Josh and I went hiking this past Thursday. We climbed the ridge behind the house. The trail was pretty steep, but the view at the top was lovely. Josh took a machete along in case we saw any creepy-crawlies, but thankfully, we didn't see anything suspicious! At the top of the ridge that felt like a mountain, we saw a small garden planted. I'm not sure who would climb up there every day to take care of the garden but I'm sure the gardner is in good shape. 

One of the views as we neared the top

Josh playing with the kids in front of the house. 

Happy Birthday, Martina! Martina turned 14 on Saturday. She has a very sad story. We aren't sure whether she fell into a fire or was pushed into a fire by an abusive father, but either way is horrible and she has scars all over her face. She also has a seizure disorder. Martina has been in different private homes and orphanages since she was six. She is able to walk with assistance and can feed herself (kinda), but that is the extent of her abilities. Her background information is sketchy so we don't know if she had any type of neuromuscular disorder or mental handicap before the fire incident. We would love for a full time volunteer to come take care of her and provide more physical therapy for her; most of all, we would be thrilled if a family would be able to adopt her. 

And this is baby Karina, back from the hospital and all smiles. She certainly is precious and everyone loves her dearly. She is doing so well since she came back and is sleeping through the night (mostly) and is drinking well from her bottle! She coos and laughs and Josh just loves her to pieces. She smiles alot at him. Her audience, or court hearing, is this Thursday. It seems like her parents are desperate to have her back and pulled a few strings with the judge in the city to have the audience so quickly. Normally, parents have to wait 5-6 months before an audience. We are expecting that she will go back to her family, but the PGN (equivalent of Child & Youth Services) will be watching the parents for any neglect or drunkenness. I pray that God will protect this precious little one from any physical, spiritual, or emotional harm. We hope that the parents will truly change from this experience and that they will come to know Jesus as their Savior. I'm thankful for the time that we have been able to take care of her. 

Here is Josh doing maintenance work around the house. In this picture, he is cutting tile to make shelves for our bathroom. Isai is watching. All the boys love "Mister Josh" and Rosa is constantly asking for "Misser Losh". 

Thank you for your prayers for healing and strength. I'm thrilled to report that we are ALL on the mend! Praise the Lord!! Please continue to pray for us as we love God here in Guatemala. Pray that we would not attempt good things on our own strength, but that we would die to self to allow God to work through us to serve others. 

Tune in next time for a post from Josh! :) 

mmmm......

I just now figured it out. I've been hungry for something all day and I finally know what it is!
PIZZA....cheesy, loaded, stuffed crust, yummy PIZZA. I want my mom's pizza, my mother-in-law's pizza, a piece or two from Larry's, a piece from Vinnie's and maybe even Pizza Hut.
Its making my mouth water.
Oh, and on the side, I'll have some Middleswarth BBQ chips, please!
Josh says I need to stop talking about all the food. ha.

I'm also craving cereal; pretty much any cereal besides the donated Reese's Puffs or whatever they are called. Cinnamon Life. Special K Fruit & Yogurt. Cranberry Almond Trail Mix. Honey Bunches of Oats.

And what I wouldn't give for a drink of milk straight from the tank. ahhh..... When I was a little girl, sometimes I would go with my dad up to the neighbor's farm to get milk. The best part was having a drink of really cold milk from the tank. mmmm. (I remember Dad trying to scare me too, but that is rather off subject. ) We drink milk replacer here. Powder + water. Its tolerable, really. With a strange smell.

That's all. I feel like I'm going to bed hungry tonight, but I'm not. I'll be all better in the morning and if not, the cravings will just have to go away.

So even though we're way far away in Guatemala surrounded by babies and diapers and volcanoes and earthquake tremors and little kids and medium kids and big kids and questions galore, we still miss our favorite foods. It feels almost ridiculous to say it, but there it is. (so you can see our humanness, right?)

Quote of the Week:
During Bible Trivia a few days ago, the question was (Fill-in-the-blank): "He who spares the rod, spoils the ____". Angelito, 6 years old, yelled out "THE WIFE!"

Good night/day to all.

a day off...

I suppose its about time for an update.

Today is our day off and we will enjoy every minute of it. Having a day off doesn't mean we do nothing at all, but rather that we are not OBLIGATED to do anything. Its pretty nice. 

We started Spanish school on Tuesday and will have class every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. It went  pretty good, I think. The school teaches the language through conversation mainly, instead of through a set curriculum. I believe that after we both get a little more understanding of the language that we will enjoy it more. Right now, its easy to feel lost. 

Some of you know about Karina, the newest baby that came to us from across the lake last Wednesday evening. She was malnourished when she got here and by Monday, we had to take her to the local hospital. She was transferred to a hospital across the lake where a pediatrician is on staff and has been there since. She is doing much better with IV therapy, and we anticipate she will come home within the next couple of days! Her diagnoses were malnutrition, dehydration, anemia; and she also has the rotavirus. groan. Even though she screamed almost the whole night that we had her in our room, I miss the little thing. :) Here she is.

Also, we took the babies "swimming" the other day when it was nice and warm. Most of them enjoyed it! We probably got as wet as they did. 

Please pray for all our babies. Apparently, the rotavirus is making its rounds in the area and our babies have managed to catch it, probably from Karina. Almost all of them have diarrhea and a few are vomiting. Pray that they will be healed and that we will have patience and love with their crabbiness and countless bedding, diaper, and clothing changes. 

Last Thursday, Josh and I went out to eat at the Posada, a very nice restaurant about 3 minutes away. Their fruit drinks were delish and very much the real deal! If you come visit us, we will take you there! :) The restaurant is connected to a nice hotel also, if you care to vacation in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala!

So its now Friday night. I meant to post this yesterday, but obviously, those plans were laid aside. 

Not much has changed since yesterday except that now all the babies have either vomiting or diarrhea. Today, I've been peed on, pooped on, and vomited on more times than I can count. Also, Deborah is now sick also with a stomach bug. Josh and I are still battling head colds and sore throats. So please pray for healing for all of us. The babies are in bed for the night and I think I'm heading that way too. 

On a side note:

Congratulations to my youngest brother, Derek, on graduating from high school this weekend! We would love to be there with you, Duck! We're proud of you. 

And congrats to my brother Merle, who is graduating from community college on Tuesday! We could use a handyman here, k? :) 

And also congratulations to my brother-in-law Joel who graduates from college tomorrow! (I think its tomorrow!) We're excited with you guys that this phase of your life is over! 

pictures

the house

the babies

Mercedes

older kids

Josue and Jacob

Rosa, Yelsi, and Lucia

I apologize for the previous picture posting attempt. Yesterday the power went off around 4:30 in the afternoon and came back on today around 2 in the afternoon, so we're finally getting these pictures up. Also, yesterday evening a new baby came! Her name is Karina. She is two months old and came from a hospital across the lake. Her parents are alcoholics, and thats basically all we know about her. She has a head full of thick black hair and is very petite. We'll post pics next time. 

Time for bed. We're cooking tomorrow! Good night. 

THE BABIES ARE SLEEPING......

 and so I thought I’d post a few pictures of where we are at and a few of the kids so that you have an idea of where we’re at and what we’re doing. And pictures are always more fun! J

Here is the home, situated at the base of a mountain.

These are some of the older kids. Saul, Jhostin, Angelito, Isai, Jeamy, Vidalia, and Maria. We were out picking blackberries of some sort.

And here is L-R: Rosa, Yelsi (the oldest one here. She is Auntie Yelsi to the wee ones), and Lucia.

And here are a few pictures of the babies… I am holding Isaac: He was abandoned in a hospital after birth and was there for about 5 months, I believe. He has a spine deformity and his head is oddly shaped from laying on his back for the first 5 months of his life and is slow to progress but he is doing better. He hates to stand up and screams constantly when we try to exercise him, but when he smiles he is a cute little guy with a big smile. Jacob is on the floor biting that toy. He was also abandoned in a hospital and came here about 5 months of age, I think. He is doing well; we expect him to start crawling within the next week. Josue is in the plaid shirt, he came here with 4 siblings, although 3 have since left. He is very precious and very strong willed. Uhoh. Mercades is in the pink laying on the floor. She was abandoned by a river I think and came here with her umbilicual cord still attached. She is now 5 months old.  The little guy in the white vest was company for the weekend. There is also a 16 month old named Mynor. He is affectionately called Mynor the Whiner. Unfortunately, it is a very precise nickname. But he is cute. Also, there is the director’s son David, who is about 13 months I believe.  These last two aren’t in the picture, in case you think I can't count. So altogether, we have six youngsters who need constant 

attention.       

 

Josue and Jacob. (l-r) They don’t actually share the crib, we just stuck them in there while the other babies were getting their baths.

We are enjoying it here overall. It is a big adjustment, from our quiet apartment to a huge house with lots of noise and children. God is so faithful to us; without Him, we could not make it. Pray for us that we will be persistent in our love for God and that we would desire to know Him more and more. Pray that we would love Him well here in Guatemala. 

Josh is busy doing maintenance work around here. Yesterday he hung gutters or sealed a gutter or something like that. The kids love him; he spends lots of time playing with them and is great about changing diapers, too!

Its my turn to do clean up today and its just soon time to set the tables for lunch, so that’s it for today. Keep praying for us!