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! 

hola!

Dear Fan Club,

We’re here.

Day 1 is soon over. The six bambinos are in bed as are the little people. The mediums will go in about 5 minutes and the oldest kids in an hour or so.

We arrived in Guatemala City Thursday evening around 9 local time. We stayed in the city that night and Friday night and headed out here Saturday morning. I thought Snyder County was the boonies (I’m not bashing good ole Snyder County, I grew up there!),but I was wrong. THIS is the boonies. The roads were very curvy. Ravines and canyons and washouts dotted the scenery. Driving through the little towns, it was like human dodgeball. But we made it, YAY!

The weekend was a little wild, but today seemed normal. 

We get up at 6:30 for now. Breakfast is at 7:30. The school kids do school until lunch and then after lunch until they are finished. Since their school is in Spanish and I haven’t mastered that yet, I take care of the babies.  And try to teach 4 year old Rosa how to trace lines, circles, and squares. Eventually, I’ll take turns making meals and getting up at 6 to give the babies their first round of bottles, but for now, we’re all trying to get used to a new schedule. 

Josh takes care of babies and impresses the medium-sized boys with his muscles. He’s made great friends with Rosa because he throws her in the air. She giggles constantly. Also, he’s doing a great job learning how to change baby diapers. Tonight, he disappeared for about 20 minutes with baby Jacob.  Angelito (6 year old boy) came down and said “Ms. Donna, Mr. Josh needs you!”. Jacob had alternately puked and peed for about 3 times. Josh handled it very well; and he will be a pro at changing diapers and giving bottles!

Currently, there are 17 kids here. All except two are permanent here at the home due to an adoption law passed here in Guatemala. The point of the law was to stop people who were kidnapping babies or paying people to have babies to sell to the Americans for about $30,000. The money was all bribes. So it was a good law in that it stopped those corrupt dealings, but sad in that so many kids are not able to be adopted now. They have a good home here and yet its never truly their very own family.

Thank you to those of you who are faithful in praying for us. Our very first night here, we were exhausted and I couldn’t figure out how to made the water hot in the shower! I was sure I was doomed to 2 years of cold showers! Boo. But after a good nights sleep, we both felt better. Please continue to pray for us as we adjust to the schedule, the culture, and our new relationships. Pray for wisdom as we interact with the children and Dave & Deborah (the directors). Pray that we will be faithful in our relationship with God! And pray that our marriage will grow and thrive in this time of our lives! Also pray that we will not be too homesick; we do miss our family and friends so much, especially  in this initial adjustment.

I took a picture of me with I’m not sure how many babies around me as proof but I’m too tired to stand up and go get my camera right now, so maybe next time.

Its just about 9 and I’m exhausted.

Love and peace to all.

p.s. I’m also too tired to proofread this, so my apologies if I spelled something wrong or whatever. That’s for those of you who are grammar Nazi’s-you know who you are.

Ok, Buenos noches.

Just for Fun

Today I: 

-slept in too late

-laughed at my silly husband.

-thanked God for my husband

-talked to my kindred sister. 

-mixed 3 kinds of cereal for my breakfast. My mother would be proud. 

-baked 2 cakes

-washed the dishes

-read my Bible

-ate 1.5 pieces of chocolate cake. 

-contemplated eating another piece of chocolate cake. It has chocolate icing. It's almost irresistible. 

-thought about how annoying the word irregardless is. 

-decided that there are too many grammar Nazi's in my family already.

-stalked people on Facebook. 

-wondered if I could ever be a spy. 

-wondered if anyone else who reads this wanted to be a spy.

-changed verb tense in the middle of my list. Sorry. This drives me nuts, but just bear with me. 

-am happy to not have to work today. But I'm sorry for Sara, who has to work today. 

-am going to make icing for the 2 cakes baked earlier. 

-am going bowling with friends. and maybe out to eat. 

-am planning on getting honey barbecue wings with sour cream if we go out to eat.

-am going to exercise. (If I put it on here, then I have to. Don't ask about the logic.)

-am still in my pj's. Don't judge; it's a lazy Saturday.

-am thankful to God for all His blessings to me. I can't even number them; but when I think of this, I get this funny feeling right in the center of my chest: an overwhelming pressing and wonder and awe and thankfulness and desire to always have that funny feeling in my soul. (It's not chest pain, don't worry. No numbness or tingling and no radiating and no nausea and no diaphoresis) 

-am really missing NIHSS stroke scales and medical terminology. Maybe I'll take Josh's blood pressure just to see if I still know how. 138/78. It feels so nice to have a stethescope around my neck again. I think I'll wear it just for a bit. 

-am officially done with this post.

Have a relaxing, happy day!