A 12th birthday celebration with sweet friends

Today we hosted Lily's 12th birthday celebration with a few of her girlfriends at Top Golf in Ashburn, VA.  I think they had a really good time, trying to hit golf balls and food under the heated and covered golfing bays.

Your ruining my life and other pre-teen joys

Lily is a full-fledged pre-teen.  This Tuesday I officially got the "you are ruining my life" comment! I had to take her to math tutoring at the tutoring center 30 minutes early because I had a doctor's appointment.  They had accommodated me and told me she could work with Mr. Tony one of the owners and a male tutor.  As I dropped her off and explained the situation she said to me, "You are ruining my life!"  Really????

Also, I forgot to mention that upon re-entering the United States after being in Guatemala we had to go through the Automated Passport Control.  At the kiosk, as a final step, they take your photograph.  Lily being a preening pre-teen had to flip her hair and get it just right for her re-entry photo.  LOL!

We had a mini Easter celebration last week with Lisa and her family.  The kids had a great time looking for Easter eggs in Pop Pop's backyard.

Turning 12 in Guatemala!

We had the blessing of being able to travel to Guatemala again to visit our friends Pat and Bill Mossman and of course celebrating our beautiful daughter Lily's 12th birthday!

We had a fabulous family vacation in Guatemala, visiting with our friends and experiencing some of the local culture!


Upon arriving in Guatemala we made a pit stop at our favorite Pollo Campero!

On our first day, we spent the afternoon at  Florencia Ecological Park, an open and wooded space park/playground with wooden rustic play structures, hiking trails, and covered pavilions with outdoor wood cooking called churraqueras.  They also had 2 small pools, horseback riding, a man-made concrete pond with no water, and pretty views of the hills.  We spent a lovely afternoon exploring the park!

The next day we celebrated Easter at Union Church in the city.  For a short time after church, we visited with the children of the Los Gozosos home, an orphanage specifically for disabled orphaned children.  Lily and I enjoyed Carlos who was super friendly and just wanted us to sit and be with him and Juanita, a tiny 5-year-old who was constrained in an infant car seat.  She smiled so sweetly when we talked with her.  When we touched her legs and hands her expression was so joyful.  I patted her her hair and head and she closed her eyes in sweet pleasure.  She was darling.  I think Ashton felt very overwhelmed with it all!  Upon arriving back home we had a small Easter bunny/candy hunt.  Luis Miguel had never done one before.  I don't think he enjoyed it too much!  But all the kids did enjoy their chocolate and candy!

We then spent a lovely afternoon evening in the pueblo of El Hato at the Earth Lodge. We had to hike down about 300 meters down to the earth lodge.  There we were greeted with amazing views over the valley and with a little bit of cloud covering some of the volcanoes.  We enjoyed playing on the playground overlooking the valley while eating and listening to some acoustic music.

There at Earth Lodge, we ran in our dear friend Karla Aroche, whom we had looked for last time we visited Guatemala with no luck!  While we never got to hook up with her again during our time in Guatemala, my heart was full that we at least got to see her and hug her this time!

The drive through El Hato was very powerful for us.  Seeing all the women out walking with water on their heads, watching some of the men and women carry wood on their heads and backs.  I think for Lily seeing all the malnourished animals.  Children running around unattended.  I believe this was one of Olav's most memorable moments of the trip.

Monday morning we headed into Antigua to meet a professional photographer.  I am eager to see the photographs soon!  The photographer and her husband were absolutely lovely and we enjoyed talking with them over breakfast  We visited our friends Sonia and Antonio along with their daughters Cessy and Michelle.  Poor little Michelle was sick:(

That afternoon we checked into our hotel and enjoyed the hotel pool and grounds.

The next day Lil and Ashton were eager to check out the local Artisan markets.  Each of them wanted a little Guatemalan backpack!  

Later that afternoon we visited Ninos con Bendicion in San Antonio Agua Calientes.  Children with Blessing" was created in 2006, by Lesbi Chavez and her husband Juventino, so that children from their village of  San Antonio Aguas Calientes could receive a quality education while strengthening their own cultural and familial ties.  The kids were absolutely precious as they performed dances in traditional clothing from all areas of Guatemala. The dances demonstrated different cultural experiences, including the planting and harvesting of corn, and the rituals that accompany this harvest. They also invited us to dance with them.  All of us except Ashton got in on the action!  It was super sweet!  Furthermore, since it was just us and they knew it was Lily's birthday they sang Happy Birthday to her in English and Spanish!  Afterward, we decided we would sponsor one of the little girls named Ivanna.  She is 7 years old, but looks like she could be 5!   But man was she cute with an infectious smile!  We decided to sponsor her because, unlike Compassion, this experience appears more accessible in the future.  We can write and visit her without the bureaucracy that we have to go through with Kimberly at Compassion International.  Through this program, she will be able to go to school and continue in the program at Ninos con Bendicion.  While there we also go to try some authentic Guatemalan food I believe called Estufa.  It was like stewed meat that we ate on a tortilla.  Both Olav and I opted to try the green salsa on top and man was that spicy.  Lily opted out of that spicy experience.  Ashton just ate a tortilla!

That evening we enjoyed a very expensive paradilla de shrimp dinner in Antigua.

The next day we had our friends Antonio and Sonia for breakfast at our hotel for one last visit before we left.  It was humbling to watch ALL four of them drive away on Antonio's motorscooter!

That afternoon we visited Finca Filadelfia Coffee Plantation just outside Antigua, Guatemala.  They had many options for activities.  Lily really wanted to do the horseback riding, however, we had gotten there too late in the afternoon.  So we took a coffee tour by Jeep.  It was a little disappointing, I thought it was going to be more like a Jeep safari tour, when in reality it was more like a drive down the street, get off the jeep, learn about coffee, get back in the jeep, drive a few more feet down the road, learn about coffee, etc...If we had known we would have definitely done something else like zip lining or something!  Oh well...next time.  But we did learn a lot about coffee and both Lily and I had some coffee.  Still not fans!

 

Unfortunately that evening we all one by one had come down with whatever virus Sonia and Antonio's daughter Michelle had had earlier.  By Wednesday night we were all super sick with vomiting and/or diarrhea!  At first, we thought it was the food, but then when our host Pat got sick Friday morning, we knew it was a virus!  Oh, bother as Bubby Patricia would say!

We took our last full day there a little easier.  We went to Grizzly Pizza for lunch to celebrate the kids' birthdays.  Grizzly Pizza was like a rainforest cafe playground.  Ashton and Miguel seemed to have a good time. Even Lily explored for a brief moment!

Afterward, we went to the toy store called Jugueton so Bubby could purchase Lily and Ashton a birthday gift.  Lily feeling like she had "outgrown" toys opted for a calligraphy set from a little stationery store.  Ashton chose some very expensive Ninjago imported legos!  On the way home we stopped and got some hot tortillas for the evening.

Despite the illness, we celebrated Lily, Daddy, and Ashton's birthday with a homemade chocolate cake.  Unfortunately, Ashton was done by then, so only Lily and Daddy got to enjoy it!

 

It was a great trip, but I think we were all ready to come home!  But we made some wonderful memories. 

Flute Choir Debut

Lily made her flute choir debut today at a local church in Utica.  She played a part in one song called Jupiter.  It sounded so lovely! 

Lily playing in the flute choir

 

In other news, Lily's best friend Brooke came over!  It's amazing how much the kids change.  Brooke just lost her mom in December after a year-long battle with pancreatic cancer.  It was so wonderful to see her!!!  You know they are both pre-teens when you see them both with their phones!  Although I must say they still played together!  Made my heart happy!

Best Buddies

 

She's stepping out!

So proud of our Lily bean she's finally stepping out.  She has always loved to sing and yet she has refused to join the chorus because she has been afraid of performing.  However, on her own, she decided to sign up for the 6th-grade chorus!  Yay, Lily.  She also joined a flute choir that her flute teacher leads and is enjoying it!

She also just finished another swim season with the YMCA.  I think she enjoyed it and made some new friends. She wants to play soccer again, so that will start shortly.

She continues to do well in school and gets wonderful compliments from her teacher regarding her character.  Her teacher states, "Lily displays a great deal of responsibility in both the care of her belongings and in maintaining the classroom and its materials.  This care and sense of responsibility transfer directly to her attention to detail in the presentation of her work.  Lily is a leader in the classroom, consistently making good choices in all parts of the day.  Her kind, caring, and friendly character makes her a role model for her classmates.  Her trustworthiness and cheery demeanor have made her a friend to many.  She is respectful of others and uses common sense to problem solve independently and in a positive manner."   Needless to say, we are super proud!!!!!!

She also appears to be developing her own personal faith in Jesus which brings me so much joy!  After a short respite from the youth group she has returned to their Wednesday night meetings and has been memorizing scripture, even asked to download a bible app on her cell phone!  She is currently doing this challenge which is supposed to help her get in touch with the experience of people in poverty.  She has slept on the hard floor for over 1 week and even took a cold shower!  

It's all about her hair!

Lily has always had beautiful tresses and has taken loving care of them, but now with her pre-teeness hair preening has taken on a new level!  Look at these beautiful locks today!  I think these were done with either soccer socks or braids or both!

Pre-teen milestone

Well, for Christmas Lily received the gift she so desperately wanted but didn't think she would receive.  Thanks to our friend Chris Henry and her Daddy, we decided it was time for her to get her own cell phone.  She was super surprised and super excited!

The look of surprise!