The point of service

With Joy School we decided to go to a nursing home and visit the elderly and sing them Christmas songs. Not very many of the residents came out at first but then slowly a lot more trickled in.

What a wonderful experience. I was surprised by how comfortable they kids were. Sometimes Jasmine shys away in social situations but not this time. She went right up to the elderly people (with a little prompting) and said "Hi, I'm Jasmine" "What's your name?" and they asked her questions about her clothes and her age, etc. Then the kids sang and wow, the microphone brought out the singers in them because they all wanted to be the one to sing right into the mic. They sang Rudolph and Jingle Bells and Once there was a Snowman. Then after that they gave cards that they had made to the residents and gave some of them hugs.

You could tell it really made the elderly people's day to see the kids. It made me think of my Social Work classes when they would teach us about the importance of inter-generational connections and how important it is for old and young people to relate.

Afterwards one man handed out dimes to all the kids, it was so cute!

Another man, after Jasmine gave him a hug, said "she gave me my Christmas present!".

I felt really good about the experience and think it would be fun to get a group of preschoolers to do this every year. It didn't take much for us but it meant a lot to them. And it made us both feel better afterwards. I guess that's the point of service.

Yes this is Christmas

It's that time of year again.
I started with my shopping really early this year, like September, and actually shipped my packages with enough time for them to get to their destinations before Christmas! I have been setting deadlines for myself.
Wednesday and Friday were cleaning the house.
Friday night was wrapping presents (all night long!) what a relief to have that done
Saturday was for getting all my Primary documents finished (and I didn't, but almost)
Today, Sunday is for getting my neighbor gifts out
Monday will be making food for Tuesday and then we will head to my sister's house and celebrate Christmas Eve with a big Guatemalan dinner (Paches and Ponche). Yum. This year we are doing a Nativity program and a white elephant (this time not green) gift exchange and then opening presents at 9pm-ish and then going home to wait for Santa!
We will then wake up in the morning and see what Santa brought, have breakfast/brunch as a family and then get ready for the rest of the family to come to our house for our big dinner Louisiana style. We will be having Shrimp Etoufee like we did last year. It's so yummy.

Can't wait for the festivities to begin.
In the meantime, we went sledding last night.

At 8pm at night to be exact.
Yes it was freezing.

But fun.

And funny. It has been a REALLY long time since I have laughed so hard tears came out of my eyes. It was the kind of belly roll laughter that you can't help but just fall on the ground and hold your stomach. Jonas didn't have boots and for some reason unknown to man he decided to wear his Doc Martins in the snow! The hill was steep and the funniest sight ever was watching him try to pull the sled up the hill, inch by inch, sliding all the while. Thanks, honey for a great laugh, it really is good medicine. And it took my mind off the numbness in my ears and hands!

Girl's Sleepover

I believe that any big transition in a friends life deserves a sleepover. Two of my very best friends are on the brink of big change. Wendy is moving to California very soon and Jen is getting married in the spring. For pictures of her engagement, click here. So what a good opportunity for a girls night. We ate at a pizza/salad place and then went back to Wendy's sister's house where we just talked and talked and well, talked some more.

It was so good to catch up, it felt like ages since we had spent time like this together, without kids to chase around (Well we had Wendy's baby but at 4 months she is not being chased anywhere). I'm so glad Jonas is so supportive of me doing stuff like this to bond with my friends. It was so fun, we tried to keep Jen up but since she had to leave for work so early in the morning (2:30am!) so couldn't stand it any longer and went to sleep. Wendy and I stayed up until Jen had to leave at 2:30 and then I slept for a few hours and left at 7:30am.

I kept begging them to take a picture and they finally agreed, this was as good as I we could get, since there was no one to take it for us.

I have known these girls for almost 20 years now and it is such a valuable thing to have a friendship that lasts that long, I think. I feel really blessed to know them. We are all three so different yet that is what makes it so fun to come together and touch each other's lives for good.

Thank goodness for good friends!

This is where my kids were at 8:30pm on Monday night...

and yes, it was freezing outside!

The Green Elephant Party

So about 12 years ago I started this little thing called the green elephant party (not white elephant because I am a non conformist) with all of my high school friends, and after all this time, the tradition is still going strong!!! Most of us don't see each other more than this one time a year but we still make the effort to get together and reminisce, laugh about the old days, eat good food, and just have a great time. This year was hosted by Jen, and it was a blast. We had a great turn out and the food was delicious.

Then came the gift exchange. We all bring our gifts in a brown paper bag so as to disguise the green elephant, which is actually is a green buffalo candle, that is where the tradition started. If you pick the green elephant, you become the hostess for the next year. (oh, and if that's not enough, your prize package also includes a real green elephant figurine, a hula dancer doll, and a mini green santa hat, among other things).

This year the honor went to Becky. We have a big lighting ceremony and a swearing in during which you would think Becky had won Miss America, with all the flashing camaras. A few years ago we deemed Susan our Historian, and she keeps track of the history of this great event.

There was a big snowstorm that night and my friend Y, who's name shall remain anonymous, had to drive about 40 miles north. All in all we got about 8 inches of snow that night.

A post that needs no pictures

I wasn't going to post about this but I think that the history of this year wouldn't be complete without it.

Our primary presented our big sacrament meeting program on Nov 16th. It was amazing.

The spirit was SO incredibly strong and just as everyone said, despite the crazy practices, it went flawlessly. We decided this year to interview all the children and create a part for each child based on their answers. So we asked them questions such as What is Faith? and tell me about a time that you have felt the spirit? I remember casually reading the answers one day and being completely blown away. I was bawling. The answers were amazing and their understanding of such concepts was so innocent yet profound. It was great to have so much material to pull from, in some cases it was hard to pick just one answer though.

On the day of the program we got the music people corsages to wear which I think was a nice touch since they are so crucial to this process. We had a few extra kids come at the last minute but I was prepared with extra seats and not one of the kids that I had accounted for no showed! They were all ready, with shining smiles on their faces, they truly exuded joy. My mom came to watch which was really nice.

At first when I sat down at my post (right by the pulpit) and looked at all their faces all I could think about was how nervous I was and how I didn't want anything to go wrong. But then as the program started off and everyone settled into their parts, I started to feel the spirit. Then I remember one moment toward the end thinking "it's almost over! I don't want it to end!" and suddenly I was able to appreciate every last second of that beautiful program without any reservations. I was able to let the spirit in and touch my heart. I was so proud of every one of those kids as I watched them sing.

I loved that we did so many solos this year. Even Shayden had one and even though at the last minute he got nervous and didn't want to sing into the microphone but on the side holding my hand, it was okay. The kids knew their parts so well and said them with such conviction.
I la la loved it!

But I think the real miracle happened after the program. We had given the congregation little cards to write their thoughts for the kids on. Reading these cards was so powerful, the spirit really reached these people! Everyone seemed to have enjoyed it as much as I did.

We gave the teachers and the music people the day off after the program and I was so glad that my counselors supported me on this because it was hectic but so worth it. We just sang tons of songs, made cards for the music people and teachers, played hangman and watched a movie. I read some of the cards to the kids and they enjoyed that too.

It was a beautiful Sunday, one of the best I have had!


Then last Sunday at church I was commenting to one of the parents about how great her son is and she said to me that the program had really made an impression on him too. She said that the day of the program, her 10 year old son came home and announced that things needed to change in their home. That they needed to stop that very day doing all of the things that they were doing wrong. That he for one was going to go to church every Sunday from now one and not miss Primary ever! Wow, the tears just welled up in her eyes as she told us this and mine too. This is a pretty strong, active family in our ward that as of late has had some trials to face and struggled to make it church a little bit.

I love the impact that the simplicity of the gospel can have on these beautiful souls. They teach me more than I could ever teach them. I love primary!

Weekend of Miracles

Yet another tradition that I am trying to keep alive (as long as I can fly for free at least) is to take my kids to New York City each Christmas to see the REAL santa. That's right. All the other ones (in the malls and such) are his helpers but where does the one and only real santa go to visit kids? Well after the Thanksgiving day parade, naturally, he would have to go to Macy's in New York City, the center of the universe, of course!












Last Monday I saw the perfect opportunity to not only go see Santa, but to go spend the day with my sister in law in Boston. So I packed our bags and the kids and I flew out on the "red eye" on Thursday night. Just me and the kids. We got to Boston on Friday morning early and spent the entire day there.


We didn't do much, which is exactly what I wanted
to do. We rested, ate, did a little shopping and the kids did LOTS of playing.
It is so fun to see Shayden with his cousin, Bri, they have so much fun together and Jasmine is starting to have a playmate in little Ellie which is 2 now. Cousins are awesome!








Then that night we went to Barnes and Noble to see Bob from Sesame Street perform. It was fun and Bri even got to get up and sing with him. And later that night, I finally got to see my brother. We stayed up late just talking and I gave them the official picture tour of my Guatemala trip and they not only stayed awake, but they seemed genuinely interested, much to my delight!



Then the next day we left for New York bright and early at 5:15am. We were only there for 4 hours and only a crazy person like me would haul two kids around nyc for only 4 hours. I am aware of this. But it was so fun and the kids did amazing, I was worried about Shayden complaining the whole time about walking but he was a real trooper, they both did great in fact.
We went to the main event first, and luckily the line went by quickly and it is so entertaining because they weave you through all these awesome sculptures and trainsets, talking trees and moving bears, plus pictures of old Thanksgiving day parades. Finally it was our turn and the kids got to tell the big man what they wanted this year. They give the children a gift each year and this year it was a little coloring book and crayons. The kids loved it.

Then we walked around Times Square, did some shopping, devoured some NY pizza, and went to Toys R Us before heading back to the airport.

That day Saturday was definately a day of adventure and CLOSE calls. But it was really a day of miracles. Let's begin with the fact that I forgot to set my alarm the night before and didn't wake up until my brother came downstairs 15 min before I was supposed to be at the shuttle bus! We raced to get to the stop and the bus was almost leaving. I literally ran to the door and begged the man (who was yelling at me!) to let us get on. He reluctantly agreed. Then when I got the Boston airport the line was so long and when I got to the ticket counter the nice agent decided to check my bag all the way through to Salt Lake for me so that I didn't have to go pay and store it somewhere, further limiting our time in New York. That was a huge relief. But because he didn't really know how to do it and it took him a really long time, I got to the LONG security line about 15 min before my flight was about to leave! I decided to try my luck in the VIP line since I work for the airline (I have never used this line before because it is technically for inflight crew like pilots, etc) but miraculously enough, the guy let me through, however reluctant. Keep in mind that even though had I missed this flight I would have gotten on the next, my time was SUPER scrunched for that day and every second counted. So we barely made it on that flight.

Okay so after New York City, I didn't want any more close calls so we arrived at the airport with what I thought was plenty of time. I decided to let my kids pick out a donut or ice cream, but just as we got through security, they called the final boarding call for our flight! Ahhh! Now what to do, I was facing a major mommy crossroad here, with an impending tantrum from Jasmine when she realized she wasn't going to get her ice cream. So I played one of those crisis cards that moms have to do when they have to fix a bad situation fast, at (almost) any cost. Thinking quickly, I glanced over to the nearest magazine stand and told them they could pick any candy bar they wanted. The bright colors taunted them and it worked! They forgot about the other treat and we ran onboard.

Then came the craziest part of all and I have to write about this so that I won't forget later. Our flight was scheduled to arrive in California with a 1/2 hour window between flights and therefore I knew it would be close. But Jetblue arrives early most of the time. Not this time. We got in 15 (there's that pesky #15 again) late and we were on the very last row!!!! Sometimes they deplane from the rear at Long Beach, but not this time, so we were stuck. It's not like I can say "Excuse me, can you guys all step aside while we run off the plane even though you paid for your ticket and we didn't?" At least I didn't have the guts too. Instead I just stood waiting our turn, sweating, my heart racing, praying, in fight or flight mode. Oh and imagining my fate if we weren't able to get on this flight. Sleeping, all night in that tiny little pocket sized version of an airport. If was tired by now, my two kids were pretty much at their wits end, and I feared that telling them that we would be sleeping on the floor of the airport tonight would just about send the three of us over the edge.

I kept thinking, if we make in on that flight it will be a miracle. If we make it on that flight it will be a miracle.

So the second I could, I literally raced, carrying Jasmine, leaving my stroller, I didn't care, to the gate. A man shouted at me "Miss, did you leave a stroller?" and I shouted back "It's okay!" I don't know what he must have thought but crazy lady must have been in there somewhere. We got to the gate. The plane was still there! It didn't leave us! The lady must have sensed my panic because she told me to stop and breathe. I am usually the one telling people to breathe. I couldn't believe we made it. When I finally sat down in my seat, my whole body was shaking, my lip quivering, I was so stressed out my nose even started to bleed. All I could do is give thanks the whole way home. And that is why it was a weekend of miracles.
I'm so glad I can laugh about this now.

oh p.s. Saturday night New York got hit with a huge snow storm. We barely missed it!

Holiday Kickoff!

I think I have started a new holiday tradition.

I signed up to volunteer at the Festival of Trees this year and it was the perfect way to get into the holiday spirit! We walked around as a family for the first little while and then I started my little shift as a hostess.

I basically just safeguarded a section of trees that were pretty amazing. All of the proceeds go to Primary Children's Hospital and every tree is donated and sold, most of which are dedicated to a loved one that has passed away. The stories behind them were so touching and found me thinking about how grafeful I am to enjoy good health.

Now I'm ready to trim my own tree!

I give THANKS

So much to be grateful for in this time of thanksgiving.

Fresh on my mind is my gratitude for parents who love me and truly would do anything for me. Gratitude for the priviledge of being a parent of two exceptional children who's pure hearts teach me every day. And gratitude for the blessing of sharing this life journey with a wonderful man who is not only my love, but my best friend too.This is us after the delicious feast looking at the ads for the day-after-thanksgiving day deals! My sister and I went out again bright and early the next day, this time at 5am.

Tradition!

Guatemala...The Final Chapter

The last full day in Guatemala was Friday and we left at 5:30am for a day trip to the eastern part of the country. Along the way we saw some amazing things and I was glued to my car window marveling at how drastically the scenery kept changing. First very green forest, then dry almost desert like (well as close to desert as a tropical country can get) and then lush, rainforest-esk. My favorite sight was during this jungle type area that I suddenly saw a monkey jump from one tree branch to another! And a closer look revealed a leash on him! Crazy, crazy stuff. We stopped and had some yummy liquados on the way which was on my list of foods. Our first stop was the town of Chiquimula, which is where my dad was born. We visited the grave of my great grandmother and it was nice to see it has been kept up very well.

My dad comes from a very poor background. He took us to the house where he lived, it was down this dirt alley. It just amazes me each time I hear his stories of poverty to think that he has been able to accomplish so much in his life and come so far. I love that legacy.

The next stop was a the town of Esquipulas. Now, this town is famous because it is here that resides the very famous Black Christ. People come from all over the world to see this. I had only been here once before. The temple that it is in is absolutely gorgeous and this picture was taken from an overlook above the city.

My parents told me some really cool stories of how people come here in the middle of January in throngs to worship at the feet of the Christ and they sometimes walk on their knees all the way from the bottom steps, and there are like a hundred, to pay penance for thier sins. My dad told me that twice in his childhood he walked all the way from Chiquimula to Esquipulas (the distance we had just driven all up hill practically) in a form of pilgrimage.

I loved hearing these stories and so many more.

Then we met my uncle and his wife and sister in law for lunch at their house in another town called Quetzaltepeque. This is the same uncle that we stayed with in the city, they live in both places part of the time. After lunch we visited the cementary where my dad's two siblings that past away are buried. Then they took us to another cute little town called Olopa way up so high that I thought our tiny little car would just give up and slide back down the mountain but it didn't, it pushed and pushed and made it all the way up!

I love this picture I took of a man walking in Quetzalteqeque. It is such a tribute to the hard working people in this impoverished country, each one just struggling to survive day in and day out. It was sights like this (and there were so many), that truly made me just say a silent prayer of gratitude and thanksgiving for what I have in my life. I am so blessed.

And long last our day was almost through, we just had the drive home left. I was so tired I wanted to sleep but truth be told I was worried that my dad would fall asleep so I chose to stay awake and talk to him. And now, documenting this, I realize how much I would have missed out on had I chosen to sleep. We talked about the story of how they came to the United States and why they did so, and I never ever tire of hearing this story. The way they sacrificed so much, the way they had the courage to leave what was familiar and comfortable for the unknown in a strange land with a strange language just to give thier kids (me!) a better life. What can I say? Tears well up every time.

And I was fortunate to capture our last sunset on Guatemala:

Then next day was Saturday, my mom and I got up early and packed all our bags, we were leaving a day and a half earlier than my dad.

I still had a couple of things left to buy so my parents were nice enough to drive me to the downtown Mercado Central to get them. Then from there we went to visit the home that my parents still own and rent out. And even though I never lived there, it is always cool to see. Here is the outside of it. In the city all homes have an outside wall on the perimeter of the property.

After that we went straight to the see the Guatemala City LDS Temple. Beautiful right?

This was something that I really wanted to do on our trip and I am so glad that we were able to sneak it in before our flight!

And now, as I see the whole picture of our trip, I see how fitting it was for us to go at the very start of our trip to the church where my parents met, were baptized, and were married civily, and end it here, the temple, which represents the success of the church in this region. You see, my parents were pioneers of the LDS church in a time when the closest temple to Guatemala was the Mesa, AZ Temple. (There were no temples in all of Mexico!) My parents indeed had something to do with the building of this Temple!

After that we got a bite to eat and a banana split at "Pops" and then off of the airport. It was really sad saying good bye to my dad and he said that it wouldn't be the same without us there.

From there we made it to LA and how fitting is it that the missionary that baptized my mom all those many years ago came and picked us up and we stayed with him and his wife that night! Then we flew home on Jetblue the next day. And that was the end of our wonderful trip.

Words can't describe the gratitude I feel toward my parents for giving me this once in a lifetime opportunity to learn so much about my heritage, to connect with the place of my birth, to grow closer to them than I ever thought possible. They are so important to me and the whole time I was with them I kept giving thanks that I get to live so close to them. I will forever be grateful to them for this gift and most of all for their sacrifices!

Guatemala Part 2

The next day Wednesday I think was my favorite day of the entire trip. I have never spent a Halloween quite like this before.

This was the day we were supposed to go to the towns west of the Capital City including Lake Attilan which is a popular, beautiful site. However, my uncle had given us the bad news that the road to the lake was being repaired and it would not be a good idea to go. I was pretty bummed, but it gave us a good chance to do something a bit different and fun.

We decided to go to the beach!

On the way we stopped at this cute little town of Iztapa and I drank soda out of a baggie like I used to do on our roadtrips through Mexico. Ah, that brought back memories!

But the beach that we were planning on going to didn't work out, they didn't let cars through anymore and that's when I took advantage of my online research. I had heard about this town called Monterrico. So many people raved about how beautful the beaches were, etc. So I pulled out the map and got us on track!

Well, what seemed so close on the map turned out to be a very long and bumpy ride. We finally made it though, and my parents were such troopers although they must have been thinking "where is our daughter taking us?!" It was definately worth the drive!

As soon as we got to the town, a bunch of kids swarmed us with offers of parking for our car, with shade, etc. One such girl, about 10 yrs old, I will never forget. She was so persistant and when my dad told her we would follow her to the parking area, she took off running ahead of us. She was covered in sweat and probably quite dissapointed when we told her nevermind. It was too far and we had to be close to the car (for safety reasons). My dad gave her a few cents for her time though, and after we parked I motioned her to come to me. You see I had brought with me some cute hair "pretties" (as my friend Leah would call them) just for this type of situation. I gave her a sparkly little clip and she seemed happy with it. Well quite a bit later as we were walking through the town, we ran into her again and instantly she looked at me, smiled and touched the clip in her hair where she had fastened it. I love that moment.

I wish I had asked her to take a picture with me but instead I just have this reminder of her running in the intense heat.

Well the beaches in this cute little town sure lived up to the hype, it was gorgeous!!! Wow, and the waves were enormous. We had so much fun watching them crash onto the dark black sand. Black sand, because of the volcanic activity. I was especially impressed with this beach because the only time my parents had taken me to the beach in Guatemala it was dirty and unkept. This was well cared for and so pristine.

This town also has a turtle sanctuary but it was closed, but we did get to walk around a bit. They safeguard the turtle's eggs there and even let tourists release the baby turtles in the ocean when they are ready! So cool to see the good that was being done there.

I kind of fell in love with this town. It was full of these cute murals and pretty little inns and spanish schools. I would love to take Jonas here.

But probably the most memorable part of this day was the "Lanchon". Let me explain. We didn't really want to go back home the way of the bumpy dirt road that we had come so we went to see if there was another way. And sure enough there was. A "ferry" a local reassured us, just around the corner. Well ferry, looked more like a really big canoe. Yeah, we were supposed to put our car on this thing with one little tiny motor. I was sure it would sink. But then we saw them load a 4 Runner on one of those babies and I thought okay, our tiny little car might make it. And it did! I have the pictures to prove it! My parents and I were laughing nervously the whole way. Okay, mostly my mom and I.

Then later that day we got stuck in traffic forever but at least we got to see the Quetzal painted on this rock.We finally made it to Antigua where we had dinner at the cutest little restaurant and my alltime favorite picture was taken from the balcony by our table:

This night was when we saw the kids trick or treating and that was hard as I missed my family so much, but it felt good to talk to them too.

The next day was Thursday and it was a Holiday. Dia de los Finados, which is kind of like Memorial Day where everyone goes and pays their respects to their loved ones at the cementary. My parents took me to the oldest cementary in the city so that I could see the crowds and boy were there crowds! Amidst the solemnity of the event, there were people selling everything imaginable under the sun. I saw clothes, birds, cotton candy, toys, movies, etc etc etc!

These are the graves where the poorest of the poor are buried, one casket on top of the other.

We were just weaving our way through the throngs of people. Jonas thought it was wrong that I buy clothes at the cementary, but what I bought was outside the cementary, not inside. There were very cute clothes for cheap!

After the cementary turned circus event, we went to see my uncle and his family again and we had the traditional meal of fiambe outside on thier patio. It was the perfect day for it, perfect weather, no wonder Guatemala is called the "land of the eternal spring". Check out this plate of food, it was so much! I had never tried fiambre before but it was delicious much to my surprise, I ate most of it. My dad had gotten sick from something he ate so he wasn't able to eat very much but my mom and I got lucky and never got any stomach sicknesses.

My Trip to Guatemala--Part 1

I have struggled so much with how to document this trip. Because it was more then just a trip, it was an incredible learning experience. I learned so much about myself, about my parents, about where I came from. It was truly indescribable in words. So I took pictures. LOT'S of pictures. I have never had my camara tell me the memory card was full before, at which point I started using my parents camara. But the most important thing I will take with me are the feelings that can't quite be related to someone. I guess I will just carry them with me and hopefully they will motivate me to be a better person.

Every night I wrote a little journal of what we did that day so that I wouldn't forget. I had scrap pieces of paper for several different types of journals: (I didn't think to take an actual journal)

-one for our daily adventures

-one for stories that my parents would tell me about their childhood, past etc.

-one for notes and ideas for bringing Jonas with me there, what he should know first, etc, including a complete "mock" itinerary for our next trip!

-and one with lists; a list of what to bring people back, a list of foods I had to eat while I was there, etc (which I ate all but 2 of btw)

These little scrap pages are precious to me now, I should probably frame them or something :)

So here is a little tiny smidgin of our wonderful trip:

My mom and I left on Friday morning Oct 26th super early and got to the Long Beach CA airport at about 7:30am local time. The fact that we made it there was a bit of a miracle in and of itself. As of 4 days before the trip I was losing hope, as we were flying standby and it was UEA weekend, everything was booked. We thought Jonas might have to drive us to Las Vegas in order to get out. But because of the fires in California, many people cancelled their flights and what was a completely sold out flight ended up having 27 seats on it! My mom and I felt very blessed. So we had all day because our flight to Guatemala didn't leave until 1am the next day so we had nothing but time on our hands. About 11 hours to be exact. I had researched online (of course) and decided that it was in our be interest (the interest of fun) to take the bus to the beach and hang out there all day, browsing shopping malls, eating,

Then we ended up taking the wrong bus right off. Woops! But it actually was a blessing because it changed our day completely and for the better! Here's what happened. The bus driver kindly told us which bus we needed to take and that it stopped right across the street. While we were waiting the bus came a bit early and the driver was the nicest guy ever! He let us wait in the empty bus while he ran over the the store for a minute, he chatted with us and he even ended up telling us all the things that we could do right there in Long Beach. He told us about the bus system right downtown being free and so because of him we didn't even go to any of the places that I had planned, we just stayed there. We went to a farmer's market, we browsed Walmart, I bought postcards and mailed them to my family, we went to the oceanfront, we stopped at a hotel lobby and my mom even took a tiny nap while I paid bills over the phone! The most hilarious thing about this day was the fact that I was lugging my big suitcase the entire time! On and off the busses, in the stores, everywhere! And no one even thought twice about it, maybe that's why eveyone was so nice to us? But the best part of this day I think was that my mom and I got to bond so much! We talked and talked, we ate and had ice cream and we were both on the eve of the beginning of this great trip so I think we were so full of energy from that. It was so fun. We even went to a little internet cafe and I sent pictures from Walmart's website where I store them to the Walmart right there at Long Beach so that my mom could take them and show them to our family in Guate. That was perfect timing.

me and my suitcase, attached at the hip

Anyway, we didn't want to be out at dark so at about 6pm we took the long bus ride to the LAX International Airport and waited there for our flight. The crazy thing is that my dad had a layover there at LAX too and we were there at the exact same time but couldn't see each other because the airport is so huge we were in totally different terminals!

We tried really hard to sleep on the flight and it was so nice to have a confirmed seat next to my mom for once. But it made me so miss Jetblue when they wanted to charge me 2 bucks for a Ginger Ale! I love Jetblue!

We got to Guatemala City at about 7:30in the morning and my dad got there about 30 min after us.

This is where we stayed, my uncle has a condo on the seventh floor. It was really nice and we felt very safe there.

The Bellini has a terrace all the way at the top and my uncle took me up there to see the view...it was gorgeous!

The next day we went to church here.

This is the place where my parents were baptized, met each other, and got married!!! Wow, talk about emotional. We walked into the gym and my mom was telling me how she can remember my dad goofing off and sliding from one end to the other and crashing into the wall! She thought we was pretty crazy, but in the end he won her over!

Later on Sunday we went to see my grandmother's grave. It was difficult to be in Guatemala without her and so emotional. It was a beautiful cementary.

Then we did some shopping in a town called San Felipe and we ate tostadas from a lady making them in the marketplace. They were yummy!

And that night in the quaint little town of Antigua we were pleasently surpised that they were having two big Catholic processions. This was the smaller one but pretty cool since I have never gotten to see one of these before.

I love the town of Antigua! It is so picturesque. I guess that is why so many tourists flock there.

The next day Monday was downtown Guatemala City day. We went to the bank and my dad exchanged my dollars for Quetzales, at the rate of 7.80Q for every dollar.This is one of my favorite pictures, it is the Palacio Nacional or the National Palace. Funny how I didn't notice how beautiful the sky was that day until after I looked at these pictures!

I bought a blanket for Jasmine from this cute little lady in the commons area, and she agreed to pose for me.

The next day, Tuesday, we went to see the ruins of Kaminaljuyu in the city and then drove to Lake Amatitlan.

This is one of those places that has lot's of memories for me because I remember coming here everytime we would visit Guatemala as a kid. We would ride the little boats in the lake and ride the kiddi rides and ponies and eat pupusas at the little eateries there. This time we walked around the lake and ate pupusas, but we left out the kiddi stuff.