Catching Up and Eating Out

Well, it's Sunday night. We had a nice long weekend. Our last American weekend for a while. Ryan's last day of work is Wednesday, so after that all of our days here will just fall in to preparing for our trip.

We had the opportunity to visit with some friends of ours Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday morning and Sunday night.

It sounds crazy to list it off like that, but we have really enjoyed spending time catching up with people we have missed over the last few years of our lives.

Friday night we went to Barry and Joan's for dinner. I was so nervous before we got there. I spent so much time ridding horses, giving bathes, eating lunch and cleaning stalls with Barry for a few years, I was worried I wouldn't fall in like I used to and it would be awkward. But, Barry and Joan are as nice as ever, and I was so glad to be back in there home.

Saturday night we got to go to Destiny Church in St.Louis and see Craig. He just came back from Guatemala this week, and really enjoyed seeing him. We got to take him out to dinner again after church to Bandanna's. This is an old tradition for us that we like to rekindle when we can. We don't need menus any more, if that tells you anything. We enjoyed catching up with Craig and hearing from him how the next few month might pan out and where he feels he need to head in life.

Saturday morning we met some friends from Ryan's work for breakfast, Cory and Carrie. The are a nice young christian couple with a young son, kind of like us. They will hopefully be sowing in our garden while we are gone, to help keep the weeds down for next year, at least.

Saturday night we caught up with Scott and Angie Paul and their two kiddos (pictured above with Josh). Ryan went to visit them in the Hospital when their daughter was born, and it is neat to see them talk (Scott and Ryan) about when Ryan was single and didn't much care for girls, and now he has two kids. Scott was really excited to hear about our plans, and maybe will come to visit us in a few months. We are already excited to get to see him again, and show him Guatemala.

It is great to see friends again, that were we not leaving, we might not have seen for a while. We are glad to see them, and we are sad to leave, but it is the people who want to get every last visit in, are encouraging and excited for us, that we will really miss.

Reaching the masses

Well, we are happy to hear from every one who got our letters. If you are finding yourself here for the first time because of them, welcome. Thank you for taking the time to look up our blog. If you would like to get a better picture of the current situation in Guatemala, you can click on one of the links to the right and you will be taken to the coresponding blog written by another family member.

If you ever have any questions or would like to get involved, please don't hesitate to contact us.

We are glad you are here (to watch us go there).

Preperations

April 10th is quickly approaching. Some days it seems like it can't come soon enough.

We are trying to prepare the house for any guests that may come by white we are gone, and tying up any loose ends.
I had a tooth pulled today and am thankfull it is over, and will be enjoying plenty of soft foods for a while.

The nice warm weather has allowed us to spend more time outside, and get things done in the yard so they won't fall so far behind this summer. Ryan has been working on his truck the last couple of nights. He would like to try and sell it and possibly find something that better suits our family.

Jacob and Josh are doing well. Josh just want to be held now. I remember this stage with Jacob, and we are looking forward to when Josh will be smiling and sitting up. Jacob has loved riding his bike in the yard and going on walks.

Ryan has 8 days of work left after today. I know he is looking foreward to more time with his family and being so far away. I can always notice a considerable diference in his outlook when we are about to go down. I am glad that he will be close to them and finally home for a little while.

It's har to imagine not going to the store for 6 months, but I know we can make it. It will just take some adjusting on my part. We continue to look for ways to get Thelma, our dog, down to guatemala. The airlines make it near imposible to get her through houston in one day, so she might have to wait until the next truck goes down. It coulb be a few months before we get her to Guatemala.

For every one who is coming to the blog for the first time, welcome. I hope I don't bore you too bad with my writing and plain stories. I am sure things will get more exciting when we start moving around.

Katie Ann