Happy Birthday to me???

Wednesday was my birthday.  It started out good.   Tyler had the morning off so he let me sleep in and do what I wanted.   It was actually a balmy 60 degrees so the kids and I spent the afternoon outside playing with the neighborhood kids.   We ate dinner and headed to the church.   Tyler had mutual.   I had choir practice (I'm playing the piano for the whole Christmas program on Sunday-- major stress!!).   Anyway, we came home and was planning on having cake and opening a few presents, but we had another surprise instead.  

Our house got broken into!!!   All the doors and windows were locked, but they busted open our front door that even has a deadbolt!   They ransacked everything and made a huge mess of our house.   They had opened several Christmas presents, but none were taken.   (They are mostly dollar store and homemade gifts.)   Our room was the worst.... everything was out of my cedar chest, our drawers, and closet.   We have 3 guns.   We have a small gun safe that they tried getting into.   They had used a screwdriver to try and pry it open.   We think we came home when they were still here because it didn't take Tyler much effort to open the safe with his hands after all of their work.   So they probably just freaked and left it as it was.   I'm amazed they didn't take the safe with them!   Well, after a check of things, they did run off with our laptop, camera, and a coin collection I got from my Grandma.   They also had Makenzie's school stuff strewn all over the living room and her backpack is now missing, so they must have taken that to haul all the stuff in.    

Our first clue that something was wrong was when we opened the garage and our kitchen door was wide open.   I totally would have seen it still open when we left, but my thoughts passed it by thinking the kids didn't shut it all the way.   It didn't take long for us to see the mess in the house though.   Tyler ran around with one of the guns to make sure they were gone.   The upstairs wasn't touched.   The screen from a kitchen window was off and our backdoor that has a chain on top was unlocked from them.   I think that was their getaway route.  

Anyway the cops came and got a few fingerprints, but I don't think anything will come of it. I'm not very sad about the lost items, it's just stuff.   I'm glad that I downloaded all the pictures from our Guatemala trip already!   I'm just completely scared wondering why we were targeted!!   I don't know if we have been watched for awhile or if it was just a random break in.   I am never gone in the evening....This was the first night in a very long time!   We are now taking EXTRA precaution and I'm completely paranoid!!!   It is the worst to know that someone has invaded our personal property.

We spent the rest of the evening with the cops, talking to neighbors, cleaning up and rewrapping presents.   We ate cake for breakfast this morning and opened presents.   The kids loved it.   So it will be a memorable birthday for sure!!!


There will probably be a lack in photos for awhile.  We do have cameras on our phones, so we aren't completely hopeless, but of course, it won't be the best quality.  :( :( :(

Nutcracker Dance Recital

Makenzie has been participating in a small dance and tumbling class.  She was able to perform in a dance recital with a Nutcracker theme.  It is an understatement to say she was SOOOO excited.  She did very well, and she is already looking forward to the next recital in June.  She was a peppermint. 

Guatemala!!

Tyler served his mission in Guatemala about 10 years ago.   Of course, he claims it was the best place in the world to serve a mission, as everyone else who serves says about their missions as well!  I knew we would go back someday.  They announced the building of a temple in Quetzaltenango about four years ago.  We kind of had it in our heads to make the trip for the dedication.  We have been anticipating it over the years and when they announced the dates for the dedication, we were happy to pull things together and make it work to go.

Tyler's parents flew out and watched the kids for us.... a BIG thank you!! They also brought, Lexi, one of the cousins for the kids to play with.  I've got plenty of stories and pictures and I use my blog as our family history, so enjoy as much as you want.  Just a few facts.... The city Quetzaltenango is named after the national bird, the Quetzal.  Their currency is also named after the bird.

We were gone for a week.  I'm glad we went and I'm also glad to have made it back to the U.S. of A. alive!  We got lots of video that helps visualize the trip better.  If I find the time, I may upload a few.

Day 1- Guatemala City

 We flew into Guatemala City on Monday afternoon.   I got my first glimpse of chaos right outside the airport.  Our car rental company did not have our requested car, but luckily they referred us to another company who gave us the same price.  Afterwards, we made it down to the Guatemala City Temple.  They have lodging next door for members who attend the temple and come from long distances and also a MTC is there.  For $20 we got a bunk room next to all the missionaries!  How romantic, right??



The traffic was crazy and it took like 30 minutes to go just a few blocks.  The bigger cities are quite Americanized and all that we could find in those few blocks were American restaurants!  So McDonald's it was for our first meal in Guatemala!  Ha Ha!  They had security officers in most of the public parking places, including McDonalds.  Also, McDonald's does delivery down there!  The delivery drivers ride a motorcycle that has a metal box on the back that holds all the food.



We went to a grocery store and got a few things.  Tyler loved finding all the things he ate and loved.  So most Guatemala is really cheap, which really helped in allowing us to take the trip.  One dollar is equal to about 8 Quetzalas.  So one quetzala equals about 12 cents.  Most of the food is really cheap, except the American brands, which equaled to about the same price as here.  We stayed in fairly decent places for $40-$50 a night, which included dinner or breakfast sometimes.  The only thing that was more expensive was the gas, which was diesel for our rental truck, and it was close to $4.00 a gallon.

Day 2- Guatemala City and Antigua

We got up early and attended a session at the Guatemala City temple.  A lot of the temple workers are serving missions there from the United States, so it was nice to have some English speakers to help me.  I know very little Spanish, so I relied on Tyler a lot.

After the temple, we headed to the city of Antigua.  It is about an hour away and made for tourists.  On the way there, we noticed a personalized bus just for me!

Buses are a huge source for transportation.  They deck their buses out with crazy colors and nice grills. They also have tons of yellow school buses as well.

This is a street right when we entered the city of Antigua.  It got very busy and crowded just down the way.


I got to experience my first taste of the markets here.  Tyler had to brush up on his bargaining skills and also get an idea of what prices things were going for.  We ran into several missionaries here.

Here is one of the Catholic cathedrals:



Here is the inside:



We toured some old ruins by the cathedral.



On the roof.  These bushes were found in each corner.



After Antigua, we headed out to stay the night in the town of Retalhuleu.  Our three hour drive ended up being five, mostly in the dark.  The driving was the most scariest thing in my life.  I said a constant prayer and had white knuckles the whole way.  Where do I begin???  The roads are very mountainous--up, down, and curvy.  Hitchhiking in the back of pickups and buses are the common way of transportation.  There were people always on the sides of the narrow roads waiting for buses or walking.  Stray dogs were a common site as well.  Vehicles would be broken down in the middle of the road or buses stopped to pick up/drop off people.  There are no passing laws, so people pass whenever they want.  You would often have to make an imaginary 3rd lane so you wouldn't get hit with the oncoming traffic.  There was no warnings of road construction, except for boulders and small signs in the road to move you over to the next lane.  There were many landslides in the area and some parts of the roads were washed out.  Pot holes and bumpy and uneven roads were common.  So driving at night made all of these unexpected things in front of us even harder to see.  Many of the trucks did not have back lights either, which caused some surprises.  Speed bumps are the common things in each village.  Villages came often, which means speed bumps came often, and sometimes camouflaged.  People were always out on the side of the roads or by the speed bumps trying to sell the littlest things. 

We made it into the town where we were staying and found out that our hotel reservations were not fulfilled.  Luckily we found a nice place just down the way.

Day 3- Retalhuleu, Abaj Takalik, Tecun Uman, Caterina

Here is our hotel room for the night.  Another room with twin beds...

We went and visited several members in the city of Retalhuleu.  We were happy to find the Miranda Guzman Family.  This is Henry with Tyler.  Guess how old he is?  Well, Tyler baptized him when he was 12, so he is now 22!  He still looked 12 to me.  



 Here is some of the family.  The girl in the blue skirt just had a baby girl 3 weeks ago. (Her sister is holding the baby.) She delivered at home.  Their home was probably one of the most humble that we visited, although these simple dwellings are VERY common in this 3rd world country. 

There were plenty of animals around at people's homes. Ducks, chickens, pigs, dogs, and a few cats.

 We then went and visited the Maldonado Family.  The girl in the red shirt, Luci, works for the family and it just so happens that Tyler also baptized her.  She is now 26.  Hermana Maldonado would make lunch for the Elders everyday.  (Yes, they had lunch ladies and laundry ladies!) 

 The upper story of this apartment is where Tyler lived.  He said they were robbed in their sleep twice while they were there.  Tyler was the lucky one and just his companion's stuff got stolen both times. The little red 3-wheeler vehicles are new to the area since Tyler's mission.  They are taxi's that can fit 2-3 people in the back.  There were tons of them around.  

About 20 minutes outside of Retalhuleu, are some archaeological ruins called Abaj Takalik. They are still actively being uncovered.  They charged 50 Quetzalas for each of us, which equals about $6 to $7 U.S. Dollars.  If you were Guatemalan, they only charge 5 Quetzalas, which is about 65 cents!  This was an alter where they did religious sacrifices on.  There were many of these around, but this was the biggest one.

 
 Most of the rocks had symbolic pictures carved in them:

 These are steps that were uncovered to one of the many temples that are still underground.

 Part of the grounds:

 A crocodile.  There were many rocks symbolizing animals.

 This shows how much was excavated... about 3 feet down. 

 We went to a town called Tecun Uman, which is right on the Mexico border.  Tyler claimed it was the best place to buy a hammock.  Right when we got into town, we asked for directions.  The gentleman spoke English and offered to show us around.  (Of course, he expected a tip, as does everyone down there!)  Hammocks weren't as easy to find and we only found one shop that had the one Tyler was looking for.  Good enough for us.

We visited the Cardenas family in the city of Catarina, where Tyler served his last 6 months of the mission.  His wife would also make lunch for the Elders.  Brother Cardenas came home from work to see us.  His wife was at the Stake Center helping the youth practice for the Temple Cultural Celebration. 

Afterwards, we drove about 2 hours and arrived in San Marcos, where we stayed the night.

Day 4- Rio Blanco

Here is the hotel that we stayed at in San Marcos.

They had a black Jesus statue in their town.

This is on the way to the "Highlands" which is the mountain area of the country.  We headed to the small town of Rio Blanco, where Tyler served the first 6 months of his mission.  Once we got off the main road, we took a very bumpy and worn dirt road for many miles to the village.  There was a woman who was needing a ride, so we picked her up.  It turns out she is a member of the church that lives in San Marcos.  She works in Rio Blanco as a judge and commutes there everyday!  She had quite an interesting life story.  It was fun to talk to her (and she even knew a little English!)

We had an amazing member, Evelio Vasquez,  that we met up with who took off most of the day of work to help us find and visit certain people.  His family lives in Quetzaltenango during the week, so the kids could go to school.  He works for the city offices.  

We visited Debin, who was 9 when Tyler baptized him.  It was great news to hear that he was getting ready to go on a mission in a few months!

This is his family's home.

We also went to visit another boy that Tyler baptized, named Alan.  Unfortunately, he wasn't home, but his mother was.  She was a sweet lady.  She was been having some abdominal pains and had gotten an ultrasound done. That sparked up the doctor in Tyler and he went off for the next half hour about symptoms, possible causes, and treatment.  His Spanish is not medical friendly, so he kept using his Spanish translator on his phone. 

We went and had lunch at the Ochoa Family.  They were so gracious.  Here are the two daughters cooking tortillas over the wood burning stove.  Our meal was rice, cooked veggies (tomatoes, potatoes, and carrots), and a small morsel of beef with tortillas. 

The Elders currently serving also had lunch as well. 

Here is the whole family:  The girl in the red pants was so embarrassed to have a picture taken of her in her work clothes.  She joked with us saying we better not put it up on Facebook!

We went over a few mountains to a village called, Chuicabal.  Tyler would walk or ride his bike over here, which was an amazingly long distance.  They had a small chapel built here when he was serving.

We visited a few members, but only got a picture with this family.  Tyler baptized the girl in red, Sandy.  He also baptized her mother, Gladis, who now lives in Oklahoma.  The other lady is Gladis' mother. 

After this, we headed down to the great city of Quetzaltenango.

Day 5- San Francisco El Alto and Quetzaltenango

We went to a small town where Tyler served called San Francisco El Alto, which is about 20 minutes from Quetzaltenango.  Friday's are the BIG market days.  The streets were packed full of vendors and people.  At many points, we were so packed in it was crazy.  We, as white, tall gringos, of course, stuck out like crazy.  The town is very authentic.  All the woman wore the typical Guatemalan dress, which was fun to see.  Tyler warned me about being pic-pocketed. I put our souvenir money in my front jacket pocket with it zipped.  Well, it happened.   They are good!  We lost 300 Quetzalas, which is about $35.  It is a lot of money for Guatemala though and I was so mad that all of our souvenir money was now gone.  That made me bitter towards the town and was ready to leave.

We headed back down to Quetzaltenango and toured the city more.  Tyler served here for a brief time.  Here he is checking out one of the places where he use to live.

 Here is a sight of one of the many volcanoes.

 Here is a beautiful courtyard by the city offices in the town square.

 

All the churches have large fences around them.

 Since all the churches have fences around them, it only makes sense that the temple has fences and 24 hour security.  We were so sad that we weren't able to walk around on the temple grounds.  This was the closest we got.... (so we thought.  We had a huge surprise on Sunday.) 

 We went to dinner with Evelio Vasquez and his family (the man who showed us around Rio Blanco the day before).  They are a great family!  The boy in the middle (in the gray sweatshirt) just returned from a mission.  Kimberly (in red) is getting ready to go on a mission.  Dolche (in blue) was getting married Thursday in the new dedicated temple.  The two boys in suits and red ties are still in young men's and had just finished the dress rehearsal for the Cultural celebration.

Evelio became a member when he found a phamplet about the church floating in a river.  After his baptism he would go to Rio Blanco and share the gospel.  He started it all in that area and because of him, there are now 2 wards and a small branch in the area.  He is a man of strength, faith, and testimony.  It was amazing to share a few days with him and to feel his love.

Day 6-Quetzaltenango

It was a very good day on Saturday.  We went over to the Vasquez family's home for lunch where they made Tyler's favorite Guatemalan meal, tamales.  Afterwards, we headed over to a mission reunion for all missionaries who had served in the area over the years.  We were blessed to have both of Tyler's mission presidents there.  

There were 6 previous presidents attending and they each gave their testimonies.  A piano player was needed for the meeting and Tyler so graciously volunteered me!  The hymn numbers and format are different than the English hymnal.  Tyler didn't really tell me what songs they were, so I had my heart thumping as I started playing and trying to recognize the tune at the same time.  Tyler told me the wrong hymn number for the closing song, too!  I played the introduction and then the chorister informed me that I was playing the wrong song.  Thanks hon for that embarrassing moment!

Here we are with his first mission president, Carlos Astorga and his wife.

 This is Tyler's second president, Stuart Waldrip.

 After the mission reunion we went to the amazing cultural celebration.  They had over 2,000 youth representing 16 stakes that put on a show.  I wish I got more pictures, but it got dark real quick.  These are just a few of the authentic costumes that were worn.  The show was amazing!  The youth all did such a good job.  I know that there was MUCH sacrifice to put the show together from practicing, transporting everyone to the city, and providing the costumes.  President Uctdorf and Elder Andersen were the leaders representing the church for the event. 

After the show, there was only one exit for everyone to leave from.  You can imagine the crowd that was attending and the swarms of people that were around when it was time to leave.  We were packed in like sardines as we got closer to the bottleneck!  The funny thing we noticed was that even I (Jenny) stood a good head taller than most of the people there.  Tyler was a good two or three heads taller.  Once we got to the bottleneck, there was a lot of pushing.  The left side where we were at were getting pushed aside.  Tyler used his manly build and pushed people over and made a walkway underneath his arm with his hand holding onto the pole for people to go through.  It's hard to explain but it was really funny to watch!