Back home...

...and back to reality. Being in Guatemala was so surreal. The beauty of the land and the people are in such sharp contrast to the utter poverty. Yet, we were almost always surrounded by smiles and appreciation for the smallest of things... a piece of candy, a beanie baby, a hug, a touch, a smile.


I was able to spend three days with my sponsored child, Dayli and her little sister, Fristy. It was so wonderful to see her again and this year, we really connected and our time together was so precious. She gave me a tour of her home which really lets me know of her family's needs. I was able to meet her new baby brother, who is getting ready to turn one on December 18th and My friend, Holly, was able to spend some time with her older brother, Salvador, who is disabled and determine some ways to help him as well. What a beautiful family!


To top it off... I was able to be there to celebrate Dayli's 7th birthday on December 10th and buy her some new sandals and a cake. It is the first time anybody in their family has been able to celebrate with a cake for their birthday... her smile was unforgettable! There were tears all around when we had to leave.

I will take some time over the coming week to recap several things I do not want to forget about our adventure there. Tricia did a wonderful job blogging while we were there, so I hope you stopped by her blog to follow along. We had such a wonderful travel group... Tricia, Mary, Holly, Maureen, Morgan and I had a fabulous time working side by side. It was also wonderful to work along side many of the ladies with the Helping Mayan Families team. So much was accomplished over the span of a week.

We spent many 12 hour days working as a team and were so tired by the end of the day, we really did not have time to blog or do any sightseeing. We were able to relax a bit on our final day in Antigua. It was even more beautiful than I remembered. We scored in the market and brought home some wonderful items! We walked through Casa Santo Domingo at night... it was breathtaking! I cannot wait to go back someday with my little Bug!

Oh... and the puppy... still as cute as ever and still in Panajachel! But here is Morgan with her little perrito.

Hola from Panajachel!

Sunday in Pana has been glorious! We hosted a Christmas Party at the Casa Hogar Feliz today (an orphanage) and it was just amazing. These children have suffered the most unimaginable abuse and no longer live with their families. They are children who will never know the love of a parent or the safety of a family to protect them... they will grow up as orppans yet they showed joy, spirit and love to all of us who came to bring them some Christmas in their lives for just a day. They smiled, they laughed, they marveled at receiving Christmas presents from people they have never met. Some of them received presents for the very first times in their lives! The joy on their faces will never be forgotten, for both Morgan and myself.

Catherine and Mary... the girls you sponsored, Cristina (not Reina Kristina) and Selyna are absolute sweethearts and I can´t wait to send you pictures! They were two who had never received gifts before in their life and have only recently come to the orphanage. The gifts were PERFECT and the director of the orphanage told me how amazing it was that their gifts fit them SO perfectly. I wish you could have been there to see them and love on them! We took all the kids to the shoe store this morning and each child got a brand new pair of shoes. They got them with a little wiggle room to spare and were so happy! The kids put on a musical show and dance for us at the hogar when we arrived. It was so totally amazing! They were all dressed in traditional Mayan clothing and had learned to tell us in English ¨my name is ___¨. I can´t tell you how amazing this day was.

A little girl named Tomasa looks so much like I imagine Sophie will look like in a few years with the same timid little personality. I sat staring at her for the longest time when she was not looking. Morgan thought so too.

We also worked back at Mayan Families today distributing tamale baskets and handing out shoes and clothing. The Guatemalan people we have met are most gracious and appreciative of every little thing they receive and thank us with kisses on each cheek and hugs. I worked all day beside a young 11 year old boy named Ismael. He is 11 years old and works full time to support his family... his single mother and 6 year old brother, Alan. He is such a hard worker and was so fun to be with all day. He is working hard to learn English and we practiced on each other all afternon. He looked through all the pictures on my camera and asked me about everything that was on there. He was most excited to see the snow in the pictures at Grant´s school from last weekend. We happened to see him walking home tonight on our way home from dinner with his family and took him into the pastry shop to buy them some pastries amd cookies. I had inexplicably picked up some boy clothing at a consignment shop before I left (an Old Navy fleece, some blue jeans, random shirts, etc.) and plan to give them to him and his brother when we see him tomorrow. There are some kids that just touch your heart and make an impression in your life... this boy is one of them. I am going to ask Sharon about sponsoring him for school if he is not already sponsored. He has such potential to be a remarkable young man with the right opportunity in his life. And, you all know how I feel about giving young men with potential the opportunity to be all they can be in life!

Morgan found a 4 week old puppy that had been abandoned on the side of the road and brought to Mayan Families this weekend... she is begging me to bring it home with us. I don´t think that will happen, but she sure had a wonderful time cuddling that little guy all afternoon and I think the puppy enjoyed the love and attention from her as well.

Tonight, we went out to dinner at El Bistro (the same place we went last year), it was awesome. We are disappointed that our hotel does not have internet, so we are at an internet cafe down the street tonight. Morgan is in heaven on facebook for the night, not sure I will be able to pull her out of here later. Tricia is busy blogging with pictures right behing me in the internet cafe (yes, we are such geeks), so be sure to check her blog as she just pushed send with pictures of our time at the shoe store this morning.

Tomorrow morning, we have the Christmas party at the preschool in the new San Jorge community center. We are really looking forward to it!!

I had not planned on this update being so long... but the day has been absolutely wonderful and I just don´t want to forget it. I will have to add pictures when I can use my laptop to download pictures.

Love you all!

Favorite Foto Friday #68

Almost ready to go and my precious Bug has a fever... oh, it makes me feel like curling up around her and snuggling until she feels better. This has to be one of the hardest parts of any trip... rushing around to get things done and not being able to stop and spend time with your kids and then all of a sudden, it is time to go and they are sick! sigh...

So, my favorite foto friday for this week is just a little Bug cuteness from last night when she rediscovered some old dress up clothes in a bin we had hidden behind some boxes... she was such a character! My sweet CUDDLE BUNNY! (Yes, she did this all by herself.)



I will try to link up a FFF post from Guatemala next week. If it does not work, we will see you back the next week!!

Here is this week's Mr. Linky!!



Next post will be from Guatemala!!

48 hours...

Holy cow... in 48 hours, I will be on a plane to Guatemala! I am so excited about this trip yet so nervous about leaving little Bug behind. All the what if's go through my head and I stare into those beautiful brown eyes and just sob. I know that everybody who is a mom that reads this knows exactly what that feeling is like. Leaving your babies for even an overnight can be hard... I have never left her this long before. She is staying with Nana and I know she will have a ball! They already have big plans!!

BUT!!! What an adventure for me! And, how honored I am to be traveling with Tricia. She has so carefully planned out all the tiny details and I just know that this will be such an awesome opportunity for both Morgan and me.

Not only will Morgan and I be able to work side by side in the country that gave our family one of the greatest blessings, we will also have an opportunity to share some mother daughter time that we will hopefully look back on as being one of those times that defined us and changed us for the better. But of course, that is not the only reason we are going. We are going to BE THE CHANGE.

I will try to blog from Guat but know that Morgan and her facebook friends will be hogging the laptop as much as possible - LOL! Tricia will be blogging daily and our big group Helping Mayan Families will be blogging on their website as well, so please follow along!

Also, I have a private prayer request for a very special friend of mine, Many Blessings. Would you kindly hold this beautiful mother up in prayer next week while she is also in Guatemala visiting her two precious babies? Prayer WILL bring these children home.

Love, hugs and FROG!

...now off to finish the third book in the Twilight series. Anybody else hooked, besides Angel?

Wordless Wednesday

Favorite Foto Friday #67 - THANKFUL

This week's FFF is to post pictures of what I am truly thankful for:

I am most thankful for three of the most awesome kids in the world... my little family!


And, while I don't have pictures, I am also thankful for my family of friends... I am blessed beyond measure with some of the most wonderful friends who ARE my family. And, I am still amazed at my community of blogger friends (yes, you)... a blessing more valuable than I could ever imagine! Meeting some of you in person has felt like a reunion with a friend you haven't seen in ages... our bond is amazing and powerful. Thank you so much for always being there and for commenting and sending cyber hugs just when I needed them!

I am grateful for us coming together each Friday to share our families and lives with one another. This has truly been fun over the past year and I look forward to it continuing for as long as we all want to keep pulling together!

With that note... here is Mr. Linky!



No theme for the next two weeks... just post your FFF and link yourself here!

My Littlest Turkey

Here are some pictures of my little Turkey-Bug today!!

She is actually saying "Gobble Gobble Gobble" here and flapping her wings.

Hopefully, I will get some pictures of my big turkeys tomorrow... they spent the day with their dad for Turkey Day.

Happy Thanksgiving!