When we got back to Guatemala from our trip to the States, the kids and I went through all of their clothes and put together a bag of old, worn out, or too small clothes. I gave them to my friend in the Relief Society presidency to distribute as needed. I was so happy today when on our way to church, we picked up one of our friends and two of his daughters. The girls were wearing some of the old clothes. This is a family that I really admire and I know they struggle financially. I was very pleased to see that somebody could benefit from the clothes! The wife is having some pregnancy complications and has been in and out of the hospital, so we offered to take them some dinner. When we dropped it off, the other daughter was wearing some of the old clothes as well. They were way too small but she still seemed happy. I can only imagine what it would be like for these three little girls to have their own dresses that fit them that they could wear to church. I think I might have to break down and try to make them some!
Monday, 2/1/10
The strangest thing happened to us today. I came the closest that I ever have to getting in a car wreck since we've been here! The kids and I were driving down a major road to go to the market this morning. Coming towards us was a little old rusted Toyota. It looked like a tarp or something in the back of it was blowing pretty hard in the wind. I thought for sure it was going to loose it. The next thing I know, there is a COW, yes, a COW, flying out of the back of the truck. Luckily for us it flew out the far side rather than coming into our lane!! Of course I was so shocked by what I had just seen that I didn't notice that the car in front of me had stopped! I am thankful to know now that our brakes are in excellent working condition!! The poor cow was still tied to the truck, but apparently the driver noticed that the cow fell out of the back and stopped. The cow was able to get up on all four and walk so I don't think it was hurt too badly.
That is one of those things that you don't see every day in the States!!
Tuesday 2/2/10
Today was another good day with homeschooling. The kids really seem to be doing well and enjoying themselves. They are all playing well together also. Each afternoon after they eat their lunch, they go outside to play. It's pretty nice!
On my way to choir tonight, the wife of the other American couple called. We decided to get together for dinner this Sunday so that the families can meet each other. I'm pretty excited!!
At choir I felt like a complete idiot! There was a guy there doing some breathing exercises with the choir. I don't know what he was saying so I was just trying to follow along. Then he came over and told me to do something. Uhhh, what? He then points the piano and makes some weird motions. He keeps saying stuff and I try to do what I think he wants me to do but it's all wrong. I even had Lily try to translate but she wasn't able to tell me the right thing. Anyway, I was a little embarrassed!! Everybody else seemed to think the guy was weirdo also so I didn't feel too bad!
Wednesday 2/3/10 - Thursday 2/4/10
More of the same stuff.....homeschooling and more homeschooling. I have been very pleased with how well the kids have been doing. I have also been really impressed that I haven't snapped too bad!!
Friday 2/5/10
O.K. So I invited the Thomas family over for dinner on Sunday not realizing that it is Super Bowl Sunday. OOPS! I finally had to break the ice and call Melody back and see if they wanted to reschedule or if they wanted to watch the Super Bowl with us. It turns out that her husband was telling her that they couldn't do it Sunday because of the Super Bowl, so everybody was relieved to get it out in the open!!
Saturday 2/6/10
We did a family day trip to Lake Atitlan. This is the lake that many people believe were the Waters or Mormon. The kids hadn't been there and have really been wanting to go. We had a blast and it was well worth the while!
Cole wrote this in his school journal:
My Trip to Lake Atitlan
On the drive down into the Lake, Chris pulled over at this cool water fall. I thought he was being spontaneous....he just had to pee though!
Morgan, Cole, and Laina enjoyed climbing up the rocks!
Alysa was suffering from car sickness and wouldn't get up to see the water fall!
We finally persuaded Alysa to get some fresh air. She felt much better after she got out of the car for a little while.
Cole was being a great big brother and helping his little sisters across the rocks.
Laina....need I say more?
After being bombarded by people trying to sell stuff, we found a person that would take us on a private boat tour around Lake Atitlan. The kids were so excited to go on a boat ride!
The lake. It was a little cloudy so we didn't have the best view of the volcanoes.
There were some amazing houses along the lake. You can barely see this one because it is built right into the rock! Our guide, Francisco, told us that a lot of the land goes for about $2 million dollars around the lake!
At our first stop, there were these little boats lining the bank of the lake.
One even came with a dog!
These guys go out in these little boats to do their fishing. I would be so scared of tipping over!
I thought I was taking a pictures of our boat but I picked the wrong one. Our boat is actually the one in the at the far right that you can only see the back of. It's basically the same idea though.
Chris shocked me when he ordered this fish for his lunch. He is being quite adventurous today!
The restaurant that we had our lunch at.
Alysa's favorite spot on the boat.
Some of the houses along the lake.
Our next stop, San Antonio.
This is how concrete is poured here! Bucket full by bucket full going along the line of men! It reminds me of the olden days when they would try to put out a fire.
We stopped at the coolest little shop. It was a family that does weaving. I sat and watched this guy forever trying to figure out how the machine works. It seems like it would take forever to make anything!
Then there was this lady sitting on the ground doing her weaving. It was so cool to watch how they do their weaving. There was also another lady doing some hand work.
I let Morgan pick out which of the wall hangings she liked the best. It is all hand stitched. Until you try to make something like that, you can't fully appreciate the amount of work that goes into it!
Morgan and Cole had so much fun sticking their hands out of the boat to feel the water.
They really liked when the guide took us to the hot water area.
After spending the morning getting car sick, followed by a day of boat rides, why wouldn't we want to cram all six of us in the back of this little tuk tuk car and drive around the town?? It's amazing that nobody threw up today! We all had some serious headaches by the time we got home. One of the last things that Cole said when he was going to bed was, "Mom, every time I close my eyes I feel like I am moving." Yup, I can relate!! It was well worth it though. What a great day!
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