Guatemala - Part 1

Amatitlan, Guatemala

A place I hadn't heart of until a couple of years ago. 

A place I never thought I would be going to until a couple months ago.

A place I would be honored to go back to -- tomorrow!!

We left Florida July 13th to begin our trek to Guatemala City, just north east of Amatitlan. 

Other than my family there were 4 other families.  Total in our group was 19.

The trip was pretty uneventful (the flying part - the driving from Guatemala City into Amatitlan was VERY interesting!).  This was my daughters first plane ride & she was in HEAVEN.  She took some great pictures from the plane too.  She says her favorite part was taking off & landing. 

We arrived at the Guatemala City airport & on our way out of the building there were people all around just watching us come out.  There were MANY people trying to sell us things.  "No, gracias" was all we kept saying. 

A group of weary travelers wondering about their ride
 

Samuel, Dr Elry's youngest son came with 2 vans & drivers for us and all our luggage.  We piled in & began our journey to our home away from home for almost a week. 

Saturday through Guatemala City was VERY busy.  I mean CRAZY busy.  The traffic was really bad & it didn't help that the exhaust fumes were heavy.  There is no rolling up the windows either.  No A/C. 

The way to get around here is mass transit for sure!  The buses had their own lanes.  There were people on motorcyles that just drove where the cars weren't.  We couldn't lean out the windows to take pictures because the motorcycles would hit us!  That's how close they were. 

As we were moving along slowly we saw this sight:

A man and his goats out for a walk

Guatemala City gas prices....

As we entered Amatitlan we went over this cute bridge. 

 

 

 

Thanks for checking in.  Stay tuned for Part 2 coming soon!!

 

 

Be Blessed & Healthy!!! 

I'm thinking.....

Don't be scared :)

I have been a bit frustrated lately with my eating & fitness.  Kind of in a rut I guess. 

Well, I started thinking about how PERFECTLY it worked out that this 2nd round of P90X is ending the week before our mission trip.  I have also been stressing (a little bit) about what I will be able to eat & will I have reactions to anything, etc while in Guatemala. 

THEN I had this AHA moment.  Maybe this is EXACTLY what I need right now.  Something to get my body out of this comfort/ho-hum rut I have been in.  No, I won't be doing the workouts like I have been used to.  No, I won't have all my go-to foods.  BUT maybe that is exactly what I need!!  I'm thinking walking, working & witnessing is exactly what this body needs right now.

How do you change things up to make a difference??

Be Blessed & Healthy!!!

Garage Sale!!

So, in trying to fund our mission trip to Guatemala I decided to do a garage sale.  I am ashamed to say I took NO PICTURES!!  Oh my goodness.  Bad blogger!

We did pretty well.  At first my son & I thought we wouldn't have enough for a sale but we had lots of people donate things for us to sell AND we went up to our attic.  We are happy & my husband is even happier having some more space up there!! 

We ended up getting about 1/2 of the expense of our passports.  That set us back pretty good getting 4 passports!  It's nice to know I can do something to help with the $$ part of this trip :)

Well, I am so sorry I didn't get pictures.  We were blessed & were able to bless.  My son was a BEAST at selling & helping people take the things to their cars.  My little girl sold lemonade & brownies like a pro!!  She was getting lots of tips as well.

Thanks for following my ramblings.  We only have a little longer before we leave for Guatemala.  The tickets are bought.  I am getting more nervous as we get closer.  I know this is God led.  I get to experience something a lot of people won't ever get to. 

If you remember to pray for us, we would really love that!!

Be Blessed & Healthy!!!

Mission Trip - Guatemala

Well, I mentioned a bit ago, we are going on a family mission trip to Guatemala.  This is the first family mission trip our church has done.

I would like to say everyone in my family is totally ready for this.  They aren't.  My youngest wants to go tomorrow :)  She said she is ready and wonders what is wrong with the rest of us :)

I will be using my blog to posts some updates about Guatemala also.  As we get closer & of course afterward, I will post pictures & other things from the trip.

For right now we are meeting with the other families every Sunday to have some bonding time.  Team discussions & stuff like that.  Trying to get to know everyone better.  The leaders of our group are a wonderful couple who have done mission work before & are very knowledgeable.  I know that helps me feel better about doing this.  I know I can always ask them any question & not feel silly about it!! Seriously.  When you have a family of 5 and have no where to do laundry, what do you do? 

For starters I will post this picture.  This is the Pacaya volcano.  We will have a front row view of this beauty where we will be.   This is an active volcano.  The last activity reported was an eruption that peaked May 27, 2010.  This caused LOTS of ash to rain down on surrounding cities. Our Pastor was there right afterward & got to help clean up the ash around the house of one of the people he was visiting. 

It seems silly but I am VERY excited to see this volcano!!
 

Have you gone on any mission trips?  What are some of the places you have visited?

Be Blessed & Healthy!!


If you are interested in helping us fund our trip you can go to this webpage and click on "The Sadlon Family":   https://cflcn.org/missionsdonation/