Despedida de Jan

Our National Director has decided to move on and in his honor we had a going away party. 

We are going to miss you Jan! 

Going away presents :)

The girls being girls...

Dancing with Mearbear.

Semana Santa

During Semana Santa ("Holy Week") I worked full time Tuesday, March 26-Sunday, March 31 as a Tia (caretaker). This time I was able to work with my boys! The days were long, we worked 7:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. every day, I even had to work overnight shifts. 

Our days were full of many activities. 

Chores, our group was in charge of cleaning the front entrance. 

The boys love playing with marbles. 

I did not teach him this. 

On hot days it was nice to swim in the pool. 

I showed the boys how to play with a bucket full of water. 

Hanging out.

We get a lot of donations in bulk. Who did it?

Sunday breakfast, cereal and bananas.

Easter Sunday. After church, we had the Easter egg hunt! The kids were running to find the eggs, some had money. 

San Jose, group shot! 

Pacaya!

Finally I was able to subir el volcan Pacaya! We woke up at 4:30 a.m. to leave Parramos and head to our 6:00 a.m. bus from Antigua. The climb in total took about 2 hours, with breaks, and the views were absolutely amazing. It was definitely worth it. 

I was afraid of the volcano erupting because it is an active volcano and I was afraid to go down the volcano. Once you are on top, to get down you have to jump or run down the declines. It's all rock and you will fall if you are walking with hesitation. Definitely an adventure! 

Our group was pretty big, we had 9 volunteers in total. We had Spain, Germany, Austria and the US. 

The views were breathtaking! Bianca and Nona, representing the chicas from casa 4! 

My roommate! 

Hide and seek!? It was like a sauna in there.  

The volcano had some "natural ovens" where we were able to make fried eggs! We were also able to cook marshmallows! Only one egg was broken from the climb. 

 

Donations!

Thanks to wonderful family and friends I have been able to share clothing, games, books, crafts, toys and more with the kids at NPH. 

A special shout out to Amelia and Christine for bringing bags full of donated items for the kids. 

I've never seen kids so happy to get underwear!

The girls were surprised they could actually keep the clothing. Thank you Kathy! 

Gustavo playing with new beads from Cassie! 

Delmi creating a star with the foam crafts! Thanks Maggie! 

Laughing along with our new book from Teresa & family, THANK YOU!

Playing dress up with our new crowns! 

LEGOS! Thank you to the Weinards and the Killians, the kids love them! 

I still have boxes of gifts to go through for the kids. Markers, base-ball mitts, paint, games, hair-ties, stickers, tooth-brushes, tooth-paste, new running tops, play-dough and more thank you to all that helped out! 

THANK you G&G for funding the sidewalk, it will be under construction soon because the paperwork is done! 

Vacation with A&C

Last week I was lucky enough to have two very special visitors, Amelia and Christine! Although the week went fast, we have a lot of memories to look back on. 

We took a tour and spent the first day with the kids of NPH. 

We were able to visit with some of the girls and create some Perler fun. The girls really enjoyed the activities, good work ladies! 

We spent the afternoon with my boys and had a bonfire. Amelia and Christine brought toy airplanes and a glow in the dark basketball hoop. The boys are asking when you are coming back to visit?!

After NPH we spent two days at the Lake. We had wonderful views, food, sun, a girl named "Sky" and shopping. I will never forget that boat ride over to San Pedro, how beautiful and relaxing. 

We spent the last couple days of our vacation in Antigua. We toured the streets, museums, shops, restaurants and ruins. Thanks to these women I got to experience a new side of Antigua, the touristy one!  

One of my favorite highlights includes the "Museum of Tolerance." Thank God we didn't get on that tour!

I will never be able to look at these staged mannequins without laughing.

A BIG thank you to Amelia and Christine for everything! They brought a lot of fun, love and generosity to Guatemala. I'm glad I got to share my home with you two! 

San Jose

Here is the section of boys I get to laugh, play, hug and spend time with. There are 22 boys between the ages of 8 and 10, and there isn't a night where I leave these boys without a smile. Also, they WILL come after me if I don't give a kiss and a hug goodnight.

If I decide not to come home here are 22 reasons why.

  

Tuc-tuc race!

Great day! Six volunteers, three tuc-tuc's, and one race from San Andres Itzapa to NPH! Elena and Alejandra had the idea to race tuc-tuc's, and the rest of us went along for the ride!

The drivers: Elena, Vroni and Ale.

The assistants: Nona, Rachel and I.

I'm driving the tuc-tuc!

The volunteer team!