Tortillas.....

When you hear the clapping of hands and smell tortillas cooking you know it is time to eat. Here in Guatemala tortillas are served with every meal. In this video you can see how to make tortillas on a "plancha" (flat griddle with fire underneath). Keep in mind these women do not use a spatula or tongs, to pick them up or flip them over, they have hands of steal. My favorite time to eat a tortilla is hot off the plancha with a little salt sprinkled inside then rolled up, it is delicious. 

Now let me tell you, as easy as she makes this look, just pick up a little masa (freshly ground corn, dough) roll it up then flatten it out, right? Well, after 4 years of living here in Guatemala I can make tortillas but I do not look as graceful and natural as this sweet lady. I also might add that my tortillas are not always round and as thin!!! It is an art that is learned from the time the girls are old enough to clap. Chloe Ann and Naomi make much better Tortillas than I do!

Hanging with the Coolbaughs!!

We had a family come down to visit us and explore what the Lord may have for them in the future. They are both optometrist and would like to help in any way they can here in Santiago.
We had never met them before, but we all hit it off. They have four kids and brought them down so they could see what it was like to live on the mission field. Everyone got along so well, it was like we had known them for years.

We enjoyed introducing them to the Tz'utujil people and culture.
They were a great encouragement to us. We were able to relax with them and share what the Lord has been doing in our lives here in Santiago. Since we have been here we have had hard times, sad times, happy times and encouraging times but knowing we are right where the Lord wants us makes all the difference in the world. They prayed for us and some of our specific situations It was neat to see how the Lord has blessed this family and they were able to come down here to bless and encourage us in a time that I think we really needed an extra boost!!
Thank you Coolbaughs, We all really enjoyed meeting you and look forward to what the Lord has in store for the future.

My Kiddos...

So many times I step back and look at my kids in amazement. I know every parent does but we have really pulled our kids out of their comfort zone and they have done extremely well. I praise God for his faithfulness to our family, when we are so far away from everything we know.

TITUS-11
A couple of weeks ago Titus had a major project due in school, he had to research 32 inventions, find the inventor and the date it was invented, write a description about them, & draw a picture of each one. (IN SPANISH DON'T FORGET!!) We were proud of his work... then he came home and he had the second best grade in the whole class. Yeah we were thrilled. Titus likes school and enjoys the friends he has there.

Isaac-8
Isaac likes school, and he does well. He came home the other day and told us that he won the prize for finishing all his work the fastest. He loves a challenge. Both Titus & Isaac are learning to use a Cayuco(wooden canoe). They borrow our gardeners as much as they can. Titus stands in the back and rows while Isaac sits in the front and rows. They have been into town and back a couple of times but usually I just like them to stay close.


Chloe Ann-6
Chloe Ann is our social butterfly and really enjoys her friends at school. She is learning to read and wrtie. Her favorite thing to do is write words down as I say them to her, she usually has a Spanish list and an English list so I can call out both and she will spell it and put it in the right list.
She reminds me of 'me' always ready to have a good time :)

Naomi-2
Naomi is our little laugher. She loves to laugh and has this deep belly laugh that is very contageous. Last week she woke up and said "no please diaper' I said OK but you cannot go on my floor...well she didn't!!!! And up until yesterday had not had an accident. She was running for the bathroom and just didn't make it. Happens to the best of us :) She loves to wear her corte(the typical dress here), When we go to Market the ladies all ask me if I will give her to them.. Naomis says 'no Gracias' and frowns at them.

A very "Happy" Thanksgiving

Last year Thanksgiving was a hard day for me. I shed more tears than was Thankful. I tried to hide it from my little family. Then I just broke down and had to admit I was lonely and missed "HOME". I had comforted my kids during their times of missing home, and I felt like I was letting them down by being sad. Danny reminded us that we were all in this together, They all hugged me and loved me. It was just what I needed. All in all I have to say it was a hard day.

This year as Thanksgiving got closer I was excited, but wanted it to be much happier than last year. We invited some friends from Tectitan. We met them through our sending church in LA. We had not seen them since we had been in the states. It was great to get to know them more and meet their sweet kids.

I've never had to cook Thanksgiving dinner. I was a bit nervous about actually having to cook the WHOLE meal!! I called my Mom for a couple of recipes and my mother in law for a couple others. You have to keep in mind I don't have a grocery store within an hour and a half of me. Even then there is no guarantee that they are going to have what I need. So I went to market and got potatoes, and fresh green beans, a chicken and ran by the tienda(you walk in the door and tell them what you want then if they have it they go in the back to get it) to get Maseca(corn meal they make tortillas with) for my corn bread.

We had Turkey, Corn bread dressing, green beans, mashed potatoes with gravy, celery with cream cheese, I even found a can of cranberries when we were in the capitol last time!! Kathy made sweet potatoes and a delicious pumpkin pie. I managed to snap this picture before we all dug in. We had quite a feast and everyone was very pleased with the meal. Danny said the dressing may be better than his Mama's (it was her recipe). It was great to have friends here with us in our new HOME. It was a very Happy Thanksgiving.

After Dinner we went out in the garden and down by the lake. The kids enjoyed playing with the coco the rabbit next door. We were thankful for friends, family and for the opportunity God has given us to come work with the people of Santiago. I thank the Lord for loving me and carrying me when I need to be, and for rejoicing with me in times of joy. All in all this year was filled with joy, laughter and especially thankfulness.
Well, I cannot download the pics, I will have to owe them to you.

Foote Notes November 2008

Greetings to all,

We want to thank you for your continued prayer. We have been here in Santiago for three months and have felt the Lord leading in so many ways. Thank you for praying for our transition and adjustment, Praise the Lord it is going well.

Danny and the kids are working more and more on their Spanish as we continue to learn about the culture and the people. Sometime the beginning of next year we plan to start formerly learning Tz’utujil. We would like to find a tutor who is a good teacher, someone who can read and write. Up until now we have been learning words and phrases. It is exciting to be able to use and understand words in the market or in church but we have a long way to go. The locals love it when we use the few words that we already know; it really motivates us to learn more.

We are so excited to be able to go ‘home’ for Christmas. We are going to split the time between both families. We will be in New Orleans with my family and in Pell City with Danny’s family. Regretfully we cannot see all of you during this short visit but we do hope to see a lot of you. We ask that you keep us in your prayers as we travel this holiday season.

We are thankful to those of you who came down this year. You were a great encouragement and help to us. We look forward to seeing who the Lord is going to send our way this coming year. Our calendar for 2009 is already getting filled up, Praise the Lord!

As our Pastor Gary says in Luling, We have a perfect Savior but we do not have a perfect church. Our church Alpha & Omega is going through some turmoil. We ask that you keep Pastor Abraham and the Elders in your prayers. Pray that they would let the Lord lead them to make wise Godly decisions. We do not know all the ins and outs of each situation but we too are fervently praying.

Moving Day to Santiago

We moved out to Santiago the last week-end in July. The church in Santiago sent out some men from the church to help us move from Antigua to the lake. It was so neat for us to see how different we are. Even just moving boxes. They would strap a towel around their forehead and hold the stuff on their backs. Let me start out by saying that to get to our house you have to park the truck about two blocks away and walk down a small path through coffee fields, corn fields and by neighbors to reach our house.

Let me tell you these men are real men. Jose carried our fridge on his back almost two blocks to our house. He was tired when he got their but only caught his breath and went back for the washer!!!!!We are very thankful to these brave guys who helped us move.

Spiders and Scorpions & Crabs OH MY!

I hesitate to blog about this stuff because I don't want to discourage anyone from coming down, but it is a fact. We have them all! We found a nice big tarantula in the entrance of the house before we even moved in. Nice Huh?









Since we have been in the house we have found at least one scorpion a day. I have had a hard time thinking about living with these critters. We have been told they will not kill you if you get stung. That still does not make me feel any better.










The other morning I got up and heard a pitter patter of what I thought was a mouse. Then we heard a loud scratching noise. Danny found the noise and it was a CRAB!!


Needless to say life has been very interesting since we moved in. I will blog about our move and house soon.