Thank you for being patient with me. I needed a short sabbatical from blogging. Thats what I am going to call it anyway!! I am ready to get back into it now, but the problem is where do I start? So much has been going on....I'll give it a shot.

lets cook...

When I go shopping in the market my choices are usually what is in season. The usuals are potatoes, carrots, beans, cabbage, and a few others. I have a pretty good selection but today I was able to get nice eggplant, fresh green beans and corn on the cob!!!

All the kids pitched in to help cook. It was a fun time together and it made dinner preparation a lot faster.

I didn't even notice the sky until I was downloading the pictures but it was a gorgeous sunset!!

Chloe Ann was washing the green beans,

Isaac & Naomi were cutting the ends off the beans. Titus asked if he could cook the egg plant. I was too busy supervising to take a picture of the process but he fixed fried eggplant that was delicious.

I was very proud of Titus, he fixed the eggs, mixed the batter, dipped it all and cooked it to perfection. Not bad for 11 yrs old.

Danny went to Market with me and helped carry all the bags home.

Everyone helped today!!

Fun Family pictures...

The other day I grabbed the camera and headed to the garden and this is what I got....

Christ Chapel Bible Church, High School team

Our last team of the season was Christ Chapel Bible Church from Texas. They brought down a team of 64 it was a high school team and they had plenty of energy and were able to get a lot done. They were able to help at the Alfa & Omega church Camp, just outside of town. It was incredible to see how they swooped in and did so much work in so little time. We worked with them when they were pulling up coffee and trimming the branches. We had a delicious lunch with the team at the hotel. It was hamburgers & hot dogs yummy!! After lunch they asked us to share our ministry with them and what the Lord has in store for us here in Santiago and Guatemala for that matter. So as we all gathered around under a tree (not all of us fit under the tree) Danny shared about how the Lord led us here to Guatemala and what we will be doing here. Then I shared about our everyday life in Santiago, school, shopping, language, our kids, the culture ect..

One day we invited the team to come over for some lemonade after working at the camp. We all squeezed in, I have never had that many people around my table... It was awesome. Since we had spoken a few days earlier the kids had some more questions. We had a very detailed question and answer time. It was neat for Danny and I to see the questions they had, Maybe one day the Lord will lead some of these very students to the missions field...We enjoyed the time we spent with this team, the youth and the leaders were a true joy to be around. We look forward to the next time they can come.

Random pictures of my kiddos...

Titus is 11, he is our people person and loves to meet new friends. Isaac is 9, he is such a joy to be around always happy. He enjoys hanging out with Titus.

Chloe Ann is 7, she likes school and her friends she has made, it is neat to see how she shines around others.

Naomi is 2, she is our funny girl. She loves to make faces and make people laugh. Her favorite thing to do is play with her friends & siblings.

Ayore Team

This month we had a team from the Ayore Church in Kansas. They were here for a total of 10 days. We really enjoyed getting to know this group. It was Pastor Casey & his wife Karen and 3 of their youth Zack, Elsie & Libbie. It was a joy to have them stay with us in our home.

This team came to work at Camp David Phillips. Alfa & Omegas camp just a few kilometers out side of Santiago. We all went in the morning and when the kids got out of school at 12:30 we would take them out to help too. The Church is in the process of building a wall around the camp.

We carried blocks, sand, rocks and sifted sand. It was very hard work, I have not worked like this in a long time and I was very sore...

All work and no play is not fun so after we worked hard for several days we took a day off and went to THE BEACH.... If you have never seen the Beaches here in Guatemala it is worth it. The sand is BLACK and the ocean is fierce!!!

We also had the opportunity to go on visitation with the church youth. We prayed for this man who has had a lot going on with his family and needed some prayer.


After working all week by ourselves we had reinforcements come in and help us on Saturday. It was a team of 64 from Texas (my next blog!!) I said that to say it was nice to be able to work with such a big group. When you have a lot of people the work goes by a lot faster. Once the other team got here we were clearing the land. We were clearing coffee. Digging it up from the roots, pulling the whole plant out, then stripping the leaves and branches with machetes. Naomi, Chloe Ann, Libbie & Casey were having fun... not sure what was going on but it was cute!!!

We had a great time with these guys and and were so happy to get to know them. We praise the Lord for good health, good weather and awesome attitudes.

Casey got to go with Danny & Diego to the Pastoral Leadership training that has just gotten underway in the last few months. Pastors and leaders from the Solola area are invited to come and take classes on various topics. (No pictures!!)

I don't like to say good bye....

Last month we said good bye to some good friends we met here in Santiago. Jared & Traci were here in Santiago for a little under one year. Just long enough to really get to know them. We always had fun anytime we were together. They were here volunteering and helping in many different places. It was neat for me to see how the Lord used them in the time they were here.

This picture was taken at the going away party for them. It was great to see all the people who came to the party, people they had worked with and others they were friends with.

We are ALL sad to see them go. We will be waiting for that visit back here our good friends. We will be praying for what the Lord has in store for the two of you. The other day we walked by Milpas & Naomi said "lets go see miss Traci" I told her you went home to the states. Not sure if she understands that or not. We have had a lot of people coming and going lately.

You are missed by all of us.