A few weeks ago we traveled to a near by village to see about 120 patients.

We will return there this friday, and once a month thru December.

Our facilities are primitive by American medical standards, but here in Guatemala, the home is elaborate and well built.

Our family traveled to the City of Guatemala for a few days to renew our visas and give our boys a chance to swim and play. 

The boys are doing well, and make every day a joy for Ryan and me.

September is quickly approaching, as we hope to enjoy time with all of our friends and family when we retunrn to St.Louis for a few days.

As always, the boys are keeping us in line, and on our toes.

TREE!

This is what we found Tuesday morning on the way to Clinic in Chiminisijuan. Craig was able to maneuver the four wheeler loaded with supplies over the tree.  We have had heavier than normal rains for several days in a row, and this tree appeared to have lost part of its root system when to road was widened.

Clinic was good, with almost 75 numbers being sold for medical consults. Thankfully, Katie Shaw was back to help us.

We said goodbye to our dear friend Craig on Wednesday, as he returned to St.Louis after a three week stay with us.  He was a huge help, as always, and we look forward to seeing him and the to-be Mrs.Craig, soon. 

We are planning a city trip next week to stock up on supplies, renew our tourist visas, and take a break.  Ryan is in Quiche today trying to find a part for our 4Runner, so we can use it to make the trip.  Our visa expire next Thursday, so are really putting it off to the last minute. Typical.

Pictures for the tide

The last month has been a whirlwind of visitors and Ryan away from home. The boys and I have held down the fort, and actually survived. The boys are thriving in  the mud, as the rains are coming daily now. They are either muddy, wet, or in the tub. Here are a few pictures of the boys. Thank you for checking in on us. 

Joshua learning to feed himself

Thank you
grandpa for the new pool!

Jacob flying his kite in the yard.

Jacob with his goggles.

Our new tricycle gang

Joshua getting into Easter candy.

Rain, Rain...?

The rains started, then stopped, then started, then stopped again. The weather has been convincing enough for many of the farmers in the area to plant their crops,  Ryan included. The days have been hot, just like Illinois used to be, with lows of 75 at night and hot days, around 100.

The boys are enjoying playing in the mud and swimming in the 'pool'.

As you can see, Ryan's corn is beginning to dry down, and we are anxious to get this crop out of the field, in order to plant the next crop. If we wait too long, the ground will be too saturated to allow for equipment. With a slight leak in the hydraulics on the planter, Ryan is at a stand still regardless of the corn or rain.  Ryan planted one field last week in corn, and we are still awaiting the rains, to help it along the way.

 

The days have been hot, but we are settling in to life here again. Ryan has begun managing some larger construction projects, and keeping up with the tasks at hand.

We are looking forward to getting our 4Runner down to Guatemala next week, and finally having some freedom and independence.   Hopefully our plans of a man from town using it to drive to Guatemala, and transport some car parts, will work out for us.  We are busy as always, but we are thinking of all of our friends and family back home often, maybe too often.

(Nahhh)

Easter Fun

Today we dyed Easter eggs. We will celebrate Easter as a family tomorrow, with the traditional egg hunt, scavenger hunt, and candy! Jacob enjoyed his first egg dyeing, and really dug in, with both hands.

Ryan returned home on Wednesday after a week away from home, back in St.Louis. The ended their trip in Houston, Texas, after a turnaround trip to McAllen. We are all glad to have him home, and he is back to it already, and hoping to start the next round of crops tomorrow.

Thank you for all the prayers while he was away, and for his return.

Let it Rain

As I am sure you know if you keep up with anyone in Guatemala, it has begun raining.  The irrigation canal has be turned off for the valley, and we have had a constant stream of requests for tractor field cultivation in town. These are both good signs that the rains have begun, and the dry season is behind us.

We were ready for bed at 6 tonight, from the dark sky's and cooler temps sending us indoors early. I am sure our weather has been much less dramatic compared to what our family and friends back home have had, but just as drastic none the less.

The coming of the rains means an increase in sick children that come into clinic from dirty drinking water, and families returning from the cost to start their crops, and bringing the alcohol and drugs with them. 

What a strange change of season.

There's no place like home... if you know where that is.

We arrived home here, in Canilla, after two weeks at home in St.Louis.

Our trip was good. We had time to restock on American essentials and visit family and friends. It seems like these trips never hold enough time for the latter. 

The trip started with car trouble, and ended the same way. Only in different countries. Ryan '04 Ford truck has some issues with a blown head gasket, and sits in the garage, as we decide what to do with it. In Marine, we were able to round up some items to be loaded onto the truck, in the next month or so, to make life here more comfortable and manageable for us.  We are planing on at least another year here in Guatemala, as we try to expand our reach into more long term goals.

Back here in Canilla, we were welcomed by warm weather, the usual smell of pine needles and smoke, and family.
Jacob has been going non stop on his bicycle since we returned, and has not lost a second on trying to go faster and farther. Joshua is enjoying crawling on the ground again, with new terror to be had on our home, and my kitchen (with no cabinet doors, he keeps us busy).

Thank you to everyone who helped make our trip back to St.Louis enjoyable, and all the hospitality that was shown towards us. As I think through the faces we have seen over the last few weeks, I am reminded of the many more that we did not get to see, that we will hope to see when we return home again, or when they come down to ours. 

Stage 2: Survival

We have made it to St.Louis. Ryan is feeling much better, and is almost back to normal.
Jacob and Joshua are enjoying all the new attention and are trying to schmooze everyone they meet.

We are making progress at visiting friends and family, only to realize how many more people we may not be able to see this trip.  Everyone in Guatemala is preparring for a St.Louis team, and and we are looking farward to jumping bach into the busy schedule we know as home. 

Phase 1, completed.

We made the drive from our town, in the middle of nowhere, to the big city. We made it in one piece, and exausted. 

We had a more than eventful trip, after we had trouble keeping the vehicle from over heating. We decided to fix the problem, and ended up moving down the road four hours later, with Ryan enduring some minor medical trauma. I think Ryan will be fine, but the initial shock of what happened, and what to do was, well...trying.

I thank God that today is over.

Ryan, Jacob and Joshua are all sleeping peacefully now.

I am enjoying listening to them all breath, and knowing they are fine.

We fly into the US tomorrow. Aparently we missed the snow by a day.

No Cause for Concern.

Well, for everyone who has noticed how long it has been since I posted last, please do not worry. There is no real reason for my long hiatus from writing, just laziness, and getting caught up in everyday life.

Jacob and Joshua are doing fine, despite Joshua's current illness and fever.  Joshua now has all of his teeth, but one, and is enjoying eating toddler foods, and then some.

We are all doing fine.  The weather has turned down right hot the last few days, and I am told this is how it will be, until the rains come... in MAY!

Things are dry, the dust is running the show now, and is everywhere. 

This is Jacob's puppy, Ace. He had a close call last week, and we almost lost him, so he is enjoying some special treatment, sleeping on the sofa. We did loose Ryan's puppy, Poncho, to what we think was some type of bacteria or infection he picked up at the airport. Ryan is already trying to figure out how to get more pups.

We are looking forward to getting home in a few weeks to visit friends and family, and are hoping to have a little break from the weather.

Life, as we know it

"Here we are, a week later, and it seems as though the rain will never come.  The boys are enjoying the swimming pool, for lack of  a better term.  The sun has been hot, and with little breeze, we all took a dip together this afternoon to cool off."

I wrote this a few days ago, and now... Last night we had a little rain and the valley is cool and dreary today. I feel like baking and wearing slippers, but duty calls. I have been hearing about the cold weather and all the snow for everyone at home.  It sure makes me home sick.     Every time I talk of how I miss Illinois, Ryan reminds me of how he had to fight during the winter months, to keep things in our lives functioning and maintained.

Ryan has hired 6 men to work his fields in between the rows, to control the weeds, and work in some fertilizer. He has been calling it his six row cultivator, witch is also the name for of piece of equipment, pulled behind a tractor, to function the same way, control the weeds.  This time of year, in Guatemala, there is not much work in agriculture, in places where there is no water.  To find work, many men and boys travel to the cost to work on sugar cane fields, leaving their wives and children home alone, working long hours of hard labor in dangerous conditions.  Ryan and I feel like the men who are here working for us will be blessed with some income form working, and we would much rather give them a job to earn money, rather than giving them money, for doing nothing, perpetuating their doing nothing. 

I, Katie Ann, had my first medical emergency experience in town last week. Normally, when some one knocks on our door, saying they need help, there is someone more qualified to help them, or at least tell them no one is here who can.  I ended up taking my first ride in the local hospital's ambulance, and for the first time since we have been in Guatemala, fearing for my life. I performed a quick ultrasound on a women in labor to determine the position of the baby.  When the local Doctors learned that the baby was breach, but first, they decided to send her onto another center, where they could offer her some assistance in turning the baby.  Our western medicine is more streamlined, and uniform, where here, practically anything goes, and almost everything does. We hope to reach out to the community of expectant mothers, and provide a birthing center in the future.  For now, until more doors open, we will continue to help where we can.

Thy Truck Runith Over

Life here has been plugging away, at our steady pace of suddle chaos. Ryan's crops are doing well, and watering the 5 acres of corn and beans has become our third child.  We remain hopeful that farming can open more doors for our future here in Guatemala, and the future of the ministry.

David and Juan made a trip to the city this week with a load of scrap metal to recycle. We were hopeful that the load would be able to finance a building project.  David did a great job of loading the Dodge almost to the rubber, and then inspecting the tie down job from all angles.  I only wish I had a picture of what the truck looked like when they got home, loaded with metal beams and a water tank.

The boys are doing well and are enjoying all the puppies that are running around the yard, and the puddles in between.

We are excited to share that we will be coming back for two weeks, at the end of March, and would love the opportunity to catch up with friends and family, and flaunt our tans.

Merry Christmas!

I know it is the 25th of December, but it fees nothing like Christmas today. 

Everything that I remember about Christmas as a child, or even as a parent, is so different from the Christmas we are experiencing this year.  We are happy, together, and enjoying Christmas for what it is, but without all the expensive decorations and fancy parties.  We are sad to be away from all our family back home, but glad to be with the family here as well.  I hope you are all enjoying a wonderful Christmas, for those in St.Louis, a white Christmas, and taking a day to relax and spend with family and friends. 

I was able to spend some time in the garden this morning. How strange! The tomatoes are green, the sweet potatoes are blooming, and the peas are climbing like crazy.  We had our first few green beans today, and there should be plenty more to come. 

This is our little tree. It really makes our home feel merrier.

 It might give Charlie Brown a run for his money.

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!

Three, going on an on....

Things have been hectic around here. After thanksgiving, we have st started our Agriculture project full force, and keeping everything else under control.  Jacob is now potty trained, and doing an amazing job.  The first day he went with dry pants all day long, we took him into town to celebrate, and had a party, complete with  chips, soda, yogurt and candy.  All of his favorite things.  Jacob is getting so big, and today is turning Three! I can't believe it!

 It has been a while since we have posted, and I wanted to get you all up to speed, but it seems impossible to write everything that happens.  The boys are doing fine, and enjoying the busyness of the season. Jacob's request for his birthday was a bonfire with hot dogs and marsh mellows, and a green cake.  I will have to post more pictures again soon. 

Joshua is definitely growing and getting into more trouble each day.  He is now crawling and saying mama and dada.  It is so funny how they boys seem to push each other along.  Now that Joshua is pulling himself up in his crib, he has gotten himself stuck between the slats.

Last week there was a Motorcycle race in Canilla, where we live. David and Joseph both raced and placed int he top three. It was a good time for the whole family, as we were all involved and helped hold things together.

You can see a video of the race on YouTube at:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ht7zLOYxjnY

 
Ryan has been busy planting his fields, and hopes to finish today. After a week of watering, we had a few days before Ryan would be able to get into the ground to work it, and went to Guatemala city to renew our visas, and take some time off. We stayed at the Tikal Futura hotel which has a pool, and it's own mall.  We really enjoyed the time away, and posted a small video of our trip onto youtube at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tkm4dwmQpjk

The video is short, and only viewable through the link.
 
 
 
 
 
This is a quick look at what Ryan has been up to with the property he is renting. 


Water the first piece of ground with sprinklers before planting.



Jacob testing the sprinkler radius.



Jacob helping haul away the water tubing.




Manually applying the fertilizer and lime.



Soaking the black bean seeds in milk as a natural inoculate.



Planting bean seeds on piece two.




Overlapped rows, to use the planter that is designed for corn, to plant the beans witch need closer spacing.



Sweet.....Potatoes!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!! Or here as we call it,

 'Dia de Gracias'.  We are getting all the lunch preparations under way and the Turkey is in the oven, thanks to Leslie.  We will be having sweet potatoes with our turkey today thanks to whoever planted a starter in my garden. I was so excited yesterday, when it was time to harvest, we only planted one plant, but we got about 10 pounds of potatoes out of it. I have a dozen more growing, and they should be ready in about four months.

Thelma's puppies are doing well. They are eating food, and lots of it.  The boys enjoy playing with all of them, and the puppies like to lick and chase the boys around.

Joshua is trying desperately to crawl, but can't seem to get his stomach off of the ground. He ends up sliding across the floor to get into whatever he wants.   

 

 Jacob is enjoying the weather, and playing outside. He enjoys playing in water and mud.  Jacob is just learning to count. We hear him counting to  himself...'1, 2, 5, 9, 14, 3, 10.'  He always ends on ten. It is so funny listening to him. He is enjoying watching the sesame street Christmas eve show, and seems to be completely oblivious to any holiday today, or anytime in the future.

Ryan is continuing to work with his rental property, and with the John Deere planter ready and adjusted for the beans here, we are awaiting one more trip to the city for fertilizer, and hopefully the beans will be in the ground. 

Clinics were consistently busy this week with children who had respiratory infections, were dehydrated, and miserable. 

This little girl cam in sick, but we were shocked by her size. She is three years old, and only weighs about 20 pounds. We added her to our nutrition program, and will continue to monitor her growth and health for the next few years.

We hope everyone has a happy thanksgiving. We wish we could spend it with everyone, but we are thankful for our time here, and looking forward to seeing everyone again soon. 

rel qk

I just wanted to update you:  the 'verry sick child' that came last week to our clinic in Chiminisujaun on Tuesday, returned this week.  We were so excited to see him doing much better.  The week before we spent several hours with him, and he barely cried or whimpered. He was too tired to even blink.  This week he was squirming and squawking, and giving his mama a run for her money.  We are so glad to see that he is feeling better, and I wanted you to know that your prayers and support came through for this little boy.  Thanks again.

We have enjoyed a few quite days to re plan and rethink our goals and strategies.  Last week Ryan began plowing and dicing a three acre piece of property that he will be leasing. The hope is to plant beans on the property to either sell or use for our own feeding program.  The boys have enjoyed the extra time with their dad on the tractor, and I know Ryan hasn't minded it either.

Our dog Thelma had her pups as well last week.  She had nine puppies, 5 males, 4 females, and all healthy. 

We are thankful to have the month of October behind us as it always bring a very depressing mood over our valley and the rest of the country, especially during the local "Day of the Dead" festivities.  We retreated to Chiminisujuan again on Tuesday as normal, just as the parties were getting under way, and due to a very sick child needing IV fluids, we weren't able to return home again until latter in the afternoon. Coincidentally, after all the holiday traffic and hoopla had died down. 

Full of Hot Air

Our friend Ivan from St.Louis, came to visit this week. He has been coming along to clinics and making balloon animals for all the kids, and sometimes the adults.                

We are seeing a change in the welfare of our communities, continuing on from past weeks.  It always seems such a struggle to decide who is really in need.  As the harvest season here comes to an end, some of the families we have been helping with food and corn are able to support themselves again and no longer need our help.  We are so glad each time one on these families has had a fruitful season and can make do with what they have. For each family who achieves this, we meet another new family who is in dire need of help with food for all and supplemental nutrition for the children. We met one woman in our San Andreas clinic today who came in asking for milk for her 2 year old. When we asked her why she didn't have an adequate supply of breast milk, she explained that she had an infant at home  in addition to her other 8 children, giving her 10 all together. On top off all of her complicating circumstances, we also learned that she is now pregnant with her 11th.  It always amazes me that the children, even though they may be struggling with hunger or a medical illness, always respond to a gesture of love and kindness. As important as  medicine or food, or as seemingly insignificant as a balloon animal, it is all little reminders that God has not forgotten them, that we have not forgotten them, and that you have not forgotten them either.  Thanks for checking in!