Thursday in Chichi

Today I spent the morning at home working on educational materials. It took me a little while to regroup since it had been almost a month since I worked on it. As I had mentioned in a previous blog, 3 weeks of being away really affected me.

This afternoon Juan and I visited Armando, the guy that we visit for physical therapy. He told us today that he has been feeling stronger and much better. In fact, much stronger than he has felt in a long time. We are very thankful to God for this and pray that he continues to regain his strength.

We were also told about a woman that has some infected areas and needed to be visited. When we approached the house, we quickly realize that she is not aware of our visit........surprise!! I am a little leery of jumping into the house while the two children of under 5 years of age are sitting on the growling dog and holding back its neck.

She eventually does invite us in but it is very obvious she is nervous of us. We made a general visit and offered to return in two weeks if she is interested. She told us yes, we are welcomed to return so we will see what happens.

I went to visit Magna in Santa Cruz this afternoon. She has fallen again and is having problems with her blood pressure.

Josefina called me earlier this week and told me that a gentleman in Santa Cruz had died. For those of you who visited me last year and we went to eat at, "the steak on the street" place, he lived there. I was saddened to hear about this so I went to visit his family. They had been married 52 years. I will go back and visit with them again.

Clinic in Xepol

Today we had clinic in Xepol, which is rather chilly. The guys, Neva and I headed out about 0800 and we were met by Tomas. We did not have any patients waiting and he told us that today all of the children were signing up for classes in the school and they were writing down the names of everyone in the family. He told us that it takes quite awhile and that we may not have any patients today.

We tried to find spots of sun to sit in as we talked and waited.......Gaspar, Tomas, Juan and Neva.

Theses were some children in the area.

This little guy was as cute as he could be. His socks kept falling off and we would replace them!

I have started reading the Chronological 365 Bible. One challenge of reading The Bible is finding ways that it applies to your life. Yes, you can read about what will happen to people that cheat, lie and steal but if you never question yourself as to if you have any of those characteristics, how does it help you?

Recently, I was reading about Sarah laughing when she heard she would have a child. The question that was asked was, "Is anything too hard for the Lord?"

Do we find ourselves in the same situation today? Do we doubt, raise many questions or just blatantly disbelieve?

We know that we can do anything in Christ by Philippians 4:13. Paul and many difficult times but he learned to be content. Christians have the same opportunity today.

Jesus promised comfort for those who follow Him.

John 14:15-18

"If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever---the Spirit of truth.

We need to live our life with faith and the confidence that we were meant to live it.

Who is my mama????

OK, I am back in Chichi and trying to get back into the Guatemalan lifestyle. Being away for three weeks really has affected me. I have become lazy so now it is time to get back into action!!

We had our first clinic today in Chutzurob with 20 patients and 5 dental cleanings. There were six members of The Church waiting to help us. Glen and Juan worked in pharmacy while Lisa, Neva and I saw patients. Gaspar loved having his patients.

We had several return patients today and they were doing some better.

This baby was a prior patient and was very content with whom ever held her.

Is this my mama??

Or is this my mama??

No, I think this is my mama!!


Lisa and Neva also made a home visit with Sebastian. From what they said, it was quite a hike!!

It was a great day but also a cold day. After clinic, they opened up the cooking area and built a fire for us. We enjoyed coffee and bread as we were warming ourselves.

Tomorrow is another day and another adventure!!

Happy New Year's Eve!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

We are at home and enjoying the evening. We ordered pizza for dinner and enjoyed it.

Sally brought her computer and settled in to her world.

Mom tasting one of the five deserts we have.

Playing with the new camera.

A family photo before we get back to eating again.

OK, it is a night of snacking, playing on the computers, watching TV and just being together. Dad has not been feeling good so we will check in on him from time to time and take him ice cream as he wants it :)

We will got to Charlotte tomorrow and spend the night there. I will fly back to Guatemala on Saturday.

Catch you in 2010!! Happy New Year!!

Trip to Chapel Hill!

Sally and I went to Chapel Hill for a ballgame and we had a great time. We were practically booted out of her car at the hotel by the valet attendant. I believe in being efficient but this was a little over the top. We then checked in at The Carolina Inn. Once in the room, we were able to eat the warm chocolate chip cookies they give their guests upon check-in.

Sally enjoying her side of the room!

The restaurants were very crowded for the students being off the campus. We were able to eat at a pizza place and then shuttle to the game.

Our seats were fabulous and it was a good game with Rutgers. This is the jersey of Sally's all-time favorite player that hangs in the rafters. My nick name for him is is "cup cakes" :)

Roy meeting with the players during the game.

We shuttled back to the hotel for the rest of the evening..........................a good day!!

Vacation passing quickly

These three weeks at home are passing quickly but it has been great. We have had family dinners, lots of foods, a dinner at South Fork, have met with the Sub Club...................have you noticed that the theme of these events include food??

Mom enjoys her computer games.........................

Sunday after worship we ate fish.

We traded places................


We have also been shopping......bought a few things........and went shopping some more.

Family dinner

Mike, my brother, decided it was time for desert...........which pie? Apple, pecan or fruit???

Mike dug into the pecan.............

The rest of my photos were not very good. I would not appreciate a posting of my eyes closed so I will have to look for more photo opportunities.

Merry Christmas until next year!!