Year in Review - 2012

I like to look back and see how we have been blessed this past year.

We have had several "excuses" to go and see Baby David in Nicaragua, now Boy David.  He is nearly 18 months old, walking, or rather running everywhere.  Most recently, we had Ellen, Luke and Boy David here in Guatemala for several days prior to Christmas.

 We hosted a GPBC mission team that came to Guatemala.  The team had an over-view of missions and saw some of the challenges a missionary faces.  They also volunteered for 5 days at Casita Benjamín.  Thank y'all for coming folks.  We know your lives have been changed and pray you may continue to plan trips to Guatemala.

 

On June 23, Gary was married to his sweetheart, Madison.  Lovely wedding.  We are so blessed to having another Mrs. Stewart in the family. 
 We love you, Madison.

 

There were family members and friends from Dallas who drove to Kansas City for the wedding.

Here is a YouTube video that I made of Gary and Madison's wedding.

 This summer, CAM International officially became Camino Global.  We attended the big event of Convocation in Estes Park, Colorado.  All 350+ families gathered together to celebrate, to be encouraged and we came away refreshed and refocused. 

 

 

 At Convocation we also witnessed the installation of our new Camino president, Doug Livingston.

Most recently we hosted Ellen, Luke and Boy David, along with my parents, known at Grandmommy and Granddaddy, for some pre Christmas activities.

 

During 2012, we hosted many friends in our home for a meal.  We have called on and visited the missionary family countless times.  We are saddened by the loss of Abel, but rejoice in his legacy and passion for missions.  

We thank the Lord for...

• Good health.  Glenn had a "growth" removed from his back and it is healing well.  I still struggle a bit with my ankle, but all in all, we are grateful for good health.
• Family.  We enjoyed the visit of family to Guatemala in December.  And we are excited about "GrandBaby" #2, scheduled to arrive March 2013
• Friends.  We realize that the Lord brings people into our lives to encourage us.  We are thankful for friends along the way.  New friends.  Old friends.

We look forward to 2013 - to see what God has in store for us.  

Christmas in Panajachel

 After saying "good-bye" to Ellen, Luke, Boy David on Sunday and Grandmommy and GrandDaddy the day before, Glenn and I took 3 days to spend out at Las Buenas Nuevas in Panajachel, Guatemala.

We spent the 3 days with our great friends, Forrest and Carol.  We relaxed, played games, slept, watched fireworks, and did I mention sleep?

We took the "back road" via Patzún for our return trip.  This meant that we had some minor travel challenges.  Here is a section of washed out road that has been like this for over a year. We had to drive through the river.

In summary, we enjoyed our 3 days in Panajachel.  We caught up on much needed sleep and correspondence as well.  We missed having family around on Christmas Day, but are thankful we were together before hand.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

El Tenedor

 Friday for lunch, we took a van load up to the restaurant, El Tenedor, with an overlook and a breath-taking view of the city of Antigua.

 The art is very unique.  I call this the 

"fork and spoon with spaghetti"

 sculpture.

 The gardens around the restaurant were just gorgeous.

Souvenir Anyone?

The Guatemalan boys come up to your door to sell their goods.

It is always good time to sell stuff, especially when the road is blocked because of construction.

Four Generations

Grandmommy - age 83, soon to be 84

Grammie - age 56

Momma - age 30

Boy David - age 17 months

During the past 2 weeks we have celebrated Christmas early with my parents here for 2 weeks.  Then these past few days, we had Ellen, Luke and Boy David here from Nicaragua on their way to the USA for the holiday.

I feel so blessed to be able to spend time with my mom, my daughter and my grandson.  However, I'm not 30 any more:). 

God has been good to us FOR GENERATIONS!

David, Santa Claus and Christmas Trees

After the Haircut, we drove over to the Mira Flores Mall to see Santa Claus.  David was more interested in the HUGE Christmas Tree than he was in Santa Claus.

I just love these two photos.  

Merry Christmas from 
Guatemala!

An Attractive Boy On His Tractor

Ellen and Luke were out and they said we could do "anything" with David.

 

So, we took him to the barber. David sat in a tractor. 

Perfect little boy.  

He just sat there as GrandDad's barber cut his hair.  

40.00 Quetzales. 

(5.00 US Dollars)

Again, he was so good...an attractive boy on his tractor.

Then we took him to see Santa Claus at MiraFlores Mall.
(that will be my blog tomorrow)

Boy David's First Bicycle Ride

Glenn had a great? idea of taking Baby David on a Bicycle Ride.  He had no bicycle seat, so he made one.

So with a small Mexican chair, a length of rope, a block of wood and his Guatemalan belt - presto!... we had a bicycle seat.

Final Touches on Christmas Cards

 G'mommy and I have been making some more Christmas cards.  It is a fun project that lets her work with her hands and we can visit at the same time too.  I was very impressed with her ability to use pencils and colors so neatly.

She would forget what we were doing, and I would gently remind her to color, or cut the stamped image out.

The last step to making the cards was that we came up with a list of 2 dozen folks she wants to send her home-made Christmas cards to.  I read out their addresses, and she painstakingly wrote out their addresses, chose the postage stamp for the envelope and then wrote a short note inside each card:

"Having a Wonderful time here in Guatemala with Judy and Glenn. 
 Waiting for Ellen and her family to arrive tonight from Nicaragua"
.....Love, John and Frances.

I really enjoyed spending these precious hours with mom up in my craft room this past week.  I relish the time I could spend with her alone.  

Thank you, Mom.
I love you!

~J

Antigua with G'mommy and G'daddy

Last Friday, we spent a few hours at the market in Antigua.

 The Kendall's house is on our "Tour of Homes"

 besides

 the needed potty break too.

We took a horse drawn carriage ride!

And we ate lunch with some new friends.