La Playa

My mom, sister, brother-in-law and nieces came for a visit in early January.  We celebrated Christmas and spent an amazing few days at a rental house on the beach in Puerto San Jose, Guatemala.  It was an awesome time together - playing, relaxing, eating and soaking in the sun!!  

There were some Nerf wars as well!

Much time was spent in our private pool!  It was such a blessing to have day and night access to this beautiful spot.  

The kids were found here most of the time!

And sometimes the 'grown-ups' joined in!!

Raft war!  Julia insists that she and Sam won! 

Maybe the battle, but not the war . . .

And the beach!!  The black sand was amazing.  It was also hot if you tried to walk on it in the middle of the afternoon!  The kids (and adults) loved the waves!  Of course the sand was EVERYWHERE but most thought it was well worth it!  

We left the beach on Friday and headed to our house.  Our family spent the weekend with us there and then departed on Monday.  The time went so fast but was filled with amazing memories.  I am so thankful that my family is willing to come to our 'neck of the woods' - or 'beach' in this case!  We are so grateful for their hearts and for our time together.  We are truly blessed!  

Widows' Christmas Party

 Although Christmas is over, I thought you might enjoy some pictures from our time with the widows in December.  Our four translators prepared the traditional Christmas ponche (fruit punch) for the ladies so our first task was to get the fire started in the stove.  Unfortunately, the stove had not been used in the while so we spent the next several minutes trying to clear the smoke that billowed from this basement room of the clinic in Chiminisijuan.

We then proceeded to buy their baskets.

We had made up a small coloring book for the widows and kids to color in while I read them the Christmas story.  This is our friend, Betty.  She is handing out crayons to each family.

Everyone LOVED coloring the pages.  The older ladies had trouble opening the crayon box and were confused on what exactly they were supposed to do, but once they got to coloring, they were very focus - so much so that I am not sure how much of the story they heard!  Maybe the activity during the story is not the greatest idea (for the second year in a row!).  We ended this time with prayer in three languages.  As soon as the prayer was done, the coloring continued!! 

The young girls also enjoyed the activity.

Even the boys!

Our translators had planned a few games for the widows with fun prizes!

Musical chairs was quite the hit!

Blowing up and popping a balloon!

The kids all received toothbrushes and balloons.

Here is our friend, Prosper, with a couple of the boys and their balloons. He was showing them how to make the balloons 'squeal' - something that I am sure their moms and grandmas really appreciated!

We finished up the afternoon by handing out the ponche with some sweet bread.  After they finished their snack, each widow received a Christmas present and their food for the month.  We bought each lady a sweater and included some other fun items as well.

It was a great celebration of our Lord's birth!  It was fun to see the widows (and the translators) laugh so much at the games and enjoy the snack.  I pray that they are feeling the joy of the Lord and coming to an understanding of how much He loves them!