7/11/11-7/17/11

Monday, July 11, 201

Happy birthday to me.  I spent the early morning at the gym with Chris and Cole.  Afterwards, I did a bunch of last minute baking to use up some of the stuff that we still had.  1/4 a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies, 1/4 a batch of sugar cookies, zucchini bread, etc.

And then after finishing all of that, Sully showed up with a HUGE German chocolate cake.  Her cakes are my favorite so I was very excited!  I loaded up a couple of tables that she bought and took them over to her house for her.

On the way, I got so excited to take a picture of some girls riding bicycles in their traditional dress.  I got the camera out and tried to turn it on only to remember that the battery was in the charger at home!  UGH!

We finished off a few more last minute things before going out to dinner.  We had one more restaurant on our list to eat at so that's where we went.  We call it the Italian restaurant.  I don't have a clue what the real name is!  The food was delicious as always.

We went home, had birthday cake and crashed!

The storm clouds above our house.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Another day of packing.

Chris was asked today how he would feel about going to Honduras.  The family would have to stay in the states and have him commute.  UGH!

A family that I visit called to see if they could get into the development.  I told them that I wasn't home but that didn't seem to stop them.  The kids weren't too happy to have people banging on the door for almost an hour.  Yes, AN HOUR!!  Talk about being persistant.  The kids aren't allowed to open the door if nobody is home.  Luckily for them, our friend, Alvaro came over and was able to tell the people that I wasn't home.  They left a bag of apples and pears from their house.  Alvaro left an apple pie from him mom.

I went to the church for my last choir practice.  When I got to there, a bunch of people were there.  I asked the sister missionaries what was going on and they said there was a baptism.  The choir people weren't there so I thought maybe the plans had been changed.  I ended up playing the piano for the baptism (in my jeans...how embarassing!) before being waved down off the stand for a going away party!  Everybody got up and spoke and I was grateful that Morgan was with me to help me out with a few things that I didn't quite understand.  It was really touching to see everybody from my 2nd family there to say good bye.

Earlier today, I packed our flannel sheets.  I didn't realize how much of a difference they made until we climbed into bed and about froze!  It's going to be a long few last nights!

The choir.

My second family.

Paola - music coordinator

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

My last day at gym wasn't very productive.  I am so worn out mentally and physically.  I really wish I could just blink and we'd be settled in our new place.  Easier said than done!

I had to suffer through several more goodbyes today.  They began with Hermana Sac.  I had her cut my hair one last time.  Laina was disappointed that she didn't get to have an "up do" like the pictures!

We had one last visit to the missionaries.  We dropped off some of our extra food, got pictures taken, and had Hrna Acedo read one last book to the girls.  I never knew that my camera had a timer on it!  The missionaries showed me how it works.  Wow, you learn something new everyday.  Too bad I hadn't learned that 2.5 years ago!  

All the sister missionaries in front of the corn fields.

Hrna Acedo reading to the girls.

The Sarats came over to visit as well as the Orellanas.  The Sarats brought us a few traditional type things that they had made.  Their son/brother, Elias, had written them from his mission and asked them to make sure they said good bye to us from him.   They asked if we were happy.  I told them it depends on which minute they ask.  It has been quite an emotional roller coaster!

The Orellanas were telling us that every time people go into the temple here, they are going to think of us.  Chris asked if it was because we are big and white also.

The Orellana family: Fernando, Lily, Juan Fer, Georgie, Sebastian, Isabela.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

To take our minds off of the move, and to give the kids one last chance to play, we went to Xocomil.  It is the water park here.  It was so cold but the kids didn't seem to mind too much.  We went on some rides and played for the morning then went and had some lunch.  I was so miserably cold that I gave up at that point and got dressed.  Everybody else kept playing while I took pictures, watched shoes, and enjoyed not shivering uncontrollably.

For the drive home, everybody was exhausted.  Laina fell asleep in the car.  It was a good day for everybody and the kids were very grateful to have had the chance to go there one last time.

We had people at 8:00 pm knocking on door for the garage sale.  Ummmm, it ended almost a week ago!!

Please, no peeing in this area.

Friday, July 15, 2011

Last day of packing.  I think we'll be able to do it.  12 suitcases, 6 carry on suitcases, and 6 backpacks!  That's a lot of stuff.  Tomorrow we will play Tetris to fit everything into the van!

When we hiked the volcano, Pacaya, a year ago, we got some hiking sticks.  The ends are all charred from the lava.  We have had them as decoration in our house since then.  I really like them and they bring back great memories.  I have been trying to figure out how to get them back to the states since they are so long.  We also have a couple of hammocks that are too long for a suitcase.  Chris took the sticks today and got them cut in half.  I then wrapped up the sticks, hammocks, work harness, and maps with the blankets that I wanted to take back.  I plastic wrapped them, taped them and now I am praying that there aren't any problems getting them checked on the plane.

I told the kids that if they finished off enough of the leftovers, that we might go out to dinner.  They were very happy to oblige.  They were even happier to go to Pollo Campero for dinner.

Everything we do is our "last" time.  It is getting pretty sad.  It is even worse that the house is so empty.  I feel so bad for Chris having to come back to an empty house by himself.

Alvaro was the first person that we met in Xela.  He has helped us out a ton!

San Martin is a bakery/restaurant that we really like.  They have these statues outside.  The kids always call them Dad and Uncle David.  

The Beehive Class had a going away party for Morgan.  The lady next to Morgan in the red shirt is the teacher.

Morgan and her best friend, Kati.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

5:30 was what time everybody decided to get up this morning.  The kids are so excited.  We finished one last load of laundry, cleaned the dishes, etc. etc.  Morgan was so emotional.  We finally had to tell her to quit going in her room because it made her cry every time!

I am shocked at how well we got the van loaded.  We had over 600 pounds of suitcases in the back of the van.  Morgan went with me in the van and the other kids went with Chris in the car.

As we were driving out of the development, Morgan asked if we could drive through it one more time.  I stopped the van and had her do the last drive through the development.  We then made our last drive through La Esperanza.  I was hoping to get the picture of a Mayan girl on a bicycle but I didn't get lucky.  We got plenty of other pictures though.

Today was the first (and hopefully last) time I have driven from Xela to Guatemala City.  Chris is always the one to drive.  It was a bearable drive but I had some serious white knuckles at times!   Morgan and I were able to have some fun together.  It is pretty rare that I have one on one time with the kids!  She is growing up so fast.

Once we were to Guatemala City, I think everybody was past the sadness and ready to move on!  We dropped off Chris's car at a dealership to sell it.  Hopefully that will work out.  We went out for dinner and vegged at the hotel.  After the craziness of the past week, my body and mind were ready to relax a little!

Going door to door selling chickens out of a wheelbarrow.

Gotta love the people out walking their cows in their traditional Mayan dress ... with a baseball cap on! 

Some parade/event in the middle of the highway!

Sunday, July 17, 2011

5:30 a.m. AGAIN!  Can't the kids sleep?  Don't they realize that the plane doesn't leave until 2:00?  We took things nice and slow though.

Last time waking up in Guatemala.

New record: 12 suitcases,  6 carry on suitcases, 6 backpacks, and 6 people!

We met Lily's dad at the airport to take the van for us then we got checked in.  It went pretty smoothly although Laina wasn't happy when her play dough got confiscated at the security check.  

While we waited for our plane, we got to watch our last rain storm.  (Turns out that some of our bags were left out in it!)   Chris's brother, Duncan, wrote a quote on facebook today.  "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass but about learning to dance in the rain."  How true!  Our lives might be in total disorder at the moment but we still need to enjoy it!

Laina watching the rain

No more rain!

We also watched as one of the bright pink bags was taken off of the luggage cart and brought back into the airport.  As we were going down the ramp to get on the plane, our name was called.  They had Chris go back to a different security area to go through the suitcase.  Apparently they had never seen a sewing machine before!  I sure hope that they got everything packed good and my machine doesn't get broken!

One of the first things that I wanted to do when I got to the states was to drink water out of the tap.  As soon as we landed in Houston, I found a drinking fountain.  People thought I was a weirdo but so what? 

We also enjoyed delicious pretzels with cheese, root beer, and Dr. Pepper.  We also went to a bookstore and looked at all of the books that the kids want to read!  Everybody was so happy and doing such a good job of getting along.  We didn't have any whining.

The second flight was even better than the first.  There were t.v.'s on each seat and the kids watched t.v. the whole way.  Alysa fell asleep for a while but Laina stayed awake until the plane touched down.  She wasn't too happy when I told her she couldn't go to sleep then!  

We had an awesome surprise from Matt and Jamie.  They showed up at the airport with a welcome sign for us.  They also brought their van as well as ours so we didn't have to get the hotel shuttle!    

12:00 midnight and they are all still smiling!

By the time we got settled at the hotel, everybody was beyond exhausted!  Laina ended up crying herself to sleep.   And, to be honest, I was about ready to join her!

Now that we had successfully packed and moved everything from Guatemala, we need to figure out where to move it to!  It should be very interesting to see what the future has in store for us!  

7/4/11-7/10/11

Monday, July 4, 2011

We have two more lessons, a review day and tests left for school.  I had too much to do today so I didn't even look at the kids schoolwork.  Instead, we all went to the market for probably our last time.  I am definitely going to miss the produce prices!  We also went to the grocery store before returning home to prepare our 4th of July dinner.  We invited all the sister missionaries over for a bbq.  We tried our best to have a typical American bbq, but it was a little tough with the available items here and since we are trying to finish up the food that we already have.  I think it turned out good though.

We picked up the sisters and took them to the club to exercise for their preparation day.  Laina was very excited to show them the fitness trail.  I think Cole was even more excited that they wanted to play a game of ultimate frisbee with him!  He is really missing having the Bottema boys around to play with!  A couple of boys were watching us and I asked if they wanted to play also.  I was surprised that they did!  Cole, the two boys, 4 missionaries, and myself enjoyed playing while Morgan played mini golf, and Alysa, Laina, and the other two sisters took pictures.

After working up an appetite, we headed home to enjoy our hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, soda, potato salads, fruit salad, jello, cookies, etc!  Paul Bottema was able to join us as well.  Morgan was in charge of making decorations.  (Using up some more of our craft supplies!)

The whole day was busy, busy, busy but very enjoyable.  I felt bad when we took the sisters back home and they had no power.  Their power had gone out that morning and still hadn't come back on.  Chris took a look at the fuse boxes and found water in one of them.  We ended up having to leave them with our flashlights and an offer to let them use our showers in the morning if they still didn't have power!  You've got to love Guatemala!!

Hrna Nelson trying to get the frisbee out of the tree on the side of a hill!

Hrna Silva and Hrna Romero

The Ultimate Frisbee Game

Laina hanging on the goal post

Cole in action.

Hrnas Nelson, Bunting, Relek, and Acedo

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

We actually got some schoolwork done today.  The kids are so anxious to throw away all of their finished work and throw down their books.  They started a tradition that when they finish a book they get to throw it down on the ground.  When Laina finished her first book she thought that she got to throw it across the room!

I was sent a note that I needed to bring the whole family to choir practice.  It was supposed to be our last practice before the conference, so I wasn't sure why they would want the family to come.  We showed up and found half the ward there to give us a farewell party.  They had a big dinner of traditional foods, gave us gifts, and gave little speeches about our family.  They made us sit in the front row and then had Chris and I both talk after everybody else had finished.  Of course, I was an emotional wreck and cried through the entire thing!  I still can't get over how wonderful our ward is!  Every time I turned around another person was coming up to tell us thank you and that they are going to miss us.  I didn't even get to finish eating my food.  By the time I got done talking, they had already cleaned up all the plates and were sweeping!  I have never in my entire life been around people that have made me feel so special!  (except my family of course!!)  I am not looking forward to Sunday and saying final goodbyes!

Sully even wore her traditional dress!!

Sam Sac 

Hrna Perez, Krisitna, Sully

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

We are officially done with our school lessons and reviews.  Tomorrow is test day!

The kids helped me a ton in the kitchen today.  They really enjoying working in the kitchen.....unless it's cleaning.  We made pretzels, burritoes, bread, meatloaf, sugar cookies, and Oh, Henry Bars.   We ground up the rest of our wheat and can now pack the wheat grinder!  I can't believe we leave Xela in 10 days.  I've got a lot of packing to do!

Thursday, July 7, 2011

We are officially done with school.  I even got all of the tests corrected today.  What a relief!!  The kids helped tear out old papers, pack their manuals and textbooks and get ready to have a bon fire with their finished stuff! 

We also worked on getting ready for our garage sale and also packed three suitcases!

Friday, July 8, 2011

We had a garage sale preparation day.  We organized everything and worked on pricing.  I have no idea what to price stuff here.  The house is really starting to look different.

In the afternoon, the Orellanas, and Sacs came over to go through stuff before everybody else.  We had everything in the living room and after they got finished, we had much less to take out for the real sale!!  

Morgan has been going to YM/YW (mutual) and is really enjoying it.  I think she likes being "grown up".  

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Today was the garage sale day.  And boy, was it a day!!  Sully came over about 8:30 and got a bunch of stuff before we went to put up signs.  As soon as we started putting stuff out in the carport area, the construction workers on the other houses started coming over.  Morgan and I finally snuck away to put up a few signs around 9:30.  It was a complete madhouse after that!  I was shocked at how much stuff we sold so quickly.  I'm kind of thinking that I shouldn't have priced everything quite so low!  Oh, well.  It's less stuff for me to take care of later.
Chris said that we are probably the first people to have our own security guard with a shotgun at our garage sale.  The development security guard must have come over at least 4 times.  The last time he brought his whole family!

At 12:00, I was completely done, both physically and mentally.  There is no way that I could have survived this garage sale without Chris and the kids!  Chris actually got stuck doing most of the work!!  

Cole went with me to take the signs down, and we put everything back in the house.  People didn't seem to care that we have closed up for the day.  We had people knocking on the door clear until 6:00 that night!  I couldn't believe it.  

Sunday, July 10, 2011
I keep trying to get a good picture that shows how these guys carrying stuff.  We saw these guys on our way to church.  If you look closely you can see the rope around their foreheads to haul the wood.  Every time I see it, I think that that is why everybody is so short.

 Morgan and Cole usually take turns putting up the hymn numbers each Sunday.  Cole arranged it so that he could do the numbers on our last Sunday.

Prelude

Today was our very last Sunday here in La Esperanza.  It was also our ward conference, which meant a lot of piano playing for me!  We had two special musical numbers with the choirs.  I was shaking uncontrollably after the first one.  I have been dreading it for months now!!  I am SOOOO glad that it is over.  It actually turned out pretty nice.

During the last hour of church, the rain began.  By the time church ended, it was pouring.  Everybody was smashed into the foyer area waiting for the rain to let up.  It was crazy.

Paul Bottema, Hector (from the stake presidency) and Carlos. 

 Chris and the kids had already gotten to the car before I got out of class.  Morgan had brought an umbrella in for me.  We laughed all the way to the car as we ran in our church clothes, through the puddles, carrying our bags, trying to huddle together under the tiny umbrella.

Hrna Sofi ran out to our car also to get her blanket.  The first time I saw her I thought she was a gringa also but she doesn't speak any English!

We had planned to get some family pictures taken at the temple.....until the rain started.  Instead, we had our photographer (Paul!) over for lunch.  The rain let up for a little while so we ran over to the temple to get some pictures.  

I made Chris take a cheesy picture of our feet around the tile work.  The things he will do to make me happy!

I am obsessed with the crazy sky.  I want to get a really good picture of the temple with the sun shining and black storm clouds at the same time!!

It seems like forever ago that Morgan and I helped paint the entrance sign.  It is now sitting in place and you can see the temple in the background!  A lot has changed.  

 After our "photo session" we stopped by one last family's home to drop off a blanket.  This is the Dias family.  Their daughter is a really good friend to Morgan.  They also have an older son and a younger daughter, but they weren't home.  They are a great family and have always been welcoming to us!