11/21/10-11/27/10

Sunday, November 21, 2010
Chris did something to mess up his back pretty bad.  He was in so much pain that I had to take him home after sacrament meeting!!
It is nice that the kids are somewhat self sufficient and I don't feel too guilty leaving them all home with Chris while he is in so much pain.   I left for most of the afternoon to go visiting teaching, teach piano class, and do choir.
I went to visit a sister that I had never been to see before.  I love seeing new houses!  What a neat family!  It is my friend, Paula's, aunt.  I love how families all live so close together.  That is something that I've never really experienced in my life time!

One of my piano students took a couple of pictures of our chapel.  

When I saw this picture, I almost started to cry.  When we leave Xela, this is one of the places that I will miss the most!  I have had many trials and growth experiences here.  I have made so many friends and met so many wonderful people.  

This picture I took.  From where I sit to play the piano, I have an excellent view of the volcano out the window. 

Monday, November 22, 2010
We've been trying to do extra school work to make up for no school on Thursday and Friday.  The kids really didn't want to have to do work while Dad wasn't working, but they also didn't want to get further behind.  We'll probably be able to get back on the U.S. school schedule by the end of this school year if we keep going and don't get lazy!
Laina is really getting excited to start sounding out words.  She knows all of her letters and the sounds for the most part.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010
It is SOOOOO COOOOOLD!!
I sat in the car all afternoon in the sun to block the wind and get some heat.  The house feels like a freezer.  The electricity could go out and it wouldn't have any effect on the food in the freezer!
Tonight, Laina started reading scriptures with the family.  She usually just copies what Chris or I tell her, but we are now having her point to each word and try to sound out some of the easier words.  She is so proud of herself.  She's really stepping it up now that she's almost 5!!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010
We finished school with enough time to start on Christmas projects!   We also made caramel popcorn for Thanksgiving.  I will never make caramel popcorn without thinking about Grandma Whitney!
We brought our stockings back with us after last Christmas.  We got them out, but we haven't figured out how we are to hang them on cement walls.  Any suggestions?  We've even contemplated super glue!

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving!!  Our Thanksgiving was filled with a day at Xocomil.  It was a much needed break from everything....especially the cold!  On the 1hour drive to the water park, the temperature went from about 45 degrees to about 85 degrees.   The weather was wonderful there!!  Not too hot, not too cold.  The weather was great, the company was great, the entertainment was great, the food wasn't so great!   The Bottemas went with us and all the kids had a blast.  Morgan and Cole are really feeling grown up and independent!  We had to keep reminding them that they have to stay with us!   Everybody had fun on all of the rides.  Chris even went on all the rides even though his back was still hurting pretty bad.  

The Whitneys

The Bottemas-Paul, Polly, Taylor, Carson

The view from the top of one of the slides.  This is the backside of the volcano that we can see from our bedroom.  The smoke that you see is coming from the smaller active volcano right in front of the big one.

Chris and Laina managed "the ramp" without flipping over this time!

Alysa and Morgan

The people here have never seen so much white skin!

Cole on "the white slide"

Polly, Taylor, Carson, and Cole on "the family ride".

Chris and the girls.

"The lazy river"

Taylor, Cole, and Morgan decided to collect all the extra tubes.

Cole, Morgan, and Carson at the water playground.

Alysa and Laina

 After a very fun day, we headed back to Xela.  On the way home we saw a car with a freshly cut Christmas tree on top!  That was a much missed sight that we weren't expecting to see here!!

Everybody was completely worn out when we got home.  Chris and the little girls were all asleep by 8:00!  Morgan and Cole were reading and I was working on stuff.  Morgan came out at 9:15 and told me to come see something funny.  Cole had fallen asleep with his glasses on and reading!  Poor kid was exhausted!

Friday, November 26, 2010
We have neighbors!!  Somebody actually stayed the night in one of the houses in our community for the first time!!  I have no idea who they are.  I have to say that after 21 months of being the sole occupants, it is weird to wake up and see cars in one of the driveways!
Chris's back is still giving him horrible pain so he went to a physical therapist this morning.  Apparently, he has had a little too much stress building up in his back over the past couple of years.  Hmm......what could possible cause stress in a person who brought his whole family to live in a third world country?  Poor guy!

Saturday, November 27, 2010
Laina woke me up this morning by saying, "I think I'm going to puke."  Well, get in the bathroom, not next to my bed!!  She wanted a hairband so that she wouldn't get throw up in her hair!  Instead, she got it all along the hallway, all over the bathroom, and all over herself!  Gotta love when your day starts that way!
After cleaning up and starting laundry, we got to start cleaning the house and cooking for our post-Thanksgiving fiest!  We had the Bottema's over for dinner, playing at the club, and watching probably the worst Christmas movie I have seen in a really long time!!
I never realized how much easier Thanksgiving is when you split the work!!  It was amazing.  I usually spend an entire week preparing for Thanksgiving.  This year, not so much.  I was grateful that Dave had brought us some cranberries from the states so that I could make the Whitney cranberry jello salad.  Some of the other dishes were a little bit different because of the different ingredients but overall, everything turned out pretty good!  I did however forget that the corn was in the microwave.  (I found it the next morning!)
Thanksgiving is so disappointing when my stomach won't properly stretch to fit the capacity that I want to eat!  Morgan even commented that she couldn't eat as much as she wanted.   It didn't even matter that I wore my "big" pants!
Before bed, everybody said what they are thankful for.  Cole's response, "I'm thankful to have American friends."  Yeah, I think the kids are about ready to go back to the states.  It has been great to have the Bottemas here though.   Too bad they don't have a few girls!!

11/14/10-11/20/10

Sunday, November 14, 2010

At church today, one of my friends asked me when we're going to start singing Christmas songs.  I guess that we don't have to wait until after Thanksgiving since they don't celebrate that here!!  Maybe next week we can start the Christmas songs!!

Just out of curiosity, is it better to change a song because the chorister isn't sure how to lead a 4/4 song, or because the pianist doesn't know the song?   For the intermediate song, I walked up to play it as the bishopric stands up and announces that the chorister has changed the song with absolutely no warning to me!  She didn't even bother to see if I knew how to play the song.  GEESH!!  Talk about being put on the spot!

Monday, November 15, 2010
I decided to be ambitious this week and start exercising in the morning.  I got out of bed to go to the gym and the second I made a single noise, Cole was up and ready to join me.  We didn't have very much time to exercise before Chris had to leave for work so we went pretty fast.  It was fun hanging out with him.  I love how excited he is to exercise!
Chris decided to follow Cole's example and tried to go to the gym after the kids went to bed.  Too bad we didn't know that they close at 8:00 on Mondays!  I guess the walk there and back was a little bit of exercise!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Today was a typical day of school and piano lessons.  We had choir practice on Sunday again, so no piano class and no choir tonight.  I could get used to having my Tuesday nights free!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Cole and I were wild and crazy today and got up at 6:15 to go to the gym.  We were going to sneek out, but Morgan had Cole promise to wake her up.  She still had pillow marks on her face when we got to the gym!
The exercising seemed to make a big difference in Morgan's activity level.  She actually got all of her school work done before lunch!  6th grade has definitely been more demanding than 5th grade!

Today was the last day of the quilting class.  I'm taking a break next week and then in December we're going to work on our service project.   We had 6 ladies show up today and only one was a member.  The ladies are so nice and patient with me!  Today, after class was over, 2 of the ladies gave me presents.  I was so surprised!  One was a placemat type thing that they said is typical here.  The other was a little basket.  When the lady had come in, Laina had pointed out her "Mayan basket".  Everybody has this type of plastic woven baskets to shop with at the market.  Morgan and I forgot a bag the other day so we bought a basket.   Anyway, she gave me the basket and then I was told that she made it for me!!!  I was so impressed!  I told her that the next class will be for her to teach us how to make them!
It has already become a fight between me and Laina as to who gets the basket!!

The big one I bought at the market.  The small one is the one that my friend made.

Thursday, November 18, 2010
So, I went visiting teaching again today.  I really struggled with the language and the lesson!  I guess I should have prepared a little bit more before going!  It was pretty awkward.  The lady that we went to visit is going through the temple for the first time this weekend.  How exciting!!
After we finished the visit, Vilma took me to Juana's (?) house.  She is the lady that made me the basket. The missionaries were there giving her the discussions.  It was pretty cool to go in and see such a humble place, see where she makes all of her baskets, and to see her learning the gospel!  What a neat lady!

Friday, November 19, 2010
After school, we had the Bottemas over to the club.   The boys all seemed to have a blast together playing every sport possible.  Polly and I got to work out a little and then I went to supervise while Morgan and Alysa swam.  It started raining super hard and the boys had to come inside.   I think everybody enjoyed themselves.
A little while later, the Bottemas came back to drop the boys off for pizza and a movie.  All of the adults went out to dinner at Chris's favorite Italian restaurant.  The system seems to be working out with all the kids getting along while we get some adult conversation......in English!!

Saturday, November 20, 2010
We got off to a really lazy start today since it was so rainy and we'd all stayed up late last night.  Chris managed to pinch a nerve or something in his back and could barely move today.

This is how the corn stalks are carried away.  Sometimes the load is so big that you can't even see the little trucks!

11/7/10-11/13/10

Sunday, November 7, 2010
It was freezing all night!!  I was so cold that I couldn't even move to get up and get another blanket (to put on top of my already extra blanket!)  When we end up back in the states, I am going to fully appreciate a heater!
Somebody must have been spreading rumors that I can communicate.  I was called on to share an experience about sharing my talents in Relief Society.  The most amazing thing was that I actually was following along and I understood what I was being asked!  (Of course I leaned over and asked Sully to make sure before I started talking!)   I was able to share my experience with playing the piano.  I told about how when I was a youth, I was too embarrassed to play in church (as much as Sis. Swartz tried to get me to!!).  I never played in church and kind of hid my talent.  It wasn't until I came to Guatemala and they called me to play that piano that I was able to come out of my shell and use what I learned in years of piano lessons. (Thanks Mom and Dad!  I guess you were right after all!)  I also talked about how by using my talents I have also been able to improve my talents and have been able to teach others so that when I am no longer here, there will be more people to play the piano.
I really struggle to share any personal experiences without getting teary eyed and this experience was no different.  It was so amazing though to be able to share some of my feelings and be so in the moment that I didn't stress about the language, it just sort of flowed.
After I finished, another lady raised her hand and started talking about how my sharing my quilting talents has been a good opportunity for members to be introduced to the church and how they don't want the class to stop.
Following that, the Relief Society president pointed out that by my sharing my talents, I have been blessed in return with my increased ability to communicate.  How true she was!  I have noticed such a change in the past couple of months.  I have truly been blessed.

Monday, November 8, 2010
Just another Monday.


Tuesday, November 9, 2010
A new bread shop opened on our street.  They sell all sorts of rolls and muffins 3xQ1.  Which is 3 for $.12.  Morgan and Cole are so excited that they finally talked me into letting them walk down there so they could buy some rolls.  They think they are so grown up!  I even let them walk to the club to play for a while.
All of the youth at church are working on the cultural dances for the temple dedication.  They have practices every night so there was no choir tonight.  Yeah!!  What do I do?  Oh, start a new book!  Maybe I'll catch up to Cole with the Harry Potter series before we finish here!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010
For today's quilting class, I moved all of the furniture out of the rooms downstairs.  We had quilts all over the place and everybody was either working on their quilt or helping with the quilts for the rest home.

Alysa is working to design her own quilt. 

Hermana Perez and her friend.

Morgan loves to serve the refreshments.

While the girls were all quilting, Chris and Cole were on their way to Guatemala City.  Chris has a meeting tomorrow at a carpentry shop that is doing all of the woodworking for the temple.  Cole got lucky and got to go along.

Thursday, November 11, 2010
While Alysa and Laina were at Teacher Lily's, Morgan and I went to market.  It wasn't a rushed trip with a purpose so we spent lots of time just wandering around.  We found a shop that had little traditional dresses. They were so cute and would be perfect as a framed piece of art.
We forgot to take a bag so we had to buy a basket.....darn!
We also went to a different grocery store that we had never been to.  I think we had a little too much fun for being at a grocery store!  We almost forgot to go back and pick up the girls!  My favorite find was AMERICAN DORITOS!!  YEAH!!  I ate the whole bag (no, it wasn't a big bag) by myself!!  The only thing that would have been better would have been if they had been Blazin' Buffalo and Ranch Doritos!  That would have been more than I could have dreamed for!

While the girls were out and about, Cole was having the time of his life at the carpentry shop.  Apparently he really enjoyed seeing how all of the stuff was made....especially the stuff for the temple.  

This is how they dry the corn after harvesting it.  They throw it on their roof and let the sun take over!!

The Orellanas invited the Bottemas and us over for dinner.  We enjoyed a nice fire, roasting hot dogs and marshmallows, and great conversation.  It brought back memories of our first time going to the Orellanas for s'mores.   

Friday, November 12, 2010
Chris and Cole returned to us safely today and we were able to finish school tests for Morgan and Cole.
We celebrated by starting the first Harry Potter movie.  Cole has finished all 7 of the books and now he finally gets to watch the movies.  (Luckily there is a Harry Pottery marathon this weekend and I was able to set the recorder for it!!)

Saturday, November 13, 2010
Today was a day to run some errands and get caught up on a few things around the house.  All of the kids were helping with the quilts as well.

11/1/10-11/6/10

Monday, November 1, 2010
I had such great plans to get caught up on everything today....ha!  In Guatemala, they don't celebrate Halloween, but they shut down everything today for the Day of the Dead.  Chris didn't have to be at work as early, so as a family we all went to exercise at the country club.  Unfortunately, the club was shut down also!  The guard let us in to use the fitness trail, but all the buildings were locked up.
So with our morning workout, school got off to a late start.  Then it came to an early start when Chris called to say that we could come down to the job site and walk through the temple since nobody was there.  We went and picked up the Bottema's so they could see it also.  I was surprised at how much the inside has changed.  It's been a while since we've gone inside!  Hopefully it will continue to change very quickly!!
After our little tour, we all went to lunch.  As we were finishing up our food, in walked Chris's boss Dave, the church boss, Russ, and the architect, Eric.  They had just arrived in Xela for a couple of days.  We talked for a while then headed to the grocery store to get the stuff to make dinner for Dave, Russ, and Eric.
At the grocery store, we were in an aisle with another lady with her baby on her back.  There was nobody else around and she kept looking at us.  We're kind of used to it so we didn't really pay much attention.  It wasn't until she approached Morgan that we realized what she was looking around for.  She was so tiny that she couldn't reach the jalapenos on the top shelf and needed some help.  I thought it was hilarious that a full grown adult would have to ask an 11 year old to get something off the shelf for them.  

The kids and Chris all wanted to do fish tacos.  It has a mixture of cilantro, cabbage, carrots, and onions so we had a lot of stuff to sanitize, dry, and then chop up.  Cole was my helper in getting dinner ready.  It was a good thing that he helped because it took us forever to make dinner, finish schoolwork, and clean the house!
It was all worth it though.  We had a great dinner and Dave brought us all sorts of fun stuff.  It was Christmas....literally.  My sister sent a bunch of unexpected gifts with Dave that will be perfect for Christmas.  (Thanks, Meghan!!)  He also brought a book that I had ordered and a package of birthday stuff for the kids from my parents.   I had so much fun trying to hide all the stuff so the kids wouldn't see it.   Dave even brought a couple of grocery items that I haven't been able to find here so that I can make a couple of our traditional Thanksgiving dishes!

Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Today, the fields behind our house were beginning to be harvested.  We weren't here last year to watch, so it has been really cool to watch.  There are a ton of workers in the field with their machetes chopping all the corn stalks.  The stalks are then stacked up to be hauled off.

I am trying to get to the point where I feel like I am on top of things with school.  I haven't quite gotten the hang of the new 4th/6th grade books yet.  I said that I wouldn't go anywhere until all of the days work, correcting, and planning for tomorrow were completed!  Poor kids didn't get to go to the club!
When I went to teach piano class, nobody showed up with the keys.  After sitting outside the gates for about 45 minutes, they showed up.  Apparently Brother Sak's watch was 10 minutes fast so he came and went right before I got there.  It was nice to have a little bit of uninterrupted time to do some reading for Morgan's schoolwork!

Wednesday, November 3, 2010
I think my kids favorite part of the entire week is getting to serve refreshment during the quilting class.  I don't know why they like it so much but I'm not going to complain!  They have been great helpers.
We started a new type of quilt today even though most of the people were still working on the previous quilts.  We had quilts laid out on about every square inch of floor space in the entire downstairs!  It was hilarious trying to get from one place to another without stepping on anybody or their quilts!

Thursday, November 4, 2010
UGH!!  I can't get out of bed.  My head is going to explode.  Up all night nauseous!!

Friday, November 5, 2010
I'm feeling a little better.  Thank you Advil PM!!  I am thankful that I am able to take a lazy day if I need to.  I am also thankful that the kids were willing to take care of me yesterday and take care of their own work as well.  I'm pretty lucky!
Even though my head was still killing me, I felt bad that the kids have been so cooped up this week so I took them over to the club.  I was planning on doing some work while they played but we ended up going through all of the machines in the exercise room and showing them how to use them.  They were so excited to try out all the equipment.
We went out to dinner with the Bottema's while all the kids stayed at our house to watch a movie and eat pizza.  I think it was a win win for everybody!  I was very pleased to get some delicious hot chocolate at the restaurant since it has been so cold the last couple of days!  I can not believe how many storms from other places have affected our weather here!

Saturday, November 6, 2010
The kids and Chris hung out all day while I got some stuff finished.  I got some quilting done, I worked on a Christmas tree wall hanging/advent calendar, school planning, reading, etc.  It was very nice to have a little bit of time to do something that I want/need to do that I don't have time for during the week.  It was also very nice to watch Chris and the kids playing together!
So, is it bad of me not to want to buy a Christmas tree, ornaments, etc when we'll probably be leaving a little while after Christmas?  Morgan says that she wants to make one.   I'm thinking I might just let the kids creativity go crazy this year.

Loading up the buses at the terminal.

10/25/10-10/31/10

Monday, October 25, 2010
How does laundry multiply in the hampers?  I just did the laundry before we left for Mexico!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010
After piano lessons, I went to get the girls and then went down to Central Park.  We were trying to get Cole some new books since he reads so stinkin' fast.  He found 3 animorph books that he hasn't read yet.  We have been able to sell some of our old books to the store to balance out the cost of buying all the new books.  It's a pretty good system.  I just wish that there were more kids books, but apparently there aren't very many kid tourists here!
I found out tonight that instead of having the Christmas piano recital like I was planning, the piano students are going to be playing during the ward Christmas program.  The kids are a little nervous.  It is going to be a busy night for me!  The choir will be doing several songs as well.
After choir we had a little bbq outside.  It was pretty cool to realize that I was part of the conversations!!  It is amazing what a little self confidence will do to help with the language.
At one point, the choir president asked when the quilting group was going to be delivering the quilts to the nursing home.  Lily told me that the choir wants to go with us to sing Christmas carols.  I am so thrilled that the ward has taken to this service project with so much enthusiasm!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Pumpkins are so ridiculously expensive here that we decided that we are going to make paper mache ones!  Now I just need to get some newspapers!

This was supposed to be the last day for the rag quilts, but only two people have finished so we'll be overlapping projects next week.  I still can't believe how many nonmembers have been coming to the class.   I even told everybody to leave their unfinished stuff for me to sew during the week so that I wouldn't be madly rushing next week.

Thursday, October 28, 2010
All four of my kids went to Lily's for a Halloween party.

We also took the Bottema boys there while Polly and I went to the market.  It was fun to go to the market with somebody who was excited to be there and not begging to go back home and complaining that their bags were too heavy!  I did however have to carry all of my stuff by myself!
Having the Bottema family here has really brought back lots of memories from when we first came here. I need to remember those times so that I can realize how much I have learned.  It really helps me when I get discouraged to realize that I am progressing!
Polly and I talked about our lack of independence here.  I actually feel like I am able to do most things here that I would normally do in the states.  I still haven't gotten the car filled with gas though.  (ALL gas stations are full service and you can't pump your own gas with the pay at the pump.  I sure miss that!)

Chris had to take a co-worker back to Guatemala City today so he took Alysa with him.  She was so excited to get to go.  The kids really enjoy that one on one time with dad!

Friday, October 29, 2010
Since we were able to catch up on school work today and since I bought newspapers yesterday, the kids got to start on their paper mache pumpkins today.   The kids applied this rule to their project:  the messier it is, the more fun it is!

In the afternoon, I took the kids swimming.  I kept having panic attacks when I couldn't see Alysa in the water.  Then I would remember that she was with Chris.

Saturday, October 30, 2010
Dry season has arrived.  Everything is covered in dust...especially the cars.  We took both cars down to the car wash.  I never thought that going to the car wash would be such a family event!  The kids love to go!
Afterwards, everybody dropped Cole and I off at the book store.  We leisurely looked at the books without having other kids to worry about.  Cole found a couple more books that he is going to try out.  I think he is going to have to start making a Christmas list of only books from the states!  After we finished looking at the books, we walked towards the Democracia market.  He helped me pick out some fabric for the next set of quilts.  We then went to the park to watch people, check out souvenirs, read, eat candies, and just hang out with my little boy.
While Cole and I were out having a blast, Chris and the girls got rear ended.  All I can say is, I'm glad that I'm not the one that did it!!  I can just imagine how horrified the girl was that hit him.
We had dinner at Albamar with the Bottema's then went to their house for games.  The Orellanas went also, so the kids instantly took off playing.  The adults hung out and talked.  We also tried out the secret passageway.  The house would make a perfect haunted house!

Sunday, October 31, 2010
I had one of those really embarrassing moments today.  In Sunday school, I was called on to say the opening prayer.  I've never had to pray in church before much less in front of the men!  It is a little intimidating!  Anyway, the teacher said I could do it in English or Spanish.  As I walked to the front of the class, my friends in the front row kept saying, "No, solo en espanol! (No, only in Spanish!)"  So, I tried to be courageous and do the prayer in Spanish.  I don't know what happened when I started the prayer by saying, "En la nombre de Jesus Cristo (In the name of Jesus Christ)."  The second the words were out of my mouth, I knew I had said the wrong part!  I got really flustered and could not for the life of me remember how to start the prayer.  After a long awkward pause, I just went ahead with the prayer.  There were several more long pauses as I tried to remember the words that I wanted to use.  I ended the prayer (the same way that I started the prayer!) and proceeded to my seat with my face beet red!!  As usual, everybody was overly supportive and full of encouragement afterwards.  I love our ward!  Where else can I make such a fool of myself repeatedly and still feel like I can go on?

We didn't do anything exciting for Halloween since they don't celebrate it here.  Unfortunately, Saturday night the kids expressed their sadness in not getting to dress up and do their usual things.  So, after church, the kids busied themselves with making up their own costumes.  They also made up games to play, decorated brown paper bags, made cookies and caramel apples, and then went "trick or treating" around our empty neighborhood.  Chris would run ahead to each house and pretend that he was somebody different and give them each a piece of candy.  It definitely wasn't anything compared to their big hauls of candy in the states but we had fun as a family.  

I tried to make caramel from scratch.  It ended up so hard that we couldn't even bite it!!  We finally melted it down and made caramel suckers.

Alysa - Candycorn Witch
Morgan- Franken girl
Cole- Skeleton
Laina- Pumpkin Princess

The annual post trick or treating candy exchange.