Today my heart is crying for some very good old friends. Terry & Juanita Stauffer suffered a loss no parent should on Saturday. If you've seen the news you may have come across the murder of a lovely 14 yr old girl from Edson, Alberta. Her name was Emily Stauffer and she was their daughter.

It is inconceivable for me to consider their pain and grief right now. But we can all pray.

A few more photos...I threw in the couple of us poolside to be fair!! We were able to spend a few afternoons at the hotel where my parents stayed for a week. We were in the lap of luxury and we thoroughly enjoyed it. It made the contrast of lifestyles all the more startling.

On another note...Phoebe is, as I type, spending her first full day in public school. For many reasons we decided to send her to Silver Creek School for grade 7. She is very excited and a little bit nervous. I have mixed feelings. It's like I'm sending my baby to Kindergarten for the first time. *sigh*

We are home. With some mixed feeling I might add. I'm thrilled to be home, relaxed in my own space, with the people and things I love nearby. It is nice to be surrounded with the familiar. But oh it was hard to leave.

I have a million stories in my heart and I'm not sure that I'd be able to translate that into the written word. We'll see. Each night before bed we went through everyone and did a "Best/Worst". So maybe that's where I'll begin...

WORST: ummmm.... the ride to the Volcano - I'll expand a little here. No road in Guatemala is straight or flat. The whole country is a mountain and so it is a ride filled with ups (as in WAY up) and downs and switchbacks. Our ride to the volcano was with a young macho driver, who, even though we told him that we get sick on the twists and turns, chose to speed up as we went around corners.....on the side of a mountain......5000 feet up......with NO guard rails. After the road ended, we went another 45 min. on a gravel road with pot holes bigger than our vehicle, mud and yes, more twists and turns. All the while we are listening to some horrible spanish rap - the same song over and over. Later Jeff, who understood the lyrics to the song, told us it was a song about "dancing in the fires of the volcano, dancing with Satan in the fires of lava..." over and over. Can I just say ick?

BEST: Okay, almost everything else! Honest. I guess if I was very specific it would be meeting our sponsored child. What an honour for us. We actually loved every visit. The kids, the families - they live in extreme poverty. But they were not ashamed. Not the way we would be. They loved that we would bother to come see them. For the Guatemalan culture - people are important. Relationships are important. Not the stuff that does or doesn't surround them. That said, it was hard to absorb the poverty. Mud/dirt floors. No running water. No electricity. Beds that were at best a raised board with a mat.

We took over a 1000 pics. Literally. I'll try to post a few over the next little while. We'll start with our Sponsor child and his sisters. His name is Dani. And he's 6 years old. His oldest sister cares for the family and no longer goes to school. The middle sister is also sponsored. So between her and Dani, they are provided with education (all the way through college should they want), a big healthy meal and medical attention. The whole family benefits. $34.00 per month to change this lovely family.

What a gift for us.

Time for a confession. I did not climb the volcano. I had a horrifying ride in a van all the way up to 6000 feet - and when I got out of the van, shaky legs and all, I had trouble breathing. I have asthma and let's just say that hiking up even higher was not an option. The girls went up and there is quite a story to tell but it's for later. Suffice it to say that it is a Latin American custom to not quite tell the truth. A short 10 minute hike translates to 1 1/2 hrs straight up on loose lava. Crazy.
Anyway. No complaining here. I love this trip - I'm seeing things that are going to take me quite awhile to express. Some beautiful, some heartbreaking, some encouraging and uplifting, some breathtakingly sorrowful.

Break is almost over. Hasta luego.

okay,,,,very brief update. excuse the spelling - the keyboard is a tad different. I'm about to hike up a volcano. yes. a live volcano. and yes, i'm very nervous. spanish classes are difficult. it's a beautiful but challenging language. i can't yet put into words our wkd in honduras and the city where we've been this week, antigua, guatemala. it is a far cry from home. i love so very many things.