A Wonderful Milestone

Greetings from Antigua!

Today was the first day we didn't leave our apartment compound. With the threat of rain all day, we stayed close to home. When it wasn't raining, we were outside swinging or playing soccer. When it was raining, we came inside and thought up some creative ideas. Here's something we did today:

I think the fine teachers at Children of The Woodlands would be pleased with this open-ended activity of building a city for all of Luis's cars. The kids went the extra mile by using egg cartons for mountains, toilet paper rolls for tunnels, and even included a zoo. This kept them busy for awhile!

Our Saturday night special is pizza and a movie. Tonight, we tried a new place, Papazito's, and the kids all agreed it was the best cheese pizza they'd tried here so far. It was Chris' turn to pick the movie, and he selected Veggie Tales Jonah.

The best part of the day was at the end. It brought tears to my eyes, tears of joy. Here's what happened: Luis said to Caroline, "I love you." At first, I thought he was just mimicking us, because of course, we say that all the time. But when I was putting Luis and Caroline to bed, he said, "I love you Caroline. I love you Christopher. I love todos mi familia!" and he flung his arms wide open for a hug. I realized he understood what he was saying, and it ended up with a giant hug with me and all three kids. Chris and Care were beaming, because it came unsolicited. It was just one of those moments when I felt like God was saying, "This is why you are where you are." Have a blessed night.

Another Day in Paradise

Yes, it is paradise to have my three children, together, finally. So it really doesn't matter where we are in the world.

We walked around more of Antigua today, still trying to find our way around and help the kids feel more and more comfortable here. We had some success. We found Papazito's, an Italian joint offering pastas, sandwiches and pizza. They deliver, too, so I think we'll try them for our Saturday night pizza & movie night.

We also found the location of a famous home, Casa Popanoe; unfortunately, it was temporarily closed. We'll try back another time - I read that the view from the rooftop terrace is gorgeous.

Additionally, the shop offering authentic Guatemalan pastries and other sweets was also closed. Darn, if I understood Spanish better, I'd know why they were closed! Luckily, both the famous house and the sweets shop are close by, and we'll check again soon.

Surprisingly, we went for more ice cream. It's a favorite for the kids. It was a warm day, at least before the afternoon rain came, and stopping in was a nice chance to rest before walking the 6 or so blocks home.

I didn't take many pictures today, after all, how many pictures of kids eating ice cream does one blog need? So I captured Luis being funny. As you can tell from the photo, he fits right in with our family! Enjoy!

Enjoying Antigua

Good evening! Yesterday, we went to explore "the big red building" that we always pass on our way to the grocery store. We'd heard from a friend here that there was a small children's reading area. We entered the building, and realized we were in for a treat. It turns out the building had been a university several hundred years ago, when Antigua was ruled by Spain. Similar to lots of buildings here, major earthquakes had severely damaged it. Now, however, as a massive restoration project comes to an end, the building, courtyards, hallways, etc. are absolutely gorgeous. I love the architecture here. Anyways, a portion of the building is used as a museum of sorts, and right now it was featuring photography from Mexico, Guatemala, and many Central American and South American countries. It was fantastic!

Today, after our school time, we went for a walk. We stopped at a panaderia (bread shop) on our way to the library. The kids checked out some new reading material. Luis actually chose books in English. His ability to understand English is growing by leaps and bounds. This afternoon, I asked, "Where's my timer?" and he answered, "I don't know." So he either really doesn't know where my timer is, or he is just mimicking me....although I try really hard to figure out what he's saying (or at least say "Uh-huh!").....Thanks to Chris and Caroline, he knows "ice cream" and "cookie" and "pudding."

Unfortunately, it rained off and on for most of the afternoon. We postponed visiting a place with ruins til tomorrow. There are so many places here with ruins to explore that I can't remember all the names. We'll try to remember to bring the camera this time.

Thanks for all of your prayers on our adoption. Keep them coming! Have a blessed night!

Sweet Moments

Today was Monday, so back to our school-day routine. I must admit that I really enjoy home-schooling the kids, and this time in Guatemala is not only a special time with Luis but also bonus time with Chris and Care.

I won't bore you with our curriculum, but I will say that we are having fun coming up with creative declarative, imperative, exclamatory, and interrogative sentences. :)

After school, we went about our errands. Christopher treated the other two kids ice cream using his allowance money. Very sweet. Here are their happy faces:



Next, we found the barberia to get Luis a haircut. His hair needed a cut two weeks ago when we picked him up! We found the place and he didn't want to go in. Poor guy, he cried the whole time his hair was being cut. I held his hand the whole time and wondered why on Earth a haircut would be so upsetting. An example of when our language barrier is a problem, and an example of wishing we knew more of his past. And just like any other mom who feels extreme guilt, I bought him his favorite cookies at the store!

The store, by the way, was interesting. This one has been bought out by Wal-Mart, so you can purchase their labeled items. The set-up was strange. The toilet paper was next to the fruit, the milk was next to the shoes, and even though I could find any type of pasta I could want, there wasn't any spaghetti sauce. The whole place was about 4 aisles wide. Well, we ended up having spaghetti noodles with butter instead of a tomato based sauce for dinner, and it turns out we all got to eat!

We got home and I treated Luis to a bath with two colored tablets, and his haircut was looooooong forgotten. Here's his photo, you'd never even guess he'd been upset!



At bedtime, Luis and I snuggled together and he had such a sweet smile on his face. It was such a joy that he continues to open up to us emotionally as he learns we can be trusted. God is good!

The Sunday Times

Tonight will be a quick post because Luis is restless in his sleep, and I am anxious to be his comforter. But today started bright and early, as usual, but with a magnificent view of the volcanoes. We even watched steam and ash come out of one of the volcanoes (I think, Fuego).

We went to church this morning at a Spanish & English church service. My friend, Sheila and her daughter Lily, told me about it. It was great to worship God in such a multi-cultural setting. I can't wait for Victor to come with us. And they actually played one of my favorite Spanish songs, one that I'd first heard in Guatemala four years ago.

After church, Sheila and I took the kids to lunch at where else? Pollo Campero! It was great catching up with Sheila and the kids had a fun time together as well.

It was a beautiful day so we were outside this afternoon, and we had a quiet evening at home reading books before bedtime.

Good night and have a great week!

Fun Saturday!

I didn't post yesterday because I was pretty exhausted. Chris was missing his Daddy and needed a lot of special consideration yesterday. I am grateful that I read about Culture Shock for Kids - the info helped me. The picture below is from yesterday, when Luis and Caroline built a fort in their room, naming it "The Reading Club." I am so excited that all three kids enjoy reading!

This morning was bright and warm - perfect weather for the pool! We planned to meet our friends Carolyn and Olga Ciak at the Hotel Antigua's pool. We hadn't explored the southern sections of Antigua yet so I was glad to do so on our walk there. We passed a really old cathedral that tomorrow is having a Blessing of the Animals (in honor of St. Francis of Assisi). I thought about taking the kids, since they love animals, but I can't bear the thought of Chris and Care in tears missing their dog. So I think maybe we'll find an English-speaking Protestant church service instead, without pets.

Anyways, we arrived at the pool, very excitedly. For 150Q, or a little under $20, we were able to spend the day there as well as borrow towels. The water was heated, which I love. One side had a little kids area that is about 2 feet deep, the other side about 5 feet deep, separated by a pathway about 6 inches deep.

For those of you who don't have the priveledge of knowing the Ciak's, they are missionaries at Casa Para Ninos, Luis' FORMER home, and we've enjoyed our time with them over the last several years of visits to Guatemala. Olga (Carolyn and Jack's daughter) and Luis are friends. Luis enjoyed seeing Olga, and Caroline was grateful for a girl to play with. The Hotel Antigua is absolutely spectacular, and we all enjoyed it tremendously. They even offered free face-painting, and I took a picture of Olga the Tiger and Caroline the Butterfly.


We took a tuk tuk home from the pool since after several hours in the pool, they were worn out. After cleaning up from the pool, we ordered pizza and watched Barney in Spanish (a DVD we brought). It was fun listening to Luis sing the songs in Spanish, although I didn't know what he was singing. I think he appreciated having something in Spanish. Finally, the movie was over and Luis was practically begging me to take him to bed. Good night!

Getting into the Groove

Good evening! It was another day here in Antigua, Guatemala, where the coffee is first class and the view of the volcano is breathtaking. I will try to take a picture of it (the volcano, not the coffee) soon.

We got right back into the swing of things for school. We're making modifications for our new student, but I'm grateful for that!! Chris and Care are both reluctant but relieved to be learning again. (Shhhh! Don't tell them they were learning lots of stuff during the "Empathy Break"!) In fact, I noticed Chris had taken my multiplication fact cards in his room today.

After school and lunch, we headed back to La Bodegona for groceries. Luis must be growing, or has an extremely lucky metabolism, since he is eating constantly! I know he got three meals a day, plus snacks, plus treats, at Casa, but I guess he's never had such unrestricted access to a pantry (or at least in this apartment, a cupboard!) or to a refrigerator. Lots of fresh fruit and proteins are readily available for him.

It took almost half an hour to walk to the store, mainly because three children tend to slow me down. But we take a different route each time, so we're discovering more and more places here in Antigua. We got almost everything on my list, including the world's largest mango (until I realized it was actually a papaya), and headed out of the store. Since there is no A/C here, the store gets really warm. With our three full black Kroger bags, the kids and I flagged down a tuk tuk for a quick ride home. It is a really unique mode of transportation, and for 15Q, less than $2, we were home in about 5 minutes. The kids loved the ride, partly because it was bumpy (cobble stone roads) and partly because they are just tired of always walking! But they really are such troopers! I've included a picture of a tuk tuk, as well as a picture of the three kids in ours today.


We had about 5 hours to kill before dinner, and the kids were getting a little bored with the 4 toys we brought from home, so I had to get creative. Remembering how much Luis likes to look for "Goldbug" in his "Cars and Trucks and Things That Go" book, I asked Caroline to design a Goldbug on paper. She did, we cut it out, and took turns hiding Goldbug upstairs. Here are the happy hunters:



We had some rain this afternoon so I let the kids watch a DVD movie. Luis patiently watched "Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses" in English, and I thought it was funny when he laughed. Kudos to Chris for patiently watching it too. They will each have a turn picking out a movie, too, later this weekend. And I was happy for the chance to sit down and read a chapter in my current book.

Dinner was chicken and rice, because Luis likes chicken and rice, and then off to bed for the kids. I am grateful for the time I have at night to catch up on skype with Victor and sometimes even a dear friend. Looking forward to a new day tomorrow, full of opportunities! Have a great night!