Happy Mother's Day

 Tropical Flower

I have the best mother in the world.  The best cook, the best grandmother of all. 
  
Happy Mother's Day, Mom! 

~Judy

Wedding in Antigua

 While walking through Antigua recently, we had the honor and privilege to watch a couple get their wedding photos taken.  What a beautiful couple and place for photos!

 Wedding Shots

~J

Court yards and Arches

Court yard in Antigua

Arches

~J

Amazing Race Team From CAG

History teacher, Dave, from CAG, makes an annual trip with his class to the ancient city of Antigua (No pun intended).  We offered to help this year.  The class is divided into several teams, given an adult to tag along, and then a booklet of clues for the students to search for.  They have to use their navigational skills to get to each archeological site.  Often, they use the Agua Volcano as a reference point.

10th grade class

"Ready, Set, Go!"

 We discovered new places we had never been before. Those who know me well,  know that my favorite TV show is Amazing Race.  I love it because it involves TRAVEL, and challenges.  Season finale this week!

~J

Being Honored

Linda was honored by the International Mission Board of the Primitive Methodist.  It was a complete surprise to her.  She has served over 40 years here in Guatemala and the International board wanted to honor her for her faithful service.  Jim, rector of SETECA, was able to keep it a surprise and as he read the commendation note to the whole field, Linda was looking around wondering who was being honored.

  As she accepted the acknowledgment and the scholarship in her honor her comments were filled with gratefulness and then Linda said, "CAM made an exception when I joined the mission, they accepted me as a child".  Everyone laughed.  What a sense of humor.

Jenny, an mk herself and now missionary parent, perked up from the back row and said "And she was my dorm mom!"

Thank you Linda for your service and ministry here in Guatemala.

~J

CAG International Fair

Last week we attended the International Fair at CAG (Christian Academy of Guatemala).

This was a middle school project where each student stood by their booth and talked about their chosen country.  Katie did a great job in knowing all the facts about Nicaragua.  We took great interest in her project since Ellen lives there.  Great job Katie.

Next, Glenn interviewed Jonathan who did his research on Israel.  He knew all the facts about his country.  Glenn even tried to "trick" him, but Jonathan was well versed in his knowledge of Israel.  Great job, Jonathan.

Nathan was born in El Salvador and spoke very intelligently of the interesting facts of this small Central American country.  I didn't know that El Salvador's monetary unit is the US dollar.  Did you?  Nate - great job.

We enjoy this aspect of Pastoral Care, where we can attend school events, games and programs to encourage the missionary family and the missionary kid.

We have a great bunch of MKs with CAM, 18 in all with 4 more arriving this year!

~J

Cruise Excursion

When we met Doug and Lori off the NCL Cruise ship, we rushed up to Antigua (about 1 hour drive) to spend the whole day there.  They really enjoyed Las Palmas Restaurant, the arch, the plaza and other sites.  It was a quick trip.

Sue and Larry, friends from the NCL ship, joined us for the private excursion.

Thanks for the visit, Larry and Sue, plus Doug and Lori.

~J

~J

Antigua Excursion

Several weeks ago, we drove 1 1/2 hours down to Puerto Quetzales to meet the NCL Cruise ship that would be docking for the day.

 Meet Doug and Lori.

We first met Doug and Lori on our 25th Anniversary cruise back in 2005.  We've exchanged emails, yearly Christmas cards and more recently reconnect through FB. Lori FB me and mentioned they were traveling through the Panama Canal and had a day port call here in Guatemala. 

We had a great time showing them Antigua, revisiting our friendship and now looking forward to them possibly returning to Guatemala for a longer visit.  Come back again.

~J

Snapshots

"Cute little boy!"

Candid Shots of Conference

"Hold my hand!"

Pink Skies

Sunset 

just out my patio door

in Guatemala

The past couple of days, it has been sultry HOT.

No wind.

Very Still.
It got up to 82.5 F on Sunday, but it felt like 95 F.

They (whoever they are) say that the rains will be coming.

I hope Soon. 

~J

Turn the Light On!

While dinning at a local restaurant in Panajachel, I looked up and saw the most unique paper lamp shade.  The lighting was spectacular.

How about this one?
Beautiful.
~J 

Scott

So, Scott comes to Guatemala to share the Word and challenge us. Thank you, Scott!

However, I caught some other snapshots of Scott besides preaching...Scott in action.  Scott and Carol helped us babysit the "wee-ones" on Saturday evening while couples went out for dinner in couples or in small groups.  Sitting on the floor, he kept the kids entertained.

  It's this skirt action going on that gets me worried!

Thanks Scott and Carol for sharing your life with us and also for your involvement in bringing down folks from Wildwood to help with the kids' program.  Thank you!

More later.

~J

Guatever Guatemala

These last few days, we've had myriads of activities ranging from sickness, on line class Moody studies, slow computer, left over Conference details, mission exposure trip with the Wildwood team, and more. 

But basically, the bottom line....s l o w computer and my struggles of uploading my photos to my blog have been my biggest challenge. My dear husband comes to the rescue and hopefully we have this thing cured.  All this to say, I'll be uploading more photos and/or blogs.

~J

Being Blessed

Brother Keith led us in Worship during the Conference.  Back by popular demand, Keith sang his "Dining with Pigs" song.  We especially enjoyed the Saturday evening Hymn Sing!

Clark and Nita accompanied with their musical talent.  Now, when Clark didn't have an instrument in his hand, he had a

 camera.

click the link
to view Clark's photography blog

Thanks FBCLC for blessing us last week at our annual Conference with your worship, encouragement and help with the teens (Chad and Kelly)!

~J

Conference 2010

Over the weekend, we had the honor and privilege to host the Annual CAM Guatemala Conference.  This year's set up was just a little different than previous years.  With the influx of more MKs, we have had to be a little more creative in providing a program for the children and teens, along with coordinated babysitting for the "wee-ones".

Chad and Kelly led the teens for the 3rd straight year.  Way to Go!  Our Mks were deeply blessed by their leadership, love and care.  Thanks Chad and Kelly.


More later

~J

The Calm Before the Storm

Thursday means its just 1 day before our Annual Conference.  Team #1 (aka FBCLC)  arrived late Wednesday night.  Yes, I stood in the Guatemala City airport driveway for 1 solid hour waiting for the team to clear customs, gather their bags and head through the doorway to the sea of Guatemalan faces.  One American face in the crowd.  

 So, to get ready for the big weekend, we took the team #1 to Santa Terrisita along with some friends to spend the morning at the hot thermals (baths).  Team #2 (aka Wildwood) will be spending several days after the weekend with us exploring ministries in Panajachel, Santiago and Antigua.

I still remember and can hear Gail's cry as we jumped from hot to the cold pools.

What a great way to relax and get "geared up" for the upcoming Conference.  Lots of preparations.  We have about 12 volunteers that have given up of their time to travel down here and help with different aspects of our Conference weekend.  The youth are looking forward to Chad and Kelly (3rd year in a row); Keith (2nd time to help out) is here to lead worship again and then we have several others that will be helping with worship, childcare and youth work.


I look forward to a great weekend and pray for God's word to speak, encourage and uplift each person.  I'm also thankful for these volunteers that will be helping out so much to make this weekend happen.


~J
PS  This was not proofread by Glenn...just a lot going on right now. :)

Connecting

So, we go out to the airport on Wednesday night to pick up the first group of volunteers for our Conference.  Conference begins on Friday night.  This group is from First Baptist Liberty City.  Chad and Kelly will again work with the youth, Keith will lead worship and Nita and Clark will also help in the music department.

Once we got home and settled in, I proceed to the kitchen to make grilled cheese sandwiches for everyone with Ruth P's home made bread. 

I came out to the living area, and look what I find?  (l to r) Keith, Clark, Chad and Glenn all with their lap tops connecting to the outside world.  I don't think they were doing much talking.  It sure slowed down the internet connection.

 

  Looking forward to a great time at Conference with these guys.  Thanks for sharing with us and the rest of the CAM family here.

~J

Multicolored Rose

 

It can't get better than this!  

These are actual colors of the rose.

~J 

Tired

Now that is one way to haul some tires!

~J

Yellow Rose

 

Yellow Rose of Texas 

in

Guatemala 

My Aunt Bonnie and Her Baby Brother

Meet my Aunt Bonnie.  She is one of Dad's 5 sisters.  I don't know where in line she falls, but I know she was one of Dad's older sisters.  Aunt Bonnnie died on April 1st.  She would have been 88 this next week.  

Several months ago, I had the privilege to drive my parents over to Weatherford and visit with her.  She was frail at the time.  She didn't talk much, but had a smile on her face when she saw her baby brother (my dad, age 81).

My dad took his cell phone and placed a long distance call for Aunt Bonnie to talk to another sister, Aunt Mayrene.  They didn't talk long and I wonder if she knew who she was talking to.

I remember as a child learning how to ski at Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Bill's lake house.  She was always so kind.  Aunt Bonnie lived a long and happy life.  She had many challenges that life can throw you, Uncle Bill dying at an early age over 30 years ago and a daughter tragically killed in a plane accident, but through it all she stood firm.  Thank you Aunt Bonnie for your example.  You will be missed, especially by your baby brother (my dad).


~J