Anzo turned 5 on Saturday. Unfortunately most of our friends were unable to attend so mostly it was a family affair. I don't think Anzo minded very much though it was a bit sad for me. He wanted to have a train birthday and Heather had brought back some train stuff from the US. Obviously she couldn't bring back a piñata which is manditory for birthdays here. Finding a train piñata proved to be difficult and we ended up buying a shoe piñata and pasting paper on it to make it look more like a train. Heather and I kept up the tradition of themed cakes and we made a train cake with a coal car, caboose and even an animal car. Anzo and Eli have been playing with the imaginext castle ever since they opened the box

Moving when?...

Many have asked when we are moving to San Cristobal and the answer is exactly that we don't know. Our friends who live in our future house are building a home just a couple doors down and were planning on moving in to that house. Unfortunatley his father has cancer and they will be moving back to the states. The home they are building continues to not be finished and due to the change of plans, the unsureity (if that is a word) of the move date has just increased. Hopefully we will move there at all. This coupled with the previous post has made quite the stir.

New Van?

We purchased a "new" 97 Mazda MPV. Heather loved the idea of a normal van and getting rid of the 12 passenger 4 cylinder diesel tourism van. She was in the lap of luxury with power windows, air conditioning, and seatbelts in each seat so each child can have their own window. Unfortunately Guatemala caught up with us. Just after we bought it from some friends who had returned to the US I brought it in to the shop to check out the "check engine" light that had been on so we could get it set up right before driving it too much. We found out that 4 of the 6 cylinders were bad (100 psi instead of 150 which means bad rings hence rebuild). We now are looking for a used motor to put in and our "new" van remains parked in the shop and we continue to drive the 12 passenger van. But praise God that we have that 12 passenger van still!

San Juan VBS

Heather did a two day VBS in San Juan Bautista with a few of the other ladies from EMI. In typical Heather fashion it was a raving success. All the onlookers mentioned how amazed they were at how good Heather was at leading children. I was busy building the prototype home so I didn't get to participate much outside of playing my guitar for worship. we had both Heather's micraphone and my guitar plugged into our Ipod speakers but it was pretty much loud enough. 13 children trusted Christ and will be attending the church there.

It was a boiling hot day and our kids kept themselves cool by the local pila (clothes washing cistern)

Heather returns...

Heather made it back safely. Her 23 hour voyage from Reno to Guatemala City ended on Wednesday. We all have been happy to have her back home. Dinners, the home, our schedules, are all already more organized. She is definitely a God-given, needed part of our family and there is a new sense of appreciation for her part in the family.
Last night was family night and it was Eli’s night to choose what to cook for dinner. He had picked corndogs so Heather and Eli fried up some home-made corndogs and we had a picnic in the middle of our family room on our blanket while the rain fell outside.

She is jumping right back into the busy schedule as she now has to plan for and run a VBS in San Juan Bautista on Sunday and Monday.

Heather brought back ballerina shoes for the girls with a ballerina DVD and the girls have hardly taken off the shoes. Last night Zoe asked if she could watch the video again in the morning when she wakes up and as I type this she is standing next to me in her ballerina outfit asking for breakfast (Saturday morning pancakes). The boys received Karate Gis and two karate DVDs. Eli is really interested and practices with the teacher and focuses hard. She brought me some more clothes so I can get rid of some of the old ratty ones.

Thank you God for Heather.

Trip

Travels

I've been in California and Nevada this past week visiting friends and family and having a Guatemalan luncheon with the church family of Sierra Bible in Reno, Nevada. I haven't caught up on my sleep as I seem to be using every waking moment to the full. Addy turned 1 according to her due date and fully dove into her cake and turned into a blue sticky smurf. I'm looking forward to getting home and not having to sleep in the airport on the way back.

in HIS grip,
Heather

Mr. Mom

Heather is in the states for a week to visit her best friend Holly and Holly’s baby girl Addy during her first birthday. Heather has been having a blast back with family and friends. Hopefully she can post a blog about her time. I have been Mr. Mom and it has been raining every day so we have been trapped indoors. A one day the kids never even got out of PJs but only changed PJs when time for bed came around again. I have a new found respect for the work of a single parent.
The kids are ever growing, just this morning we all were looking at pictures from 2000-2002 and noticing the big differences. Eli misses his “boat bed” and the blanket he had with it. I had to explain that he wouldn’t even fit in it any more even if we still had it. The kids are such a treasure and the time goes by so fast as a whole while at times some frustrating evenings never seem to end and bedtime creeps from 8:30 down to 7:30. I find it interesting how easy it is to deal with the kids when they are having fun but how difficult it is when they are fighting or being disobedient. It makes me wonder how easy or difficult it is to be around me depending on my mood, and when we both are grumpy, LORD help us! Today we will get out to have some fun even if it is just going shopping for junk food and splashing in the nasty puddles. I guess laundry needs to wait sometimes…

Coming up…

Late June and all of July is looking to be quite busy as I will be taking 3 trips to build homes for Stan victims, placing a freshwater pipeline for Tabacal, we will be moving to San Cristobal (20 min from here but walking distance from my work), and my nephew Nick Haddox will visit for the month of July.

Things to Pray for…

- For me to keep a fun outlook with the kids and to not take my work schedule so seriously.

- For the remainder of Heather’s trip, that it would be encouraging to both her and others; and that she would have uneventful travel.

- For the move to San Cristobal to come quickly

- For Anzo’s adoption – We have received approval from the US to adopt and now we are looking to find a family court date with the Guatemalan courts – So pray that we get a date quickly and the process can go smoothly and finish in the next couple months.

- For Heather’s health – she has been plagued by a mystery illness that makes her very tired and naucious in the evenings. She doesn’t have much of an appetite, many things make her sick and she has lost about 15-17lbs.

Thanks again for your support

Eric

Tara Farewell

Any mention of our family during the first half of this year must include Tara. Tara is a 19 year old from Pennsylvania who lived with us from February through May. She helped with the kids, laundry, dishes… and put up with our stinky dog! She was a great addition to our family and will be missed a lot.

Thanks again Tara!