NBlfKNbQ48rFZOE4QDxdmyYfR8M_JN1RmMKZvZTANU4IUy-eOZbbQeDKJmuXCyZ32IXtMxM8iCi5dl-4s3G_0UwbtbF6UVwvGHgZ4EoqnlXZ-Ghq7DSk6i9PYCOl2-Pk2r/s320/kids+and+presents.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285812106723652066" /></a><br />Just before opening presents, here are a few of the kids with the pile o presents behind them.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyqGzp_pS5THi_c5gutm0_5kQXZrNbdxBNcNW3yVLeoAcYiAle6LfJFPkXVTO5RZuVzNeEnuFovRSNWnwi5mEvIsjT6WnKIDfunA_W7KQW5jR2BOknPe5fVT21nZ6z7NfhAfsxnRbE/s1600-h/whoopie+cushin.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyqGzp_pS5THi_c5gutm0_5kQXZrNbdxBNcNW3yVLeoAcYiAle6LfJFPkXVTO5RZuVzNeEnuFovRSNWnwi5mEvIsjT6WnKIDfunA_W7KQW5jR2BOknPe5fVT21nZ6z7NfhAfsxnRbE/s320/whoopie+cushin.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285812107733523298" /></a><br />Lee teaching Oscar how to use his new whoopee cushin.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh87ZPHTpjm5LuZzVYR4K8JiI8rBm1RNBVzVvSHQaiuuV6wJ7gz57NaQzAkG4bambHfs5Vb0SZsB_x5MUAXsaMLt2w20OhCBDCzRt42TA6VKRwOUOiMXMpsILN5opAIB2jJugKEkKb9/s1600-h/trampoline.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh87ZPHTpjm5LuZzVYR4K8JiI8rBm1RNBVzVvSHQaiuuV6wJ7gz57NaQzAkG4bambHfs5Vb0SZsB_x5MUAXsaMLt2w20OhCBDCzRt42TA6VKRwOUOiMXMpsILN5opAIB2jJugKEkKb9/s320/trampoline.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285814442894384370" /></a><br />Anxiously awaiting to get to jump on the trampoline.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuMyRGxMDAbhAwFGxc7CZUjTGOdXsCfr1Uac8gu7RNFAS9sdXehhmi1GK6EFfhIBAKHNQ9ZwdycXUu6Aem6AfoS6JHadhGaMoCW5vPqhDJe3iR35NxcTvIgueEw_kI7vd45TxeStpE/s1600-h/michelle+trampoline.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuMyRGxMDAbhAwFGxc7CZUjTGOdXsCfr1Uac8gu7RNFAS9sdXehhmi1GK6EFfhIBAKHNQ9ZwdycXUu6Aem6AfoS6JHadhGaMoCW5vPqhDJe3iR35NxcTvIgueEw_kI7vd45TxeStpE/s320/michelle+trampoline.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285814435364230530" /></a><br />Michelle was the first to get to try out the trampoline.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjleW8ix6enNe_ib83sexekcTjqc4h50BNVIN_vhqQcnFyR-E5UhW5LKBxzmoylnWg48hLK2TQ3Ie3ShItASN75Ln-UkKUYyALQEtIkcPMuO5A16fLYwlnrkXBOoHhwJqoatI7m05Kr/s1600-h/Jorgito+trampoline.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjleW8ix6enNe_ib83sexekcTjqc4h50BNVIN_vhqQcnFyR-E5UhW5LKBxzmoylnWg48hLK2TQ3Ie3ShItASN75Ln-UkKUYyALQEtIkcPMuO5A16fLYwlnrkXBOoHhwJqoatI7m05Kr/s320/Jorgito+trampoline.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285814433967865586" /></a><br />Jorgito jumping on a trampoline for the first time.Lee & Stacihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361423580554395343noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6216632329018274328.post-36341652441310034322008-12-24T23:38:00.002-06:002008-12-24T23:44:01.622-06:00Merry Christmas!We are in the middle of Christmas activities here - we'll explain more later about the traditions of Christmas at NLCH and Guatemala. It's currently 11:40pm, Christmas Eve and we're having a small intermission or half-time if you will before blowing up fireworks at midnight. There's nothing like watching a small child experience Christmas for the first time. This past year, NLCH has received several new kiddos, it was so neat watching them receive gifts. Randy asked Lee to carry his stuff to his room because it was too heavy for him. He also asked when the next Christmas was. :)<br /><br />Merry Christmas!<br /><br />Lee & StaciLee & Stacihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361423580554395343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6216632329018274328.post-45892010396803275342008-12-21T15:25:00.006-06:002008-12-21T16:25:39.760-06:00Catching upIt seems like we're often writing blogs to catch up. We really thought that the fall would be a bit slower and that we'd have more time for things like writing blogs. The fall has simply just been different than what the spring and summer were.<br /><br />We wrote just before Thanksgiving. We enjoyed Thanksgiving here with other American missionaries. We, like most of you all enjoyed turkey, ham, dressing, broccoli rice casserole, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, homemade rolls and the list goes on and on. It was a fun day of great fellowship. The day after was fun too. In the states their were parking lot wars of "black Friday". Here it was just a normal Friday. We (us 3 missionary families at NLCH) enjoyed a day out together. We grabbed lunch at a mall food court and then played a couple of games of bowling before returning to have leftovers from our Thanksgiving feast.<br /><br />On December 7 Lee left with Chad Smith (another missionary here at the home) and 7 of our older kids for a 4 day mission trip to western Guatemala and a brief crossing into Mexico. Over the 4 days they stopped at between 20 and 25 churches to share with the kids of the community and give out Christmas gifts. Another ministry called Hearts for Heaven planned the trip, as well as, collected the Christmas gifts - Lee, Chad and the kids were the hands and feet of the effort and gave out the gifts and shared a gospel message through stories with the kids. <br /><br />This past Tuesday we took our middle aged girls out for their "school vacation excursion". We're really enjoying taking the kids out in small groups for a fun afternoon - not only is it something fun and out of the ordinary to do, I think they just like getting out of the home and seeing other things. This week, we took 5 girls out and went bowling. None of them had played before - and all of them complained of their arms hurting at the end of our time together :). The only bad part of the whole thing was the traffic jam of all traffic jams that we experienced on the way home. It took us over 2 hours to go just 13 miles - yuck!<br /><br />Also this past week we finished our two teenage small groups for the year. We'll start those back up mid January-ish. We plan on continuing to have our group of college aged kids during the holidays. Our groups are going well, our relationship with those involved in the groups is growing, and our spanish is continually challenged.<br /><br />Christmas preparations are now in full swing. It is fun to get to be a part of Christmas on this kind of scale. 50 kids, plus employees and their families = a mountain of cookies to be baked, lots of presents to be wrapped, and more excitement than you can imagine housed in a bunch of little kids. <br /><br />Here are a few pics of recent events:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheNWygtN0MiQWaoV29g64IZOuKS0GlRuVdhccQuMekGElNddu1DKv2kmtSMb8xetKI_2j7-sOB4cIsMo-SKJQ-kCp3sIq4l6d5z-zq6yM54q8EqhohtXUtTc34H3MOONCN2KU42FnL/s1600-h/lee+coco.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheNWygtN0MiQWaoV29g64IZOuKS0GlRuVdhccQuMekGElNddu1DKv2kmtSMb8xetKI_2j7-sOB4cIsMo-SKJQ-kCp3sIq4l6d5z-zq6yM54q8EqhohtXUtTc34H3MOONCN2KU42FnL/s320/lee+coco.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282364757195543970" /></a><br />The second stop of the trip was a church plant in progress out in the country. A few of our kids climbed coconut trees nearby and knocked a few down to be eaten.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik1F4CNZUUN7W5v6rEv59LHYAJQiQlNxaPNgnLIqqSOM1UobixRgw9UUKh0xIjd3vEh71ky1TogvW6sh9MvGijI9HZ7ehFmoOOS9xjda3YfHF-M1lUbglEJ2rsM-0X4AQKmltLtp4B/s1600-h/church.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik1F4CNZUUN7W5v6rEv59LHYAJQiQlNxaPNgnLIqqSOM1UobixRgw9UUKh0xIjd3vEh71ky1TogvW6sh9MvGijI9HZ7ehFmoOOS9xjda3YfHF-M1lUbglEJ2rsM-0X4AQKmltLtp4B/s320/church.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282364759941606098" /></a><br />One of the visited churches.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWGPfickwzeFRvbDnCjjuvkDBTQLcLcbQVv-sAKtK8RAfVKSQjSZfWT_RiS5eMln_aT1C_yQx4VRzPrLkZDxnjGxSvUPtpOv8N07bdl0WVjNbaWXtpthVDOy4UPq_bcDHfI59eqHgT/s1600-h/poor+church.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWGPfickwzeFRvbDnCjjuvkDBTQLcLcbQVv-sAKtK8RAfVKSQjSZfWT_RiS5eMln_aT1C_yQx4VRzPrLkZDxnjGxSvUPtpOv8N07bdl0WVjNbaWXtpthVDOy4UPq_bcDHfI59eqHgT/s320/poor+church.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282364771829654002" /></a><br />Most of the visited churches were small, poor churches.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJkqkVd3lj46C93fFLAPSdva3KsadV4nF6RWxobvPKefex8z2nJQddUEkmklkZfAMIQ_VlbTdHvCZVsAz4hH1VlwbPekyoSqLNTSsLMOZBSOrB9qRNYuz28JyY4OHpgXrmSTkCpun2/s1600-h/lee+handing+out+gift.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJkqkVd3lj46C93fFLAPSdva3KsadV4nF6RWxobvPKefex8z2nJQddUEkmklkZfAMIQ_VlbTdHvCZVsAz4hH1VlwbPekyoSqLNTSsLMOZBSOrB9qRNYuz28JyY4OHpgXrmSTkCpun2/s320/lee+handing+out+gift.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282364782067072402" /></a><br />Handing out gifts.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimDoKyGeeACXpIOpBJGERFRXWFlZlylLyjjNeo7u7awyfQR7CEWuIQs7DsfU2KFhjgYe3QDDccE8sk3FiJvQEMxr77lcFoUQDxMWihAV-pCpN7P8K5v3y5hMLSy17CDtyfTAsCFmhD/s1600-h/group+shot.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimDoKyGeeACXpIOpBJGERFRXWFlZlylLyjjNeo7u7awyfQR7CEWuIQs7DsfU2KFhjgYe3QDDccE8sk3FiJvQEMxr77lcFoUQDxMWihAV-pCpN7P8K5v3y5hMLSy17CDtyfTAsCFmhD/s320/group+shot.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282364773096281810" /></a><br />Group shot from the trip. If you look closely, you can see the pacific ocean in the background.<br /><br /><br />*I've been trying to add other pictures, but blogspot is being weird - I'll try again later.Lee & Stacihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361423580554395343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6216632329018274328.post-68309575661104499202008-11-26T22:00:00.008-06:002008-11-26T22:23:44.502-06:00Another Friday ExcursionThis past Friday we surprised 4 of the younger girls with an outing. Our kids have a behavior level system. If you are on a good level - you get to have privileges like the ability to go on surprise excursions. <br /><br />We would love to be able to take all of them out for a fun afternoon during the break, but with 50 kids, the odds of them all being on a good enough level to go it not likely.<br /><br />Anyway - on to the really fun stuff! Iris, Angie, Emily, and Sheila were on a great level so on Friday we went to a food court for lunch and then headed on to the Children's Museum. They loved that they got to share a pizza together and go through the museum with very few other people. We were surprised by how great and interactive it was. In addition to the information, they had activities that went along with each station. <br /><br />At the end of the museum was a huge ball room. There were thousands of those small balls that are in play places like chuck-e-cheese, but instead of a huge vat of balls, there were pulley systems and other ways to collect the balls. Much like some water parks that have a huge bucket of water that spills periodically, instead of water, lots of balls fell at the sound of the alarm. <br /><br />Here are a few pics from our day out:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEWqmhcsIISYqxW22agEDVXeCrmdJ-VlFQ3enORbE4BLxFDb4e_cy797pVTAkfBYP98hUBKE17PTKYfYaT6LpGOslI8o5YOxtGd-6F0EpiEsWIDYQLpOitNz37sJABkRzN06j2HBmE/s1600-h/IMG_0520.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEWqmhcsIISYqxW22agEDVXeCrmdJ-VlFQ3enORbE4BLxFDb4e_cy797pVTAkfBYP98hUBKE17PTKYfYaT6LpGOslI8o5YOxtGd-6F0EpiEsWIDYQLpOitNz37sJABkRzN06j2HBmE/s320/IMG_0520.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5273186295944027314" /></a><br />Here Iris is learning all about static electricity.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRqJUdlsRlC1Ezs9OQuOuj2fhjZQOIKMuJQrnZLtlExwBX7_zXiFnGYt5Wp3hcI7gNto-I5d10P8S1OJ8v6Wjm3ffjCxTJMVu5IJbh8oH58n7PdpHvrl2W0Y1MtanmlmiBSg0f-TuY/s1600-h/Lee+bubbles.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRqJUdlsRlC1Ezs9OQuOuj2fhjZQOIKMuJQrnZLtlExwBX7_zXiFnGYt5Wp3hcI7gNto-I5d10P8S1OJ8v6Wjm3ffjCxTJMVu5IJbh8oH58n7PdpHvrl2W0Y1MtanmlmiBSg0f-TuY/s320/Lee+bubbles.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5273186445944453378" /></a><br />Though we didn't see any reason to have a bubble area, we all loved making giant bubbles.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwlrWBG15Y1QKbyp8vKfttH2W834YU-VUspnTlCwzOwIhbS2e2zYkkNPmN8Y9Z8YAnKQKYlnzbcjm4Gzlwg-VEjkxKV1dAzTknXaYn5Q-gk7nVlaxYy7oxT29uJFWGg_mt_NWzkA5H/s1600-h/operation.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwlrWBG15Y1QKbyp8vKfttH2W834YU-VUspnTlCwzOwIhbS2e2zYkkNPmN8Y9Z8YAnKQKYlnzbcjm4Gzlwg-VEjkxKV1dAzTknXaYn5Q-gk7nVlaxYy7oxT29uJFWGg_mt_NWzkA5H/s320/operation.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5273186946502092594" /></a><br />Lee is showing them how exactly to remove the "charlie horse" in the life size operation game.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZrTUl7apCO1xDLE5oh6tUaVtVQ4cwj_5P1mbh1r8gvZaDOwaygFb_eAIy-TdJWiHHgacOxU_e25iyfJ0dU8C1GblJE_f_NHh3H584lho5vR6FPiwPEC_iPOdVxi0eYy9vEpDsqUDN/s1600-h/raining+balls.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZrTUl7apCO1xDLE5oh6tUaVtVQ4cwj_5P1mbh1r8gvZaDOwaygFb_eAIy-TdJWiHHgacOxU_e25iyfJ0dU8C1GblJE_f_NHh3H584lho5vR6FPiwPEC_iPOdVxi0eYy9vEpDsqUDN/s320/raining+balls.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5273187196268288674" /></a><br />After all of our hard work, the balls came raining down.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga18IQ8bwwHFz9ft3wrImrZYbJgG97CU6gzZcswbwmN6i0oxDc2NUed2GA_zBcNkw1C-o75yu3EHsYUqdVHFNvp8oJYrkk0R33-VL3w-oY4q_zVqvI5bj3odJ9ZG7R5wd4_zx8Gysc/s1600-h/staci+%26+girls.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga18IQ8bwwHFz9ft3wrImrZYbJgG97CU6gzZcswbwmN6i0oxDc2NUed2GA_zBcNkw1C-o75yu3EHsYUqdVHFNvp8oJYrkk0R33-VL3w-oY4q_zVqvI5bj3odJ9ZG7R5wd4_zx8Gysc/s320/staci+%26+girls.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5273187606501896226" /></a><br />Taking a little rest at the end of our afternoon.<br /><br />We hope that you all have a great Thanksgiving. We're looking forward to all of the traditional Thanksgiving foods with fellow missionaries from the states tomorrow.Lee & Stacihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361423580554395343noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6216632329018274328.post-39309916105583570102008-11-16T19:59:00.005-06:002008-11-16T20:19:59.849-06:00Surprise Excursion!!We've mentioned before that our kids are out of school for the equivalent of "summer break". This past Friday we surprised the little boys who are on good behavior level with an outing.<br /><br />We had planned the outing, and clued in all of those who needed to know ahead of time. Our plan was to leave about 11:30, make our way to McDonald's for a happy meal lunch, and then head on to the zoo. <br /><br />At 11:30 we pulled the van in front of the boys house, the 10 eligible kiddos ran outside, excited for what was to come. We told them that because of their great behavior level, there was a reward in store. So just before loading the van, the announcement of a McDonald's lunch was announced, followed by cheers. Here are a couple of pics from McDonald's :<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBwJdBZFN9IRpqbdasWr1qma4mZa3EHISXRSjV4t_HlFkTyMDtZjleP8hbyZM9aG0ybWm_iE2-gzY-dXIzgCs4c8VUYRKIaJfnOoghkO_Ns_hMyeGjzxvY16Zu-EGTttw4O6vt5g8L/s1600-h/IMG_0484.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBwJdBZFN9IRpqbdasWr1qma4mZa3EHISXRSjV4t_HlFkTyMDtZjleP8hbyZM9aG0ybWm_iE2-gzY-dXIzgCs4c8VUYRKIaJfnOoghkO_Ns_hMyeGjzxvY16Zu-EGTttw4O6vt5g8L/s320/IMG_0484.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269442178498231810" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxnRLLB7p6sudEkjvBe7lOKt2-YmLSmDdtwxOldVsLkLJQfMbpRsSPadDYut5s1z_jy_ocYbBwyaRX3kmdAijfbBtjlOUlIPHLE7sstuiAOfzu4cEC2ftB12IH4VH5hc6KPC2eIPfH/s1600-h/IMG_0483.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxnRLLB7p6sudEkjvBe7lOKt2-YmLSmDdtwxOldVsLkLJQfMbpRsSPadDYut5s1z_jy_ocYbBwyaRX3kmdAijfbBtjlOUlIPHLE7sstuiAOfzu4cEC2ftB12IH4VH5hc6KPC2eIPfH/s320/IMG_0483.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269442181858621314" /></a><br /><br />The next part of the story is best with a little background information. The little boys are... little boys. Meal times can be really messy, loud, and sort of out of control. In the past few weeks the house parents have been talking to them about how they are animals. This was no reason for our choice of taking them to the zoo, but it lead to some teachable moments.<br /><br />After eating Lee rounded up all of the kiddos and said that he had been talking to their houseparent who said that they needed to learn the difference between being animals and humans. Therefore we were going to go to the zoo to learn the difference. This announcement was also followed by cheers. Here are a few pics from the zoo:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEDHkLhjpiyjWg1OvVqeWFTbdZr7pGb_Rh_rUihp-RvJDMrObI5ZNOUsRC-6Fqus7pwaexC92wpqcTSGu2X5w4yXye9Va51m2oo1eYwLZm96soNhkhq3_Xub9Hixr-t_SaO-8PIV5f/s1600-h/IMG_0487.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEDHkLhjpiyjWg1OvVqeWFTbdZr7pGb_Rh_rUihp-RvJDMrObI5ZNOUsRC-6Fqus7pwaexC92wpqcTSGu2X5w4yXye9Va51m2oo1eYwLZm96soNhkhq3_Xub9Hixr-t_SaO-8PIV5f/s320/IMG_0487.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269443700559642354" /></a><br />This is just inside the gates at the zoo. The couple on the left, Edon & Dixon are here visiting the home for a couple of weeks. We have enjoyed spending time with them, and they were great help on Friday.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9gymcfO_bvgVb0pX3-3e_NhUIcwczvOuNcFhb_lGIbmmEPQRVOMycZecRokS2Z9nOC53vD19E3ETawLD22zfcdbHfJtGDhNQPxt3CMJCroHDf2t7HsQaCm-FWNsxGiU4t_RB5IpNf/s1600-h/IMG_0490.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9gymcfO_bvgVb0pX3-3e_NhUIcwczvOuNcFhb_lGIbmmEPQRVOMycZecRokS2Z9nOC53vD19E3ETawLD22zfcdbHfJtGDhNQPxt3CMJCroHDf2t7HsQaCm-FWNsxGiU4t_RB5IpNf/s320/IMG_0490.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269443705256120818" /></a><br />"Everybody be a flamingo" You can faintly see a couple of flamingo's in the background on the left.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9bGaAMXxBBd7HmkPH0Z6lyGmeSfuAIDVXi_cTXDFE4WaNgJNmYqSKnDmMdWb4hO12m5NVdjmqboeC9-giSvg5IM-3i27ayqJ7QDjsyjz8eOL_2f_49XXNAvXUWFG93rEj1e6oxURK/s1600-h/IMG_0506.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9bGaAMXxBBd7HmkPH0Z6lyGmeSfuAIDVXi_cTXDFE4WaNgJNmYqSKnDmMdWb4hO12m5NVdjmqboeC9-giSvg5IM-3i27ayqJ7QDjsyjz8eOL_2f_49XXNAvXUWFG93rEj1e6oxURK/s320/IMG_0506.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269443711260920674" /></a><br />Of all animals, most of the kids wants their picture taken with Camila, the donkey. I think she was getting a little agitated, so she decided to snack on Javier's shirt for this picture.Lee & Stacihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361423580554395343noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6216632329018274328.post-62950921267339421532008-11-12T22:28:00.002-06:002008-11-12T22:43:20.617-06:00Christmas CardsYeah, we know, talking about Christmas cards in early November may be a stretch, but we're almost finished with them here. Let us clarify, the kids are almost finished with their Christmas cards. <br /><br />Each of our kids have to write a homemade Christmas card to each of the sponsors each year. It's almost like a dance that begins in late summer and by early November the music has stopped, but some kids haven't finished the dance. So, the first part of November the kids have Christmas card making sessions to finish them in enough time to get them to the states before Christmas. When the kids have finished, we translate them, stuff them, seal them, weigh them... and so on.<br /><br />Last year we wrote a blog about helping to translate the cards while we were on a short break from language school. We enjoyed so much reading what the kids would have to say to their sponsor. This year was was no let down, I think by far the Christmas cards from our kids are the best ones around. Last year we shared with you one funny card written by Samy for Bob. We can't remember which kid it was this year, but the card read "Merry Christmas. God bless you. I love all of my sponsors. You are my favorite sponsor. Merry Christmas." What made it even funnier is that we know that they kid had not met that sponsor.<br /><br />We'll take this time to clarify a bit what a "sponsor" is for one of our kiddos. New Life Children's Home operates off of donations. One way of connecting with the ministry of NLCH is being a child sponsor. A child sponsor donates $25 per month. That money goes to pay for food, clothing, medical care, school, and anything else that you can imagine that a child would need. The goal is for each child to have 12 sponsors. If this is something you think you, your small group or Sunday school class might be interested in, please email us for more information. <br /><br />Keep your browser pointed here in the next few days... Friday we will take the little boys out on a surprise excursion, you'll want to see pictures of that.Lee & Stacihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361423580554395343noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6216632329018274328.post-9635115022832823972008-10-28T18:55:00.003-05:002008-10-28T19:09:31.451-05:00Home DedicationSeveral of you who read our blog have been here within the last year. You all watched for the few days that you were here, people working on what would be the new boys home unit. On October 3, the last parts of the house were finished and later that day the boys moved in. It was electric. It was loud. It was a such a good moment. Aldolfo, the newest boy here at the home was very careful to show me (Staci) his new bedroom that he currently shares with 3 other boys. He made sure that I saw his part of the closet, and the bathroom that he would share with others. He was so proud. <br /><br />This past weekend we had the dedication service for that home unit. "Casa Anthony" is the name give to the home in memory a little boy named Scott Anthony who went home to be with Jesus just 17 days after he was born. Our kids learned a dance and prepared songs to sing. Scott, the father of Scott Anthony came to share the story of Scott Anthony. Scott and his wife believed the Lord had called them to be ones to raise the money for the new boys home unit. He shared his story of how they have grown in faith of the Lord through the healing process of loosing a son. Scott Anthony was the second child of Scott and his wife. They now have 6 children. Also the mayor of Villa Nueva (our town of 1.2 million) came and spoke, as did an elder from the church that we attend here.<br /><br />After the service, we had a reception and the kiddos gave tours of the house. From the kids perspective getting to "go ahead" to eat cookies was the best part of the day. It was hard for them to wait until all of the guests had been through the line. <br /><br /><br />In other news... the weather has changed a bit. "Winter" has come with a vengeance. It's quite bizarre how our bodies have become accustomed to the weather here. When it's above 80 degrees it's terribly hot, and when it's below 72 it's cold. The past few days I've had on a sweat shirt in the frigid 68 degree weather. Today one of the little boys said it was "pure winter". Our thermometer read 71 degrees.Lee & Stacihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361423580554395343noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6216632329018274328.post-64249799315721734272008-10-19T19:35:00.006-05:002008-10-19T21:17:44.129-05:00The latest...We last updated on Sept. 25. So much for updating weekly, huh?<br /><br />Here's a glimpse of what's been going on, and hopefully we'll keep you better informed!<br /><br />On Oct.3 our kids who are in 9th grade and below finished classes for the school year. The school year here starts in mid-January and ends in October. They, like all kids, were very excited. Also, extra excitement was added for them because after classes finished they got to move into their new house! All afternoon the "big pickup" ran back and forth between sides hauling their stuff.<br /><br />On Oct. 4 we went to the airport to pick up a team from First Baptist Church in Canyon, TX. It was so great to see people we knew, and it was good to know that we had them for more than a week. They, unlike most teams, did not do construction stuff, they had preplanned and then led activities for our kids everyday that they were here. The team of 13 came with 26 checked bags, and 13 carry ons. In those bags were mountains of supplies, and a few goodies for us to! For just a sampling of things they did: they taught on the fruits of the spirit, the armor of God, inner beauty, tye-dyed t-shirts, made homemade ice cream, had a "Texas night" complete with jalapeno poppers and Texas sized chocolate chip cookies and like all nights "Texas" we danced the Cotton Eyed Joe. Part of the team went with a small group of our kids to climb volcano Pacaya and the others stayed back to have the ultimate craft morning with the little ones and a "water" afternoon with a slip-n-slide. They spent lots of hours hanging out with our kids. Our kids loved it, and the team loved it.<br /><br />The team left at 5am Monday morning. After returning from the airport, we both crashed.<br /><br />Now that our kids are out of school the sound level during the day has increased. It's fun to hear them playing and enjoying their "summer" vacation. <br /><br />We took a small hiatus from our small groups with having the team here. So tomorrow night we'll begin having not 2, but 3 small groups each week. <br /><br />We'll leave you tonight with a few pictures of time that we had with the team.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjITsPizI7UkaSutfaliDm_F93QBrz5SAO35IaWkWl51ZSeWJI6YNXM7FUTvqr6jDuzSX84uGximtSXP2xxkjoZLoDl8VM_7x_iHTf6-Og-bcOlL9YadcSH5aWlbQnEsdrG0zMj81TG/s1600-h/IMG_0342.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjITsPizI7UkaSutfaliDm_F93QBrz5SAO35IaWkWl51ZSeWJI6YNXM7FUTvqr6jDuzSX84uGximtSXP2xxkjoZLoDl8VM_7x_iHTf6-Og-bcOlL9YadcSH5aWlbQnEsdrG0zMj81TG/s320/IMG_0342.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259052131815165298" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBEyItPPObuEcUnJGdmIiuM5TSeJqgRWr_3w-3z-LirumLYBUCqrqQAgecG-dvwkhJkL5jtToFF0s7Wc_ukndiNA705tgPX6Ui5n3DJ_2V61ywtfyRSlqEFSQYv8rJutgBJE0z5a28/s1600-h/IMG_0669.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBEyItPPObuEcUnJGdmIiuM5TSeJqgRWr_3w-3z-LirumLYBUCqrqQAgecG-dvwkhJkL5jtToFF0s7Wc_ukndiNA705tgPX6Ui5n3DJ_2V61ywtfyRSlqEFSQYv8rJutgBJE0z5a28/s320/IMG_0669.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259052398509977826" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVSdT9Pio76gGui_nt5ZmvsI501tlHfnz2v2TbWCs6PAnnDeYcULFIKfpBITgYfu9tsaXw9p6uCdTVwuNmFqNbM9KSmdfnrJzMmG0wiWdU2kyFHKcpC64oXG_rurqihsRJuSk4xAcY/s1600-h/017+(3).jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVSdT9Pio76gGui_nt5ZmvsI501tlHfnz2v2TbWCs6PAnnDeYcULFIKfpBITgYfu9tsaXw9p6uCdTVwuNmFqNbM9KSmdfnrJzMmG0wiWdU2kyFHKcpC64oXG_rurqihsRJuSk4xAcY/s320/017+(3).jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259052833401328658" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuPi_HpZCpWn15tPUeobVHZM7rxqTOlbe6A_cmhBMp_sSyIFcriHggLre9TvHEQRTsbGMW4ItX90QnPRegg57DajKlBte2ymudQflaUZvzHDIyQtGD_UTSrpuIbzTe6sHhhvfhjcyc/s1600-h/100_1789.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuPi_HpZCpWn15tPUeobVHZM7rxqTOlbe6A_cmhBMp_sSyIFcriHggLre9TvHEQRTsbGMW4ItX90QnPRegg57DajKlBte2ymudQflaUZvzHDIyQtGD_UTSrpuIbzTe6sHhhvfhjcyc/s320/100_1789.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259053106893321202" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN3NCXIYqb6BK-9pnEHj0d6Qet9YS6UqA_Dsv6Zn2eHHsYDZjt2xYjPBOCyNQWZWqAcUX4rXmclVj6uSsNYvM0jP_L5N01zpMuiEOD-bhsCfxlsyr4-Ov4I3ZntnmNuFv9vfacItZJ/s1600-h/IMG_0691.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN3NCXIYqb6BK-9pnEHj0d6Qet9YS6UqA_Dsv6Zn2eHHsYDZjt2xYjPBOCyNQWZWqAcUX4rXmclVj6uSsNYvM0jP_L5N01zpMuiEOD-bhsCfxlsyr4-Ov4I3ZntnmNuFv9vfacItZJ/s320/IMG_0691.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259054493631156690" /></a>Lee & Stacihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361423580554395343noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6216632329018274328.post-34322142970601228182008-09-25T22:16:00.005-05:002008-09-25T22:23:30.031-05:00A couple pics from todayWe've told you that we've started having small discipleship groups in our apartment on Monday & Thursday nights. Here's a picture from tonight:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5VTf-L1GYtTFv5uM4men0CyblTY1vs6_gjD86D6BY-Jj6_un7aJFEfUJe9TsZUxQj4LsrjOZ1oaRIyOVWMnXW7jr8-KdBHrmzq5g9Z84aIKIvFGBTr3XuXCeWrWZul4y3zaInTaK-/s1600-h/thursday.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5VTf-L1GYtTFv5uM4men0CyblTY1vs6_gjD86D6BY-Jj6_un7aJFEfUJe9TsZUxQj4LsrjOZ1oaRIyOVWMnXW7jr8-KdBHrmzq5g9Z84aIKIvFGBTr3XuXCeWrWZul4y3zaInTaK-/s320/thursday.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5250163994132774578" /></a><br /><br />Every Thursday afternoon Staci watches Michelle for a few hours. Today, we let Michelle see the guitar, and she loved it! In fact, she got a little pouty when it was put up. She's going to be playing riffs like nobodies business in no time :)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbQBMxFYfeHYpR32KvPDTlOp4p7ZSNmgDp-Q6brScpfsIPANb8oIlhyphenhypheniDoMHt9x45OFfc-8E7Jz89ZRtbfVlX2JQRIkJckhQEHjMOPQ8jBgbJGcaMZOhJKT-rX6qqLDOcOFqL1BHil/s1600-h/thursday1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbQBMxFYfeHYpR32KvPDTlOp4p7ZSNmgDp-Q6brScpfsIPANb8oIlhyphenhypheniDoMHt9x45OFfc-8E7Jz89ZRtbfVlX2JQRIkJckhQEHjMOPQ8jBgbJGcaMZOhJKT-rX6qqLDOcOFqL1BHil/s320/thursday1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5250164891692366690" /></a>Lee & Stacihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361423580554395343noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6216632329018274328.post-75059386126447842092008-09-14T21:27:00.003-05:002008-09-14T21:43:39.176-05:00Welcome, AldolfoWe'd like you all to meet Aldolfo, picture below, the newest kiddo at New Life Children's Home. He joins 4 other siblings here. He's adapting quite well. The second or third day he was here I saw him and said "amigo!" (friend!) and he replied quite quickly "no mi nombre es Adolfo" or "no, my name is Aldolfo" now it's our joke and we go through the same song and dance most days. Aldolfo is 5 years old and the other little boys are really liking their new friend.<br /><br />This past Thursday we took Lee's dad to the airport after he had spent a week with us. We were sad to see him go; we had such a great time with him. We left the children's home for one night with him, and then spent the rest of the week at the home. He helped out with several small construction projects, but most importantly we got some excellent time of just hanging out, talking and laughing.<br /><br />Tomorrow is Guatemala's independence day. We can already see a few fireworks tonight noting the special day. Guatemala became independent from Spain in 1821. Our kids don't have school tomorrow and we'll be eating hamburgers for lunch!<br /><br />This past week we had our first 2 small groups. On Mondays and Thursdays we have a group of 7 and 9 of our kids ranging in ages from 14-25. These small discipleship groups are not mandatory for the kids and we are super excited that 16 of them would choose to be involved in such a thing. Our language skills are being stretched! We are doing a 4 week series through the first part of October, we will have a team from Canyon, TX for 10 days, and then we will begin a new series. <br /><br />We'll leave you tonight with a couple of pictures:<br /><br />First, we have Aldolfo. What a cutie!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_mI9OG0eGM20ZOmAYXRoPyTiUzEZiN_UQl2qvxEM2zwa6o4Y7GCel0qcvyGfTFoQ6o-s4_krohkaZGIZ5BQQ8rDFW2l9HkSgKiqWVGQhjtxDIVoWhAKGWD13dWYIIO1vFiNL_D9Ru/s1600-h/Aldolfo.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_mI9OG0eGM20ZOmAYXRoPyTiUzEZiN_UQl2qvxEM2zwa6o4Y7GCel0qcvyGfTFoQ6o-s4_krohkaZGIZ5BQQ8rDFW2l9HkSgKiqWVGQhjtxDIVoWhAKGWD13dWYIIO1vFiNL_D9Ru/s320/Aldolfo.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246071796898250674" /></a><br /><br />Here is a picture of Lee holding a lychee. A lychee is a fruit that is about the size of an apricot, but is red and is "hairy". Once you cut it open, inside is a "large, white, naked grape looking" fruit. It has a seed in the middle of it as well. It was a "hey we haven't tried it and Wesley (Lee's dad) is here, so why not" The taste was very mild - it sure didn't live up to it's outward appearance.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH34KjRfCr-NK47pde70kE6didzfkSW9ssnmM0dIq9pQVCx65XBlnk0nFX-ftfcjTg8d0Rum4O4J9sgdGC0BWb1H4zojHgRYunB0z-G2Xhcg998wDofr_E17OyqY1-woNvzWHUmkbO/s1600-h/Lychee.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH34KjRfCr-NK47pde70kE6didzfkSW9ssnmM0dIq9pQVCx65XBlnk0nFX-ftfcjTg8d0Rum4O4J9sgdGC0BWb1H4zojHgRYunB0z-G2Xhcg998wDofr_E17OyqY1-woNvzWHUmkbO/s320/Lychee.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246071802434741858" /></a>Lee & Stacihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361423580554395343noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6216632329018274328.post-6054710686192786262008-09-04T22:38:00.004-05:002008-09-04T22:44:11.392-05:00One Year Today!One year ago today Felix, the hurricane, was threatening Central America and we left Amarillo on a plane bound for Guatemala City! What a year it has been! Thank you for praying for us and with us. Thank you for reading our blogs and caring about what his happening in our lives. We are so grateful.<br /><br />Today is not only the anniversary of us being in Guatemala for a year, we also picked up Lee's dad, Wesley, at the airport. We've been looking forward to his visit for a while and are so excited to have him here with us for a week!<br /><br />More later...Lee & Stacihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361423580554395343noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6216632329018274328.post-6736362776520406452008-08-23T23:02:00.003-05:002008-08-23T23:16:03.768-05:00Friday NightsIn January we received a group of 4 siblings, Oscar 10, Iris 9, Randy 6, and Michelle 8 months. Now, Michelle is 15 months old, and each Friday night she spends the night with us.<br /><br />Weighing less than 8 pounds, Michelle is very small for her age. What she lacks in size she makes up for in personality. We have enjoyed our Friday evenings with her. Though we see her almost everyday at some point or another, it is fun to learn what she has learned from week to week. When she started staying with us 5ish weeks ago she was perfecting the crawl. Now she's pulling up on things and crawling everywhere possible in record speed.<br /><br />Here are a couple of pictures from last night:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTAjivox0JFFxPsx0GcPkZm_SAHoUC0caGdRap-W7k9uaYQWUoU8bgX0MQ5J3IQPABNTcaH1YxRXZSlL4JavgKiC5Kjg6Atqtsxv6A_GZ_h5QRMWVwkS-B2NYikHkqAziNsQ5i93Ix/s1600-h/P8220113.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTAjivox0JFFxPsx0GcPkZm_SAHoUC0caGdRap-W7k9uaYQWUoU8bgX0MQ5J3IQPABNTcaH1YxRXZSlL4JavgKiC5Kjg6Atqtsxv6A_GZ_h5QRMWVwkS-B2NYikHkqAziNsQ5i93Ix/s320/P8220113.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237932690137767170" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Yxmm236j3gppDv7UXuk7iCYNV6CPVPX4dy6OFDrbLAPBGjl3p5XonBev_UalpEFIKk4_8TjyHrEOsVhGiw2dk6J5ugIBIAttXhBmttRdgtowfzxTXBO70Xsgah0sQ9vAdWxzfais/s1600-h/P8220117.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Yxmm236j3gppDv7UXuk7iCYNV6CPVPX4dy6OFDrbLAPBGjl3p5XonBev_UalpEFIKk4_8TjyHrEOsVhGiw2dk6J5ugIBIAttXhBmttRdgtowfzxTXBO70Xsgah0sQ9vAdWxzfais/s320/P8220117.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237932693897327474" /></a>Lee & Stacihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361423580554395343noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6216632329018274328.post-62252878441665210512008-08-21T22:51:00.002-05:002008-08-21T23:24:15.022-05:00Helllooo!!First off, yes we're still alive. Yes, we are healthy. Yes, we still live in Guatemala. Yes, we'd still love for you to read our blog. And yes, after 2 months, here is a blog from us!<br /><br />We'll start with a bulleted summary of what life has consisted of for us since we last posted:<br />-On July 2nd Staci's parents came and stayed with us for 10 days. We really enjoyed having them here. We especially are grateful for the work her dad did by beginning the framework for an extended roof on our maintenance shop. Staci's mom spent most of her days in our apartment sewing curtains. We love that our neighbors can no longer see in! Also, while they were here we spent a couple of nights away seeing new things for all of us. We went to Tikal in northern Guatemala. Tikal was once a large city that geologists believe people lived in until 860AD. It was then rediscovered by some Guatemalans in 1848. The University of Pennsylvania took it as a major project in the 70's and today about 20% is uncovered. <br /><br />-From July 10 through the 19th we had a group from Red Lion, Pennsylvania. These guys come down twice a year each year and our kiddos love them. They're much like family around here, and we enjoyed working with them so much. They worked in our medical clinic, helping to get the facilities up to code, as well as, they also worked on our phone system.<br /><br />-July 23rd-25 we were in Panajachel with our summer interns. This summer we had 5 super great interns. They did a variety of things throughout the summer. Some of the things that they did were working with our doctor in the clinic, helping a teacher in our school, helping to prepare meals for our kiddos in the kitchen, after school tutoring, weekly devotional groups, and countless hours of playing games. Our time in Panajachel was an end of the summer retreat. We listened to each of them about challenged, stretched and encouraged them and then we had specific prayer with each of them. We also enjoyed 2 nights of sitting by the fire telling stories and hanging out. <br /><br />-July 26-Aug2 we welcomed Highland Baptist Church from Waco, TX. Neither of us had met anyone on this team before, but after spending a week with them we have several new friends. They connected with our kiddos quickly and were such hard workers. They did so many things - the biggest of which was helping us to get so much closer to getting our boys new home unit complete.<br /><br />-July 30 we celebrated Lee's 30th birthday - it was a great day!<br /><br />-Aug 4 most of our summer interns returned to their homes in the states. Most are getting ready to start another college semester. A couple of them are looking for jobs to start soon.<br /><br />-Aug 5-8 we went with Kendon, Wendy, their son Ian and his friend Nicco toward the coast to get away for a few days before school started for Ian and Nicco. <br /><br />-Aug 9-16 we had a group from First Baptist Church in Shallowater, TX here with us. Again, we didn't know anyone on the team beforehand, but enjoyed them so much. They worked on a roof extension, repaired a multitude of things, and cut up tons of tree branches. We recently had a problem with tree roots getting into our plumbing, so we had to cut down several of our trees.<br /><br />Today is August 21. For all practical purposes we're finished with what we call "team season". Life will switch gears a bit as our kiddos are about to end their school year (they go from mid January to mid October). We will begin having small discipleship groups in our apartment 2 nights each week for our older kiddos. We would ask you to join with us in prayer as we are planning these groups.<br /><br />Thanks for hanging with us through these last few weeks of no blogs! We're blessed to have such faithful friends and supporters.<br /><br />Lee & StaciLee & Stacihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361423580554395343noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6216632329018274328.post-84206723994928597832008-07-01T18:24:00.003-05:002008-07-01T18:42:48.915-05:00Thanks WTAMU Wesley FoundationWe mentioned in the previous blog that a team went to camp with us. For the past several months we looked forward to the team from the WTAMU Wesley Foundation - our friends coming to see us.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZZMwujj20wQbb2xV0gwB0BLE6oY-_eBTTiNVuQ8dbrolh0wsxcp1tLEaK8NcaNBb7gb7o-dDaczJeSwCqEBzHmrhzwGi3DeSDRSbJLifxdjyH7NVVGv22y5Zbj63-WY1FloPQOp4b/s1600-h/P6220016.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZZMwujj20wQbb2xV0gwB0BLE6oY-_eBTTiNVuQ8dbrolh0wsxcp1tLEaK8NcaNBb7gb7o-dDaczJeSwCqEBzHmrhzwGi3DeSDRSbJLifxdjyH7NVVGv22y5Zbj63-WY1FloPQOp4b/s320/P6220016.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218191360442842578" /></a><br /><br />We enjoyed every minute of getting to be with these guys and wished they could have stayed longer.<br /><br />Below is a picture of all of the stuff they brought us - it was incredible. Some things we asked for, but they went way above and brought us all kinds of stuff. Originally we were going to call this blog "love came in a bag"... but they truth is that love came to us in the form of 6 people. We miss you guys.<br /><br />*the picture that is supposed to be here will not upload "due to internal errors"... so if you will, picture a pile of goodies, including spices of many kinds, a wireless router, a basketball, t-shirts, computer speakers, cupcake baking cups (hundreds of them for various occasions), green chilies, rotel tomatoes, a book, small tools, and Roger Romex.Lee & Stacihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361423580554395343noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6216632329018274328.post-26461241678972208622008-06-30T11:26:00.007-05:002008-06-30T11:51:45.158-05:00Campamento 2008Along with a children's home here at New Life, a medical clinic operates 4 mornings each week and there's a school that ranges from Pre-K through 9th grade at has about 400 students in attendance. <br /><br />Each year the 7th, 8th, and 9th grade students have the opportunity to go to "campamento" or camp. This past week we went to Campamento 2008. We were blessed to have a group of 6 from West Texas A&M Wesley join us...those guys are another blog.<br /><br />Camp lasted for 3 days and 2 nights. It was unlike any camp that we attended in the states with a few exceptions. The cabins that we stayed in were much like what you'd expect in the states... bunk beds wall to wall. We ate meals cafeteria style - and the food was really good. They're was a large swimming pool that the kids loved. The differences: the schedule was packed beginning at 6am, and going to bed about midnight (later for some of the teachers). For these kids this 3 day camp is a big big deal, and so the teachers (who not only teach, but organize and run the camp) pack the schedule full. There were hours of games, small group times, swimming time, large group meetings, and even a dress up dinner. We'd also mention another difference for us was the heat and humidity. Here in Villa Nueva, we're in the mountains and enjoy temperate weather year around, but just 2 hours away we were very close to the pacific coast and it was hot and humid. We got out of our vehicles when we arrived and started to sweat just standing there.<br /><br />Here are a few pics from camp for your enjoyment:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNFZ2kHcQUm31X6aTfVs5OEylBrf45CAScbQKBYvsMOHzlMQCuWyx4Q9fEaMzCpqTkvVVP6s5CauECnuulXfOiwQPPoz_jbMAG6byKal2IVdfd78uRqgfMF5eWPLb5TU2PijaBfdoz/s1600-h/P6210007.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNFZ2kHcQUm31X6aTfVs5OEylBrf45CAScbQKBYvsMOHzlMQCuWyx4Q9fEaMzCpqTkvVVP6s5CauECnuulXfOiwQPPoz_jbMAG6byKal2IVdfd78uRqgfMF5eWPLb5TU2PijaBfdoz/s320/P6210007.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217716044397354786" /></a><br />This is what the pickup looked like just before coming home. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDTZNJHyhpDF4SQ8APWmKq2LzLkKXgkagnaUoxOSzeBv14YyT9NJUHLXq16bv_P0vTcpwtrUWfHECwZhSNdzrgJr6HIOJfriWZ18lzO0xYfWYu46j8-nYOdF_NUy57hWXMAGzfscUQ/s1600-h/P1040371.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDTZNJHyhpDF4SQ8APWmKq2LzLkKXgkagnaUoxOSzeBv14YyT9NJUHLXq16bv_P0vTcpwtrUWfHECwZhSNdzrgJr6HIOJfriWZ18lzO0xYfWYu46j8-nYOdF_NUy57hWXMAGzfscUQ/s320/P1040371.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217716521960647106" /></a><br />All of the teachers, and adult volunteers that went to camp.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPnUKcisfqyO-VtCtWvo44MMSU0WXlX4ZRsOFqxe4vY617e-y_87gKX5GLUj3s1Dex9DbuTVxN-_0G6e2ysP6OhCpaoWHNKjkVKZyMBsGM7K5-ktAVzBOfOmBC01pfUx-0pMpU5EU-/s1600-h/P6190091.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPnUKcisfqyO-VtCtWvo44MMSU0WXlX4ZRsOFqxe4vY617e-y_87gKX5GLUj3s1Dex9DbuTVxN-_0G6e2ysP6OhCpaoWHNKjkVKZyMBsGM7K5-ktAVzBOfOmBC01pfUx-0pMpU5EU-/s320/P6190091.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217716793418716962" /></a><br />One of the games was a scavenger hunt. The list was given in about .5 font, and so they were given a magnifying glass to read the list.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFW9anMOfzUKY8nkiyXn2cQtY0WPNbdx3Fc_iuaDrnSJNo_d7H9XnayFKlWF5YvktDTXHQLP55G4w43PEw0PPRw3VvOG6eNikDFTfnLTI2LX5QzJTyjziOXuiB4FpfLHT4j_2kBrcb/s1600-h/DSC00627.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFW9anMOfzUKY8nkiyXn2cQtY0WPNbdx3Fc_iuaDrnSJNo_d7H9XnayFKlWF5YvktDTXHQLP55G4w43PEw0PPRw3VvOG6eNikDFTfnLTI2LX5QzJTyjziOXuiB4FpfLHT4j_2kBrcb/s320/DSC00627.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217717361623292514" /></a><br />Another one of the games... I'm not really sure of the exact point, but they loved it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzNwTarjrkM2ScJjLOKqfCGhRjf9vo91JLvE7Dn8LNsuZGGcJd8BnTDEHxBw-ebne1psGzOeKxfnIBJCO321vwZ3WFmZCAbA_fZPaHHeF1tjfL2TOP9UFJZzqMB0Nyb2cyY_30BF8e/s1600-h/P6200027.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzNwTarjrkM2ScJjLOKqfCGhRjf9vo91JLvE7Dn8LNsuZGGcJd8BnTDEHxBw-ebne1psGzOeKxfnIBJCO321vwZ3WFmZCAbA_fZPaHHeF1tjfL2TOP9UFJZzqMB0Nyb2cyY_30BF8e/s320/P6200027.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217718011169932066" /></a><br />This is just because we like this picture. The flowers were beautiful & plentiful. There were always butterflies flying around them.Lee & Stacihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361423580554395343noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6216632329018274328.post-3701386473462404382008-06-18T20:12:00.002-05:002008-06-18T20:18:42.739-05:00"I just set my alarm for 3:15am"That's what Lee just said...<br /><br />Tomorrow morning we leave for "Campamento"... a three day, two night camp with the 7th, 8th and 9th graders from the school here. We're excited to have a team from West Texas A&M University Wesley Foundation to go with us.<br /><br />Today we had a meeting about camp - we learned what promises to be an important dance for the weekend, and got teamed up with Guatemalans. Hopefully everybody understands his/her role.<br /><br />Kendon & Wendy are still in the states for a 2 week visit. So far so good here! We expect them back next week.<br /><br />We'll give a camp report when we return!<br /><br />*This past Sunday we went to lunch with Daniel & Kara. Little Michelle joined us as well. After lunch we headed out to the zoo - check out Daniel & Kara's <a href="http://dkharris.blogspot.com">blog</a> for pictures of the fun day.Lee & Stacihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361423580554395343noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6216632329018274328.post-74205697954165506122008-06-06T22:08:00.002-05:002008-06-06T22:23:31.494-05:00the rainy season is here...We're West Texans. When it rains, we stare at it like we haven't seen any in months - because we haven't. Rain generally means thunderstorms and or hail. And...there's never enough of it.<br /><br />Then the West Texans moved to Guatemala. We experienced the end of the rainy season last September and October. It rained most afternoons for a couple of hours...<br /><br />Now, the rainy season is beginning here. Tropical Storm Alma helped the normal rainy season out a bit this past weekend. We went to Panajachel for our staff retreat where we perhaps saw 12 hours without rain over a 4 day span. We're back in Villa Nueva, where it is still raining, however, not with the great consistency of this past weekend.<br /><br />About the retreat... we had a great time with our fellow coworkers. We really enjoyed hearing about the other <a href="http://nlai.org">New Life Advance International</a> ministries in Guatemala. NLAI is in many countries, and operates very differently in each place because each culture is very different. In Guatemala, NLAI has New Life Children's Home, 2 missionary families that work in different towns, but both work with training pastors and church planting. Another woman works with street kids, helping them with schooling and feeding them. Here at New Life Children's Home there are 4 couples from the US (sadly about to be just 3, as our friends Daniel & Kara will be returning to the states at the end of June). <br /><br />Tomorrow morning the kids who passed all of their classes during this last session, plus have good behavior level get to go to McDonald's for breakfast. We're looking forward to celebrating with them!<br /><br />Please note to the right that we now have a phone number that we can be reached at! It operates through the internet and we have to be at home with the computer on to receive calls. Also, there is voicemail attached to the number so that we can receive messages. So with that said.... give us a shout out & keep in touch!Lee & Stacihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361423580554395343noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6216632329018274328.post-19122218696835790202008-05-31T13:18:00.002-05:002008-05-31T13:26:23.905-05:00We'll be back on Tuesday...Thank you all who continue to read our blogs and pray for us.<br /><br />Here's a quick update as we run out the door....<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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 .<br /><br />So, we'll be back late Tuesday night, look for a blog either Tuesday or Wednesday.Lee & Stacihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361423580554395343noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6216632329018274328.post-42002419278519002652008-05-23T18:09:00.003-05:002008-05-23T18:19:42.788-05:00Mimi'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. <br /><br />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! <br /><br />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!<br /><br />So thanks, Mimi, for sending 3 excellent coffeecakes. <br /><br />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!!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCAt_QAJ_eYTm4zWf1EF3AiRV7Uetkn5IE_6rghF_HQhM0KadTivMRTf-GYlnzjDn6OABz_CkbM2JZJ-TCInBY864DLSbSGvhW868TcsGgl8Tw_Hay_nZ3UL_DEfqCoG9DtElAsHFa/s1600-h/coffeecake.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCAt_QAJ_eYTm4zWf1EF3AiRV7Uetkn5IE_6rghF_HQhM0KadTivMRTf-GYlnzjDn6OABz_CkbM2JZJ-TCInBY864DLSbSGvhW868TcsGgl8Tw_Hay_nZ3UL_DEfqCoG9DtElAsHFa/s320/coffeecake.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203716537720327730" /></a>Lee & Stacihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18361423580554395343noreply@blogger.com1