Pictures!

There are sooo many pictures to be sharing we uploaded them to an album instead of trying to put them all on here we dumped them all here!

Sarah, Grace and I are off to visit a teacher from the school who just had a baby on Thursday :) Her name is Beatrice and she is also the sister of the Principal who passed away last week. Please be praying for her heart, she named her sweet baby after her sister, this time must be bitter sweet.

Yesterday we played water games and finished VBS! The kids are sooo great! After that we did some home visits of the kids from the school, more about that soon.

More later...enjoy the pictures!

The past couple days...

Saturday we slept in! We went to the market for souvenirs and groceries. I looked everywhere to find a cute baby wrap that came with a baby in it, but they were all tied to mommies and seemingly not for sale ;)

We saw lots of chicken parts, tortillas, fruit, sweet little babies and every souvenir you could possible want! We even bought a pintata for Maddie's big birthday celebration!

Today was Maddie's 12th Birthday! We slept in a little again, then took a 'chicken bus' (a vibrantly painted american school bus that is used as public transportation here) to church at the school. I didn't catch a lot of what was being taught but I did catch that we are to be content in all circumstances... whether we are hungry or not, have money or don't, have a spouse or not... to always be thankful to God.

After church we had lunch and met up with a friend of Kel and Maddie's from Iowa who is here traveling. After some down time at the house that I spent mostly reading on the roof :) we went to the most beautiful restaurant I have ever seen to celebrate Maddie's Birthday! It is a 16th century monastery turned into a hotel and restaurant.

Now we wait for Drew, Heidi and Ellie to arrive as we get ready for our first day of VBS at the school tomorrow. ( Kairos Christian Schoool )

Before we head to the school for VBS we are going to Casa Jackson to snuggle and feed some sweet babies.

It takes a lot of time to post pictures individually so we are going to work on making an album with all of our pictures and I will post the link here soon!

Sending love...

Maybe the coolest day of my life...

Today we all got up early to head into Guatemala city to meet Drew's and my Compassion Child at the zoo! When we arrived I met Astrid's beautiful mom, Eva and then got a big hug from little Astrid. At first we thought she was shy but Jacob took her hand as we walked into the zoo. She warmed up very quickly, holding my hand, telling me about her brothers, her pink high heals, singing me a song in english and quizzing me on my colors! We looked at animals, talked about lots of different things, ate lunch, giggled and danced together.

I wish that Drew could have met her today, he would have fallen in love with this sweet girl. We will be visiting her again, hopefully many times. She is sweet, smart and kind. Her mom was the same and we could tell that Astrid was very well taken care of and loved. She has four big brothers and her mom said she likes to do all the things they do. Eva and Astrid both captured my heart in such a huge way. The compassion reps were wonderful and helped us all talk to each other and have a great time. I couldn't have imagined it going any better than it did. Every minute of it was delightful. It was a day that I will never forget and I can't wait until the next time I get to giggle and dance with Astrid again!

Astrid singing me a song in english

Little Cowgirl :)

Jacob, Astrid & me

The whole zoo crew...

Eva & Astrid

Kelli (my sister) & Maddie (my niece)

Isn't she beautiful :)

When we were saying goodbye Astrid's mom cried and thanked me for everything I do for her family and her daughter. She asked God to bless me and I was overwhelmed with love for her and her sweet girl. In this picture she is saying this to me as I looked to the Compassion Rep to translate for me. I told Drew about it and he said, " Wow, all we did is set up $38 to come out of our account every month."

It really doesn't even phase us each month as the money comes out, but it changes so much for Astrid and her mom. That $38 provides her with so many opportunities. I am not saying this to show you just how wonderful we are because we sponsor a child. I am telling you this because it is something that seems so small for Drew and I, but it has been one of the most rewarding experiences. We are blessed to get to pray for her and I believe they pray for us too. We write to her each month and pray for her as well, but seeing her, dancing with her, hugging her, all of it... it changed everything for my side of this sweet relationship. They are two beautiful people who are burned in my mind and my heart for a lifetime, and longer :)

It would be silly of me to tell you how rewarding, wonderful and beautiful this experience was and is with out telling you how you can get involved.

Compassion International

After the zoo we went to see Jacob's foster mom! Norma took care of little Jake until he was 5 1/2 months old. Sarah brought her all kinds of pictures of Jake and she cried as she hugged him goodbye. Norma and her daughters are so sweet and love Jacob so much, how could you not? :) We are all so thankful for her and her family taking such wonderful care of our little Jacob.

We made it!

Drew and I got up at 2:40am this morning to get me to the airport on time! Then I got to spend about 8 hours in the Dallas airport :)

I spent most of it reading this book:

Then my niece and sister met up with me and we got on our flight to Guatemala City where my brother met us and we took a short drive to Antigua, where we are now!

I am super sleepy so this is going to be short. Thanks for all your sweet comments, prayers and texts.

More tomorrow...Sending love :)

Remembering my last trip to Guatemala...

I surprised Jake and Sarah by showing up in Guatemala one November night two years ago.
It was going to be Jake's 1st birthday and I couldn't wait any longer to kiss and squeeze this handsome boy I had fallen in love with.

We were buddies from the start

We celebrated him being one year old with lots of cake, music and dancing...

This is a glimpse of the feeding program that has turned into a school...

Kairos Christian School !
Equipping Christian Leaders in Guatemala for the Next Generation

These sweet kids below are burned in my mind. They had no parents. This was their only meal of the week. Someone asked the oldest boy how they were doing and he said something along the lines of... I'm okay but I worry about the little ones because they just get so hungry.

As I run errands, check things off of my to do list, do laundry and start to pack, these are the images going through my mind. I am so ready to go back.

On a very sad note, will you please be praying for the school as their very loved principal passed away this week. Also, for her sister who is a teacher at the school.

What's been going on? Part two :)

This is part two. Sept-Feb ish :)

We went on a vacation in North and South Carolina and celebrated our sweet friend Martha and Luke getting married :)

We made new friends, Page and Stockton :)

Luke and Martha Habegger :)

And we got to see my cousin, his sweet wife and their adorable boys :)

Also in September ( I think) we went to a fun concert with our friends Chad and Rachel!

and of course had a sleepover with their diva girl, Janie :)

Afternoon tea with Adrienne and Emily

our friend Vanessa ( @www.flourishstudiophotography.com ) took some fun pics for us :)

I had a birthday somewhere in this space...but my computer died and Jason fixed it (praise The Lord:) but I can't seem to find my November pictures :( I did have a fantastic birthday though. I learned that birthdays for me are more about taking a moment to look around and celebrate the wonderful people in your life, than the number on your cake. This year as I looked around I realized there is not a luckier girl in the world. Drew put together a picture frame with pictures of all my closest friends and in the center he wrote, "There is no greater joy than being loved." That seems to sum up how I felt as I turned one year older. Very loved.

We also celebrated Thanksgiving with a lot to be thankful for. We were surrounded my good friends and yummy food...

Then we started celebrating Christmas... with The Graves :)

and with Jess, Mike and Ethan :)

We also spent Christmas with Drew's mom, brother and his wife...
can't find those pictures either? :(

Then off to KC to see these two (and their mom and dad :)

Next up...Adrienne's birthday!!

On January 10th we lost a dear friend.
My brave big brother did his best friend's funeral beautifully.

Got to see this pretty girl :)
It pains me to admit this, but she has a deep affection for her Uncle Drew.
It's cute except when she wants to snuggle with him instead of me!!! :)

and celebrate her 1st birthday! I can't believe you are one year old sweet girl!

I spent a week with these crazy (& sweet) kids while their mom and dad served in Cambodia

Well I am sure I forgot some things, but that should catch us up :)

Stay tuned because I actually have some fun new things to write about...always another adventure around the corner :)